Jackie stepped into the room, followed by an ancient man with dark skin and white hair, a middle-aged woman, and then two younger people. He knew their names from the interview he’d had with Jackie—Frypan, Ms. Cowan, Miyoko, and Dominic. Roxy was on the other Berg and he was trying so hard not to think about it yet. He wilted, terrified to find out if she’d survived.

“Are you hurt?” Jackie asked, running to his side.

“No, no. I’m okay. But we need to get to the other Berg—we both have friends over there and I can see the ship. It looks like it’s in worse shape than ours, but hopefully they have survivors, too. Come on.”

They picked their way down a couple of hallways and then found a much larger gash in the Berg that allowed them to crawl out, where the shattered plain of flattened trees greeted them. The smell of smoke and burnt fuel hung heavy in the air. Minho had barely stepped from the wreckage when he saw a man buried beneath a large chunk of the Berg that had fallen off. It was a Grief Bearer, a mask covering his face. Maybe it was Barrus. The chest didn’t move at all, and there was blood in all kinds of bad places. Dead, then. Minho felt no pity.

Then, for the second time since the crash, someone yelled his name.

“Minho!”

He looked up, and coming toward him, carefully stepping over a stack of logs, was Roxy, somehow smiling despite ripped clothes, several cuts, and dirt covering her every inch. The sickening weight in his gut vanished. He had never known the love of a mother, but he felt it then so powerfully that he fell to his knees and, for the first time in his life, wept like a child.

Through his tears, he saw the others.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The Cranks of Change

“Wait.”

Isaac stopped at Orange’s command. They stood a few feet from a large crack in the Berg, light spilling into the ship, casting its interior with a gloomy malaise. Orange was peeking around the edge, looking outside, her right hand held up to stop them from coming any closer. She finally turned back to them and pressed against the wall, her eyes wide with concern.

“What’s wrong?” Sadina asked.

“There’s . . .” For the first time, the guard in the intimidating artillery suit looked like a scared little girl. “Cranks. Cranks are out there. Right behind that lady named Roxy. They’re all slowly making their way over the broken trees to the other Berg.” Although she gave them the details patiently, her words had a shaky, shrill ring to them. “This ship must’ve been carrying them. No one told me that. No one told me that! I didn’t even know we had those things!”

She was losing it, definitely losing it.