Dominic placed a hand on the metal of the hull and looked back over his shoulder. Isaac looked as well. Most of the Cranks had been freed from their shackles, and although they still had major difficulties maneuvering over the dozens of flattened trees, they were getting close. Maybe thirty meters away, now.

“I sure hope this guy knows what he’s doing,” Dominic said. “Those people look hungry and I think they might like the taste of islanders.”

“We don’t have much choice, do we,” Isaac muttered.

Dominic slipped through the gap, then Isaac.

The Berg seemed huge from the outside, far larger than any single building she’d ever seen back home on their island. Larger by a long shot. And yet its insides felt cramped and tiny, narrow corridor leading to even narrower corridors, small rooms and storage centers to the left and right, appearing just as small as the tiny cell into which they’d been crammed during the flight. She’d thought at the time that stuffing them in there had been an act of cruelty, but now she realized the whole ship was like that. Like the dollhouse her mom had built for her eons ago.

She and the rest of them picked their way along, around corners and around more corners. The ship was dark, lit only by a few sparks here and there and glowing red emergency lights, half of which were broken. Old Man Frypan was directly in front of her, a little bit of a spring back in his step. Miyoko was behind her, patting her on the shoulder every once in a while for comfort.

She knows, Jackie thought. She knows what I’m feeling.

Carson and Lacey were dead. Dead. Jackie didn’t know who’d confirmed it, but Ms. Cowan had told her outside that they’d been lost. Wilhelm and Alvarez, too. The chaos, the Cranks, the danger—all of it allowed no time to mourn their friends, and certainly nobody wanted to talk about it. But the pain ached in Jackie’s chest, ached so badly she found it hard to breathe.

Carson. Lacey. Dead.

Her mom once told her that the oldest cliche in the book was that you had to take life one step at a time. Her mom also said that no cliche had ever spoken more truth.

Jackie took another step.

“It’s here!” Minho yelled from up ahead, his voice bouncing along the small hallway in echoes. “And it’s intact!”

Jackie had no idea what he was talking about, but he seemed pleased enough.

She took another step.