As Tom and the others approached, Joel was saying, “Look, there’s nothing we can do about that for now. We just need to stay calm and be vigilant.”

Alice was standing near the back. Tom gestured for her to follow and she peeled away from the others and followed him to the back of the plane.

“What’s going on?”

Tom said, “We need your help. Do you know Shen and Barney?”

“No. Hello.” She reached out and shook their hands, which seemed to amuse Barney. “I’m Alice.”

Barney’s amusement grew all the more. “We know who you are.”

Tom said, “We can climb up again now, but Barney, could you get some boxes or hard suitcases to use as steps up to the door?”

“Absolutely.”

Tom climbed up the slide, then reached down for Alice’s hand, pulling her up, then the same with Shen.

As soon as they were inside, she said, “Lara wants to come too, when we go. I told her not to tell anyone else.” She looked at Shen with concern, maybe wondering whether she should have said anything in front of him.

Shen smiled. “I’m coming too. So is Barney.”

Tom pointed at the galley. “We did a check on the food. If we use it in the right order, there might be enough for a few days.”

“Good. I think people are beginning to get hungry.”

“That’s even better. Shen thinks we need a fire and I think he’s right.”

“So do I.” Alice turned to Shen. “Joel was wrong to put you down like that. A fire’s obviously more important than collecting luggage.”

Shen smiled appreciatively.

Tom said, “So tell Joel that you and Shen are taking over the galley, that you’ve found food but you need a fire to heat it. You need to act possessive about the galley—I don’t want Joel or the others coming in here.”

“Why?”

“There’s an emergency kit, other stuff we’ll need, and I don’t want them wasting it.”

She nodded, but Shen said, “There’s something else. The fire should be exactly where all the luggage is right now. We’ll need to stay in the plane at night, so the fire should be in front of it.”

“Okay. I’ll see what I can do.” Alice was about to leave again, but she stopped and said, “Joel’s a complete jerk, but Chris and the others think he’s got all the answers.”

“So did Toby,” said Shen.

“So we have to work as a team, stick together, back each other up, that kind of thing.”

Tom was about to say he wasn’t part of any team, that he was his own person, but he knew she was right, and in truth, he probably couldn’t do this on his own, anyway. He even sort of liked the idea of being part of a group.