Jisoo POV

What do you do with that information?

 You're now one of the most important people in the world. You have to decide the fate of your friends and classmates. By the way, your parents died during the discovery of a make-believe super-sub from the 1800s.

Me ... I call for a slumber party.

 I ask Roseanne and Jennie if they'll bunk with us in the captain's cabin. I don't want to be alone in that huge room, even if I do have my teddy dolphin, Socrates. I want Roseanne's reassuring small puff-puff-snore nearby, and the rustle of Jennie's satin hair bonnet whenever she turns her head on her pillow. I want Hank's warm doggy smell and his contented sighs as he curls up at Lisa'sfeet.

Once we've settled in for the night, Hwasa checks on me one last time. She tells me that the bridge is maintaining a general westerly course until I say otherwise. She will check back with us in the morning.

Hwasa gives me an uneasy look. Maybe she sees me differently now that she knows I'm related to a famous outlaw/madman/genius/submarine captain. Or maybe she's contemplating sleeping outside our door all night in case someone else tries to kidnap us. I hope it's the former.

Roseanne and Lisa insist that me and Jennie take the bed. They are happy with theirbedrolls.

I lie down on the comfy mattress. I hear a goodnight from Jennie as she closes the lamp. Jennie wrapped an arm around me, searching for my hand. After a few failed tries, she finally found it in the dark and squeezed it.

Not a moment passed by when I heard a squeal from the floor along with a lot of shuffling. I fumbled for the lamp and switched it on, sitting up in bed in a hurry.

"Who's on fire?!' 

"LISA'S TICKLING ME AN-" Roseanne erupted in a fit of incomprehensible sounds. 

Lisa sat up innocently. "Jisoo, will you really believe her over your own sister?"

Jennie smirked. ' You really expect us to believe that?'

'Why are you two so loud in the night? Just sleep without killing each other please."

Lisa rolled her eyes. 'Party pooper.' She fumbled for her covers and put them over.

A moment later I heard another squeal, this time from Lisa. Jennie switched the lamp on.

"JISOO SHE'S SMOTHERING ME I'M GOING TO DIE-"

Jennie rolled her eyes. "Say goodbye to your sister Jisoo."

"Goodbye. " I agreed. Jennie switched the light off for the third time.

"OH, SO I'M NOT ALLOWED TO TICKLE HER, BUT SHE'S ALLOWED TO KILL ME? DID I MENTION I HATE YOU TWO?"

I figure we'll stay up talking for hours. How could I possibly sleep? But, as soon as I close my eyes on that comfy full-size mattress, exhaustion kicks in. My body says, Nope, you're done, girl. And I pass out.

~~~~

I always sleep well at sea.

 That night I have vivid, fragmented dreams, mostly about smells. After temple, sandalwood incense clings to my mother's sari as she hugs me close, laughing at some silly joke I've made. We stand together in the kitchen during Holi, the only time she wears an Indian dress, despite being Korean, watching pastries bake in the oven. My mouth waters from the maddeningly delicious scents of cardamom and coconut. Then my father is carrying a very small me. I pretend to remain asleep so I can enjoy the feel of my cheek pressed against the warm crook of his neck. His clove-scented aftershave makes me think of pumpkin pie. Then my brother is holding my hand as he walks me home after a fistfight in elementary school. 

He's really not much older than me, but he seems so mature. Tae's voice is soothing but also deeply offended. He tells me other people are stupid not to respect me. I am brilliant and powerful and deserve the world. My busted mouth tastes of copper. We walk past the honeysuckle blooming at the end of our block. From then on, the sweet smell of honeysuckle will always make me happy. It makes me want to hit Maddy White on the playground all over again, just so my brother will compliment me and walk me home.

I wake to the sound of voices. Roseanne and Lisa are standing over me, having a hushed argument. Somehow, I've slept through them getting up, hitting the showers, and getting dressed. Outside, it's daylight. Socrates'sgiant aquatic hamster tube is empty. He must be out hunting for breakfast. I can't remember the last time I slept past dawn. 

Lisa notices my eyes are open. She clears her throat. 'Hey, sis. How are you feeling?'

I prop myself up on my elbows.

Hank rests his chin on my leg and gives me his Get up! grunt. Everybody's a critic.

I guess yesterday really happened. Harding-Pencroft is gone. Tae is gone. I'm at sea ... literally and emotionally. How do I feel?

'I – I'm awake,' I decide. 'What's going on?'

 Roseanne gives Lisa a cautionary look, like, Remember what we talked about.

'The good news is he's not dead,' Lisa says.

Roseanne throws her hands in the air. 'Lili ...'

'Well, you told me to start with the good news,' Lisa protests. 'That's the good news. He isn't dead. Not yet.'

'Who ...?' A spark of hope flickers through my still-groggy mind. For half a second, I wonder if she could mean Taehyung. But Roseanne doesn't let me dream.

'Dr. Hewett,' she blurts out. 'Yeji found him unresponsive in his cabin.'

Dread washes through me.

'Show me.' My body somehow manages to find more adrenalin. I'm still in my cotton shorts and sleep shirt, but I don't care. My heart pounds as we hurry down the corridor.

Moonbyul guards the door to the sick bay. She looks as if she hasn't slept all night. She nods when we pass by. Inside, Yuna and Hwasa stand on either side of Dr. Hewett, who lies unconscious on a hospital bed. Jennie stands in the corner, her face a stark contrast to her usual bubbly face. Hewett's hooked to an IV and several monitors. The straps of his oxygen mask make his grey hair bristle like the fins of a lionfish. I'm no medic, but his vitals don't look good on the displays. Hank finds the sickbay smells very interesting ... until Yuna shoos him away. 

Yuna's eyes are bloodshot, and a surgical mask hangs from her right ear. 'We ran the most comprehensive blood panel we could with our onboard equipment. His liver function and complete blood count are both off. Blood sugar is high. Our best guess is late-stage cancer, maybe pancreatic, with type-two diabetes, but we're not set up for advanced diagnostics, much less treatment. He needs immediate medical help.'

'Except Hwasa here,' Jennie growls, 'won't let us put out an SOS.'

'The professor's orders.' Hwasa's voice cracks on the word professor 'Complete radio silence no matter what. If Land Institute finds us ...' 

She doesn't need to remind me of Caleb South's warning. The Aronnax will send you all to the bottom of the sea. In the last twenty-four hours, I've heard a lot of things I had trouble believing. Caleb's threat wasn't one of them.

Hewett's face is a map of pale blue veins and liver spots. I want to curse him for having medical issues now. He should have taken better care of himself. But, of course, that isn't fair of me to think.

What would Hewett want me to do? I know the answer. Keep going. Find this secret base. But how far would that be? And is it worth him dying?

 'Can you keep him alive?' I ask Yuna and Roseanne.

Yuna shrugs helplessly. 'We're juniors, Jisoo. We've had medical training, but –'

'If it's last stage pancreatic cancer' Roseanne breaks in, making everyone except Hewett jump, 'his survival odds are bad no matter what. Even a state-of-the-art hospital won't be able to do much for him.'

Her blunt bedside manner makes Yuna's jaw drop. 'Roseanne, we're Orcas. We can't just –' 

'She's not wrong, though,' Lisa says.

'I don't believe this,' Jennie scoffs. 'We need to turn back,' 

'The base,' Hwasa says. 'Hewett mentioned it has our most advanced tech. They might have medical supplies. Stuff that's better than state of the art.' 

Lisa clicks her tongue. 'That's a huge long shot.'

'What base?' Moonbyul demands, hope kindling in her eyes. 'How far is it?'

Everyone looks at me for guidance. I wonder if Hwasa has shared the news that I am now an Important Person. I don't have any guidance to offer. I don'teven have shoes on. But I have to pull myself together. I was the elder of the Dakkars. It needed to be me.

'Do your best to keep Hewett stable,' I tell Yuna. ' Get Lia to help you. Hwasa, Roseanne, Jennie, Lisa – come with me. Let's see if we can find some answers.