Jisoo POV

I've never liked oral reports.

Put me in a group project, and I will volunteer to do the research. I will draw the maps. I will write the essay and create the multimedia slides. I prefer to leave the presenting to somebody else.

This time, though, it has to be me who delivers the news.

Everyone assembles on the main deck. They line up by house, the way we did yesterday at the docks in San Alejandro. I don't tell them to do this, it's just our custom. The only people absent are Yuna and Lia, who are attending to Dr. Hewett in the sick bay, and my fellow Cephalopod Mina, who has the bridge. I've already filled them in personally.

It's mid-morning. The ocean is ash grey with light swells. Clouds hang low and heavy, promising rain. Not the most auspicious weather for making a major decision. 

Hwasa stands on my right. I guess I appreciate the backup, but I'm still not used to having a heavily armed Shark breathing down my neck. I half-expect her to push me out of the way and say, So, now that I'm in charge ... 

The worst part is, I'm not sure I would object. I didn't ask for leadership. I don't like everyone staring at me, waiting for answers. 

'Here's the situation,' I begin.

I know there may be spies among us. Somebody betrayed our school to LIand sabotaged our security from the inside. That somebody may be on this deck. But I can't let that paralyze me. My classmates and I have been through a lot together over the last two years, and the last twenty-four hours. I'll keep trusting them until one of them gives me a solid reason not to.

Besides, we're observing radio silence now. Hewett confiscated all our cellphones after Tia checked them for tracking chips, and even if the phones weren't locked in a box in the captain's quarters there's no way anyone could get a signal this far out at sea. We've activated sonar and radar blocking and dynamic camouflage. We've swept the ship for secret transmitters. No one onboard should be able to share our location or our plans with the outside world. At least in theory ...

I tell the crew everything. Surprise, I'm descended from Captain Nemo, and so is Lisa. No, not the cartoon fish. Our zappy guns and other gold-level toys are based on Nemo's tech. Land Institute and Harding-Pencroft have been fighting a cold war over said tech for 150 years. Now that cold war has been turned upto a full boil. The mother lode of alt-tech, including the wreck of Nemo's sub, is supposedly at a secret HP base three days from our current position. If LI'ssub, the Aronnax, finds us in the meantime, we're fish food. Oh, and, by the way, Dr. Hewett is in a coma in the sick bay and needs immediate treatment.

'The way I see it,' I say, 'we have two options. We find this base, warn our people there and maybe get help against LI. That's what Hewett wanted. Or we turn back to California, report everything to the authorities, and hope they can handle it. Questions?'

 The group shifts uncomfortably. Everybody looks at everybody else, wondering who's going to speak first.

Solar raises her hand. 'So, you're in charge now, Jisoo?' She glances at Hwasa. 'And we're okay with that?' 

I try not to take this personally. Sharks are trained for command. According to school tradition, Hwasa should be calling the shots, not me.

I wonder if she'll call for a vote on the matter. I imagine she'd win, and honestly, I would be kind of relieved. Hwasa is competent and reliable. She's annoying that way.

She gives Solar a curt nod. 'The professor's orders were clear: find this base, no matter what. Jisoo has the mechanical genius,  Lisa's got good intuition, and their Nemo genes let them operate things we can't touch. I agree with Dr. Hewett. They're our best shot.'

 I face our classmates with what I hope is a calm I totally knew Hwasa would support us expression.

Sana holds up an index finger. 'You're assuming the base even exists. If Hewett was lying, we'll find ourselves in the middle of the Pacific with no supplies. He worked at LI, right? He could be our spy, sending us to our deaths.'

Always a sunbeam of optimism, that girl. But she raises valid points. There's some uneasy murmuring in the group. Nobody looks shocked by Sana's allegations. Rumors travel quickly.

 'The base is there,' Roseanne says.

She's kneeling next to Hank, picking bits of crusted sea salt off his furry ears. Roseanne doesn't speak loudly, but she gets everyone's attention.

 'You know this?' Lisa asks her.

'Not for sure.' She's still addressing Hank. 'Not because I'm a Harding or anything. If Dr. Hewett wanted us dead, there are easier ways than sending us to a make-believe island in the middle of the ocean. If Dr. Hewett is a spy, it's more likely he was using us to find this base. He would need Ana for that. Then he could sell us out to LI. Then they could kill us.'

 That cheerful idea hangs in the warm, wet air. The sea churns under our feet. Again, everyone is looking at me for answers.

I want to kick an LI upperclassman. I'm a week shy of 18 years old. Why do I have to be handling this crisis? I want to scream, This isn't fair! But I've been screaming that internally ever since my parents died, and it's done me no good. I've learned that the world doesn't care what is right for me. I have to make it care.

'Searching for the base is a risk,' I admit. I'm amazed my voice doesn't break. 'Our other option is to turn back. That's a risk, too. The Aronnax is somewhere in these waters, and we saw what it did to the school. We had a lot of ... a lot of friends on campus.'

 More than friends. I think of Taehyung's crooked grin. His early birthday gift to me and Lisa, my mother's black pearl, hangs heavily around my neck. I look at Wheein, whose sister was a sophomore. Wheein's watery red eyes are glaring holes in the deck boards. Jeongyeon, who had a brother in the junior class, trembles as she leans against Nayeon for support.

Yesterday was about shock, uncertainty, fear. Our world was shattered. Today, we have to figure out how to reassemble ourselves from the broken pieces.

 Some of us were literally shattered. Moonbyul's left shoulder is wrapped in gauze, her arm in a sling so she can't hold a rifle. For a Shark, that must be infuriating. Momo stands stiff and pale. Her shirt hides her bandages, but I remember the silver barb that hit her in the shoulder.

My fellow Cephalopod Chaeyoung leans on a crutch, her right leg in a gel cast from her encounter with a Leyden harpoon. She wipes her nose with a cloth handkerchief. She's not crying, she's just famous for her many allergies. Even on the open sea, she can find something that makes her sneeze.

 'This alt-tech ...' Jihyo squints sideways at me. 'You're saying it was HP's mission all along to safeguard this stuff. And none of us were told. Not even you?'

'Not even me,' I confirm. 'Until yesterday, I knew nothing.'

 I try not to let my eyes drift to Roseanne. I'm pretty sure she knew more than she was allowed to say, but I don't want to put her on the spot in front of everybody. Plus, I would like to not get killed by my sister.

Chaeryeong hefts her new Leyden pistol. 'And there are more surprises like this at the secret base?'

Chaeryeong's leg is still bandaged from the harpoon wound yesterday, but she doesn't seem bothered by it. If anything, she sounds anxious for a rematch with LI – preferably with bigger guns on our side next time.

 'Hewett said that Leyden weapons were the simple stuff,' Lisa recalls. 'He claimed Nemo's most complicated tech is still way beyond our best science. Our trials this weekend were supposed to be our first introduction.'

More grumbling in the ranks. Ah, yes, the good old days of twenty-four hours ago, when our biggest worry was passing the trials and staying at HP.

Tzuyu tugs at her hair. 'So even the seniors ... they knew all about this stuff, and they never breathed a word.'

I can tell nobody likes the idea that the seniors had important inside information. Twelfth graders were the worst.

 On the other hand, the secret of alt-tech does explain why they always looked at us so smugly. A lot of things make sense now. The tight security around Verne Hall. The armed guards. The gold-level crates.

I still can't believe Tae kept all these secrets from me ... about our family heritage, and especially about the circumstances of our parents' death. The more I think about it, though, the less angry I am. It just makes me sad that Taehyung had to carry that weight alone. I wish I could have helped him. Now he's gone ...

'We can't let them have it.' Jeongyeon's voice draws me out of my thoughts. She still looks shaky, like she's emerged from a three-day bout with the flu, but her expression is hard as iron. 'This base. It might be all we have left of HP. We can't let Land Institute take it. Or you two ... We can't let them have you, either.'

I get a lump in my throat. It would be so easy for Jeongyeon for all my classmates, to blame me for what has happened, given the fact that we're what Land Institute is after. Instead, I can sense the anger rippling through the group, and that anger isn't directed at me.

 'I call for a vote,' Hwasa announces. 'I say we give Jisoo and Lisa command. We follow their orders, work together and find this base. Then we make Land Institute pay for what they've done. All in favor?'

The vote is unanimous. Everybody raises a hand except Hank, and I like to think I have his moral support.

I swallow the metallic taste of fear. I've just been made acting main captain of a ship with a crew of twenty freshmen, a dog, a dolphin, and one comatose adult.

 I do not want that responsibility. Just because I'm descended from Nemo doesn't mean I'm main captain material. But my classmates need someone to rally behind, someone who will bring them better fortunes. Lisa is still too young so they've decided that someone is me. I glance at Lisa, who's standing between Jennie and Roseanne. Her face is neutral, but her eyes give her away. She's terrified. Next to her Jennie looks torn between comforting Lisa and Roseanne and running towards me. Roseanne balances Hank on one hand and Lisa's arm on the other. For them, for our lost friends, and especially for Tae, I have to try.

'I won't let you down.'

As soon as those words are out of my mouth, I think, How can I promise that?

 'Prefects, to the bridge with me,' I say, my legs shaking. 'Everyone else, to your assigned stations. We've got work to do!'

It's only seventy-two more hours, I tell myself.

Then we'll either find help at this secret base ... or we'll most likely die.