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grown-ups are in the ship. Mrs. Rostov isn’t doing great.”
    The oldest of the adults was Inga Rostov, who had taught sewing and tailoring in the old camp. During the crash she’d banged her head, and since then she’d been sleeping a lot. Way too much, but none of the other survivors were doctors. No one knew what to do for her other than to make her comfortable.
    Milo looked at Shark. “She’s not going to . . . you know . . . ?”
    Shark wouldn’t meet his eyes. “All I know is that I overheard Mr. Campos tell Barnaby to prepare for the worst. I can’t think of any way that is good news.”
    â€œThis is so wrong,” growled Milo, balling his hands into fists. “If we had a medic or if . . .”
    His voice trailed off. They both knew what he had been going to say.
    Or if Mom was here .
    All the camp’s soldiers were trained in first aid, and many of them had really advanced skills when it came to battlefield injuries. It was crucial in this terrible new world for everyone to possess skills that went beyond personal survival. The real fight was keeping the human species alive.
    The kids in the training pods all knew first aid. Milo, Shark, and their friends could set a broken bone, stitch a cut, immobilize someone with a spinal injury, and more. They knew which plants were medicinal, and they knew how to use spiderwebs and certain kinds of moss as natural antibiotics. But Mrs. Rostov’s injuries were beyond that level of skill. There was something wrong inside her head, possibly a skull fracture or brain injury, and all the portable diagnostic equipment had been destroyed in the attack on the camp. It was heartbreaking and frustrating in equal parts.
    â€œWhat’s freaking me out,” said Shark, “I mean, apart from everything else,is that the grown-ups aren’t helping much. They stay in the ship all the time and they don’t even try to tell us what to do.”
    â€œI know.” They both looked at the ship for a long time, as if they could see the adults inside.
    Shark said, “I always hated it when Aunt Jenny or anyone told me what to do, but right now I’d be okay with someone telling me to wash behind my ears or tucking me in at night. And if you make a joke I will punch the snot out of you.”
    â€œNo,” said Milo, “I feel the same way. I guess not everyone who’s grown up can handle stuff.”
    â€œYeah. None of the old folks are trained fighters, either.”
    â€œWe have to find my mom and your aunt Jenny,” said Milo decisively.
    â€œYeah, we do,” said Shark. “I’m open to suggestions.”
    â€œWell . . . ,” said Milo slowly, “first we need to finish fixing the ship and—”
    â€œYeah, yeah, yeah. Fix the ship and go look for them. I don’t want to be a party pooper, Milo, but have you really thought that through?”
    â€œI don’t want to hear it. Barnaby’s wrong.”
    The truth was that from the beginning, Barnaby Guidry had outlined why using the Huntsman’s ship to search for the soldiers was a bad idea. Shark said it anyway, ticking the items off on his thick fingers.
    â€œThe Bugs are looking for the ship,” he began, “and I’m pretty sure they’regoing to shoot it the heck down as soon as we take off.”
    â€œYeah, but—”
    â€œAunt Jenny and your mom don’t know we have it, so as soon as they see it they’ll hide. And they’re really, really, really good at hiding.”
    â€œSure, but—”
    â€œWe don’t know where the soldiers are.”
    â€œI know, but—”
    â€œAnd since we’ve stolen the crystal egg, crippled one hive ship, and nearly killed the Huntsman, the entire Swarm is going to be on the alert. We’re better off not using the ship. In fact, we should hide it, strip out as much tech as we can, and go