OU’VE GOT TO quit just thinking about yourself!” I said as Angel stuck out her bottom lip and crossed her arms over her chest.

And you’ve got to start paying more attention to her,said the Voice.And to what she’s saying .

“Oh, like I don’t already?” I snapped aloud, then saw Angel’s look of confusion. I shook my head. “Never mind. But I was worried sick while you were out there!”

“You’re worrying about the wrong things, Max,” said Angel. “You should be trying to breathe under water and taking care of yourself. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“It’s my job to worry about you!” I said, shocked. “It always has been!” Angel had been about two

years old when Jeb kidnapped us from the School. He hadn’t known what to do with her. Guess who took care of her night and day? And every day since then? Right.Moi .

Angel looked sad. “We’re family, Max. I’m not a job.”

“That’s not what I mean, and you know it,” I said.

“Okay, let’s break it up,” said Fang from behind me, making me jump. I hadn’t heard him come in, as usual. “Angel, you’re still a little kid, and Max is the leader. Don’t forget that.”

Angel looked chastised. “Well, I’m going to go get into some dry clothes. Come on, Total. Let me tell you about everything I saw out there.”

“Could we talk about something else?” said Total, as he trotted after her, jumping over the door’s threshold. “Like, modern art? Or my latest issue ofWine Spectator magazine? Fish and me—we don’t mix. It really seems more like a feline thing.”

I watched them go, thinking for the millionth time that things had been so much easier when it had been just the six of us, on our own.

“You handled that really well, Fang,” said—you guessed it—Brigid. I tried not to gag as she patted his arm approvingly. Fang shot me a smug look over her shoulder, knowing it would make my blood pressure rise. I thought about the last time he’d made my blood pressure rise (in a completely different way) and felt a warm flush stain my cheeks.

I looked at Fang. “Can we have a meeting? With the flock?”

He nodded.

“That’s a good idea,” Brigid said. “I’d like to ask you—“

“This is flock business,” I said abruptly.

Brigid looked taken aback. “But we’re all a team.”

“Yes,” I said. “And I really, really appreciate everyone’s help in finding my mom. But some things are still just for the flock. It’s always been that way, and it’ll always be that way. ‘Cause when it comes right down to it, there’s us six, and no one else is like we are.”

Disappointed, Brigid nodded. Fang and I headed down to our little bunk room. We opened the door and found a typical scene: Angel and Total were curled up on a bunk (the sailors called them “racks”), looking at Total’s issue ofWine Spectator . Nudge had deconstructed her small khaki uniform and was holding a needle and thread as she turned it into something that didn’t offend her fashion sensibilities.

As soon as I walked in, Gazzy stuffed something behind a pillow, and Iggy put on his oh-so-obvious “innocent” face, which immediately set off all alarms.

“Max!” said Nudge happily. “Look! I took off the collar and changed the neckline. Once I move the buttons, it’ll be so much cuter.”

I wanted to say, “It’ll still be khaki,” but didn’t want to rain on her fashion parade. My eyes were riveted

on telltale wires sticking out from beneath Gazzy’s pillow.

“Gazzy, I swear to God, if you’ve stolen a nuclear device, I will—“

“It’s not nuclear!” he insisted.

I sat down on the lowest narrow rack and pushed my hair out of my face, trying to figure out what to say. I am excellent at giving orders and barking out commands. I am not so good with the touchy-feely, “let’s connect” kind of stuff. But a leader has to press on sometimes, even with things she doesn’t like. It’s all part of the leaderly gig.

“Guys,” I began gently. So far, so good. “I feel like we’ve gotten off track.”

“What do you mean, Max?” Nudge’s eyes were wide.

“We’ve been hanging with the navy for days now, and we’re not any closer to rescuing my mom. It made sense to hook up with them, at first, but now I wonder if they have any real plans. I’m thinking—well, I’m thinking that I want to give them another twelve hours. And if we haven’t made real progress, if we’re not any closer to rescuing my mom, then I think we should ditch ‘em and head out on our own.”

Six pairs of eyes looked at me. Did they still trust me? Did they want to follow what the grown-ups said? Was I going to be in this all by myself?

My throat felt tight as I waited.

Then Fang put out his right fist. Nudge put hers on top, quickly. Then Gazzy, Angel, Iggy, and finally, Total put his paw at the top.

“One for all and all for one,” said Fang, as my heart filled up. “That was in some movie.”

I put my fist on top of Total’s paw, my smile so wide my cheeks ached.

“Thanks, guys,” I said. “Now, let’s see if we can get this show on the road.”

And of course it was at that very moment that we felt a hugecrunch and were jolted so hard we fell off our racks, and the lights went out.