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Five enemies left, scuffling with about ten of our crew who happened to be on deck at the time. Why would they attack us with so few? And where is Dr Hewett? He hasn’t yet followed us out from the bridge. Just as I was starting to believe he mightnot be a traitor, my trust pendulum swings back towardsextreme doubt.

I can’t tell much about our attackers. Dive masks and full hoods obscure their faces. Nevertheless, the Land Institute insignia is clearly emblazoned on the breast of each wetsuit: an old-fashioned harpoon in silver, its rope making a circle around the lettersLI.

Our attackers must be upperclassmen – they look taller and older than us, but not like adults. Land Institute surely has faculty trained in combat, armed security, adult alumni. If catching us is so important, why are they sending students? And, as nasty as those harpoon guns look, they don’t appear designed to kill. After destroying our entire school, why hesitate to use lethal force?

I wonder if this could be a ruse … some sort of training exercise. No. The destruction of HP was real enough.

But this whole thing smells fishy …

My hands are sweaty on the stock of the Leyden gun. I can’t get a clear shot. After what happened to Nelinha, I’m not going to fire randomly into the crowd with a weapon I don’t fully understand.

One attacker shoots Meadow Newman point-blank with a mini-harpoon Leyden pistol. She falls, electric sparks popping around her. Ester gets revenge by body-slamming the guy – Ester is an excellent defensive lineman – and the attacker goes down flailing. Top joins the party, clamping his jaws around the guy’s throat, which is absolutely a form of emotional support. If not for the strange bulletproof fabric of the dive hood, the guy would be Top’s lunch. As it is, he crab-walks backwards, screaming and trying to shake off the furious twenty-pound fluff demon attached to his windpipe.

This is too easy, I mutter to myself, though I doubt myunconscious classmates would agree. Six are now out of commission, some bleeding from nasty harpoon barbs.

Still, I feel like I’m missing something …

Perhaps Land Institute wasn’t expecting opposition. After destroying our school, maybe they thought they’d find a bunch of terrified freshmen who would plead for their lives. The four remaining attackers are holding their own, kicking, jabbing, using their greater size and strength, but it’s only a matter of time before we overwhelm them. Gem, Dru and Kiya keep their guns trained on the chaos, though I can tell from their postures even they are starting to relax. They think we’ve almost won.

LI planned this assault carefully. Their movements were synchronized. They made as flashy an entrance as they could on our starboard side. Why would they botch it? Unless …

‘Gem!’ I call.

He doesn’t seem to hear me. Between the gunfire, the ship’s engines and the residual ringing from the flash bangs, I’m not surprised. It’s enough noise to cover up almost anything. All three Sharks have eyes forward, keeping me behind them and facing the obvious threat.

Think like a Dolphin, I tell myself.Espionage, not frontal assault.

A thousand tiny crabs scuttle down my back.It’s a feint.

‘GEM!’ I yell again.

I start to turn, to check the port side of the boat, but I’m too slow. Maybe I’m still in shock from grief, or maybe I’m dazed from the grenades. I’ve only made it ninety degrees when someone behind me locks his forearm across my throat. I feel a sharp pain like a wasp sting in the side of my neck.

Terror washes through my veins along with whatever they’ve injected me with. The Leyden gun slips from my numb fingers.

I’ve been trained in a dozen ways to get out of a chokehold,but my knees turn to putty. My arms hang uselessly at my side. I can’t feel anything except the panic building in my chest. Off the port side of theVaruna, I can now see the pontoon my captor came in on. Another LI commando mans the outboard motor.

The Sharks are shouting now. At least I got their attention. Dru and Gem flank my captor, their guns raised. Kiya reaches the port rail first, notices the pontoon and immediately shoots at the guy on board. She hits the motor instead. The guy fires back, and Kiya collapses in a shimmering Tesla cage.

‘HOLD YOUR FIRE!’ my captor roars. ‘Or Ana Dakkar dies!’

He twists so his back is to the rail and I’m between him and the Sharks. He knows my name. Of course … I was the target all along. I don’t understand the motive, but this whole attack has been about capturing me.

Gem and Dru keep their Leyden guns trained on us. On the starboard side of the deck, the last LI commando goes down when Tia Romero smashes him in the groin with a fire extinguisher.

I lock eyes with Gemini Twain. I try to sayJust shoot us both, but my voice won’t work.

‘I wouldn’t,’ my captor warns Gem. ‘Maybe you didn’t notice the needle I’ve got at your friend’s neck. Nasty what you can make from sea-snake venom. She’ll survive, unless you freshmen get stupid with those Leyden guns. Shock me, you shock her. Thatreallywouldn’t be good for her nervous system right now.’

Slowly, Gem sets down his Leyden gun. Then, just as slowly, he draws his twin SIG Sauers. ‘How about I shoot you in the mouth instead?’ he suggests – calm and polite, as if he’s offering our guest a moist towelette. ‘Unless your face is bulletproof, too.’

Gem is an excellent marksman, but that doesn’t decrease my level of panic. My captor’s face happens to be right next to mine.

‘I don’t care how good a shot you are, Twain,’ my captor snarls. He knows Gem, too. He’s done his homework. ‘This needlewillgo into her neck. A second dose of sea-snake venom? Definitely fatal. I’m going over the side now, with Dakkar. And you’re going to let me.’

‘You’re just going to leave your friends behind?’ Gem flicks one of his gun barrels towards the pile of unconscious LI commandos now decorating our starboard deck. ‘How about we make a trade?’

My captor snorts. ‘Keep them. They did their job. This one, though?’ He tightens his grip on my throat. ‘None of us can afford to seeherget killed, can we?’