Hewett turns out to have only stunned Gem. He tells the students to camouflage the ship, and then Ana accuses Hewett of hiding the truth about Vernian technology from them. This is the true purpose of HP Academy, as Hewett explains—to guard the secrets of alt-tech—and keep it from falling into the hands of the Land Institute, which “would use alt-tech to dominate the world” (48). Before Ana can process this information, they fall under attack.

People in scuba suits burst out of the sea. The HP students fight back while Gem guards Ana. The attackers appear to be students, and Ana does not understand why they are attacking. She uses her Dolphin skills to think through their strategy and realizes that this attack is a feint: “LI planned this assault carefully. Their movements were synchronized” and planned to distract (53). Before she can do anything, an LI student catches her in a chokehold and pulls her over the edge before she can be rescued.

When Ana and her captor surface, she sees Gem and Hewett looking at them over the edge of the Varuna. Hewett recognizes her captor, a student from LI named Caleb. Caleb brings Ana aboard the LI ship, but Ana disables it by shooting the motor.