Chapter 15 Summary, Key Events, and Analysis
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
The chapter opens in the immediate aftermath of the battle. Mickey swings through the rover's hatch and finds Speaker crouched over Nasha, who is sprawled on the deck in a pool of blood. Mickey, panicking, orders Speaker away and drops his weapon to kneel beside her. He finds her pulse—rapid and weak—but his mind goes blank at the sight of the blood. Cat takes over, carefully examining Nasha's neck and head. She determines the wound is mostly superficial—head wounds bleed heavily but clot quickly—and dresses it with supplies from Lucas's first-aid kit. Cat then checks Nasha's pupils and reports that while Nasha is not dead and her neck is not broken, she is concussed and possibly has a subdural hematoma or brain bleed. Lucas explains that without a surgical suite, there is nothing they can do; Nasha will either come around on her own or she won't. Mickey hyperventilates, and Lucas guides him to a bench, telling him to get it together.
As Jamie navigates the rover down off the ridge, Mickey confronts Speaker about his earlier claim that the spiders would never give up. Speaker insists he did not lie and did not misjudge—he says the spiders retreated to consider their options and will certainly return, and that when they do, there will be no more negotiating. He warns that if the spiders breach the rover, they will kill everyone, his nest will get nothing, and the southern faction will likely displace them and then dismantle the dome for its metal. The cabin falls silent.
After sunset, they rendezvous with Berto on a flat stretch between two ridges. Berto asks about Nasha, and Mickey admits she is alive but unresponsive. Berto asks if Mickey wants to turn back; Mickey says he does, but they can't, because if they don't recover the bomb everyone is doomed anyway, including Nasha. He tells Berto his plan is to keep it together until the mission is done, then completely lose his mind unless Nasha wakes up. Berto reveals that he saw how Nasha reacted every time Mickey went down in the past. He also apologizes for dropping his first round too close to Mickey, showing a gouge in the rover's armor. Mickey, though his initial words come out bitter, quickly clarifies that Berto saved them all and that he doesn't blame him for Nasha's injury. Berto mutters something Mickey doesn't catch until later: