He frowned a little deeper, biting his lip. How grim were things here, exactly?

"Hey. Is there a little girl on this ship?" he asked, quite suddenly and out of nowhere. "She's, uh... she's 10, and about this tall... or maybe this tall. She was about here when I last saw her. Brown hair and brown eyes?" He moved his hands to try to indicate the correct height, then frowned worriedly as he waited for his answer.