As suddenly as it had started, the ship ground to a halt. Rune flew forward and took me with her. Just in time, I jerked my hands around her so her head collided with my palms instead of the console. Pain shot through me at the impact, and the recoil threw me to my knees.

I braced for the next assault, but we weren’t moving.

And neither was Rune.

FOUR

“RUNE!” I SHOUTED. CAGE WAS at my side in an instant. Rune slumped over the console. Together, Cage and I half lifted her, but her arms remained embedded in the circuitry. I pulled on her waist, but I didn’t see any give, and I was afraid I’d hurt her if I kept tugging. She threw her head back against my shoulder and moaned around a mouthful of blood.

“Rune,” I repeated, this time in relief. She was alive. “Can you hear me?”

“Meimei.” Cage caught her chin and gently turned her face, examining her for injuries. “Open your eyes.”

She groaned, louder this time, and shifted, taking her own weight. As her eyes fluttered open, a familiar voice crackled over the comms, that obnoxious sarcastic inflection back in place: “That was quite the landing.”

Lord, give me strength. “Strangely enough, our alien ship didn’t come with an instruction manual. Our deal still in place?”

“Affirmative. You surrender yourselves and we destroy your ship. I’m sending an armed contingent to meet you now. I don’t suppose I have to tell you they’re prepared to use lethal force if you deviate from our arrangement?”

“I assumed as much.” The other corporations might not have Omnistellar’s total dedication to the idea of anomalies as monsters, but no one in the solar system viewed us with much trust.

Us. That still sounded strange. After seventeen years of regarding myself as an elite prison guard ready to take down dangerous anomalies at the drop of a hat, shifting allegiances so quickly hadn’t caught up to me. It still kept surprising me at inopportune moments—like this one. I glanced down over my tattered guard uniform and zipped my hoodie, hiding the shame of my former identity.

We met everyone near the airlock. Alexei, Mia, and Reed were near the front, their expressions determined. “Where’s Anya?” I asked. I wanted to make sure our youngest charge was well back from danger.

“Imani has her. She’ll make sure she gets to safety.”

I glanced over the assembled faces, all weaker and more exhausted than three weeks ago, but somehow livelier, too, as if their taste of freedom strengthened their resolve. Even Kristin, Rune’s old cellmate and not my biggest fan, forbore giving me her usual disdainful glare. “All right,” I said, raising my voice. “You all know the plan. Rune, Cage, and I will give ourselves up. While we have the guards’ attention, Alexei and Mia will create a distraction. Reed is familiar with Mars, so follow him. He’ll get you off the station and to safety. Anyone willing to risk recapture to make sure this ship gets destroyed, stick with Reed. The rest of you scatter. Go to ground and don’t come out.”