A glimmer of something human passed over his expression again. Hope surged inside me. Maybe I could reach him after all. But his next words could have come from the Omnistellar training manual. “If there had been a way to help them, we would have. But it’s too late. They’ve grown up in that place, surrounded by criminals, and . . . well, every war has some casualties, sweetheart.” He spoke that last part in barely a whisper, not daring to meet my eyes.

I reeled. “Is that what you believe? Or what Omnistellar told you?”

“There’s no difference. You knew that once.”

He’d dug in to the Omnistellar line. I changed tactics. “Since when do you have the authority to order teams of hunters, anyway?”

Dad shrugged. “As the only ranking individual who’d had contact with the fugitives—which includes you now, by the way—who else would they put in charge of this mission?”

I felt like I was going to be sick. “You have no idea what you’ve unleashed.”

“Of course we do. The aliens cleared out Obsidian, or most of it, anyway. We’re going to flood the station with powerful gas. Hopefully we can reclaim Obsidian, but if not, we’ll destroy the place. There will be no one to blame once news of the alien attack leaks. You don’t have to worry. We’re perfectly safe. Omnistellar won’t let those things near Earth, near any human settlement. After that, we take their ship, just like you did.” He sighed and turned his back to me, his shoulders taut beneath his uniform. “Look, I get how this sounds. But that’s why you were a junior guard. You’re not old enough to understand the complexities of how corporations work, of the sacrifices we sometimes need to make for the greater good. I need you to trust me here. That’s all I’m asking.”

I shook my head, betrayal warring with the need to speak, to reach him. “Trust you? This is the most ridiculous idea I’ve ever heard. You are connected to Obsidian. Those things rip through the hulls of spaceships. Nothing is going to stop them.”

“We learned from what Matt told us, Kenzie. This ship was originally designed for high-security covert operations. The entire hull is outfitted with triple-reinforced steel and electric shields. Nothing gets through here without a blowtorch. It’s—”

The ship heaved violently, and the chair lurched beneath me, throwing me to the floor. My bound elbows hit the carpet, skidding and shredding skin on the industrial fibers until I smashed into the side of the table. The world spun, and the room plunged into darkness.

THIRTY-SIX

“DAD!” I SHOUTED. “DAD, ARE you there?”