I shrugged. “If you want. You’re not on your own, Matt. You don’t have to forgive us. You don’t even have to like us. But if you need us, we’ll be here for you.”

“Look, let’s just . . . let’s get through this, okay?” He bit his lip, clearly shaken, and something in me jostled loose. Whatever Omnistellar had done to him, they hadn’t destroyed him. And that meant that neither had I. “We can talk about it on the other side.”

I appreciated his confidence that there would be another side. “Deal.”

“Will you two shut up?” hissed Priya over her shoulder.

We shut up. But I felt better. Whatever happened, whatever he’d been through, the Matt I knew lingered beneath the new facade. It gave me hope that everything would be okay, that we’d find the others, save my dad, get off this ship alive. How, I didn’t know. There had to be shuttles. Where had the aliens come in? Maybe we could escape the same way.

We reached the opposite side of the med facility without incident. Priya and Hallam carefully eased the door open and, finding the hall empty, beckoned us through. All four of us crowded onto the circular lift, although Hallam had to lean against Priya and angle his gun upward to make it fit inside the tube. We ascended in the same total silence, even without risk of the aliens hearing us. In the enclosed space, our lights seemed intensely bright. I closed my eyes against them, not wanting to have to readjust to the darkness when we arrived at the top.

The disc settled into place, and I opened my eyes. The upper corridor looked exactly as I’d left it. “Where’s the armory?” Priya murmured.

“Opposite corner.” As far from us as possible. “My dad’s in an office right down the hall.” I knew we needed to get to Reed fast, but it had been a long time since I’d left Dad. I kept seeing him in vivid detail, limp against the carpet. “Can we check on him? Make sure he’s stable before we find the others?”

Priya hesitated, exchanging glances with Hallam, then nodded to me to take the lead. She stayed right on my heels, and for once I appreciated her presence. Legion had an imposing, competent air that made me feel we might have a chance.

Of course, they’d already lost two of their members. That was worth remembering. Who else was dead? I spared a thought for Obsidian. Alexei’s uncle Grigori, Cage’s contact and her people, the little girl I’d seen in the marketplace, Liam . . . was everyone on the station gone? Horror raced through me as I imagined their last moments, especially Liam’s. I’d never figured out who he was or what he wanted, but the aliens were his worst nightmare come to life. If he had died, I hoped it was quick. If he hadn’t, I hoped he’d escaped, no matter what he’d done to us.