“Dead where they fell,” said Liam softly. “You saw the bodies on this ship. The zemdyut did the same thing on Obsidian. The residents made it easy for them, grouping in bunkers and safe zones.” He passed a hand over his face, looking much older now. “I always knew that was a bad idea. But no one listens to me.”

Dead. Every one of them dead, just like the people in the command center. I actually staggered, only Cage’s arm keeping me upright. I looked from Dad’s trembling resolve to Liam’s wilting defeat to Priya’s set jaw. “Dad, what are you doing?” I tried desperately. “You can’t mean this. You can’t—”

“Kenzie, do you have any idea what that alien tech means to Omnistellar?”

I saw red. “You are doing this for tech?”

“I’m doing it for Omnistellar! For the corporation that sheltered me, that sheltered you. Sweetheart, we hid how much trouble the company is in. We need this. Without some sort of advance, Omnistellar has maybe two, three years before the other corporations start to catch us. And what happens then? To me, to you, to the millions of people who depend on Omnistellar for their lives and well-being? Is that really what you want?”

“What about the people on Obsidian?”

“Your mother died for Omnistellar!” he snapped, then blinked, as if taken aback by his own reaction. Dad had left us before the alien attack. On some level I’d blamed him for that. Maybe he blamed himself too. Did that explain his renewed vigor for the company? “She died,” he repeated softly. “I thought you did too. It made me realize that without Omnistellar, I would never have had either of you at all. We owe the company everything, Kenz. Never forget that.”

“You can’t be serious,” I whispered. But then, my own mother was willing to kill me herself if it meant holding to Omnistellar regulations. At least my father had tried to save me, however misguided his methods. “Dad, please. Think about what you’re doing. That alien ship . . .”

“I know. It’s just like Matt told us. The other aliens are sleeping. All we have to do is get rid of them and their vessel is ours for the taking.” Like Liam, he avoided my eyes. “That’s what you did, isn’t it? We destroy this ship and its occupants, we destroy Obsidian, we take the alien tech.”

“You can’t fly it without Rune,” I replied stubbornly.

He shook his head. “Do you really think that girl is the only one of her kind? Omnistellar has many anomalies willing to work for them if it means a pardon.”

“Yeah,” said Mia dryly. “Until Omnistellar turns on them because they outlived their usefulness.”