His image leaned forward as if he gripped the edge of the table, his face almost purple in rage. “You’re alive,” he snarled. “You’re alive, and you didn’t think to tell me? You didn’t think that maybe, maybe, that was something I would want to know? You let me believe you’d been blown up on Sanctuary along with your mother and Rita, and instead you’ve been gallivanting around the solar system with a bunch of anomalous hoodlums? What in the name of Omnistellar were you thinking?”

I’d recovered my composure after my initial shock, or at least hidden it beneath my Omnistellar-trained exterior, but I’d never seen my father so angry before. My mom was always the disciplinarian, the set-in-her-ways Omnistellar soldier. My dad, while true to the company’s beliefs and ideas, was content to sweep along in her wake, giving me the occasional wink or smile when her discipline became too rigid. They’d each had their roles, served Omnistellar in their own ways, and been content in the system. Or so I’d thought. A lot of things weren’t as they’d seemed. After all, if Dad was so happy, why had he left in the first place?

I resisted the urge to shout that the only reason the prisoners’ escape plan worked was because Dad wasn’t on station. Deep down, I knew his presence wouldn’t have changed anything, except maybe gotten him killed too. “My comm device ran out of batteries,” I said, which wasn’t exactly a lie. It currently sat dead in its hollow at my wrist. It had taken three days for that to happen, though. “How much do you know?” I continued, forcing my voice to be calm as I reclaimed my seat.

My composure seemed to startle him. I took a certain amount of vindictive pleasure in that. Even though part of me was so glad to see him I could cry, a lot of me burned with resentment and anger. I struggled not to let either side gain control. Right now, this wasn’t my dad. It was an Omnistellar official. Destroying the alien beacon was my top priority. It had to be or getting answers from my father would suddenly become a moot point.

“Mars Mining contacted Omnistellar,” he said at last, his voice slightly more modulated. “They told us everything.”

Hope surged within me. “Then you know about the aliens,” I said. “Dad. Listen to me. They have to destroy the alien ship. Whatever it takes. You have to convince them, convince Omnistellar—”

But he was already shaking his head. “Kenzie, that ship might hold the answer to defeating those things if they make another appearance. Omnistellar is working with Silver Sun Maltech. They’re the top scientists in the field. Silver Sun will shut down the signal. I promise.”

“If Rune couldn’t do it, no scientist will.”