I couldn’t hear anything over the ringing in my ears and said so. Rune shot to her feet and paced to the bars, craning her neck and pressing her face against them, tilting her head at what looked like an uncomfortable angle. “What is it?” I demanded. She didn’t answer, just flapped her hand at me behind her back. I wasn’t sure whether she was telling me to shut up or to come look. I chose the latter, struggling to my feet and crossing the room. My legs bore my weight, even if my muscles shook. Cage hovered behind me, ready to catch me if I collapsed, although he didn’t move to support me. I appreciated both gestures.

We joined her at the bars, and I grasped them to keep myself upright, straining to hear around the ringing. I wasn’t used to being out of the loop. In training, I’d always been on top of things, and as much as I was coming to hate Omnistellar, I missed that feeling. “Cage, do you hear it?”

He frowned. “Maybe. I don’t—”

The exterior wall of the corridor flew apart in a deafening cascade of metal and wire. The three of us dove for cover instinctively, even though the destroyed wall was a good fifty feet away. We landed at the rear of the cell and stared in mutual disbelief at the resulting disaster.

Mia’s face shimmered into view outside the bars. Rune yelped, and I swore. “Which way’s the exit?” she demanded without preamble.

“Th-that way,” stammered Rune, pointing.

Mia bolted down the corridor, leaving us still trapped. “Great,” I called after her. “Thanks.”

But the words had barely left my mouth before Alexei jogged into sight. “Rune, the cells are locked electronically. Open yours.”

“The dampening field . . . ,” I began before realizing I’d just seen Mia use her powers.

Rune seemed to catch on at the same moment. She shoved her hand through the cell door, and a moment later it popped open.

We ran into the hall to find Imani clutching a stun gun of her own. I resisted the urge to hug her, settling for a wide grin, which she returned. I’d known that whatever happened, Imani and probably Reed would return for us. I hadn’t been certain about anyone else, not even Alexei, because if Mia decided to turn her back on us, nothing in the world would tear him from her side.

But Alexei was here and so was Mia, jammed against the far door as if she could keep it closed through sheer force of will. A tall, stocky boy I vaguely remembered from the ship stood beside her. He braced himself with his feet and arms spread wide, his hands directed toward the massive hole I assumed he’d blown in the wall. Now he held it shut with a mishmash of debris. “Quick!” he shouted when he saw Rune. “Disrupt the other locks before—”