Before I could follow that train of thought to its disturbing conclusion, they emerged from the room, clean and dressed. “Food!” said Mia brightly, as if I hadn’t shouted that at her a few minutes before. She dove for the table and stacked items seemingly at random on a plate, Alexei right behind her.

“All right,” I said, fighting to keep my voice calm and unemotional, to put Matt and the aliens and my father behind me. “Now that everyone’s here, can we please figure out how we’re going to get into a Mars Mining facility and destroy an alien spaceship that everyone is watching?”

*  *  *

An hour later, I sat at the window in my darkened bedroom and stared at the bustle of tourists below. “We’re all going to die,” I said.

“Probably.” Cage settled himself awkwardly beside me, and we gawked at Mars’s bright lights. After a moment, he asked, “Have you ever been on another planet before?”

“No. You?”

“Once or twice. We worked some jobs on Mars.”

That was a natural opening, but the words stuck in my throat. I wrapped my arms around my legs and leaned against the wall, staring out. Somehow, the sea of people below gave everything a distant feel, and I found the courage to say, “Cage. Back on the ship, you told Rune you’d killed for her before.”

He was quiet for a long time. “Yeah,” he said at last, very softly.

“What did . . . I mean . . .”

I watched his reflection as he sighed, raking his hands through his hair. “I don’t know what to tell you, Kenz. Rune and I did dangerous operations for dangerous people. Sometimes guards came at me and the only way to keep myself safe, to keep Rune safe, was to take them out.”

“How many?”

“I don’t know.”

I laughed, choking on the sound. “You’re serious? You’ve killed so many people you can’t even count them?”

“That’s not what I meant.” A sharp edge entered his voice, and he leaned into my field of vision. His face sank in shifting shadows, the tendons on his neck standing out with tension. Talking about this wasn’t easy for him. “Real battles aren’t like training. You don’t always know what’s going on. Everything’s dark and chaotic. Sometimes I knew I’d killed someone. Sometimes I was sure I hadn’t. Often I simply didn’t know. I’d knock someone down and they’d bang their head and I could only hope they’d be all right. I didn’t have time to stop and check. Not if I wanted to get myself and my sister out alive.”

I retreated as far as the window seat allowed. Cage’s words made sense, and I got it. I could understand how circumstances might make things difficult. But to not even notice that you’d flat-out killed another human being? “I might not have been in any real battles, but I’m pretty sure I’d notice if I killed someone.” I heard the edge in my voice, raging just outside my control. I’d always reacted poorly to anything that felt like condescension. I didn’t mean to do it now, but I couldn’t seem to break the habit. And besides, it was true. I still remembered stumbling over to Matt, the blood soaking his shirt, his sightless, staring eyes.