“You know what they teach us in the service?” I ask the girl. “That if we catch someone stealing, we should take a finger. And if they’re already missing a finger…” I grab her free hand and yank back the sleeve, revealing a hand with four fingers and one stump. “Then we should take the whole hand.”

The girl’s eyes find the brand on my wrist and go round with fear.

“I didn’t know,” she babbles. “I didn’t know she was with you. She looks like an off-worlder. If I knew she was with a soldier, I would never have done it!”

“Corvus,” Scorpia hisses, staring at me. I ignore her, biting back frustration. I know that she must see her own younger self in this girl—as I often did when I first came here—but she doesn’t get it. Things are different here. This kid needs to learn, now, or she’ll get a much harder lesson next time she tries this shit. Most people won’t be as forgiving as me. The last one already wasn’t.

“You’re lucky my sister has a soft spot for strays,” I say to the girl. “Watch yourself.”

I release her. She’s gone in a blink, scurrying off into the shadowy alleys outside of the main street’s light. Even after I let her go, Scorpia keeps staring at me, her eyes flickering over my face like she can’t believe what she sees there. I turn to her, waiting for her to say whatever it is she wants to say to me. But she merely shakes her head and pushes past me to stand by Momma.

“Enough fucking around, we have a meeting to make,” Momma says, and continues walking with Scorpia beside her. I follow after her, this time keeping one eye on the streets around us and the people who occupy them.

We meet General Altair at a squat gray building in a dim corner of the city. It’s unmarked and windowless, but the small cluster of soldiers standing at attention outside makes its purpose clear enough.

“We’re selling to the military?” Scorpia asks. I shoot her a sidelong glance, again surprised that she’s so interested in business affairs, but her expression is more uneasy than curious.

Momma lets out a dry laugh.

“Who the hell else would I sell to on this rock?” she asks, and heads inside. I follow her, swallowing the apprehension in my throat, and Scorpia trudges after us.

Altair waits in the lobby, looking as composed as ever in his uniform. I salute him without a second thought as I approach, and Momma mirrors the motion. Scorpia does the same a half second later. Rather than speak here, the general instructs us to leave the cargo behind the desk for security reasons, and he and two other soldiers escort us upstairs.