I stay silent, not trusting myself to speak. Part of me wants to reach out for her, tell her I’m sorry, that I’m on her side—but I can’t right now. She seems on the verge of eruption, and we can’t afford to have her make a scene with the general on the other side of this door. Once this deal is secure, once we have a moment alone without Momma, then we can go back to the way things used to be. It’ll be us against the world again.

“Great,” Scorpia mutters. “Just great. The golden boy’s back, so who gives a fuck about me, right?”

Before I can even think about responding, she lets out a huff, turns her back, and storms off. I watch her go, guilt heavy in my stomach—but I have no other choice. I need to be what Momma wants me to be, at least until I’m safely off this planet. Then… then I’ll try to fix everything.

Altair and Momma are still seated in the negotiations room when I reenter. At Momma’s gesture, I set the cargo beside her and sit on the sidelines. I can’t stop thinking about the look on Scorpia’s face when I told her to go, but I push down my guilt as far as I can manage. This situation is just as dangerous as the war, and just like in battle, there’s no room for emotions here.

“First things first,” Momma says. “Let’s see what you have.”

“Very well.” Altair reaches under his desk and pulls out a metal box of his own. He sets it on the desk between them and carefully removes the top. I suppress a gasp as I recognize the faint glow emanating from within.

The power source. The heart of the alien ship. The very thing I worked so hard to bring him. He’s trading it for some alien weapon? Though I know it’s unreasonable, somehow this deal feels like a betrayal, both to me and to the general I thought Altair was.

Then again, the fault is my own as well. I never asked what the power source was for. I never even thought to ask. I just followed orders, as always. As I’m doing now.

“Beautiful,” Momma murmurs, leaning over to peer into the depths of the box. “President Leonis will be pleased.”

President Leonis? Somehow, the more I learn about this deal, the more confused I become.

Altair replaces the box’s top and nods to her.

“Now, show me what you’ve brought.”