“I don’t know you,” she says. The words are somehow a statement, a question, and a threat all at once.

I swallow, fighting down nerves. As annoying as Corvus was back in that room with Altair, I know he was right. I can’t act antsy here, not if I want her to trust me. These people are eager to be suspicious if given half a reason. I find my mind wandering to Shey as an example of how to compose myself, though the mental image of her brings a surge of pain and betrayal with it. I square my shoulders and lift my chin as I press my fingers to my heart.

“My name is Scorpia Kaiser,” I say. “Eldest daughter of Auriga Kaiser, captain of the Fortuna and loyal supporter of the Interplanetist cause.”

“Kaiser.” Her eyes crinkle in recognition. “As in Sergeant Corvus Kaiser?”

It’s a strange feeling to hear my brother referred to in such a way, with a title I wouldn’t have known to call him, but I force a smile.

“The very one.”

“One of Altair’s favorites,” she says, with another knife’s edge of a smile. “I heard he had family off-world.”

“We all serve the cause in our own way.”

“True enough.” She studies me. “So your family knows General Altair, then. Why are you here instead of with him?”

“My mother is seeing him right now.” Better to slide in some slivers of truth when I can, lend more believability to the story. “He suggested you might be interested in a piece of our product as well.”

“Product?”

“Weapon.”

Now that catches her interest. Her eyes narrow into a calculating look, and she gestures to a nearby doorway.

“Let’s talk, then.”

After we sit, she pours us two drinks, as Titans customarily do. Vodka has never been my favorite, but I’m grateful for anything to take the edge off. I cast a glance around the room as I down it, trying to gather useful information, but it’s plastered with recruitment posters rather than anything personal to Ives. The room is warm enough that I take off my outer coat for the first time since leaving the ship, draping the fabric over the back of my chair.

On Titan, as soon as the drinks are finished, small talk is over and business begins. So I jump straight into it.

I take a deep breath, put on my best saleswoman smile, and pull the vial out of my pocket. I hold it up to the light, illuminating the shimmering liquid inside it. Ives leans back in her chair, eyes following the vial’s movement, expression impossible to read.