“Go on.”

Her smile widens, verging on manic.

“So, last time we talked, we decided going to Gaia was our best option,” she says. “The problem was how to land on Gaia without being instantly killed, and we still don’t have a solution to that. But!” She raises a finger dramatically. “As Lyre told me this morning, Leonis isn’t going to be on Gaia by the time we get to that part of the system, anyway. She’s going to be on Deva, where the leaders of all the planets are meeting to discuss the fate of Titan.”

Suspicion nudges me. Neither Lyre nor Scorpia shared this information with me before now. They’ve been talking together, without me. I glance at Lyre, but her eyes remain on Scorpia.

“You think we can land on Gaia while she’s absent?” I ask, unwilling to be completely cut out of this conversation.

“No, no. I’m sure she’s given orders to shoot us on sight. But we can land on Deva, and we might be able to get to Leonis there. She won’t be expecting us.”

“We could also get to the other planetary leaders.” Hope sparks inside me. I’m not sure why Scorpia is fixated on Leonis when there are so many other opportunities. “We can go in front of the council, testify about what happened on Titan. We have the vial as proof—”

“No,” Scorpia says. The interruption sends a wave of anger through me; I’m not used to being cut off. But I bite my tongue, letting her speak. Quarreling will help no one. “First of all, that plan hinges on the other leaders actually believing us, which is unlikely. Who’s gonna trust a bunch of criminal off-worlders?” She glances around the room. “Like Momma always said, they’re never gonna accept us. We’ve only got each other. Right now, Pol needs us, and the person with the best shot at saving him is Leonis.”

“The woman who just eliminated an entire planet’s worth of people,” I say slowly, wanting to make sure she understands what she’s saying. When she suggested going to Gaia, I never imagined she meant negotiating directly with President Leonis. We’ve seen where deals with her lead.

“You know, I’ve also been thinking about why that is.” She walks as she talks, pacing the length of the table. All eyes follow her. “There was some weird shit happening on Gaia last time we were there. Dead crops, et cetera. And food has always been Gaia’s major problem. So why would Leonis make a move against Titan? Titans don’t have much to eat, either. But they do have one thing going for them.”

“Ice?” Drom suggests flatly.

“Aside from that.” Scorpia smiles at her, but she doesn’t return it.

“Raw materials,” I murmur, thinking back on Altair’s plan to escape Titan. “Enough to build a fleet.”