Including the alien vial. I’m all too aware of the devastating power we brought to Deva. I’m leaving it on Fortuna, since no one has any reason to search our ship as long as we avoid too much attention, and I’m not too keen on carrying it around when we have no idea how this will go. But we can’t afford to let anyone stay to watch it. Lyre’s our ticket on-planet, Drom’s muscle is a necessity in a place like this, and—as much as it pains me to admit—I just don’t trust Corvus with it. He seems like a ticking time bomb lately, and I want to keep an eye on him.

Once Lyre helps me with some half-assed makeup, we open the ramp, letting in a wave of heat and moisture. The landing zone is lined with freshly cut jungle, its edges expanded to allow for many more ships than usual for the Interplanetary Council. The thick black foliage surrounding the area seems hungry, like it’s waiting for its chance to retake the clearing.

It’s hard not to gawk as we step into the landing zone. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many ships in one place. Scarce as travelers like us are these days, it’s easy to forget how impressive spacecrafts can get. There are enough to outnumber the drones. Even aside from the official government vessels, I suspect anyone with any way to access Deva is eager to be here for the show. The landing zone holds everything from a transport ship so blocky and angular it must be Gaian, to a flat, disklike vessel I suspect is of Nibiran design. Thankfully, I don’t spot the familiar ungainly bulk of the Red Baron anywhere among them. We have more than enough on our plate without the pirates interfering.

The landing zone has extra security patrols, and the customs agents seem tense. But they relax once Lyre shows them her proof of citizenship and the ship’s registration. While she talks to them, my eyes snag on a television screen in one corner of the room. I frown as I read the words scrolling across it: Record-breaking storm on Gaia leads to multiple casualties. President Leonis remains silent on third fatal weather event this week.

Shock fills me as the words sink in. Gaia’s weather is usually mild, and I can’t imagine a storm intense enough to kill people on such an organized, high-tech planet. What the hell is happening over there? I think about everything I’ve already put together about Leonis’s plan. Is it all linked somehow? Intuition tells me yes, but how could natural disasters be related to everything else? There was strange weather on Gaia while I was there, too, but nothing like this. Perhaps the storms are what ruined the crop fields, making Leonis desperate enough to attack Titan…