“Stop making such a racket, you stupid off-worlder,” she snaps, bringing out her other hand from behind her back and revealing the blaster clutched in it. “You do realize I have a camera on that entrance?”

“Sorry,” I say, holding my hands out in an exaggerated apology and trying to hide a smile.

“Where’s the rest of the rabble?” she asks, scowling.

I blink.

“The rest?” She stares at me like I’m a complete imbecile. As I stare back, the truth sinks in and settles into a cold lump in my stomach. “My siblings aren’t here?”

She presses her lips into a thin line and shakes her head.

“They left with the cargo an hour ago.”

I force down a mouthful of curses. No need to panic quite yet.

“Did my mother come by?” I ask, hoping against hope. She shakes her head, and my heart sinks.

I turn to the door, picturing the empty streets of the locked-down city outside, all the paranoid Gaians hiding in their homes, the law enforcement patrols looking for anyone out of place—and somewhere, my siblings, carrying enough class-one contraband to get them the death sentence several times over.

And the Gaians will be looking for them, I realize for the first time since my arrest. It should have occurred to me much sooner, which makes guilt jab me right alongside fear. When Commander Zinne took me in, she knew my name. She knew which ship I arrived on. My arrest would have cast suspicion on the whole family. If they find them and search our shipment, my siblings will be thrown into cells just like I was. Or maybe they’ll be shot, now that I’ve been declared an even worse security threat than before.

“Damn it,” I whisper. If only they had stayed put. It’s been an awfully long day already, and I’d really love to guzzle half a bottle of whiskey, drop into bed, and sleep for at least twelve hours. But my siblings are out there, and likely stuck knee-deep in a mess of my own creation. So I have to go out. The city may be on lockdown because of me, and the enforcer patrols no doubt have my face on file, but my siblings are counting on me.

I sigh, roll my shoulders back, and glance at Thudana. My gaze travels down to the blaster in her hand.

“How much to borrow your gun for a few hours?” I ask.

CHAPTER TEN

The Objective

Corvus

I launch out of the ship and into a whirlwind of motion and laser-fire. Over two dozen Isolationist soldiers in gray uniforms are swarming the alien ship, more cresting the ridge around us. Two of my exosuited soldiers are on the ground, grappling with five enemies each. Only one is airborne and focusing fire on the heavy antiaircraft gun set up on the ridge, the kind of weapon meant to take down suits like these.