Working with Leonis. Corvus’s return. My own screwups on Gaia. Everything is starting to collide in a nasty way, like the universe is conspiring to make my world collapse on itself from multiple directions all at once. Is this what it feels like to have karma catching up with me? I’m not sure, but I do know that not even the ship feels like home right now. Every step forward makes my stomach drop lower.

But maybe that’s because I’m approaching Momma. She’s waiting near the stairs, arms folded over her chest, eyes tracking me as I trudge up the ramp. I force myself to stop and face her despite my desire to run and hide in the cockpit. There are a lot of things I want to say about Leonis, and Corvus, and the ship, and everything.

“Momma,” I say, once I’m confident my voice won’t shake. “Let me explain—”

She hits me so hard that a gasp rips out of my mouth and stars dance across my vision. Heat flares in my face and tears sting my eyes—from both pain and deep shame as I realize that all of my younger siblings witnessed that. Momma hitting me is nothing new, but she doesn’t usually make it a public humiliation.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, so quietly I’m not sure she hears it. “Momma…”

“Get the ship ready for launch,” Momma says, her soft voice made loud by the utter silence around us.

I shut my mouth, open it, shut it again because I can’t trust the words that will come out. Momma’s eyes are cold. The twins scoot past without looking our way, exchanging an uneasy glance as they head up the stairs. Lyre hits the button to shut the ramp before scurrying upstairs after them with one hand pressed to her mouth. Then, it’s just me and Momma in the closed cargo bay. I swallow hard. I’ve been reprimanded by Momma many times before, but this feels different. In the past, I’ve always felt that her punishments were meant to make me better. Now, she looks at me like she’s given up. It makes me want to curl up in a hole somewhere and never face the world again.

“Of course,” I say, once I muster up words. I glance at the crates tied down on the other side of the bay. Maybe Leonis gave her an offer she couldn’t refuse, something big enough to delay picking up Corvus. Surely the Gaian president wouldn’t have any business in a war zone. “Are we still headed for…?”

“Straight to Titan,” Momma confirms. “The Gaians repaired our engine. We’re all set.”