And now she had them both in one place.

Baz was right, though: Leo doubted the bounty on the Fender boys’ heads was still good anymore. And even if it was, they had much bigger things to worry about. Namely a list of planets that the Djarik were threatening to destroy, with Earth sitting right at the top.

Besides, Leo had already made up his mind: No matter what Baz and Zennia were arguing about, there was no way Leo was going anywhere without Gareth. Not ever again. Whether they were stuck with pirates or bounty hunters, Djarik or Aykari, trapped on a desolate planet or floating in the middle of space on board a crippled ship, Leo wasn’t letting his brother out of his sight.

“So let me get this straight,” Gareth said, his hands cupped around his neck, head between his bent knees as if he was sweating through a code gray, “the Djarik blackmailed Dad into helping them create a weapon that uses a planet’s own ventasium as a kind of bomb.”

Leo nodded.

“And they are going to use it to attack the Earth. Again.”

Another nod.

“So Dad sent you here to find that guy to help you stop it.” Gareth pointed at Crayt, still laid out on the hangar floor.

His brother had gotten the highlight reel down, at least. “And we found a way,” Leo said. “At least we think we have.”

“Yeah, you and this Aykari scientist. Except now you’re saying that the Aykari are partly responsible for what happened on Earth the first time? For what happened to Mom?” Gareth shook his head. “I’m sorry, Leo. It’s just a lot to take in. I mean, the Aykari have always been our allies. They’ve only ever helped us. And Dad helping the Djarik? I mean, how can any of this be true?”

Gareth was floundering; Leo could see it in his eyes. And he couldn’t blame him. Leo had had a couple of days to process it and he still had doubts. “I could show you the message,” he suggested. “The one from Dad.”

Gareth nodded. Leo tapped on his watch. He whispered a curse.

“What is it?”

“This stupid thing,” Leo spat. “It’s been acting up ever since I downloaded the files Dad gave me. Glitching out. Rebooting. Cycling through random programs. Now it just keeps saying ‘searching’. . . . It won’t even let me turn it off.”

He took off the watch and handed it to Gareth, who tried all the same things Leo had, the taps and swipes, pressing all the buttons. “Maybe it’s trying to connect to something. Have you tried hooking it up to a more powerful coms system? I mean, this thing’s got a pretty limited range, but this facility probably has a radar. Worth a shot.”

Leo shrugged. “Except I have no idea how to do that.”

He looked across the hangar to the entrance and the robot still pumping painful ballads out of her speaker. Skits didn’t even turn to look at them as they approached. Not that she needed to. She had sensors in the back of her head. “Go away, Leo. I can’t deal with you right now.”