“Is that the official word?” Baz snipped. “The unfortunate decimation of an entire planet and its people?”

“There is no official word. But that is how I see it, yes.”

Leo took in a trio of Orin methodically rebuilding a crumbled structure—a well, perhaps, or some kind of reservoir. Two of them heaved up stone after stone, while the third one patched the gaps with some white paste troweled out of a barrel. It was a slow, tedious process made more strenuous by the heat. He thought of the sleek silver towers back on Earth—built in tandem with the Aykari. Thought of the bone he broke in his arm, healed in a matter of days thanks to alien medicine. They came bearing an olive branch.

But not always.

“Every world is unique and requires a different approach. With your planet, for example,” Lark said, looking at Boo, “no intervention was necessary. Quel possesses negligible amounts of EL-four eight six and therefore is of little value in the empire’s eyes, though I do wonder why we did not make a more concentrated effort to recruit your kind for the war effort. Four arms are better than two, after all.”

“Probably because we would have said no,” Boo replied gruffly.

“Perhaps. Or maybe we doubted your stomach for it. You, on the other hand . . . ,” Lark said, looking at Leo, the alien’s mouth spiraling open and closed. “You humans needed to be handled with care. We made our mistake with the Djarik. And though you lacked their resources and were considerably less unified as a species, you still represented a potential asset—intelligent, technologically adept, eager for advancement. Unfortunately humans were also found to be volatile, prone to outrageous acts of hatred, bigotry, and violence. You could just as easily have become a liability, so we did what was necessary to ensure your compliance.”

Leo squinted up at the Aykari.

“Meaning what, exactly?” Baz pressed.

“Meaning that when the time came, when the opportunity presented itself, we allowed your bloodlust and sense of justice to work in our favor by channeling it in the proper direction . . . toward a more appropriate and strategically advantageous target.”

When the opportunity presented itself.

That day.

Suddenly, Leo was back in the Djarik base, standing next to his father, listening to this revelation for the first time. The Aykari were given a choice and they made it. They saw an opportunity to secure an ally in the war. Hundreds of thousands of human lives in exchange for the allegiance of billions.

He felt his already flushed cheeks grow even hotter. He took in the ruined village. The dust on his boots. He thought of his mother’s fleeting smile. The way she’d hugged him that day and how he’d squirmed out of her grip. He remembered her request—the prettiest shell you can find—and how the light from the explosion had traveled so much faster than the sound. How it was almost beautiful, that light, until the thunder caught up to it, and then it was terrifying.