I nodded my thanks, then said, “I know you want to paint humans as the villains here, and I don’t disagree that anyone who kidnaps a child is the worst kind of scum, but the kidnappers already had help from Cien’s guard. It’s not a huge stretch to imagine they found a few more Valoffs willing to help them out.”

“So you think they’re in the city?” Torran asked, his body tense. If I said the wrong thing, I had no doubt that he’d start tearing the city apart looking for his nephew.

“Not necessarily,” I said. “There are a lot of witnesses in the city, so it’s not ideal for a team that needs to stay hidden. But all of our base assumptions need to be examined before we rule anything out.”

“How would you kidnap a Valovian child?” Nilo asked, genuine curiosity on his face.

I wrinkled my nose in thought. “I wouldn’t. Putting aside the whole moral issue, there are too many variables to control. Children are already unpredictable, but add in unknown mental abilities and you have a recipe for disaster.”

“If the team had help from Cien’s guard,” Lexi said, “then some of the risk is reduced. Presumably they knew about Cien’s abilities and how to counter them.” She shrugged. “With enough prep, we could do it. Kee and I could get us in, and Eli and Tavi could grab the kid. Easy.”

“Lexi!” Kee growled, her tone quelling. Next to her, Varro sat still and quiet, observing the room with a sharp eye.

“Am I wrong?” Lexi asked with a raised eyebrow.

Kee silently shook her head, then turned back to Nilo. “Did you trace the transport?”

Nilo nodded. “Stolen.”

Kee perked up. “Did you find video from where it was taken?”

“We don’t know when, exactly, it was stolen. The owner rarely uses it and didn’t even know it was missing until we showed up.”

Kee was undeterred. “Surely you have the vehicle logs. Did you put a data analysis team on it?”

“The logs were wiped,” Nilo said.

“I want to look at it. You didn’t give it back, did you?”

Nilo’s eyes narrowed, and he looked at Kee with new appreciation. “We still have it. I’ll take you over there after the meeting.”

“I will take her,” Varro said. “You stay here and answer questions.”

Nilo looked like he might argue, but Kee turned to Varro with a smile. “Thank you.”

“What about Cien’s guard?” I asked. “He couldn’t have vanished into thin air. Where is he?”

“He left before the kidnappers showed up,” Torran said. “We tracked him into the city before the trail went cold. His accounts have been flagged, as has his identity. He hasn’t touched any of them.”

“They gave him a new identity and a trip off-planet,” I said.

Torran dipped his head in agreement.