“You should soak in the heated pool,” Torran said. “It is good for sore muscles.”

I flinched in surprise, mostly because he was closer than I’d expected. As much as I wanted to ignore him until the end of time, I was a damned adult. I could act like it, even if it killed me, so I straightened, turned to him, and stared at his chin. A smile was beyond me, so I didn’t even try to summon one.

“Thank you for the suggestion, General Fletcher.” The words were exquisitely polite, but my tone screamed, Now kindly hurl yourself into the nearest star. “If you’ll excuse me.”

I left without waiting for acknowledgment.

After a scalding hot shower and an hour outside with Luna, I felt marginally better. And every time I stepped over the tray at my door, I got a little stab of vicious satisfaction. The meal bar I ate tasted extra delicious with a side of spite.

I was going through Nilo’s new brief for the third time when Kee bounced into the war room, slate held high. “I got it,” she crowed. “It’s just raw numbers right now, so I still need to sort through it, but I got it.”

“Excellent work, Kee.” I raised my hand for a high five, and she slapped her palm against mine. “Do you need help?”

She waved away the offer. “I think I can write a script to translate the coordinates into map locations.” Her eyes lit up. “Maybe I can plot it in VR with street-level imagery.”

“Time, Kee. Start with the basics—where it went and for how long. You can play with virtual reality once Cien is safe.”

Kee wrinkled her nose at me and heaved out a dramatic sigh. “No one appreciates my art.” When I just stared at her, she cracked and smiled. “Fine, fine. The basics first.”

I suppressed my own grin, but it was difficult when she was so jubilant. “Thank you.”

She sank down at the workstation beside me, humming under her breath. Her hands flew across her slate as she lost herself in the world of numbers and code. In her element, Kee was irresistible, and all of the Valoffs watched her with a kind of awed fascination.

Nearly everyone carried scars from the war, but Kee’s were deeper than most. By the time she’d landed in my squad, she’d been so close to breaking that I’d stayed up nights watching her. But Kee was nothing if not resilient, and she’d refused to give up.

I would do anything to keep her and the rest of my team safe.