I wanted to ask how they knew that, but it would have been a waste of time and energy. We had multiple trained computer professionals in this room; Jeff alone had been good enough to track me down based on a single encounter in a space that didn’t actually exist. If he’d been able to convince Lucas to work with him, or get Mandy on the phones and working the social-engineering angles of the problem, there was nothing they couldn’t uncover. And then there was the forest to consider. So many people, with so many different skills, all working toward a common, if fuzzy, goal.

“I have printouts,” said Toni. “I’ve recreated my wall in the pool house, since no one was using it. I can show you if you like.”

“Huh.” I eyed her. “Are you helping us, or are you plotting against us?”

“I’m planning to betray you at the earliest opportunity, carrying as much information as I can back to my own species,” she said. “If I want them to believe me when I say I have what it’ll take to take you down, I need to have lots of good data. Only way to get that is to cooperate with you people. I’m not doing it under duress. I’m doing it because those fools refused to listen when I told them there were aliens among us—and now I find out they were listening to someone else. Well, I’ll show them. I’ll show them all.”

“And if you help the enemy in the process?” asked Lucas.

Toni shrugged. “If I help the enemy enough, maybe I can claim sanctuary when our vegetable overlords assert their dominion over the planet. I can be flexible. I hate them for what they tried to do to me, but I like my own skin better than I like my high horse. You might want to consider a little flexibility yourself, buddy-boy. You’re in this room as much as I am. If the humans think you’re a traitor and the houseplants don’t want you, you’re going to find yourself in an awfully tight spot.”

“I can take care of myself,” said Lucas sullenly.

“Well, I can’t,” said Mandy. “I’m not saying I want to side against my own species in the upcoming war, but I don’t want to be alone out there, and we were already targets, just for living with Stasia as long as we did. Sorry, Stasia. You know it’s true.”

“You’re right, I do,” I said. “I’m sorry. I never meant to endanger you. I guess I didn’t think the invasion was really going to get here.” I turned to Jeff. “What do we know?”