Mitzi, thinking she must have misheard the girl, stared at her.

Seemingly uncomfortable with the silence, Mir spoke again. “It’s going to be nearly impossible to get him off the planet, even if we don’t go to the reactor room. And you said it yourself, every hour counts in this war. We should leave him. Complete the mission as soon as possible.”

“Leave him?” Mitzi echoed, dropping the cloth and standing up.

Mir shrugged. “He’s an acceptable loss.”

Mitzi stalked towards the girl, who shrank back in her chair, even as she glared her defiance. “When I was sworn in as a commander, my vows included a pledge to protect my team above my own life. I’ve never reneged on that promise, and I’m not about to start now.”

“Really?” Mir asked, a cruel bite in her tone. “I was under the impression that Captain Jones would disagree.”

Mitzi felt as if she’d been punched. Her vision blacked out, and for a moment, she was back in that office, gun in her shaking hand as she faced Jones. He quirked her a lopsided smile. “What’re you doing, Mitz?”

Then he turned towards her, raising his hand towards her face. Mitzi felt the trigger, resistant under the pressure of her finger, then heard the crack as the gun kicked back in her hand. She smelled the smoke and the blood…

Her vision cleared, and she was once again staring at Mir. The girl’s lips spread into a nasty smile as she appreciated the effect of her words. Mitzi slapped her.

She regretted it almost as soon as the echoes died out. Mir raised a hand to her red cheek, looking livid, and Mitzi fought to get her anger under control.

“I promised you lot I’d do everything in my power to get you off this planet alive,” she said, her voice low and shaky. “Even idiots like Adam. Even spoilt, sheltered brats like you. And I swear, I would rather hug a Cymic than abandon a single one of you here to die. Shame on you for thinking otherwise.”

They stared at each other, Mitzi furious, Mir defiant. Then the younger girl squeezed her eyes closed, and her shoulders started to shake.

“Oh, jeeze,” Mitzi said, feeling her anger ebb out of her. “Okay, hey, stop that. Don’t cry. C’mon.”

Mir pulled her legs up and buried her face in them as she dug her fingers into her hair. “Leave me alone.”

Mitzi stared at her, feeling helpless, unsure whether she should hug the girl or kick her in the shins. Then Skye appeared at her side, her pretty blue eyes flicking between her commander and her peer.

“Mir?” she said quietly. “Who did you lose?”

After a silent moment, Mir raised her head. Her face was blotchy, but her eyes were still hard and angry. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Was it a friend? A boyfriend? Your parents?”

At the last word, the colour drained from Mir’s face, and Mitzi finally understood. She sighed and dropped to the ground beside Mir, sitting cross-legged. “So that’s your reason for coming on the mission, huh? You wanted revenge?”