“Fully committed is right,” I said. “You even woke an A.I.” I watched him carefully for a reaction, and was rewarded with a very brief expression of surprise before his poker face settled back in.

“Well, no, strictly speaking that wasn’t us. It came as part of the package.” Arley stopped. “I can’t decide how much you actually know and how much of this is fishing. I probably should just shut up, I think.”

“Suit yourself,” I said. Then to Sheldon, “Close it.”

Arley’s door rumbled shut, leaving the three of us standing in the corridor looking at each other.

“Package?” Patrick said.

“Like something you buy,” Nat said. “Like a franchise? Everything you need to set up a takeover operation?”

“That would mean Earth isn’t the only victim of this,” I replied. “Jesus, how deep does this go?”

Nat gestured to the door across from Arley. “Let’s find out. Sheldon, open Karen’s door.”

I turned to face her stateroom as the door withdrew.

Karen slouched on her bunk, apparently relaxed. “So what does a girl have to do to get lunch around here?”

“Answer a quick question,” Nat replied. “How many clans have bought into this planetary takeover franchise?”

“How the hell would I—?” Karen cut herself off. “I mean, what franchise?”

Nat grinned. “Never mind. Got it.”

Karen leaned forward. “You’d make a good lunch. Kind of scrawny, but we could get a good broth out of you, I think.” She paused. “We’ll win eventually, Natalie. You can’t keep dodging us. We have the infrastructure, we have the weapons. We have—”

“A conscious A.I.,” Nat said, interrupting the monologue. “That’ll go over really well if the Covenant gets involved.”

Karen glared. “A big if. We get you or the Covenant gets us. I like our odds better. We actually know you exist.”

Nat took a step back, and I let my jaw drop. We hadn’t said anything to that effect, I was sure of it. Had Karen simply deduced it?

“Well, some of you do,” Nat replied. She muttered an order to Sheldon, and the door across from Karen’s slid open. Arley and Karen just had time to stare at each other in surprise before Arley’s door rumbled closed.

Karen recovered quickly, though. She smiled back, the smile still looking more like a hungry beast’s than anything. “It’s only beginning, sweetie. We’ll be going after your family next. Think you can stay free with a gun to your father’s head?”

She was baiting us. It was obvious. I took a couple of steps toward her, without any clear plan.

“Say this to her,” Sheldon said into my cling-on.