“I’m going to kill them one day. The Mandate.”

She could barely make out his green eyes from where he stood in the shadows. She swallowed thickly. Romy had never heard him speak like this, not even about the Critamal. How had she missed the disappearance of her light-hearted friend? In his place was a darker man. A man changed by near-death and betrayal.

He stood and turned his back to her.

“I’m going to kill them all.”

They exited the storage room, sharing a confused look at the large influx of Earth humans entering the clearing. The dinner bell had rung, yet they weren’t heading into the Hull, instead gathering around the Mandate’s ever-present projection next to the office building.

“What’s going on?” Romy asked.

Deimos glared at the screen. “No idea.”

“The Mandate has a scheduled announcement,” a low voice whispered between the knot mates.

It was Atlas. Romy tensed and didn’t turn.

“Great,” Deimos muttered.

Atlas gripped his shoulder tightly. “There will be eyes on you. Don’t be a fool.”

Deimos returned Atlas’s harsh expression with murderous eyes. The two men stared at each other. Romy laid a hand on her knot mate’s arm.

“Dei . . . the others.”

With a slow blink, Deimos broke away. “Got it.”

Romy refused to look directly at Atlas. He’d been ignoring her and she wanted to return the favour. Unfortunately, her curiosity was running rampant. “What is the announcement?”

The low voice came after a short moment. “It is a trial. For a woman who once lived in this settlement. She was found stealing.”

Romy recalled Phobos speaking of this a while ago. “They make the settlement watch the conviction of their own friends?”

“No,” came the quiet reply. “They make the entire world watch it.”

Deimos’s words were scathing. “A display of power.”

There was no answer from the man behind her, yet Atlas didn’t contradict Deimos. Was it possible he disapproved of this power display? That was what she didn’t understand. Atlas surely had to be an underling for the Mandate in some capacity. The soldiers obeyed him, Tina obeyed him, and Romy assumed the work he was doing all day was classified. But why did he work for them if he didn’t agree with their laws and punishments?

Unable to help herself, she met his grey eyes and wondered if there was a vulnerability in them she’d somehow missed. Was Atlas trapped? Did the man before her want more than a life under the lies of the Mandate? Was helping Knot 27 a silent rebellion against the world leaders?

Disjointed words blasted through the clearing’s speakers and Romy broke away from his intense stare.