Peaceful music filled the Jimboomba clearing and the camera zoomed in on a woman’s face—one of the Mandate. She was petite and smiling. “The Mandate will always take care of you. May peace be with you all, and remember,” she winked, “take less than what you need.”

“Are you saying they’re watching this camp?” Deimos said in alarm.

Romy looked the twin’s way, and jerked as the black eyes of Lucas glinted at her through the crowd. Had he been watching them the entire time? For a reaction?

“It would appear so,” Atlas said grimly. “Unfortunately, thievery wasn’t the woman’s only crime. She was conspiring against the Mandate. I think I have a way to get your knot to safety, but I need a little more time.”

“You’ve had three weeks already,” Deimos accused. “And we’re no further from the Mandate than we were at the start.”

Romy pinched the hand she still held in warning, swallowing nervously as she tore away from Lucas’s gaze. They shouldn’t be talking about this here.

What had her expression been like as she watched the woman’s trial? Or more importantly, had Officer Cayne glimpsed the tense exchange between Atlas and Deimos? Her mind was in chaos. She couldn’t think clearly.

The Earth humans were breaking off and heading into the Hull. Lucas slung his arm over another soldier and sauntered away to get food, but Romy stayed close to Deimos, scared about what she’d seen in Lucas’s eyes.

Atlas glanced around them before leaning close. “You still think I’m not on your side?”

Romy twisted and found him staring straight at her. His question caught her off-guard. “I-I’m—”

Hurt lit the grey eyes before her and his head reared back.

Deimos scoffed. “Can you blame her?”

Atlas’s jaw clenched and unclenched several times. “After everything I’ve done, am doing for you. You can’t trust me.”

A lump rose in Romy’s throat, but she couldn’t give him an empty reassurance, despite the fact he so clearly believed she should trust him. “Maybe I would know whether I should trust you if I knew what you were doing. Telling someone they should trust you . . . with no actions to support it. . . .”

His eyes blazed. “Saving you, showing you to your friends . . . those weren’t actions?”

They glared at each other, noses almost touching as they argued in whispers. Romy’s chest heaved. Anger swelled within her and she ignored Deimos, who was darting looks between them. “Lying to me from the moment we met, you mean.”

Atlas blanched and he stepped back. He looked between her and Deimos; both of them had their arms closed. With a weary sigh, Atlas ran a hand through his hair, casting a worried glance towards the Hull. “And that is what you think of me?” he asked.