She lowered her voice to a hush. “I was going to talk to Atlas,” she admitted, voice vibrating with anger. “He and Tina were talking about making a call in the morning for the Orbitos to come and collect us. To collect our bodies.”

Deimos sat back. “They have contact with the Orbitos?”

Romy laughed darkly. “You know the locked room? I got in. There’s a transmission platform in there. And guess who was on the other end?”

Elara’s soft brown eyes were huge.

“Commander Cronus.”

The others stared at Romy in disbelief. Fully awake by now.

“And he addressed Atlas as ‘Commander’,” she grated out.

Thrym punched the floor with a fist. “I knew he was filth.”

Romy’s insides twisted.

“But why now?” Elara was frowning. “It’s been weeks.”

She’d been asking herself the same thing. Why didn’t Atlas report them straightaway? Or had it all been a game? What could he possibly gain from keeping them alive?

Deimos was pacing the small space. “Could it be our isolated location?”

“I’m not sure.” Thrym shook his head. “Maybe—”

“Maybe doesn’t matter right now,” Romy burst out. “The Mandate’s forces are coming. We need to leave. Now.”

There was a soft squeeze on her shoulder. She turned.

Thrym was looking at her. “Ro’s right,” he decided. “Escaping is our priority.”

Her mind was already well into the process of their escape. “We need to get medicine. And weapons.”

“We don’t have enough time,” Elara said.

Romy glared at her. “We make time. It’s dangerous out there, and none of us have combat training. We don’t stand a chance without guns.”

“I’m with Ro,” Deimos said.

They all looked at Romy. She stared at Thrym with hard eyes.

He sighed. “The weapons are locked away. Keycards, remember?”

“Yeah, how are we supposed to get them?” Elara leaped on board.

Romy set her resolve. “It’s not a matter of how. It’s a matter of who.”

* * *

Her visit to Nancy served two purposes. The main reason: to get Lucas’s location. The second: to ask if Romy could take the teen’s vehicle. She really couldn’t bear the thought that Nancy and her friends would think of them as thieves and criminals. And Nancy had lost her family. Romy didn’t want to let her down.

Romy knocked quietly on the door. She shook her head at Phobos and Deimos, who were with her. They shrank back into the shadows of the neighbouring bungalow.

The door cracked open and Romy pushed it the rest of the way.

“Hey,” Nancy exclaimed. “What the hell?”

“Shh,” Romy said. She checked out the window and listened carefully for signs Nancy had been heard.

The other girl picked up something was wrong immediately.

“What’s happened?” She closed the door and turned to Romy, arms crossed.

Romy left the window. “Nancy, our knot needs your help.”