“Killed by Jupiter,” Vik explained. “No other warships have crashed into Jupiter before. Ours are the first.”

In the corner where she was sitting, back to the wall, Wyatt spoke up, “Elliot and I weren’t.”

Vik sent her a startled glace. “You guys didn’t get destroyed?”

“No, we did get destroyed. Elliot and I were hit by Yosef’s ship when he started to plunge into Jupiter,” Wyatt explained.

“So you were Jupitered.”

“Yosef killed us, not Jupiter.”

“So you were Yosef’d—because of Jupiter,” Vik said.

“Because of kinetic energy!”

“Kinetic energy directly caused by the gravity of Jupiter.” Vik clenched his fists before him. “The most diabolical planet of them all.”

“That’s so stupid, Vik. Jupiter isn’t diabolical. It’s a gas giant, and we owe it our lives. A lot of asteroids that could cause mass extinction on Earth hit Jupiter instead of us because of Jupiter’s gravity.”

Vik shook his head. “You forget, Enslow: a lot of asteroids that wouldn’t even end up anywhere near Earth get redirected toward Earth by Jupiter’s gravity. If human beings never move beyond this planet, odds are, we’ll all get wiped out by a meteor someday, perhaps even a meteor that only reaches us because of that gas giant you so eagerly defend. All humanity could be Jupitered one day. That’s as diabolical as it gets.”

She rolled her eyes. “If you want to talk about future doom, then one day the sun will use up its hydrogen, turn into a red giant, and destroy our planet anyway. Does that mean the sun is evil?”

“We won’t get sunned for a few billion years, Evil Wench. We could all get Jupitered tomorrow.”

“Stop saying ‘Jupitered.’ It’s not even a word! You made it up.”

“Now I’m getting Wyatted,” Vik complained to Tom.

“Stop making up any words!” Wyatt cried. “It’s so annoying!”

Lyla spoke up. “You guys are both annoying.”

Wyatt looked hurt, Vik grinned proudly, and Tom started laughing again. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt strange, almost giddy, more so every second he waited.

“You, too,” Lyla said to him. “You, especially, Raines. Nothing is funny. Stop laughing. We get it. You’re freaked out. Boo hoo.”

Tom stopped laughing. “I’m not freaked out.”

Lyla mimed crying and adopted a whiny voice: “Oh no, I am so, so scared of the census device.”

“I am not scared of the census device!”

Lyla smirked. Vik grew indignant on Tom’s behalf and pointed at her. “You’re wrong, Martin. Dead wrong. The only thing Tom fears is proper table etiquette.”

“Yeah,” Tom agreed. Then, to Vik, “Hey!”

Vik gave a laugh that sounded like a giggle, and then the door to the cell slid open, and Olivia Ossare strode inside. “Hello, everyone.”