“What sort of planet is—what was it called again?” Queen Brisha asked, diving straight in. I had a feeling she was trying to catch me in a lie.

“Krypton.”

She nodded. “Yes, what sort of planet is it?”

I shrugged. “It has land and sea, and there are mountains and deserts,” I said, not knowing how much to give away, and how much to keep to myself. Was there a way of figuring out the name and location of a planet just by the description? I hoped not. “My people live in small towns and villages, making a living mostly by farming land and scouring the seas. We’re subsistence farmers and foragers, mainly.” The half-truths poured out of me, my pulse racing.

“And your people, do they all look like you?”

I shrugged again. “More or less. We come in different colors and sizes, but the basic foundations are the same.”

“You are the dominant species?” she pressed.

“I believe so,” I replied, ever conscious of her intense stare upon my face. Somehow, it felt as though she could see right through me, gazing into the privacy of my head.

“Interesting,” she mused.

“It is, Your Highness?”

She smiled. “Oh yes. You see, Riley, I received word from a coldblood named Jethro, not long ago, that he had collected a special blood sample, and was sending it straight to me. He wouldn’t tell me which planet he was on, only that he had found some blood that might prove extremely useful in the immortality elixir research.”

I paled, as realization dawned on me like a pile of bricks. “Wh-Why wouldn’t he tell you where he was, Your Highness?” I asked, desperately hoping I could find a way to wriggle out of this corner she was backing me into.

“For good reason, I suppose,” she replied. “He feared the message might be intercepted by my dear sister, and she might try to go after the pod herself to steal the sample within.”

I began to panic, horrified that she knew about the pod’s existence. I had known about Jethro’s deceit in sending the pod, but I hadn’t known that news had reached Queen Brisha. All this time, she had known it was on its way to her. We had been so convinced we could intercept it without anyone getting their hands on it. But now that hope had been dashed. Now there was nothing to stop her from heading out to retrieve the sample, and putting my blood to her own awful uses.

“You’re surprised?” she noted.

“Just cold, Your Highness,” I managed. I still didn’t know exactly how much she knew, and I wasn’t about to help her out, with my stupid face giving the game away.

She smiled coldly. “I must say, it’s quite the coincidence that Navan happens to be traveling with another species, considering the last time I heard news of him he was traveling with Jethro himself,” she began, twisting the knife. “Don’t you think that’s a strange coincidence that Jethro was traveling with Navan, came across a strange blood sample, and now you’re here, at Navan’s side? Even stranger that nobody can get in contact with Jethro...” A warning flickered in her silver eyes.

“A very strange coincidence, Your Highness,” I whispered, my voice gone.

She gave a tight laugh. “I’m not an idiot, Riley. I know your presence has something to do with this blood sample Jethro was supposed to be sending, and I’m hoping you can tell me why the pod’s tracker stopped beeping several days ago?”

I gulped and shook my head. “I don’t know anything about a tracker, Your Highness.” It wasn’t a lie. I hadn’t known there was a tracker on the sample pod, and I had absolutely no idea where it might have gone, if what Queen Brisha said was true. In fact, the very idea of it going missing filled me with a renewed sense of dread. What if someone had taken it? I wasn’t sure who else might have known about it, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t possible.

“Jethro assured me the cargo would be safe on the journey, given the pod’s stealth mode. He warned me in his last message that the tracker would only start flashing on my monitors once it was a certain distance from Vysanthe, to keep the location of the sample’s origin a secret. So, I was delighted when it did begin to flash, just under a week ago. Given my current need to rally troops, I couldn’t spare any to go on a lengthy mission after it, figuring the pod would come to me in good time. Each evening, I would trace its path, and delight at the thought of its arrival. But then, it stopped, and it hasn’t started again.” She sighed irritably. “As you can imagine, this has brought me no end of frustration—these things are usually so reliable, which is why it is beyond me how the pod has managed to disappear off the face of the universe.”

I shrugged. “I… I can’t help you, Your Highness. I don’t know anything about a tracker, and I don’t know anything about the pod’s disappearance. Do you at least know where it went missing?” I asked. If someone had taken the pod, I wanted to know where they had snatched it from.

She frowned. “Somewhere out in the Severn Quarter, close to the Ferrite System. But, that’s beside the point. I want you to tell me what you know about this blood sample before I start going off on any wild-goose chases,” she demanded, her friendly tone all but gone. It was clear she had run out of patience.

I thought about lying to the queen, but knew it would do nothing to help me gain her trust. Right now, we needed that more than keeping the pod’s secret, especially if it had gone missing somewhere in the depths of space. Navan and I could worry about that later, once we were away from the confines of Vysanthe… If we ever got away.

“The sample… It is from my home planet,” I finally replied. “But I’m telling the truth when I say I don’t know anything about the pod going missing, or the tracker suddenly disappearing. Is the Ferrite System far from here?”

Queen Brisha frowned. “Just under a fortnight from here.”

That seemed a long time compared to our journey from Earth in the Asterope, but I had to remind myself that the queens didn’t have the same advanced technology yet. “So, that’s still a fair distance away?”

She nodded. “I suppose so.”

“Well then, all I can say for certain is, if it vanished so far away from Vysanthe, it’s highly unlikely that your sister intercepted it,” I said. “From what I could gather while I was in the South, and from Navan’s father, they are no further along with making a breakthrough in the immortality elixir. They don’t have the right blood, and nobody has found any with potential… who hasn’t switched to your side at the last minute,” I said pointedly, letting her know I knew about Jethro, and the promises that had been made.

A wave of relief washed over Queen Brisha’s face. “I suppose that does make sense. Only Jethro and I knew about the pod, aside from yourself and Navan, by the looks of it. Perhaps I will send a small team after it to see what has become of it. Maybe it has simply malfunctioned.”

I nodded. “That could be the case.”

“Alternatively, you could tell me where to find your planet,” she said suddenly. “I would only seek to take some samples—I would not interfere with, or harm, your people.”

My stomach knotted. Neither queen was supposed to have technology advanced enough to travel the distance to Earth yet, but once she knew my planet’s location, I had no doubt that she’d pour all her resources into ship development, and it would only be a matter of time before she cracked it. If Jethro and Orion’s group had, others could.

I shook my head, trying to remain calm and choose my words carefully. “With all due respect, Your Highness… I’m not going to tell you where my home planet is. I trust you, and I believe you when you say you would only take samples, but I can’t risk others finding out its location. I’m worried about the coldbloods who might be watching you, just as you are watching them. Imagine if I told you where my home planet was and you set out for it. Within minutes, your sister could have put a tail on your ships. You said it yourself—she’s paranoid and on the edge of madness. She will do anything to seize ultimate power, and that includes going to extreme lengths to obtain the immortality elixir first.”

“I will worry about my sister. Just tell me where your home planet is,” Queen Brisha pressed. I could tell I was testing her patience, but I felt I had firm ground to stand on. Everything I’d said was true… except for the part where I said I trusted her. These sisters were embroiled in a constant game of one-upmanship. Of course Gianne would follow wherever Brisha went, out in the universe.

I sighed wearily. “Your Highness, you of all people must understand the idea of loyalty to one’s home planet, the desire to protect one’s people. Surely you can understand why telling you might not end too well for my species? Coldbloods are ravagers and plunderers—you move from planet to planet, taking what isn’t yours and leaving chaos in your wake. You wipe out resources so you can take them for your own needs,” I said, unable to prevent the words from tumbling out. I had been harboring them for a long time. “You don’t care about those you take from—and in this instance, that resource is my people.”

Queen Brisha’s eyes glittered with anger. “You know nothing of our people, little Kryptonian,” she snapped.

“I know enough, Your Highness,” I countered, trying to maintain my cool. “However, it seems you’re mistaking my intention—I’m just trying to point out why telling you where my planet is would be a disaster. I still want to prove myself to you.”

This seemed to surprise Brisha, her features softening at the revelation. Instead of fury, hope sparkled in her eyes.

“What do you suggest?” she asked, leaning forward.

I sucked in a deep breath, knowing that what I was about to say was insane, but the queen had backed me into a horribly tight corner, and in this moment I didn’t feel I had any other choice. “Instead of revealing my planet’s location to you… why don’t I give you a sample of my own blood? The same blood Jethro was sending to you.”

A broad smile stretched across Queen Brisha’s face, her eyes positively glittering with excitement. “An excellent alternative, Riley,” she said softly. “As I suspected, you’re far cleverer than you look. Stay here while I get one of my guards to fetch a medic—there’s no time like the present for an extraction!”

As Queen Brisha headed for the door, I felt my heart shrink to the size of a pea. I’d had to offer her something valuable to divert her attention from Earth’s location, and giving her a small sample of my blood was a million times better than telling her where to find my planet, but I was terrified where this would lead. For all I knew, that small sample could release a horde of immortal coldbloods on the universe. Regular coldbloods already caused so much damage; it didn’t bear thinking about how much harm immortal ones would bring.

The medic arrived two minutes later, accompanied by the queen. He was a short, slim coldblood with a pair of sallow wings that hung limply at his back. He carried a bag under his arm as he approached me.

“This is the subject,” Queen Brisha said, gesturing toward me. “I’d like you to take a sample of her blood.”

The medic nodded. “How much, Your Highness?”

“A vialful,” she replied.

“Very good, Your Highness,” he mumbled, before moving toward me.

As he lifted a dampened cloth that smelled intensely of chemicals to the side of my neck, I was reminded of Jethro drawing blood from me. He’d done it with his fangs—they must have been able to suck up blood like syringes—and I hoped this old guy wasn’t about to use the same method.

As he pulled out a hypodermic needle from his bag, I realized that he wasn’t.

I also realized that this was actually happening. Really, truly happening. A Vysanthean queen was finally obtaining my blood.

Even though my heart was pounding, every fiber of my being begging to pull away, I sat still, allowing the medic to cleanse the side of my neck. He lifted his needle to the fragile flesh. Without warning, he sank it into my skin, and I felt the scrape of it, though it lasted only a moment. An unpleasant pulling sensation rippled up the veins in my neck, and then, barely a minute later, it was done.

“Take that to the alchemists, will you?” Queen Brisha instructed, as the medic shoved his tools into his bag. He was careful with the vial of my blood, placing it into a secret pocket, hidden in the bag’s lining.

“I’ll do it right away, Your Highness,” he promised, giving a nervous little bow before scurrying out of the library.

Queen Brisha sank back down into the chair opposite me, a pleased look on her face. “That was a very brave thing you did, Riley,” she said softly. “And I, for one, am extremely grateful.”

“How long will it take until you can use it?” I asked, my throat raw.

She shrugged. “That depends on how long it takes my alchemists to synthesize it. Naturally, each new species is its own beast when it comes to blood and how we coldbloods absorb it. But I estimate… hm, several weeks. My alchemists’ processes are thorough.”

Several weeks? Then maybe, just maybe, that gave us a window of opportunity. I wasn’t sure where we would go from here—I needed to talk to Navan and tell him about what I’d done—but knowing we had some time, more time than I’d expected, gave me a flicker of hope. It wasn’t much, but I was grateful for it.

Because at this point, I needed all the hope I could get.