Passing the convoy was easy. No one stopped him. Once he was clear, Colt kept an eye on the mirror—too long. He almost missed the vehicle coming toward him.

A minute later, he saw a familiar sign on the crawler.

Pitstop Café.

He grabbed the radio.

"Lenna. You out there?"

A crackle. Then her voice.

"Nathan Colt? That you?"

They were close enough to see each other now. Windshields lined up. She braked. He did the same.

"Yeah."

"Where's Riley?"

"In the hospital."

"That's all I need to know." She moved to pull away.

"Wait!" Colt barked. "The place is crawling with mercs. We can't just walk in. Guns blazing won't save her."

"They took my daughter."

"She'll be alive. For now. They need her. She's scheduled for organ harvest. We've got a few hours, tops. But we can't do this alone. We need Red Horizon. We go back, regroup, come up with a plan."

She hesitated. "You sure about the timeline?"

"Yeah. Don't walk in there. It's suicide."

A pause. "I'm not leaving my daughter." Then: "Okay."

Colt led the way—sixty miles south, to Red Horizon.

As they drove, he pieced it together.

"She got tagged back at First Footprint. Someone checked her as a match. My guess? Some rich guy brought his own donor—name was Charlie. Didn't know it, though. They rigged it so he'd lose everything. Desperate. But they lost him, or he killed the crew sent to grab him. So they grabbed Riley instead."

"Bastards," Lenna said. "I sent the word out. The sisterhood is coming."

"We'll need them."

They reached the edge of Red Horizon. Lenna narrowed her eyes.

"Something's off. Dome lights are down. Radiation shield offline. Gravity carousel's dead."

Colt nodded. "Stay frosty."

They rolled into the airlock.

It would take time—buffer gas cycle. While they waited, Colt went into the back of the ambulance. Time to see what he was supposed to dispose of.

He pulled back the sheet. Froze.

It was Tasos.

Only the tattoo confirmed it. Both eyes removed. Chest wide open. Stomach carved. Heart, lungs, kidneys, liver—gone. Harvested.

This wasn't rogue organ donation. This was industrial. Elsharif's master plan. Tell people they'd lose a kidney. Take everything instead.

Colt thought of Noah. Same age, same build. Had he lost everything like Charlie? Stopped writing home out of shame? Had Elsharif taken him too?

Then it hit Colt like a punch to the chest.

Riley was next.

The pressure equalized. Colt stripped the scrubs, checked his suit seals, and moved out.

"What've you got?" Lenna said over the radio.

"You don't want to know," Colt said. "And you don't want to look."

He stepped out into the darkness. It was quiet. Too quiet.

"What's going on?" Lenna said. "The place is on emergency power."

Colt grabbed a wrench from the cab. Cold metal. Heavy. Reliable.

They entered what should have been the dome.

"No pressure," Lenna said. Frost coated the inside of her visor. "Place is freezing."

Colt swept his flashlight. Black walls. Still air.

"Bullet holes," he said, pointing.

"Oh fuck," Lenna breathed. "They would've gone to the shelters."

"I'm heading to the hospital."

It had once been a habitat—before the dome. Now it was the shelter. Still had its own airlock. Colt stepped through.

Inside, it was dim. People huddled in the dark. Men. Women. Children. He spotted Victor moving through the group, offering help.

"Victor. What happened?"

"Elsharif left. Not long after, mercs rolled in. Started shooting. Then they blew the dome—took out the crops with it."

"Where's Sophia?"

Victor nodded to the far wall.

Colt crossed the room. Sophia was curled in the corner, sobbing. Rocking back and forth.

"Sophia," he said, crouching beside her.

"He's dead," she whispered. The words were barely there. She cradled Karl's body in her arms. "My boy. My beautiful boy."

Victor came over, gently pulled Colt aside.

"You won't get much out of her. Not now."

Colt's jaw clenched. "They've got Riley. Same bastards. Lenna's people are coming. I'm going back in. I'm going to get her out. And I'm going to kill Elsharif."

"I'm coming with you," Victor said.

"You're shot."

"Not enough to stop me. A few others might come too. But we're settlers. They've got mercs. And they'll use the patients as shields."

Lenna joined them. "I used to live in that place. Before they took it over. I know the layout. Ways in. Back routes."

Victor nodded. "That's the closest thing to a plan I've heard."

Colt looked at them both. Cold fire in his eyes.

"It's the only plan we need."