Yes, very very good! I only have one outstanding question: now that Niki and Kennet (and Kiril) are among the aliens, what is he protecting them from? What is the threat that continues to hang over their heads once the rescue is accomplished (and presumably leads to the book's climax)?

You don't have to tell us how it's resolved, just who's threatening them. I think that would give the last couple of lines that extra punch: "...to keep protecthing his cousin and little brother [from...] will require heroism of a kind Kiril has never imagined."