“Not much. I clearly heard ‘new shipments,’ ‘discretion is key,’ ‘our partnership is a success,’ and ‘the rewards will be substantial.’”
“That’s all?”
“Sorry. The rest was too muffled.”
“Are you going to help us?” Esteban finally speaks up.
“First, I need to understand the full picture. These leaders working with the Penubian—are we talking three people? Three hundred? What resources do they have? And how many of you are actually affected by their actions?”
To help illustrate, I stand and project a detailed map of Mars onto the wall.
“Humans only live in the northern hemisphere, between 22.8°N and 5.0°E. There are six colonies. Arabia Terra is the closest to the equator, the warmest, and the most populated—about fifteen thousand colonists. Then there’s Acidalia Planitia, Cyronia Labyrintus, Cydonia Colles, Cydonia Mensae, and finally, Cydonia Mountain—where we are now. Around fifty thousand people total.”
“Who governs them?” Prax asks.
“Naoto Masayuki oversees the first three. Vassili rules the last three.”
“And beyond that?”
“Humans aren’t allowed outside those zones!” Esteban cuts in. "“The rest is reserved for animal species!”
“Ah yes, your famous Pact,” Prax replies with a smirk.
Kiran and Esteban blink at him in confusion. They don’t know I’ve been questioning the foundations of our code lately.
“Yes, it’s one of the Pact’s laws,” I say. “Kiran, you should know that while Prax is part of the Confederation, he seems skeptical of our regulations.”
“I’m not skeptical,” Prax corrects. “I’m stunned the Polarians forced such restrictions on your kind. No other terraformed world I’ve visited operates like this. But whatever. Just understand—if Vassili is working with Bully, they won’t hesitate to go wherever they want.”
“To do what?” Kiran asks.
“You should know—the Coalition trades in anything they find. Rare minerals, tech, exotic creatures. Anything they can sell.”
“Plenty of old records describe similar dealings on Earth,” I add. ”From Romans and Greeks to drug cartels. I didn’t know it was still a thing out in the galaxy.”
“My sister’s right. We always thought of ourselves as primitive. Immature, even. So we were grateful when the galaxy, especially the Polarians, gave us this second chance—under strict conditions.”
“I see. They convinced you that you alone were irresponsible. That only you needed to be punished and reformed. But I’ve got news for you—coalitions like Bully’s deal in everything. Including sentient beings. Have any of your people gone missing?”
“What kind of question is that?” Kiran frowns.
“It’s a simple one. Since noticing your leader’s shady behavior, have any vocal dissenters disappeared?”
I rack my brain—patients, neighbors, friends… nothing stands out.
“Not that we’ve noticed,” Kiran says. “If someone vanished, people would talk.”
“You’re forgetting Akiro and Jonathan!” Esteban jumps in. “They left suddenly—no warning.”
“True. But they’d been talking for weeks about heading to Arabia Terra to report Vassili.”
Still, it’s odd they left without telling a soul.
“Why are you asking?” I press Prax. “What are you implying?”
He sighs and runs a frustrated hand through his thick, messy hair.
“Speak, kitty,” Kiran prods.
