“You’ve earned your dessert,” he says, offering me a plump haskap berry.
“Thanks,” I whisper, devouring the tart little fruit gratefully.
I’ve barely finished eating when Prax freezes, his ears swiveling sharply backward. He grabs me and pushes me under the cover of the forest.
“Listen!” he whispers.
I strain my ears, but all I can hear is the wind rustling through the trees.
Then suddenly, I see it: through the leaves, I catch sight of a flying craft moving above the area. It’s about the same size as the one Prax was in when he crashed. Personally, I think it’s pretty quiet—if my gorgeous Sadjim hadn’t warned me, I wouldn’t have noticed it until the last second.
“Confederation?” I ask.
“Unfortunately not,” he growls. “A two-seater from the Coalition. Wait—another one’s coming.”
To my dismay, a second identical aircraft flies overhead, immediately followed by a much larger spaceship.
“Damn, that’s not good,” he mutters.
“What’s going on?”
“In addition to Bully’s single-seater ship, we’ve just seen two two-seaters and a cargo ship—for transporting creatures and goods. I could’ve handled my former partner on my own, but not an entire Coalition detachment.”
My companion looks troubled. Seeing my confusion, he explains his thoughts.
“If you ask me, your Vassili and his gang struck a deal with the wrong people. To get detailed info about your homeplanet, Bully pretended to offer a win-win arrangement. He made a few trips back and forth to your old Earth, just to verify the information was solid. In return, he made a few token concessions to your corrupt leaders to appear trustworthy. And once he had all the cards, he called in his new partners.”
“I don’t see how that makes things worse,” I say, not fully grasping what he means.
“You don’t get it... Why would Bully and his crew waste time with a handful of Humans? This isolated solar system gives them access to two habitable planets, rich in resources, and totally unprotected. Earth—because if there are any survivors left, they’re in no shape to fight back. And Mars—because there are so few of you, and you’re peaceful by nature. Not aggressive. Bully won’t waste time. He’ll sell off your entire community piece by piece—as labor, as sex slaves, or as gourmet dishes for certain species. And the bonus? Mars gives them a fully equipped base to retreat to between transactions. Believe me, this whole setup is a gold mine for Bully and his people. And he has zero reason to honor his agreements with Vassili, Do-yun, or anyone else, for that matter.”
Against all odds, Prax’s grim declaration makes me burst into a nervous laugh.
“You find this situation amusing?” he asks, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.
“I know, I shouldn’t laugh. But when I think about all the schemes Vassili and his crew pulled just to squeeze a few perks—and now they’re going to get the same treatment they planned for others... It’s what we used to call karma.”
“I don’t know what this ‘karma’ is you’re talking about—my translator doesn’t recognize the term. But trust me, your former leaders aren’t our biggest concern. If even a few members of the Coalition have decided to use Mars as a backup base, yourpeople don’t stand a chance on their own. Things just got a lot more serious.”
Crap, he’s right. This isn’t funny anymore. I look up at him, full of hope.
“There’s nothing left to do but hope my contact got my call and sent someone to help,” Prax says. “Only the Confederation will be able to stop what’s happening.”
“But you said the Confed wouldn’t get involved!” I remind him.
“No, I said it was up to you to handle your own internal issues—there are always a few undesirables. But this is no longer an internal problem. We’re back to square one: the Coalition—or at least part of that charming smuggler club—is still involved in dark business. And that, the Confederation will shut down the moment they find out.”
“Let’s just hope they find out fast, before it affects our colonists. You know them—how long do you think that’ll take?”
“If you mean the Confed, I honestly have no idea. I don’t know where the others were when I crashed here. If you’re talking about the traffickers, I’d guess they’ll first get rid of anyone who might stand in their way. In other words, your former leaders. Don’t take it the wrong way, Neela, but your people give off a pretty peaceful, docile image. You could coexist with Coalition members for a while without posing any real threat to them.”
“So you mean like sheep waiting to be sheared? How charming,” I reply dryly.
He answers with an apologetic look and a shrug. Oh, I see. That is how he sees us. Should I be offended? Is it really so foolish to want to live in peace and simplicity? My fellow colonists and I weren’t asking anything from anyone—just grateful to have this backup planet that saved our species. Theidea of diving back into political schemes disgusts me. But I have no choice.
“We have to warn Kiran!” I suddenly exclaim.
“Impossible. I have no idea where we are. The only thing I do know is that we’re heading in the right direction based on the flight path of those three crafts that flew over us.”
