My heart stutters and nearly stops. What?What?Hunter did say they were looking at the registers. Could Sabrina be telling the truth? Holy shit, could the bad guys be the good guys?
You there, babe?Sabrina asks, when I don’t reply.
‘I’m here,’ I reply, trying not to stammer.
I’m thinking maybe we should talk about a situation where we stop shooting at you, you help us get our guys out of here? I can vouch for you. I knew you before, and I saw firsthand that you were smart. The boss won’t hold a grudge. We could even add your name to the register, if you’d like the vacation to last forever.
I’m still scrambling for a coherent thought. Could this be real?
‘Why?’ I manage. ‘Why wouldyoutake a job like that?’
Sabrina laughs.What, you don’t think I’m an idealist who wants Mars for everyone? Some of the others are, actually. But we’re all being paid.
‘By who?’ I ask. ‘The hitchers you’re doctoring the registers for are dead broke, or they wouldn’t be hitching.’ I lean against the sink, staring at myself in the mirror. Brown eyes stare back at me, faint freckles standing out against skin that’s gone pale with stress and exhaustion. My red hair hangs lank around my face, dull and gross after so much sweat, so many frantic action sequences.
True, not being paid by hitchers, Sabrina agrees.Or not in cash. But some of them have valuable skills, and various corporations want them on payroll. Can’t dothat, unless they’re on the register. Who else are you here with, babe? If they’re as sweet as you, we can talk about getting them on the list.
Oh, of course. She thinks there are more of us. The Martian probably reported in on the plates of staged leftovers he found in the cafeteria, before he ate his apricot and knocked himself out.
And suddenly there’s bile in the back of my throat. Because there’s only one other person with me, and he’s not like me – or Sabrina – at all. I’m pretty sure Hunter would rather die here than do a deal with these people who are here to help hitchers – and I doubt they’d do a deal with him at all, not when they could sell him to the highest bidder.
Cleo, I’d much rather you were my teammate than my prisoner, Sabrina says, coaxing.You know I don’t hurt people for fun, girl. I showed you that back on Earth, in that club. It’s all business, so let’s find a way to make sure it isn’t my business to do anything we both regret.
I so badly want to believe her – to believe there’s a way I can convince her to stop hunting me. I know she’s not like some of the other bounty hunters and debt collectors back on Earth. Shedidn’thunt for fun. Which means that if there’s not a business case for hurting me now, she won’t.
Girl, Sabrina says,you don’t want to be left behind, trust me. This place won’t be in good shape after we leave. It’s going to look like an explosive systems failure, because that way nobody’s ever going to say, ‘Huh, I wonder if anybody snuck in and hacked the registers before this disaster caused by poor maintenance.’
We’re halfway through our eight hours.
It’s time to make a move.
Why don’t you give me something, for now, Sabrina suggests.Let’s keep the conversation going. We found the situation withthe expanding foam in engineering, but another one of our guys is completely missing. Can you tell me about that?
I breathe out slowly, trying to stop my body from trembling. What do I do? Do I stick with Hunter? He said he’d help me get settled anywhere on Mars, but that offer will disappear once he finds out who I am.
Won’t it?
Or I could side with Sabrina. I wouldn’t have to rely on him. My life could change. I could get my name on the register. I could get real work, find a real place to settle. I could get anewname on the register.
I could stop running.
‘Your missing guy isn’t dead,’ I hear myself say. ‘He’s just somewhere safe for now.’
I mean, they’ll figure that out anyway, now they’ve managed to unblock the radio channels. I’m barely even giving anything away.
Right?
I tear my gaze away from the scared girl in the mirror, and stumble out of the restroom. When I push open the door to the greenhouse a crack, I see Hunter there, still leaning over his console.
The light of the sunlamps plays over his features, and as I watch, he runs a hand through his dark, tousled hair, leaving it messier than before. He’s watching something intently on the screen, grinning like a giant dork.
He’s nothing like I thought he’d be.
I like him. I want to trust him.
If I open the door between me and Sabrina, I close the door between me and Hunter forever. But I’m not dumb enough to care about that, not when the life I’ve always wanted is on offer.
… Am I?
