She gives me one of those smiles I’ll do anything to earn. ‘If we live through this, I’m saying yes.’
19.
CLEO
3 HOURS, 19 MINUTES REMAINING
THE HELL WITHSABRINA.I don’t have to make the decision I was dreading, and I’m not going to.
I have many complicated and inconvenient feelings when it comes to Hunter Graves, but I have to believe that even if he’s furious when he finds out what I am, he won’t screw me. I have to believe he’s not that guy. That the boy who followed me in the dark with total trust, who waited patiently as I debated whether to kiss him, and gracefully accepted my answer – I have to believe I can trust him.
In the end, I have to trustsomeoneto see me as a person – either Hunter, or Sabrina and her boss. And I choose Hunter. The two of us fit together. We’re both alone. We both got left behind by the people who were supposed to love us. We both had to fend for ourselves. And we’ve done that, together.
Also, Hunter’s never threatened to break my kneecaps in a Jerhattan alleyway.
‘The alarm should go off in about five minutes,’ Hunter says, looking up from where he’s been carefully sawing through a pipe near the water recyclers. ‘There’s plenty of vapor already escaping, and once it gets more than the humidifiers can take, they’ll start screaming for help.’
That alarm will be the first in a glorious sequence of events that are about to unfold, all hastily assembled in the last fifteen minutes. It helped that we were already knee-deep in plans for wreaking havoc before Rover showed up.
One of our enemies will have to come check what’s setting off the alarm – maybe even two, if they’re starting to get wary about moving around alone.
In the meantime, the two of us are going to pull on our suits and EVA across theoutsideof the base to reach the garage where our freaked-out geologist will meet us. Can’t be caught on-camera if we’re not inside.
Hunter’s never done anything like this before – sure, he’s done the training, but he’s never actually been out where a suit is all that sits between him and sudden, icy death. I’m not the world’s most experienced teacher, but I’ve paid a hell of a lot of attention to this particular area since I arrived – spying on safety briefings, watching the maintenance teams as they suit up – and I’ll be doing my best to guide him.
We hustle back to the greenhouse to start suiting up properly, working our pressure suits up our bodies. ‘Do you know much about the Ares Base?’ I ask, picking up my helmet and studyingthe seal for any damage, and then moving on to his, which I inspect just as carefully.
I never paid much attention to Ares Tech – I know they’re small, and for sure too small for me to hide there, so I was interested in scamming a ride to a bigger station.
‘Not much,’ Hunter replies. ‘They’re a mining operation, minimal staff. I think they’re tucked under the wing of either the Eastern or Western Euro group, I forget which.’
That’s how it works with all the groups who’ve claimed space on Mars. They’re either big countries – the USA, Russia, China – or they’re bunches of countries that have clubbed together, like the West African Union guys, or they’re somewhere small that’s put themselves under the protection of somewhere big, in exchange for a share of their profits.
The setup with the corporates is exactly the same. Only GravesUP is big enough to have its own claim. Smaller corps or countries tend to form uneasy alliances with each other to give themselves more power. The smallest corporations and countries are like little fish darting through a school of sharks, praying they can be useful to someone, and not just get eaten.
Ares is a little fish. If they’ve got a good mining claim, I’m guessing that’s how they’ve scored protection from one of the big Euro groups. It’s not real loyalty, though – it comes at a steep price.
Makes it all the more … something, that the Ares crew were the ones who came to investigate why the Pax signal seemed weird. The little guys were the ones who took the trouble.
Hunter straightens up from where he’s busy hiding his backpack among the plants. He can’t take it outside with us,and I guess he’s hoping it’ll somehow survive long enough for him to come back for it when all this is over. He carefully peels off the cuff he uses for his hacking and turns it over in the palm of his hand. It’s got sharp enough edges that it could snag his suit, and so he tucks it into a pocket on his bag. We’re both praying he doesn’t need it again before this is done.
I settle my helmet into place and seal it at the neck, then hold out his – he bows his head and I carefully attach it, checking every seal twice.
Finally, we reach for our gloves. The suits are beautiful pieces of engineering, truly. There are heating elements woven through the inner layer to guard against the freeze-your-toes-off temperatures out there, an O2tank and power unit are strapped to each bank in a slim casing, and the helmets offer clear views of the red, red world outside.
Together, Hunter and I walk over to the airlock at the end of the greenhouse, and step inside. It’s just big enough for the two of us – for sure not big enough for the rover, unfortunately. Still, there’s about three and a quarter hours now until the base blows, and we’re going to befarfrom here by then.
The door slides closed and seals behind us. I smack the exit button with my hand, and we wait in place as the pressure slowly changes around us, equalizing with the outside.
Hunter reaches over for my gloved hand, and I let him take it and pull me in against his side, though I’m careful not to let our helmets clash.
Then the sensor gives us the all-clear, and the outer doors swing open to reveal Mars waiting for us.
20.
HUNTER
3 HOURS, 15 MINUTES REMAINING
