Everything roars back to life around me as that knowledge settles – as if the sound and the color of the world just got turned back up.
‘Hunter,’ I gasp. ‘Hunter, no, you can’t.’
Up front, Sabrina hits the command for the door seals and they swing closed. ‘No!’ I clamber into the front seat to grab for the handle. But as my fingers close on it, the whole parking bay lights up red. It’s depressurizing to match the atmosphere of the planet outside – and I’m not wearing a suit.
I’m trapped in this rover.
The door behind us rises to reveal Mars beyond it, and then we’re backing out.
Sobs roll through me, my throat constricting as if someone’s got their hand around it and they’re squeezing unbearably hard. ‘Hunter, please,’ I gasp. ‘She’ll kill you.’
His voice comes back quiet, calm.There are thousands of people depending on us. Every second counts. Send the message assoon as you get in range, all right? Make them hear you, whatever it takes.
Tears spill down my cheeks. I’m working toward being a crying, snotty mess, but this is a short-range radio and I’m going to lose him in a moment. The only person who’s ever truly put himself on the line for me.
He didn’t leave me when my suit breached, and he’s still not leaving me.
Hunter could be in this rover. He could have run with Sabrina, but he chose my safety above his. He chose me.
A lifetime of lessons in trusting nobody but myself, and finally I’ve found the one person I could break that rule for. The one person Icantrust. Only to lose him.
This is a boy who deserves my heart, and too late I realize I should have given it to him when I had the chance. Because now he’s slipping through my fingers, and there’s no way to grab him.
In this moment I’d choose Hunter’s life over a thousand others, but I can’t. Sabrina’s turning the rover away from the doors that are already closing behind us.
‘Hunter,’ I manage, tearing the words from my throat. ‘I’d have come all the way to Mars just to find this. To findyou.’
But the only response is a soft static hiss. We’re out of range.
The rover is silent then, except for my sobs. It’s a full minute before Sabrina speaks. ‘He could be sitting right where you are now. He made me promise to get you instead. We’re going to make what he’s doing worth it.’
‘Yes,’ I manage, trying to blink the tears away from my eyes.
She’s gazing straight ahead, eyes narrowed in concentration. ‘They’ll have seen the doors opening,’ she says. ‘They’ll be after us as soon as they can restore another rover, and the visibility out here is shit. So sit your ass down, bring up the nav system, and plot us a course. We don’t have time to drive around a crater we could have avoided, or reverse out of a field of rubble.’
And through the muffling numbness, I make myself move, reaching out for the controls to bring up the nav display. It springs to life, projected against the windshield, superimposing the map over the barely visible landscape around us. The lights blur against my tears.
We’re going to get within range ofsomeonewe can warn. It might be the last thing we’re able to do.
In fact, I don’t care if itisthe last thing I do.
I can’t imagine what could ever come after this.
32.
HUNTER
31 MINUTES REMAINING
I’D HAVE COME ALLthe way to Mars just to find this. To findyou.
‘Cleo, I—’ But there’s only a static hiss. She’s gone. My heart’s racing, but I feel strangely empty, as though some piece of me has been lifted out and all that’s left is echoes.
I’m standing on the bridge with my sister and most of her crew – I’ve been murmuring into my mic, my hand up to guard my mouth – and as I turn back toward them, Marguerite’s head snaps up.
‘Why did a rover just depart?’ she raps out, and everyone turns toward her like they’re tracking the sun.
Nico just takes off at a run, disappearing through the door in a blur of movement, and I hustle over to my sister, pulling up a display from my cuff.
