Page 33 of The Red Woman on Mars

Vivian spent the rest of the day and a sleepless night tense and agitated. How could the Intelligence match two people so ill-suited for each other? Over and over in her mind, she replayed Xavier’s words from their walk at the Hayes Estate.The Intelligence cares nothing for the quality of life of one Earther woman.

What had Miranda meant when she’d warned that her parents were in danger? Were the Rinaldi brothers trying to shake them down for cash or valuables? Surely, surely, they wouldn’t kill her mild-mannered parents, who’d never made trouble for anyone.

If her parents were murdered, Vivian would spend the rest of her life knowing she could have accepted Wim and prevented their deaths. She would have to live with that knowledge forever.

When Wim returned the next day, he wouldn’t meet her eyes. Instead, he turned his attention to Luz, who listened patiently to him. Vivian was relieved and grateful to her friend for providing a buffer. Luz led Wim out to the courtyard, where he spoke with a furrowed brow, droning in an endless monologue.

She couldn’t have accepted him, she told herself. She would have been miserable. For years.

Vivian touched the spot at her throat where Max Rinaldi’s shank had pierced her skin. Had he killed Evie with that weapon? Or had he simply used his stronger muscles to overpower herand choked the life from her with nothing but his bare hands? Evie had been thin from years of malnutrition. Frail. Like Vivian before she’d left for Mars.

She remembered what Shiloh had said.It’s easier if you don’t fight back.With the blade at her throat and Max Rinaldi’s bulky, well-fed body pressed against hers, she’d been rigid with terror. It hadn’t even occurred to her to attempt to fight. If she’d tried, she’d be dead.

Like Evie.

A knock at the front door startled Vivian out of her dark thoughts. Vivian opened it to find Silas, dressed in a full soldier’s uniform, his hat pressed to his chest. He gave her a slow, lazy smile that made Vivian’s heart speed up. This is what she needed. A handsome gentleman soldier to distract her. Someone not on Wim’s approved list.

“How did you get over the walls?” she hissed, stifling an unexpected girlish giggle and pulling him inside. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“Called in a few favors.” He reached out a hand to cup her cheek. “Vivian, I can’t get you out of my mind. I had to see you again.”

Vivian leaned into his touch. Silas had come to see her for the pleasure of her company, not for the child she could carry. Under his admiring gaze, she felt young and carefree. More like Delilah than herself. What would it be like to be as vivacious as her sister? To believe falling in love was possible?

“Wim Adair is in the courtyard,” she said. “We can’t let him spot you. Come on.” Vivian led Silas to the only private space available—her bedroom—and shut the door firmly behind her.

Silas’s sapphire eyes sparkled as he looked around the small space. “How very spartan. This room nearly resembles our barracks. I was under the impression Yarrow was treating the Red Mothers like people of importance.”

“I’m not sure Secretary Yarrow and the Intelligence see us as people at all,” Vivian said bitterly. “Just bodies to be dressed up and paraded around until we’re impregnated. I think the Intelligence gave us a shared dorm to encourage us to choose a partner faster.”

Silas closed the curtain on her window. “Will it work?”

“Hardly.” Vivian stretched out her arms to enjoy the feeling of openness. “Living in safety with my sister and a fully stocked kitchen? This house is paradise.”

How could she say such a thing when her parents still lived in their one-room tent in Sumter? Vivian abruptly put her hands down.

Silas picked up one of the charcoal sketches Delilah had left scattered on the bedside table and examined it with a little smile. “There are those of us who believe that the Intelligence should not have such a prominent role in our society.”

Vivian glanced at the ceiling. “Should you say that out loud? Aren’t you worried the Intelligence will overhear you?” Was the Intelligence watching them right now? She gave an involuntary shudder.

Silas shrugged and returned the drawing to the table. “Why should I care what the Intelligence hears? We do not yet live in a society that blocks all speech.” His eyes glittered. “I believe the Intelligence is stifling our ability to live as free, independent Martians. The AI was designed by the First Families to protect their offspring by any means necessary, and it cares nothing for the rest of us not born into privilege.”

His attitude toward the Intelligence was so much like Xavier’s. What would Xavier think of his boyhood rival in her bedroom? She pictured his rich dark eyes smoldering with jealousy. A tempting image. She smiled flirtatiously up at Silas. “You’re quite the radical, aren’t you?”

Silas grunted. “Some may think so. But you must already see what it feels like to move within the Martian oligarchy withoutbeing part of it. I know they must treat you with condescension and disrespect, the way they’ve always treated me. And the Intelligence refuses to share this new reproductive tech. Why should the Founding Families be the only ones able to populate Mars? Why should they be the only ones with access to the Red Mothers?”

“Access? You’re here with me now, aren’t you?”

“You know what I mean. The ability to have our own enhanced children.” Silas walked closer to her. “Is it true the partner you select will share your bed?”

“True enough.”

“What a waste. Those stuffy aristocrats will have no idea how to please you.”

“And you do?”

Silas ran a single finger along the line of her jaw. “I do.”

She could believe it. He was handsome enough to have his pick of lovers. She thought, suddenly, of Xavier at the luncheon on her second day on Mars, leaning toward the bartender in that tight-fitting brocade vest. Silas wasn’t the only one who was good-looking enough to attract anyone he wanted.