Page 72 of The Red Woman on Mars

Then what did she want?

She remembered picturing swapping lives with Alvin the greenhouse worker. And that beautiful law library. If this was a fantasy, why couldn’t she have it all? Independence, intellectual growth, and … love.

The comms device on the opposing seat made a crackling noise. “All clear. I’m on my way back to you.”

She let out a breath. Delilah was the priority. Not playing out some doomed romance. She was here for her sister.

August opened the back of the van, sword in his hand. “There’s a landing pad missing its transporter. The Intelligence rates the likelihood that they’ve gone to Catena’s terraforming station at 83 percent.”

“That’s uncharacteristically imprecise,” Xavier remarked sardonically.

“I’m rounding.” August bared his teeth. “Come with me. I could use Vivian’s assistance.” He led the way to a large rover labeled Air Quality Control. Next to it lay a body with the Intelligence bobbing over it. “Vivian, move him back to the van for me, will you? You’re the strongest of us.” He gestured with his sword to Xavier. “Stay with the rover, X.”

She crouched down and picked up the body under the shoulders. The weight felt like no more than lifting a young child. Sostrange, to be with two powerful men, and be the only one capable of lifting a heavy load. “Is he …?”

“No, he’s only unconscious.”

Vivian carried the body with ease across the parking lot and held the man one-handed as she opened the back door of the van. “Should we tie him up?”

August shook his head. “If we do so, it might be days before someone finds him. I’ve no wish to have his death on my conscience. With the dose I gave him, he should be out for at least four hours. That should give us enough time.” He pulled the man’s fob from around his neck. “Come on.”

Vivian pushed down a wave of nausea and followed August.

They would find Delilah. Today.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

2 Sols to Presentation Day

Vivian squinted out the rover’s narrow window as their destination appeared on the far horizon. “Is there something wrong with it?”

The structure coming into focus was the size of a basketball stadium, if lower in height. But two-thirds of the building was covered by a bright orange seal.

August frowned. “Intelligence, what can you tell us?”

“72.34 percent of the facility is unfinished and abandoned. 27.66 percent of the facility contains a breathable atmosphere, and we detect heat signatures inside.”

“Chancellor River did not see fit to mention this detail to the Council,” Xavier said. “Catena must have realized terraforming is a pipe dream after all.”

August made a side-to-side motion with his hands. “Making the Martian atmosphere hospitable for humans will take a thousand years,” he explained to Vivian. “The Catena dome was originally formed fifty years ago by those who believed we should be putting our resources into terraforming the planet at a faster rate.”

Xavier snorted. “Moving the timeline from a thousand years to three or four hundred. Still far beyond our lifetimes. We need to focus on the quality of life for our current residents first.”

“We completely agree, Xavier,” said the Intelligence. “Terraforming won’t scale up fast enough to justify the investment. A twenty-fold investment in terraforming would result in a projected timeline of three hundred and sixty-two years and ten days until the first humans could live on the surface of Mars without protective gear. Under our guidance, Wim has advised Secretary Yarrow to direct Martian resources to other areas first.”

Xavier jerked his head back to stare at the orb, and Vivian suspected he was startled to find his AI adversary agreeing with him.

“Isn’t that why they needed water?” Vivian asked. “Because they were putting too many of their resources in terraforming?”

“Indeed. Imagine, humbling yourself before the dome you spurned, begging for water. Water!” Xavier scowled. “I would die of shame if I couldn’t provide my people with adequate water. Who would be foolish enough to sink resources into this massive facility before investing in the basic infrastructure to ensure the dome’s survival?”

“Martian Fundamental Rights,” Vivian murmured.

“Just so.” Xavier gave her a half smile. “Have you been enjoying my present?”

“I—” She’d assumed he’d given her the book of law out of mockery. Hadn’t she fantasized about just such a moment? She’d dreamed of having the chance to demonstrate all she’d learned and throw his cruel joke back in his face. But the man she’d thought he was wasn’t anything like the true Xavier Dorsey. “I think the book is marvelous. How did you know it was something I would enjoy?”

“Delilah didn’t tell you?”