Page 79 of The Red Woman on Mars

“You aren’t running experiments in a lab,” Xavier snapped from the doorway. “This is happening to the bodies of women.”

“ ‘First do no harm,’ ” Caspian added. He looked a little ill.

The Intelligence beeped again. “Disruption to the status quo always has winners and losers, right?”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Vivian snarled.

Delilah put a hand on her arm. “Viv, not now. I can’t let Catena have the sample. They ripped my b—my genetic material from my body. Against my will. They don’t get to benefit from hurting me.” She limped closer to the scientist who’d been speaking. “Have you recorded your data electronically? Have you sent it to anyone?”

He looked uncertainly at his companions.

Delilah knelt and grabbed his neck with one hand. “Tell me.”

“No,” he choked out. “Not yet.”

Delilah let him go with a flick of her hand, and his head banged against the wall. From a nearby workstation, she picked up a Bunsen burner and turned the handle. Her blank, pale faceshone against the blue flame. She walked with slow, deliberate steps back to where Vivian stood at the table.

“Don’t!” shouted the scientist. He made a jerky attempt to stand that August stopped with a sword pressed to his chest.

Delilah placed the Bunsen burner on the table. Her blank face morphed into anger as she gathered the used vials, syringes, and slides the scientists had used to study the fetus. “I want it destroyed. All of it.” Vivian picked up a bottle labeled acetone and handed it silently to her sister.

Delilah poured it on the pile. “Stand back.” She lifted the Bunsen burner and brought the blue flame to the pile. It was immediately engulfed in flames, and a horrible smell of burning chemicals filled the room. Firelight glittered in Deliah’s hard stare.

Caspian moved to stand a step behind Delilah, a fire extinguisher in one hand. Vivian could detect a hint of pride and affection on his sober face.

Delilah picked up the petri dish and looked down at it. She let out a shuddering sob. “Goodbye,” she whispered. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…” She looked at Vivian with tear-filled eyes. “What’s the rest of it? I don’t remember.”

Vivian squeezed her sister around the shoulders. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” They didn’t pray as a family. Not since the storm. But Delilah was right to remember the words of comfort here.

When Delilah picked up the Bunsen burner again, Vivian murmured, “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” Delilah lit the tiny dot with the flame and in a matter of seconds, it was reduced to ash.

Nearby, the flaming pile of materials had burned out on its own, leaving the white table blackened and warped.

Delilah turned in Vivian’s arms and hugged her tightly. “Let’s go.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

2 Sols to Presentation Day

“Vivian! What an unexpected pleasure,” Ivey drawled from the pilot’s seat, for all the world as if they’d run into each other at a cocktail party. “May I offer you a ride in our private airship? I’m afraid our accommodations this afternoon aren’t up to my usual standards.”

Vivian felt an unexpected surge of gratitude to Ivey for her light tone in the face of such a difficult day. “Hi, Ivey. Thanks for the lift.” She stepped out of the tube connecting the ship to the command center, searching immediately for her sister.

Caspian helped Delilah to lie down on the floor of the narrow cabin and tucked a blanket around her. She gave Vivian a weary wave and closed her eyes. August leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, the Intelligence hovering at his ear. Xavier entered the ship and closed the hatch. The ship lifted precariously into the air and flew slowly away from the terraforming center. Vivian scrambled for a handhold on the wall and pulled herself to sit at Delilah’s feet.

“A thousand apologies for the bumpy liftoff.” Ivey’s voice carried an uncharacteristic note of strain. “Our little ship isn’t used to carrying this much weight.”

“We must go after River’s ship, August,” the Intelligence said. “We have projected coordinates.”

“No,” August told it. “We’re going home, Intelligence.”

“August, you must listen to us. You know our guidance has always brought Arcadia prosperity.”

“I know, but as Vivian stated so clearly earlier, you’re wrong about this one.” He took the orb in both hands and twisted the base. The Intelligence’s lights abruptly darkened.

“Nicely done, cousin,” Xavier murmured.

August tucked the orb in the pocket of his black duster, pressing his fist to his forehead. “We are grateful for the gifts of the Intelligence,” he said in a voice so low it was barely audible.