THE END

Chapter 20

The two people stare at us for a moment, and then the woman speaks. "Hello." She appears to be in her thirties, maybe, with bags under her eyes, and a gaze that has seen too much. Her hair is messy and she seems tired, but at the same time she walks in a way that demands your attention. She's clearly a leader of some sort.

The man next to her appears maybe a couple years older, and only slightly less ragged-looking than her. He's extremely fit, with muscles that bulge through his shirt.

"What do you want with us?" I ask again.

"I am Head Official, Lindsey, and this is Carter, my right hand man. We have been observing your actions on Jupiter and you have committed multiple acts of treason. You took out your trackers back on Earth, avoided your evacuation, stole tickets to go to Jupiter, and joined the rebels. On top of that, you have conspired to blow up two entire planets, basically eliminating human life altogether." She says.

Neil starts, "It was my fault. Don't punish Cecily-"

But Carter continues as if Neil had never spoken. "And you've done it brilliantly."

"What?" I ask.

"You heard me."

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"We want to hire you. Why punish you for being brilliant, when we can have you on our side?" She tells us. "And think about it, we have tools and advancements here that you could never even dream of back on Jupiter. You could be wonderful working for us."

I stay quiet for a moment, thinking it over. "What would we have to do?"

"We would want you to help us in the battle against Jupiter. But we would make it worth it to you."

"You want us to hurt our own home?" Neil asks. I think about Natalie, and Mark, and everyone else back on Jupiter. We can't do that to them. Not when we've been fighting alongside them passionately for so long.

"We can't do that." I tell them.

"Just think about it. You don't need to decide right away. But your pay -should you choose to accept- would be a safe home here on Mars, wherever you like, equipped with any technology you need to work for us, plus free supplies of food and clothes. And of course an annual salary. Everything would be covered."

Neil whistles. The man speaks, "And should you need anything else, we can negotiate and add it in."

"We'll think about it." I say, tempted, but knowing we can't accept.

"Good. Take the night to think it over. We'll provide you with some food and cots for now, but you will be locked in. We can't have you escape." He tells us, and right on cue, men come in carrying steaming plates of food, and two small cots.

They set up the cots side by side, each with a thin blanket, and they hand us each a plate of the food- mashed potatoes, bread, and salad. Proper Earth food. Then the men leave, as silently as they came, and the other two follow them out. The door shuts and I hear it lock in place.

"What should we do?" Neil asks me, sitting heavily on one of the cots.

"I don't know. The pay is good, but how can we hurt Jupiter? They've been our home."

"Natalie..." He says. I know exactly what he's thinking. "We can't do it."

"What else can we do though? If we don't accept their offer they'll probably punish us for treason. Because if they can't have us working for them, why should Jupiter? If they can't have us, no one can." I say, knowing with certainty that Mars contains the sort of people who would easily eliminate us for not agreeing with them.