Defying Mars (The Saving Mars Series) - By Cidney Swanson Page 0,57
go ahead, then, ask her.
A new voice broke through the comm. “Jaarda, what can you tell us as to the disposition of the Terran satellite lasers?”
“Mars Raider Ethan Jaarda successfully completed the task of disabling the lasers,” replied Jess, eager to sing her brother’s praises. “However, the targeting and locking mechanisms are still very much alive. Anyone who ventures into Mars high orbit should be prepared for a whole lot of sirens and whistles going off. Just no lasers. Sir.”
She wondered if anyone would thank her for this information.
They didn’t.
“I have pressing matters to attend to,” said Mei Lo. “But listen to me very carefully.” She paused. “Jaarda, I want you to think long and hard about every promise you ever made to me. My government cannot support the path you are choosing, and MCC demands that you bring the Galleon back home now. Mei Lo out.”
Jessamyn was not offered the chance to say goodbye. Or that she was sorry. Or that she wished things could have gone differently. No, she was summarily cut off from conversation with the woman she most admired and respected on Mars.
It hurt, but Jess told herself she ought to have expected it. She queued up a recording of the conversation so she could listen to it again.
Jaarda, I want you to think about every promise you ever made to me, the Secretary said.
Jessamyn could think of only two specific promises—one old and one new. She had promised to bring back ration bars (the old promise) and she’d promised to keep to herself the secret about Terran corruption in the Re-bodying Program (the new promise.) Well, she’d made good on the first and would certainly keep the second one.
She listened to the end of the conversation once more. There it was, the strange way Mei Lo admonished her. Instead of making the appeal personal, Mei Lo had referenced the government of Mars Colonial.
She replayed the section.
“My government cannot support the path you are choosing, and MCC strongly advises you to bring the Galleon back home now.”
That was curious. Mei Lo would have known that a personal appeal would hold a lot more water with Jess. And then it struck her. Like Jessamyn, the Secretary had wished to convey more than could be said with so many listening ears in the room. Mei Lo seemed to be telling Jess that the government of Mars Colonial disapproved Jess’s action.
But she doesn’t, realized Jess. Mei Lo knew exactly why Jess was returning to Earth and what she hoped to accomplish by rescuing Ethan. And while the Secretary could not say aloud that she approved Jessamyn’s course of action, Jess heard the unspoken blessing suspended between the spoken words and caught at it like a child clutching at carbon snowfall on a winter’s night.
She felt the swelling of courage inside. She would not let the Secretary down this time. Mei Lo recognized what Jessamyn knew: defying Mars was the only way she could hope to save it.
24
FOR HARPREET
The officer in red armor beside Pavel was speaking quietly into his comm. “How much longer?”
The two had been trapped in a corridor between locked doors for several minutes following Pavel’s conversation with his aunt. Pavel surmised she’d been shown video footage revealing that her nephew was, in fact, acting in collusion with Brian Wallace. Pavel felt grateful Jessamyn was millions of kilometers from his aunt.
“I’ll try the door again,” said Pavel, rising and walking calmly to the door that led away from Harpreet’s cell.
“Stop right there,” warned the officer, breaking off from his comm line conversation.
But Pavel pretended he hadn’t heard. Because inside his earpiece, Pavel had just received instructions from Ethan.
“Proceed to the door on your right,” said Ethan. “I will open it and then lock it behind you.”
“I said stop! You! Brezhnaya-Bouchard!”
Pavel did not stop. He hoped the officer didn’t have orders to “shoot the nephew if he runs.” Even more, he hoped Ethan was serious about the door opening. Pavel broke into a run as the officer started to chase him. Either the door would open or Pavel would have a badly broken nose very soon. He pushed himself faster. Just as he was about to collide with the door, it slid open. He reached the other side, panting, and it clanged shut behind him.
To his right, Pavel beheld a mass of people—detainees by their clothing—striding along the corridor.
“What?” he muttered to himself.
“Doctor!” called Kazuko Zaifa, beckoning Pavel.
Pavel slid in beside Brian Wallace, Harpreet, and Kazuko.