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They release me, and I push off the one who bruised my arm to stumble in front of Kavax. He towers above me, his eyes quizzical beneath tangled eyebrows. I pant for breath and pull my medical scrubs back into place.

At full height, I barely reach Kavax’s belly. In the tent, he seemed kind and human. Here, before hundreds of eyes, he’s untouchable. He pitied me earlier. That is why he stood by my bedside. But what am I to him? They say all Colors are equal now, but we all know that’s a load of snakeshit.

“Take me…” I stammer.

“Up,” he thunders. “Speak up. Hard to hear you up here,

little one.” He chuckles to himself as his pet threads through his legs. There’s a watchfulness to the creature. A brain examining me.

“Take me with you,” I say in an angry voice.

He doesn’t understand. “With us?”

“Yes. With you.”

“Child, we’re not staying on Mars. We’re bound for Luna.”

“Lovely. Then you can get me off this rock.”

“But…this is your home.”

“Home? It’s a grave.”

Kavax frowns, not knowing what to do. A tall, plain-faced Gold in her early forties, who wears a beautiful cloak the color of a storm cloud, drifts to the man’s side. Beneath the cloak, she wears cloth instead of metal. Her eyes are not as kind as Kavax’s, but dreamy and distant. She carries a large datapad with her medical equipment. “What is it, Father?” she asks.

“The girl wants to come with, Xana. This is the one who saved me.”

“Oh, heart.” Xana looks pityingly at me. “Father, you know she cannot.”

“Please…” I beg.

“It’s against the immigration regulations,” Xana says. “We can’t ignore them.”

“If…if you can’t take me…at least take Liam. Take my nephew. He deserves to have a chance at life.”

Again, Xana shakes her head before her father can respond. “We’re bound for Luna. If we take you, everyone will want to come. And the moon is already backlogged for years with refugees.”

“?‘Everyone’ didn’t save your da.”

“Sorry.” She looks past me to the refugees at the tents who stand and watch. “It’s an impossible precedent to set. There is a system in place that the Senate designed. We can’t simply go against it because we want to. You will be taken care of. You will be protected. It’s to your benefit….”

“Protected? Like last time?” I snarl. I know I should rein in my temper. But my face is numb with anger. Tears leak out of my eyes. “You pulled us up out of the mine. You stuck us in this camp. You said it would be for six months, but two years later we’re still slagged in the mud. Two years. You abandoned us, Gold.” I jab a finger up at them. “The Sovereign abandoned us. And now my family is dead. My father, my sister, my brother, my niece, my nephews, because you lied.”

“I’m sorry, child,” the woman says. “But it’s a bit more complicated than that.”

“It actually is that fucking simple: the Rising took everything; now it owes me.”

“The answer is no.” She sets a hand on her father’s shoulder. “Come, Father. There’s been news from Luna.”

“What news?”

Xana looks back at me. “It isn’t meant for all ears.”

Kavax’s eyes are apologetic as he turns to say farewell. I shake my head. “Lord Kavax, you said if I ever needed anything, you would do your best to give it. Are you a liar too?”

“I am sorry, little one. If it were in my power…There are regulations. We must obey them. Stupid Senate. I have friends here. I will tell them to come help you. Have patience.” He kneels and picks a piece of mud from my trousers. “Farewell.” He leaves me at the bottom of the ramp. “Come, Sophocles.” He pats his leg, but the animal does not join his master. He’s fixated on me. Tail swishing back and forth. “Sophocles?” The animal plods silently down the ramp to my side. He sniffs the air as if it were heady with a delicious scent. And then he lunges. I yelp, thinking he’s going to bite me, but instead he’s stuck his snout into my pants pocket. Sniffing, he rummages around till he’s found what he’s looking for. He trots happily back to his master. “What have you got there, my little prince?”

Kavax takes two pieces of candy from the animal’s mouth, one green, one purple. The large man’s eyes go wild and wide as he tastes the purple. “Grape! It is a sign,” he breathes through his white teeth. “A sign!” Xana turns back to see what’s happened.