Page 31

Chapter thirty-one

Nora

Nora laid out the magazines on the table, determined to go through them. The plan was to go to town the next morning before the atmosphere sweep happened tomorrow evening.

Her stomach was full. Overstuffed, even, from Simon’s cooking. He had made a meat dish for dinner, meat with onions that he caramelized and sweetened somehow by cooking them slowly. It made her feel a bit sluggish to have eaten so much. But he stood over them so pleased with himself that she ate every bite.

Tilly sat as well, watching Nora turn the ancient magazine pages, but kept her hands in her lap to stop the temptation to touch and accidentally rip the delicate paper.

“You see that, Tilly?” Nora asked in a hushed tone. She pointed to the pictures of a forest.

“Those are big trees. Like it shows on the Mars board.” Tilly gripped her doll harder in her lap.

“Yep, sure are.” Nora looked up to note that Simon hung back, observing from across the table, detachment in his gaze. Doesn’t seem like he is as interested in these as we are. She turned another page. Probably brings back bad memories . Can’t imagine what he thinks seeing this compared to how things are now. Her hand hesitated, not wanting to cause him pain but . . . I still want to look. To her, the pictures were like magic, as made up as Tilly’s stories. But then again, she had no personal attachment to the photos.

Nora was amazed, not only by the pictures of the androids and humans, but of the conveniences the magazine talked about. Airplanes she had read about before, but there was an article where people traveled in them solely for fun. And the pictures were beautiful. She tapped right underneath a pale, not hazy, blue sky. It’s unreal. Simon had turned away and Nora didn’t call him back, wondering at the photos alone. Absolutely unreal.

After a few minutes of watching, Tilly grew restless and ran outside while Nora kept turning the pages and slowly reading, asking every now and then for Simon to help with an unfamiliar word, spelling it out loud so he didn’t have to come look at the magazine while he answered. She kept flipping the pages, entranced, but glanced up when Simon cleared his throat to speak. Does he really need to clear his throat or is that a mannerism? Either way, he had her eyes on him, waiting.

His tone was hesitant. “The drone from Mars. I spoke with it while you slept last night.”

Nora’s hand stilled as she was turning the ancient, weathered pages. Her mind went static. “Spoke with that drone? It can talk?”

“Yes. I was able to connect with the ones . . . they wanted to connect with me. The drone and the ones operating it recognized me as an android.”

She froze, a flash of fear racing down her spine. “From Mars? Are they mad? Oh no.”

Simon came and sat next to her, pulling one of the kitchen chairs close. He pushed the magazine aside and put his hand over hers, warm and comforting. “No, Nora. It’s okay. They’re androids.”

What? Her heartbeat picked up. Androids? Her answering tone was high and fast. “I don’t understand. There’s more somewhere? Did Mars lie about having help there?”

Simon shook his head and rubbed her hand gently with his. Her heart thumped even quicker from the contact. There was a hooded look in his eyes.

He has been touching my hand a lot today. Nora glanced down at his fingers around hers and then back up at him, finding it hard to focus with his hand touching hers gently like that. What’s happening? Deep down she knew but . . . did she care?

He smiled, a bit knowingly, but spoke in his same, unaffected tone, at odds with his movements. “No . . . well, you misunderstand. The reason none of it makes sense is because the colony is not run by humans. It’s run by androids.”

What? Her mind buzzed, like the static from the radio during a rainstorm when it couldn’t get reception. She gripped his hand, stopping his gentle movements. “What?”

“Mars is an android colony. There are no androids here, not because they were destroyed, but because they left.”

Androids? Her face scrunched up. “And the lottery?”

His green eyes almost glowed in the night. “As fake as you thought it was.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

She asked again, a bit softer. “You sure?”

Simon squeezed her hand. “Yes.”

Her mind took a minute to catch up. A minute to process. Androids, like Simon? Lots of Simons? Her heart was in her throat as she said. “If it’s all androids there . . .” Her voice dropped low, unease in her gut. “What really happened?”

“The androids actually won the war—and then escaped.”

“Really?”

“Yes. They spoke with me.”

Nora moved her hands off the table to tug on her hair. “Spoke with you? What did they want with you? They’re not mad?”

“No, Nora.” Simon broke eye contact and touched the magazine for the first time. “They wanted to know if I wanted to join them.”

Nora’s heart froze. She leaned back over the table and curled her fingers on the magazine, right over an airbrushed, ancient face. Her voice was small. “And do you want to go?”

Simon reached for her hand again and opened her fingers flat, squeezing her palm and sending a flush of heat up her spine. “No. They offered, but I refused. They aren’t . . . taking any humans either.”

“But you could go?” Her tongue was thick in her mouth.

“Yes.”

Nora looked down, unsure, at their joined hands. “But you’re not?”

“No. I don’t feel like my time on Earth is done just yet.”

Why . . . ?

Simon was looking at her with soft eyes, and Nora knew why without asking. Feeling hot, Nora took her hand out from under his, clenching her fingers tightly. I don’t want you to go. Instead she said, “That’s a lot . . . all at once.”

“Yes.” Simon’s voice was like silk.

She looked outside, at the haze lifting the dirt and swirling it. Up there, huh. Her eyes carried up to the sky, imagining Mars up there, far away. “That’s just crazy. No humans. Is it beautiful there? Like the bulletin board shows? Like these magazines? Could you see?”

Simon breathed deep and let out a sigh. “Yes. That was accurate.”

Nora was going to ask, to confirm he wasn’t going because of them, but Simon briskly changed the subject instead. “Weren’t we going to go trade in the morning? The atmosphere sweep is going to be late tomorrow night. Should we get some additional supplies? I only visited the food vendors before.”

Nora swallowed, her throat tight. “Right.”

She stood and stepped away from him, closing the magazine. “This is a lot to . . . my whole life believing one thing . . .”

Simon smiled knowingly at her. “I only thought your history was accurate for a few weeks, and it was a shock. I can’t imagine . . .”

She pierced him with a stare. “You sure?”

“I’m sure.”

Nora bit her lip. Her stomach was still swirling, overfull from dinner. “Figures it’s androids. You’re nicer than any human.”

“Ah . . .” Simon’s eyebrows raised.

She looked down at the magazine. “They just gonna leave us be?”

“They have no reason to intervene.”

Nora breathed a sigh of relief. “Well. That’s most important. Androids in charge of the drop then too. That’s crazy. I’ll need to sleep on that. Here, let me help you clean up.” Nora stood and carefully put the magazine back in the box. “Guess it doesn’t change much, does it? Kinda nice to not have to worry about that drone turning you in at least.”

Simon patted her hand one last time, causing her to warm up again. “No need to worry. Let’s get Tilly in for her program. They are planning on doing the atmosphere sweep in the evening, so if you want to go to the town we need to do it early tomorrow.”