“So, I guess that means you can’t tell me who set the bounty on my head?” she tried.
“No, I can’t tell you who placed any bounties,” Grandas said. “Nor where you may find Veil. I can’t even remember how I got chipped in the first place. I’m sorry, I’ve told you all I know.”
“Don’t be sorry,” Rhea said. “It’s more than I knew before. But I’m going to hold you to your promise to restore the water supply. If it’s not back on by this afternoon, we’ll be talking again.”
“I’m sure we will,” he agreed.
Rhea nodded. She gazed one last time at the floor-to-ceiling window, and at the virtual Ganymedean sea beyond, then departed with her companions.
She knew now what she must do.
22
Rhea stood inside the glass elevator with Will and the others and gazed out across the parliamentary compound as the lift descended.
“What’s on your mind?” Will asked. “Are you mad because I didn’t tell you about your mark?”
There was indeed something on her mind, but not that. She had meant to confront Will about it later, when she could pull him aside, but hearing his voice caused the anger bubbling inside her to boil over.
She turned toward him. “You lied to me.”
He gave her an uncertain look. “Just because I didn’t tell you what the mark meant, doesn’t—”
“You told me the army of Earth destroyed the Ganymedeans to the last man, woman, and cyborg,” she explained.
“Ah.” He held her angry gaze. “Well, when I said every last man, woman and cyborg, I meant generally speaking. Of course, there were bound to be a few who were missed. Taken prisoner here and there. But trust me, there wouldn’t have been many… they were probably mostly cyborgs like yourself, as ordinary humans would’ve had a very hard time surviving the final devastating attack launched by the militaries of Earth in retaliation for the Great Calming.” The Great Calming was the morning the people of Earth had awakened to find half their cities destroyed. “But it doesn’t change the fact that the moon, and everything you might have once known, is now gone.”
“I’m going back,” she announced.
He folded his arms. “That’s probably not a good idea.”
“I want to see it for myself,” she said. “I want to see what the people of this world did to my home.”
“Rhea, listen, there’s no atmosphere,” Will said. “Even a cyborg such as yourself can’t survive there, not without an environmental suit. Unless you can convince the Europans to let you enter one of their geodesic domes… living under an artificial sky, beneath an artificial sun. Is that really how you want to spend your days?”
“I’ve made up my mind,” she replied.
Her gaze drifted to Miles and Brinks, but they were studiously avoiding her eyes. “You hate me. For what I am.”
Miles gazed at the landscape beyond the glass. “No. I don’t. I admit I used to hate all Ganymedeans for what they’d done. For destroying half of Earth. I lost… much. But how can I hate a people that we eradicated in retaliation?” The albino at last met her eyes. “We killed them all. And yes, you are from Ganymede, and you represent what they did to us. But you can’t be held you responsible for the crimes committed by your government or military. And besides, you’ve done so much for us. No, I don’t hate you. I love you.”
“As do I,” Brinks said. “You always will be our Warden, no matter what. I did feel betrayed at first, when the mayor revealed who you were. But I reminded myself you didn’t even know you were Ganymedean. Your mind was wiped. And like Miles said, you personally had nothing to do with the Great Calming. So no, I can’t blame you. There’s nothing Ganymedean left inside of you for me to blame. Or hate.”
“Good,” Rhea said. “Can I trust you two never to reveal what happened today? I need you to keep this a secret. Others, even among the Wardenites, might not take so kindly to the fact I’m a Ganymedean.”
“I will reveal it to no one,” Miles said. “Not even to the Wardenites.”
“Nor will I,” Brinks said.
Rhea smiled gratefully. “Thank you.”
“But what should we tell them, when they ask why you wish to journey to Ganymede?” Miles asked.
“Tell them…” Rhea paused. “Just say I need a vacation.”
The security robots escorted them to the edge of the parliament area, and then Rhea and her party were allowed to proceed on their own.
The streets proved relatively quiet: the demonstrators would’ve returned to Rust Town a long time ago. There were no combat robots or mechs lined up on either side of the street to observe their return. Of course not. She was welcomed by the mayor. Still, she knew she was being watched: there were too many cameras recording from the sidelines for her not to be.
The people here didn’t live all that differently from those in Rust Town. Sure, they might reside in towering skyscrapers and apartment buildings versus the cargo containers and lean-tos of the slums, but they mostly stayed home all day. Delivery drones filled the skies, as well as land-based couriers. The occasional humans she saw out and about barely seemed aware of the outside world, their eyes defocused as they talked quietly to themselves—video conferencing a friend or family member, or perhaps playing some online game that used the real world as a backdrop.
She passed through the gates in the city wall and made her way back to her home base in the slums. She and her companions were scanned for chips at the Texas barriers, and then allowed inside. She made her way down to her quarters for some peace and quiet.
A few hours passed.
She kept the Faraday cage deactivated, so that when Renaldo tapped in, she received the call immediately.
“Check out the trending section of any streaming site,” the Wardenite said.
She did so.
Rust Town had its water supply restored. She noticed that despite all the
