The Girl From Mars

by Brenda Hiatt

  “I need tips, yeah. Though they may not help much, since I’m probably the worst Ag ever born into our fine.”

  I can’t help laughing a little. “Come on, it’s not that bad.”

  “No, it is. I have Duchas friends who are a lot better with plants than I am. So…what’s the secret? What do you actually do to make them grow—or at least not die?”

  Realizing she’s serious, I stifle the urge to laugh again. “Um, it’s kind of instinctive, but I’ll do my best. There are some rosebushes around the corner, let’s try there.”

  She follows me to the tiny, sheltered rose garden I discovered our second day here. It’s set well back from the main walkways, next to the lattice that screens the heating and cooling equipment. There’s a white wooden bench next to it but, as I expect, it’s deserted now.

  Though it’s nearly dark, there’s enough light for me to find a bush with three unopened buds.

  “Okay, here. This one.” Tossing my backpack onto the bench, I kneel down and she does the same. “Watch, I’m just going to run a finger along the leaves nearest this bud, barely touching them. You do the same on that one there.”

  Watching me closely, she mimics my hand motion. “What am I supposed to— Ouch!”

  “Um, avoid the thorns.” Again I have to swallow a laugh. “Just brush the very top leaves, then move your finger up the pedicel toward the sepals. At the same time, try to feel the life inside the stem, flowing up to the flower.” A moment’s focus and I sense it clearly, rising from the roots deep in the ground through the body of the plant to the bud I’ve chosen. “Can you feel it?”

  “Er… Maybe?”

  Out of the corner of my eye I see her clumsily stroking the base of her bud, her brow furrowed with concentration. Closing my eyes, I turn my attention back to my own flower, enjoying the flow of its life force and my connection to it. For the first time since leaving Nuath I start to feel grounded in a way I’ve missed more than I realized. The seed work I’ve been doing with Mum out at NuAgra isn’t nearly as satisfying as connecting with an established plant.

  “Oh, wow!” At Molly’s exclamation I open my eyes and see that my bud is already more than half open. Hers, unfortunately, is as tight-shut as ever. “How did you do that?”

  I shrug. “Like I said, it’s hard to explain. I sort of tap into the life inside, then add a bit of my own energy, speeding things up a little. I’m sure with practice you can do it, too.”

  “Okay, let me try again.”

  This time I watch as she brushes her fingertips up the top of her rose stem. After five minutes or so, she’s clearly growing frustrated.

  “I’m sorry,” she finally says. “I just can’t seem to do it—or even sense it.”

  “Hey, don’t worry about it.” I pat her on the shoulder. “Maybe you’re like Adina and have more affinity with animals than plants. Some Ags do.” I don’t mention that even Adina would have had no difficulty coaxing that bud to open.

  “Yeah. Maybe.” She turns her back on the roses to face me. “So, what’s the deal with you and Sean?”

  Startled, I rock back on my heels. “What do you mean?”

  “I can tell he likes you, and I sort of thought you liked him, too. Was I wrong?”

  Averting my eyes from her too-knowing gaze, I shrug. “I don’t dislike him. But we don’t have anything in common.”

  “You both like sports,” she points out. “That’s a good start. And you’re both interested in politics, even if you don’t agree about everything.”

  “That’s putting it mildly,” I respond before remembering I’m supposed to be winning Molly’s confidence. “I mean, it’s admirable that he’s so loyal to the Sovereign after, well, everything, but—”

  “But you don’t get it.”

  I shake my head. “I really don’t.”

  For a long moment Molly looks at me, her brow furrowed like it was with the rosebush. Then, “Why are you so determined not to like M? No, don’t deny it. She can tell, and so can I, even though you’re trying to act friendlier to her now.”

  I’m obviously an even worse actress than I thought. So much for my mission.

  “It’s…not her personally,” I say, though that’s not exactly true. “I just happen to believe the monarchy has outlived its usefulness. Especially with more and more of us leaving Mars.”

  “I know. And like I said before, she basically felt the same way—probably still does, though now she knows better than to say so out loud. But in a year’s time she’s done more for our people than most other Sovereigns did in their whole lifetimes. If she hadn’t—”

  She breaks off, looking at me doubtfully.

  “Hadn’t what?” I prompt.

  “Sean didn’t tell you? I was afraid he wouldn’t. Guess I shouldn’t either, without checking with him first. But you have to believe me when I say she’s proven she’s willing to sacrifice, well, pretty much everything for the good of the rest of us. Even if most of those sacrifices never made the news.”

  Her gray eyes are so earnest, so sincere, I have to believe she’s telling the truth. Or, at least, what she thinks is the truth.

  “So…she and Rigel really did risk their lives to stop that alien EMP?”

  “More than risked. The Scientists told them upfront that even if they succeeded, they’d almost certainly be vaporized. But…they were our only possible hope. I was right there when the odds were explained to them, and they both insisted on trying anyway. Then there was the time—”

  More unsettled than I want to admit, even to myself, I interrupt before she can continue. “Okay, but what about some of the stuff she’s done that wasn’t for the good of our people? Like getting caught on camera kissing Rigel on their way to Mars? Or before that, when she attacked a Duchas—Trina. I’m surprised the Council still let her go to Mars after that!”

  To my surprise, Molly laughs. “Is that what Trina told you? That M attacked her?”

  I nod, frowning. “She said it was unprovoked, though from what I already know of Trina—”

  “Trust me, it was provoked—but M didn’t attack her at all. She just tried to grab Trina’s phone when she threatened to publish a nasty photoshopped picture that made it look like M…anyway, it was fake. Something Trina did to make Sean and Rigel even more jealous of each other, and to get M in trouble. Trina’s the one who tried to attack M—and then broke her own nose when M ducked. I saw the whole thing on the video Amber took with her phone. Ask Amber to show you. I’ll bet she still has it.”

  Though I’d already had trouble imagining the Sovereign doing what Trina described, it rankles to learn M was in the right. Quickly recalling some of the other stuff I’ve read, I try again.

  “All right, how do you explain her trying to elope with Rigel the moment Faxon was finally toppled, if she supposedly cares so much for our people?”

  Molly’s eyes go wide. “How…how did you know about that?” she gasps.

  Aha! “I have my sources,” I say evasively, triumphant now. “So it’s true?”

  “Not exactly. They weren’t eloping. Just…escaping.”

  “Right, from her responsibilities. The first time our people needed her, if only as a symbol to rally around, she ran away.”

  But Molly’s shaking her head. “No, she ran away because the Council was about to separate her from Rigel, probably permanently. Nobody here on Earth had even heard about Faxon’s downfall yet—she didn’t find out until after they brought her back. She and Rigel ran because they were scared. If you saw how sick they get when they’re apart…” Her expression pleads with me to understand.

  “Did the Council know about that?”

  “They did—so told the Healers to come up with an antidote for the tinneas. The plan was to separate them to test it, but M didn’t want to wait around for that. I can’t blame her, since I seriously doubt Uncle Allister would have let Rigel come back to Jewel, even if it didn’t work.”

  Her mention of Allister is jarring—it�
�s the second time she’s implied her uncle wanted Rigel out of the picture from the very start. Then I remember something else.

  “Wait. Couldn’t Sean’s touch have kept her from getting sick?”

  At her startled glance I feel my face warming, remembering why he told me about that.

  “It does help some, but not enough. I think for a while he hoped he could eventually form a graell bond with her, too, but…that never happened.”

  “Because she was already bonded with Rigel?”

  She nods sadly. “Sean never really had a chance.” Then her face brightens. “Lately, though, I have a feeling he’s finally ready to move on. Maybe once you and he get to know each other better…” She leaves the sentence hanging.

  “How do you think your parents would feel about that?” I remember that assessing look Mrs. O’Gara gave me when she found out I’m an Ag, right before encouraging me to be friends with Molly. Just Molly.

  Her eyes slide away from mine, confirming my suspicion. “They want him to be happy as much as I do. If they knew he really cared about you—”

  “Whoa! Slow down. We hardly know each other.” No way I’m going to tell her about that weird touch thing, especially since I’m determined not to let it happen again. “Anyway, enough about Sean. Can’t you tell me the real reason Emileia worked so hard to get Acclaimed when she supposedly didn’t want to?”

  For a long moment she hesitates, clearly torn, then springs to her feet. “Um, it’s getting kind of late. I promised my parents I’d be home by nine and it must be after that now.”

  “So you really won’t tell me?”

  “Not tonight but…I’ll try to convince Sean to. He can explain it better anyway. What he won’t tell you is that he was nearly as much a hero as M was. If it weren’t for him… Anyway, I should go. Thanks for the, um, lesson, Kira, even if it didn’t take.”

  With a lopsided grin, she scoops her backpack off the bench, slings it over her shoulder and walks away, leaving me to frown after her, thinking hard.

  After everything Molly told me Thursday, I feel more awkward than ever trying to make small talk with M and Rigel Saturday night, at the newcomer get-together.

  “So, what sort of stuff did you have to do in those orientation classes?” Rigel asks the group. “You were all in Dun Cloch before coming here, right?”

  The Walsh twins explain that they and Erin did their basic Orientation in Bailerealta, then joined the rest of us in Dun Cloch once they knew they were coming to Jewel.

  “Oh, I wondered about that,” M says. “The Council told me everyone coming here got extra instruction but they didn’t say where. Was it super tedious?”

  That startles a laugh from me. “Kind of, yeah,” I admit. “Most of it was pretty obvious stuff.”

  She wrinkles her nose in sympathy. “I think they just wanted to be extra cautious after some of the clueless Echtran tourists we’ve had here.”

  “Not to mention that Anti-Royal dude who tried to kill you.” Rigel puts a protective arm around her shoulders. “It only made sense to do some extra screening before letting people actually move here.”

  Though they hadn’t screened me out…because they only interrogated the adults. I’m still trying to come up with a polite response, instead defending the Populists like I want to, when Sean and Molly walk in.

  Sternly ordering my color not to rise, I return Molly’s effusive greeting before sending a carefully casual smile Sean’s way. His ears look slightly redder than usual as he returns it. At school it was fairly easy to avoid talking with Sean by pretending to pay attention in class, then hurrying off to my next one. I suspect it’ll be harder at a party.

  I realized then that Liam’s saying something about caidpel, which gives me an excuse to turn away.

  “—know Brady well?”

  “What? Oh, um, yeah, I guess so.” I’m startled to realize I haven’t even thought about Brady for several days. “I mean, we were on the team together for almost a year.”

  “Cool. I figured you two must be friends, you played so well off each other those last few games of the regular season. I can’t really ask you about caidpel at school, obviously, but I’ve always—”

  The Sovereign clears her throat and he breaks off.

  “Thanks so much for coming tonight, everyone. No, don’t worry, I’m not going to give another speech,” she adds with a grin. “This is a party, not a meeting. I just wanted to remind you that if you’ve got questions you can’t ask at school, tonight’s a good chance to do that. Rigel and I—and Sean and Molly, too—will tell you whatever you want to know. But the first person who bows to me is going to get smacked, got it?”

  That gets a laugh, and a moment later Rigel’s dad comes in with a stack of pizza boxes. Everyone relaxes noticeably and it starts to feel like a real party. Soon people take M at her word and ask her questions, some about topics she avoided during the meeting at NuAgra a week ago Thursday.

  I make a point of staying close enough to hear her answers. As an added benefit, Sean seems to be deliberately keeping his distance from her.

  The downside is Alan. Like at school the past few days, he interprets my coolness toward Sean as encouragement to flirt with me, despite how many times I’ve shut him down in the past.

  “Having fun?” he asks, sidling over. “Can I get you another soda?”

  “I’m fine, thanks.” I stop short of telling him to go away, even though he made me miss whatever M just said about the Grentl.

  Alan inches closer. “You sure?”

  “Yes.” I take a step away from him, more irritated than usual by his persistence. I tell myself it’s not because Sean is watching, from the opposite side of the room. “Just…don’t, okay?” Alan’s quick scowl proves he knows exactly what I mean.

  “I just… Fine. Sorry.” He moves off, his feelings clearly hurt. I wish it would make him give up permanently, but I doubt it.

  M is still being bombarded with questions, so I quickly turn my focus back to her.

  “So…Rigel’s memory really was erased, like Morag Teague told everyone on the feeds?” Erin asks hesitantly at one point.

  M nods, though she looks slightly wary now.

  “But how…how could he get it back? My parents are Healers and they said it should have been impossible.”

  “It probably would have been, if not for our graell bond.” I inch closer. “And yes, it’s real. Even the Echtran Council finally admitted it.”

  “Wow, so it was your graell bond that cured him?” Jana asks, wide-eyed. “What’s it like, being bonded like that? It sounds so romantic! My parents always said it was only in fairy tales, but I think even they believe it’s true after that last MARSTAR bulletin.”

  “Mine, too,” Erin chimes in. “Then I went back and reread the report Regent Shim sent out, about those tests the Scientists did. I’m not sure I’d want someone reading my mind like that. Is it weird?”

  M and Rigel both laugh, exchanging one of those too-intimate glances. “Sometimes,” Rigel admits.

  “It helps that we’re getting better at shielding—keeping our thoughts to ourselves when we want to,” M adds.

  “Most of the time it’s great, though.” The smile Rigel gives her makes even unromantic me catch my breath.

  Sean mainly focused on the drawbacks of a graell bond when he explained it to me, but now I wonder if the benefits might possibly outweigh them. To have Sean look at me like that…

  Nope. Nope, nope, nope. I don’t want that at all.

  Sean’s no longer part of my mission, I remind myself. The last thing I need is to start seriously crushing on him. That would only distract me from what I’m supposed to be doing.

  I keep listening, hoping to pick up some new detail I can report back.

  29

  Turnover

  Sean

  “What’s up with you tonight, Sean? Why aren’t you talking to anybody?” Molly asks midway through the evening. “This is supposed to be a party, you
know. Did you and Kira have a fight or something?”

  “A fight? No. We’ve barely talked to each other since Tuesday night.” Which is perfectly true.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I see Alan leaning in close to her right now, like he’s been doing way too often at school. Again, I have to tamp down a totally inappropriate twinge of jealousy.

  “Why?” Molly demands, snapping my attention back to her—though I still keep half an eye on Kira and Alan. “Because of what Mum said? Don’t be stupid. You like her, I can tell. And she likes you. Why are you both so determined to fight it?”

  I huff out a breath. “Because—”

  “Don’t give me that line about it being too soon. You told me you took Missy Gillespie to Homecoming because you were trying to move on, get M out of your system. If you were willing to go out with a Duchas girl to do that, why not an Echtran girl you obviously like a lot better? You claim you’re sick of people feeling sorry for you. Maybe you’ve decided you like it after all?”

  I turn to glare at her. “What? Of course I don’t like it. That’s not—” I break off at Molly’s knowing smirk. “Why don’t you go chat up one of the new guys yourself, and leave me alone?”

  “Maybe I will. Meanwhile, go talk to Kira. You know you want to.”

  “She seems to be busy at the moment.” I hook a thumb over my shoulder in her direction.

  Molly glances that way. “You’re kidding, right? I can tell from here she’s giving him the brush-off—again. But he obviously doesn’t give up as easily as you do.”

  Against my will I look and sure enough, Alan’s walking away with a sulky look on his face. My spirits lift despite myself. Still, I’m not about to—

  “Tell you what,” Molly says. “How about I go distract Alan—he is kind of cute, after all—and you go talk to Kira. Or would you rather I nag her to talk to you…?”

  Shaking my head in exasperation—because Molly’s just interfering enough to do that—I turn my back on my sister and slowly make my way to where Kira’s standing, a little apart from everyone else. Kind of like I’ve done all evening.