“Sure, I’ll have some hard days afterward, struggle with my regrets and a little guilt. Given some of the things I’ve done, I’ll find a way to cope. All I have to do, though, is look into the eyes of the people I’ve saved, and tell myself, ‘They’re alive because of me.’ When I stand over your grave, I’ll tell you, ‘Hey, sorry it worked out this way, but I did you a favor. You’re better off dead than made into a monster.’”

21

The wind ruffled Michaela Hailwood’s short hair, caressed her cheeks and eyelashes as she stood, eyes closed, and inhaled the ocean scent. So different from Earth, yet familiar, she tried to assess what the pungency reminded her of. Could only think of damp clothes freshly removed from a washing machine. But that wasn’t quite right either. Maybe if you’d added cloves to the detergent? Or perhaps a hint of fresh-squeezed lime?

The first time she’d smelled the Donovanian sea, it had been with anticipation and excitement. This time, it was with a clear understanding that everything they’d endured to get here might have been a price too high to pay. Shin was dead. The effect was like having the strong pillar that supported her broken, smashed, and fallen.

Shin. His reassuring smile shone back from her memory. His calm reassurance always propping her up when her resolution began to waver. “Easy, Michaela. We’ll make it through this.”

“No, old friend, we won’t,” she told him.

I feel so alone.

She opened her eyes to stare out at the turquoise waters, the endless swells as they marched toward the Pod. Just at the horizon, something big thrashed, sending a spray of white water high into the air. Even across the distance, Michaela could see some of the torpedoes shooting out like missiles to arch through the air and arrow back into the waves. Whatever was hunting them was big to spray that much water. Really big.

Her stomach tightened, and she placed a hand to her gut, wishing she could just close her eyes and will this terrible place away. She could order the Pod shut down. Evacuate to the mainland, retreat to Corporate Mine. Farming, cleaning, hauling rock out of a hole in the ground, it couldn’t be that bad. Especially compared to what had happened to Shin.

Michaela had forced herself to watch the recording, to see her cherished friend so brutally maimed and hauled off to the water. This didn’t happen to people. Not in the twenty-second century. Not to a kind and compassionate man like Shin who had dedicated himself to science.

She heard the hatch cycle behind her, shot a glance over her shoulder. Did her best to hide her disquiet. “Yes, Board Supervisor? Can I help you?”