“Very well,” Eos said. “I’ll leave you to get reacquainted, then, while I get the others settled.” He started to guide Corin and Gios to the second row of beds, then paused, glancing at me. “There’s something else, too. Have you seen Gitrin tonight?”

“Yeah,” I said. I started to nod, then thought better of it and pulled on my earlobe instead. “I know about Ceilos.”

“Yes, Ceilos.” He frowned when he said his name, and his eyes seemed to darken for just a moment. I wondered what that was about. Eos wasn’t the one who got busted with Ceilos’ girlfriend. My face flushed again at the thought. What the heck was wrong with me?

“He will be staying with you tonight as well. The weekly forum is going to be held in the courtyard in the morning—try to be there if you can, because we’re going to be discussing your living situation.” He smiled and shut the door, and I turned to Emil, who looked like he was going to positively bust.

“Incredible,” he said in his gruff voice. “I knew that the ancient Martian settlers were advanced, but this is beyond even my wildest dreams. And believe me—they were pretty wild.”

“You figured it out, then? About the arch being a time machine?” I asked. On the opposite side of the room, Gios and Corin were pulling back the coverlet on their bed, talking quietly to each other and tossing uneasy glances in our direction.

“Well, obviously. I’d already started to suspect as much, when Delia and I were studying the plans from her 3-D scanner. But it’s obvious as soon as you take a look outside. The atmospheric degradation, the red oxidation of the rocks—the presence of the Elysium mountains—it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out.”

My dad bristled at the jab. He opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. “Wait a minute, Delia?” I said, my voice rising in a panic. I noticed Corin and Gios had stopped talking and were staring at us with interest. I smiled tightly at them and whispered, “She’s not here, too, is she?”

“Oh, no, no. She didn’t dare take the risk. Things back home—they’ve gotten kind of crazy since you disappeared, kid. GSAF has been watching her family like a hawk. But that friend of yours, the Pakistani kid—”

“He’s Indian, Emil,” I interrupted.