“The children and some teenagers will still be there no matter what,” Hart said. “The ones who were vaccinated, who didn’t succumb to some other disease or starvation. And five per cent of the adults.”

It was a grim picture. They took this in, all of them staring at Mars and its small moons, at the just-visible warp ring. Two paths.

“If we go, they will have trouble following us, whether the cure works or not,” Naomi said. “That’s what I argued with Valerie. Earth will be too distracted, too focused on survival. We could still establish a base, give growing embryos a try. Help those back on Earth build more crafts to follow.” She felt the tightness of the scabs forming on her cheek.

“You mean we basically continue Valerie’s goal, and hope we do a better job?” Hart asked.

“What’s waiting for us back on Earth, if the adults and something resembling existing society survives?” Hixon asked. “Prison, a trial?”

“I don’t know,” Naomi said, thinking of the child curled up within her.

“Saving most of the adult population should hopefully get us a pardon,” Hart pointed out. “Hell, they might even let Lebedeva back into Russia.”

“Hmph,” said Lebedeva, which could’ve meant anything.

Naomi went to the window, traced the shape of Mars with a fingertip. “What needs us more? Earth, or Cavendish?”

“Earth,” Hart said, without hesitation.

After a beat, Lebedeva echoed her.

Hixon’s lips were thin. “A large part of me wants to go to Cavendish, I have to admit. It’s painful, to get this close only to turn around.”

“The cure will work,” Naomi said, more confidently than she felt. “If it doesn’t, it’s all the more reason to go back. We will return to Cavendish, I have to believe that; we just might no longer be the first. If we jumped there, what would we do with Valerie? I don’t want to be her jailer for years, until people arrive again, whenever that could be. She doesn’t deserve to set foot on that planet, even if it’s behind bars.”

On that, they all agreed.

“We could send her out of the airlock,” Lebedeva pointed out. “No longer a problem.”

“That’s tempting,” Hart said, crossing her arms.

“I told Lebedeva back in the lab—I don’t want her to turn me into a killer. Or any of us. She’s already tried.”

That silenced them.

Hixon heaved a sigh. “We go back, then. Help clean up the mess we unintentionally made.”

“Is that a unanimous decision?” Naomi asked. “It has to be all of us.”

A pause as they all worked through their thoughts. They gave longing looks at the warp ring.

One by one, they nodded.

“Let’s go home,” Naomi said.