“In other words, we’re all risking our lives,” Sophie snarled.

Emanuel quickly stood, recognizing the flush in Sophie’s cheeks as a sign she was about to blow a gasket. “We’re risking our lives for the sake of the planet,” he chimed in.

Sophie turned and locked eyes with him for a second before the red in her cheeks began to fade.

Dr. Hoffman walked toward the audience and crossed his arms, nodding at Emanuel. “Thank you, Dr. Rodriguez, for that pertinent observation. You and your team are risking your lives for the future of humanity. The data this project seeks to obtain could very well save the human race. If a toxin is identified, it will be cleansed, and Alexia will attempt to protect the mission’s data.”

“Are there any more questions?” Carlson asked.

Seeing none, Dr. Hoffman said, “You are dismissed. Get some rest. You enter the Biosphere at 0600 hours.”

Emanuel headed for the door but stopped, opting to wait for Sophie and the rest of the team. He watched the two soldiers exit the room, Dr. Hoffman and his staff following closely behind. Once the NTC crew had left, he joined his colleagues in the corner.

“Let’s chat,” Sophie said, motioning them over to a metal table. “It’s good to see all of you,” she said, scanning the faces of her team. Stepping behind the table, she offered her hand to the team’s psychologist, Dr. Holly Brown, first. “How have you been?”

The petite doctor reached out with a pleasant smile. “I’m good, and excited to get started!”

“That makes two of us,” she said. “Timothy, how are you?”

When he didn’t look up from his tablet, she repeated the question, trying to catch the man’s gaze.

“I guess I’m okay,” Timothy finally replied, giving her hand a loose shake. Sophie didn’t waste time engaging him in any small talk. Instead, she smiled and acknowledged Saafi with a nod. He loomed awkwardly over the others, his slender, six-foot-five frame dwarfing the rest of the team.

“Thank you for agreeing to this mission, Saafi.”

“My pleasure, Dr. Winston,” he said. His deep voice held a vague trace of a Somali accent.

With a single wink aimed at Emanuel, Sophie returned her attention to the team. “Thank you all again for being here. I know how hard this must be for those of you with families at home, but I can’t express how pleased I am to have you all back for this significant mission. I thought we should take the opportunity to talk before we enter the Biosphere tomorrow. First, let’s start with questions.”

Emanuel asked quietly, “Does anyone else feel like NTC has way too much muscle invested in this project?”

“Why they hired an outside team to complete this mission is beyond me. Puerto Rico was one thing, but this is Mars we’re talking about, the fate of humanity,” Saafi piped up.

“That’s what I don’t get. Don’t they have twenty teams that can do what we do?” Timothy asked.