“You’re talking about a prototype, first off. Second, if that ship could make it to Mars, and that’s a big if, you still have the problem that it’s likely at the NTC Spaceport, over seven hundred miles away from here,” Timothy moaned, his voice garbled by his broken jaw. “I know you guys think I’m an idiot, but we wouldn’t survive a trip of seven miles, let alone seven hundred.”

“Timothy is correct; I put your chances at survival outside the Biosphere at less than 1 percent,” Alexia said.

“Enough!” Sophie finally yelled, stepping forward. Silence carpeted the room as all eyes focused on her. She pulled her hair into a ponytail. With a deep breath, she leaned forward, bracing her hands on the metal table in front of Overton. “The Organics are draining the oceans.”

“You just figured this out?” Timothy laughed bitterly. “What did you think they were here for?”

Sophie shot him an angry glare. “Do you understand the ramifications of what I just said?”

He shrugged and put an ice pack on his jaw, unable to meet her gaze.

“Do any of you?” she asked.

“We’re all dead?” Bouma said.

“Precisely. I don’t know how long it will take for them to drain the seas, but judging by how long it took them to suck up all of the surface water, we don’t have long. The temperature is already rising.”

Holly frowned. “Can’t we stay in the Biosphere?”

Emanuel stepped to Sophie’s side. “Ever seen the data from Mars? That’s what will happen to the Earth. No water equals no life, period. We could stay here, but only until our resources run out.”

“What are you suggesting we do?” Bouma asked. “Steal a spaceship and fly it to Mars? This isn’t the movies, guys.”

Sophie sighed. “We’ve been through this before. Do we stay, or do we risk going back outside? Knowing what we do about the situation outside, no rational person would risk the trip to Secundo Casu. We have food and water resources here that will last us months, if not years, and the solar energy will keep the power running indefinitely. The device we retrieved from Luke’s bunker appears to be effective, so . . .” Sophie paused. She studied the small faces of Owen and Jamie. There was no way she would risk taking them outside again. It wasn’t an option.

“I see two possibilities. One, we all stay here and focus on surviving, hoping there is some arm of the government, the military, or other, better-equipped survivors left to fight the Organics and prevent them from draining the seas. Or two, Sergeant Overton and I try to get to the ship. If it is spaceworthy, then I’m sure I could figure out a way to run the autopilot system and fly it ourselves.”