“Here you go,” she said with an innocent smile.

Owen reached out to grab it, but she yanked it away. “Bet you can’t catch me!” she shrieked, taking off down the runway.

Overton laughed. “Don’t go too far!”

“Think it’s really safe out here?” Sophie slid a few feet over to make room for Emanuel.

“Overton said there hasn’t been a sign of a drone in over a week,” Sophie said. “The RVM seems to be keeping them away.”

“For now,” Emanuel said.

Sophie didn’t respond. She didn’t want to think about the inevitable, not today. She didn’t want to think about when the Organics would come back, or when the team would be forced out of the Biosphere to scavenge for supplies. She just wanted to enjoy the sunset and watch the children.

“Got you!” Owen yelled as he wrapped Jamie in his tiny arms. She squealed with laughter.

A smile broke across Sophie’s face. It was then it finally hit her. She was looking at their future. All this time, she had believed the Biosphere mission was the most important one of her life, that Mars was the future for humanity. But as she scanned the faces of the four children, she knew that her mission had changed. Her goal was no longer to prepare for a new life on a distant planet—it was to protect what was left of life on Earth.

She thought briefly of those that they had lost: Saafi, Timothy, Finley, her parents, and those of the children they’d managed to save, and the billions of others who had perished. She wouldn’t let their deaths go unavenged. Dr. Hoffman was right about one thing: the human race had to go on.

Alexia’s calm voice sounded over Sophie’s headset. She put her finger to the earbud, straining to listen over the children’s laughter. “Dr. Winston, I’m picking up a radio transmission on the device Dr. Hoffman left behind.”

Sophie gasped, reaching for the radio on her belt, but her hands came up empty. She had left it inside. “Can you patch it through?”

Static filled the channel for several seconds before a muffled voice finally broke through.

“This is Alex Wagner with the Biosphere facility at Edwards Air Force Base in California, requesting assistance. Over.”

Sophie froze, her eyes widening as she grabbed Emanuel’s hand. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Overton drop the football and put his finger to his earbud. One by one her team members stopped what they were doing and rushed over to her.

“What do we do?” Bouma asked. He stood shoulder to shoulder with Holly, and for a moment Sophie thought she saw their hands touch.

“Well?” Overton said. “How are you going to respond?”