The last of the official buildings appeared utilitarian in comparison to the other two, though larger than the bungalows by ten times. Romy would have dismissed it, if not for the fact that only soldiers were scanning themselves in and out, and Tina seemed eager to move on from it, snapping that it was for “storage and supplies”.

Romy didn’t know if the village had a name, or even exactly where they were in Queensland, Australia. Tina wasn’t forthcoming about this either.

Somehow Atlas had neglected to tell them the most basic information of all. Or maybe it was entirely on purpose.

“As soon as Dei is better, we need to leave,” Thrym whispered in Romy’s ear.

Romy turned to find his face right in front of hers. She knew the Mandate could find them here at any moment, but there was another undercurrent to Thrym’s tone. “You think we’re in immediate danger?” she asked.

He peered around the settlement. The people were bustling, going about their work. There was a rhythm to the camp; everyone had their place.

“You don’t feel that?” he said, tilting his head at the Earth humans.

Romy’s brows furrowed and she looked again, seeing the same thing.

Thrym smiled, taking her hand. “You only ever see the good in people, Ro.”

“What do you see?”

“It’s more a feeling,” he admitted. “A threatening vibe. They’re all watching each other.” He shook his head, trying to find the words. “They’re smiling, but . . . everyone is watching each other too closely.”

She couldn’t see anything like that. But then, she wasn’t the most observant of the knot. That skill fell to Thrym. “You’re not just seeing it there because of,” she darted a glance at Tina, “what we’ve learned?”

His lips firmed in a straight line and he shrugged as though his shirt were too tight. “I don’t know, Ro. I don’t know.”

The knot walked between the bungalows on their way to see Deimos. Romy was starting to get a feel for the area. She had to admit Earth wasn’t what she expected. It didn’t mean she disapproved; it was just different from the pictures and stories she remembered studying.

The settlement was contrasting.

Most of it was simple. The washhouse, the bungalows, the agriculture.

Yet the rest was incredibly high-tech: nuclear-powered electricity, machinery and vehicles, advanced medical and nanotechnology. And Romy suspected they also used brain transmission communication. She’d seen a transmitter in Atlas’s ear this morning.

Atlas’s words about self-sustainability echoed in her mind. Romy took a moment to let everything he had said sink in.

Earth was carbon-neutral. That meant the technology on this world no longer emitted more carbon dioxide than it used.

The planet was more stable now than ever before. And yet its rulers were endorsing genocide.