NAOMI
HOW COULD I HAVE BEEN SO WRONG?
I stare at the hopeless spectacle of this new Dot, and I can feel the bile rising in my throat. How could I have messed up on such a colossal scale? I thought I knew what I was doing, that I got in and out quickly enough to keep Dot safe—but I’m clearly just an amateur who tried and failed to punch above her own weight. And now, instead of fulfilling my aim of protecting the finalists and exposing the truth about Europa . . . I’ve managed to endanger us all. There’s no scenario where I can come forward with the biosignatures now, not when the data came from a robot that’s since been scrubbed. My notes will look like nothing more than the ramblings of a lunatic. And with Dot cut from the mission and Dr. Takumi rushing the next stage of the draft—who even knows how much damage my actions caused?
I. Screwed. Up. The words replay over and over in my mind, forming a rhythm, like the backing score to Dr. Takumi’s terrifying words. I screwed up royally, and I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to make it right.
I glance at Leo, wondering if he hates me now—the way I’m beginning to hate myself. Should I confess? If I do, the wrong person will no longer be blamed . . . and maybe my data on the biosignatures could actually be taken seriously, if I’m willing to give up my freedom for it. But all too quickly, another image comes to mind: my family being forced to pay for my crime. The thought of any harm coming to them, of Sam’s medical treatment being withheld, forces me to be selfish and keep my secret. Dr. Wagner has the resources to escape the ISTC and the government’s reach. We don’t.
And there’s something else. By confessing, I’m removing the one finalist who knows the truth, whose understanding of extraterrestrials and microbiology could help keep the Final Six alive on Europa. Me.
I need to go with them.
As soon as we’re excused, Leo and I break out of our seats and make a beeline for the elevators. We jump in the second the doors open, and once we’re alone, I bury my face against his chest. And then I feel his arms stiffen around me.
“I thought for sure I wouldn’t see you this morning,” comes the sound of Beckett’s voice as he slips into the elevator after us.
I freeze. “Why in the world would you think that?”
“Just a feeling I had,” he says breezily. “You know. After last night.”
The elevator doors open onto the Hab floor, and I watch, my stomach churning, as he saunters off.
“What is he talking about?” Leo asks.
I cover my face with my palms. I can’t believe I have more than one giant blunder to admit to. “He caught me trying to sneak into your room last night,” I mutter. “And . . . he might have seen something a whole lot more incriminating, too.”
But as Leo groans at this latest curveball, I realize something else. If Beckett did see Dot leave my room, he’s obviously not covering for me out of the goodness of his heart. He plans on lording this over me, using the information to get something from me. The question is . . . what does he want?
“Come on.” I give Leo a gentle nudge as we reach the door to my room. “We have bigger things to worry about than whether we’re caught together in here. We need to talk.”
“Okay, but we can’t just talk in the middle of the room, where someone walking by could overhear,” he says. We step inside, and Leo strides over to my closet. “This should be safer.”
“Um. Okay.” I crawl into the closet with him, and we fold our bodies into the dark space beneath my hanging uniforms. If the stakes weren’t so high, it would almost be funny. But I sober quickly as I fill Leo in on Dot’s data, and the most monumental discoveries of all: the proof of life—and the reality of the alien bacteria inside our bodies, working its way through our muscles, our consciousness, ourselves.
Leo stares at me, his mouth open in shock.
“You don’t want to believe it,” I acknowledge. “Because the idea that we could be walking into this kind of danger threatens your view of the mission, of everything it’s come to represent for you. I get it. But—”
“It’s not that.” He swallows hard. “I—there’s something I should tell you. Before I left Italy, the prime minister’s daughter told me something she overheard—that I was chosen for the Twenty-Four because my underwater skills could make me some sort of weapon on Europa.”
My eyebrows shoot up.
“Seriously? And you never shared that because . . . ?”
Leo gives me a sheepish look.
“I didn’t take it seriously at first. Besides, all I’ve wanted this whole time is to make the Final Six. The last thing I was going to do is poke holes in the reason I’m a finalist. But when I saw that change come over Beckett in the diving pool after the RRB shots, and knowing how the serum affected me in the water, too . . .” He takes a deep breath. “I’m starting to believe Dr. Takumi and the ISTC are grooming us to adapt to the extraterrestrials’ world—so we can eventually overtake them, and make Europa our world.”
I gape at him, speechless, as all the jarring pieces fall into place.
“It makes sense,” I whisper, when I find my voice. “Especially the secrecy. Because who would sign off on this mission if they knew upfront what we’re up against? So, instead, Dr. Takumi is giving us the tools through the RRB and our training.” I shiver, a chill running through my body. “In his mind, it’s maybe even a part of terraforming: clearing out the underwater life and making Europa humans-only. And we can’t let that happen. No matter how frightening it may be to us, the life that came before is the life that belongs there.”
Leo nods, and I can see it in his eyes—the crushing realization of what the mission really entails.
“That’s why I need to go,” I continue. “I have to be one of the Final Six.”
Leo’s expression turns incredulous. “What? After everything you said about needing to get back home, about how this mission is a likely recipe for death . . . are you saying the proof of alien life actually changed your mind?”
“No. It just made me realize where I’m most needed.” I take Leo’s hand in mine. “The other finalists are going into this blind. If I can use my scientific ability to keep cracking at the mystery of what kind of life is waiting for us up there and how we might survive alongside it, then the Final Six needs me. I failed Dot, but maybe I can make up for that now—by trying to keep the rest of the six safe.”
Leo gazes at me with an expression that fills my cheeks with heat. “Every time I’m sure I’ve figured you out, you show me another layer. Maybe that’s another reason why I . . . can’t imagine going back to a life without you.” He wraps his arms around me and I close my eyes, his touch my only comfort.
“It’s all in Dr. Takumi’s hands now,” he murmurs. “But I’ve got to do something. I have to make sure we go up there together.”