Trapped - Mars Born Book One Read Free

only one?” He asked curiously.
      “No, we have four. Some of the others from our cohort are on their own assignments right now. But, we always leave at least one for backup at Cradle.”
      A strange look crossed Taavi’s face, “So, you have cohorts too?”
      “Yes,” Rumer answered, “They are pretty much the norm throughout the Southern Hemisphere. Though, I heard there are a few settlements in the far north that do Earth families. But really, it just takes too long to grow a population that way.”
      “Hmmph, that’s true. There aren’t a lot of us. It can get boring,” Taavi shrugged.
      Ugh, there she goes bringing politics in. How boring, I thought, and tried to pull the conversation back to the planet, “So, you had never been this far North?
      “No, uh, did I say that?” He answered quickly, then asked, “What about you? Have you ever been out of Arygre?”
      “A few times, but we haven’t gotten to travel much. I was hoping to see more this trip. Especially some of the ancient lava flows. This site is right next to one. But, it’s too rugged to take the HabRov in.”
      “Why didn’t you just walk around then?”
      I bit my lip. Why indeed? Because Rumer wanted to impress our elders, and I didn’t want my sister to be disappointed? “Because we have been on a tight schedule,” I answered instead.
      “We could take a look in the morning. You could show me?” 
      My pulse leapt.
      Rumer thumped her cup on the table, and sat up perfectly straight, “Remember we aren’t supposed to go on EVAs until we get home,” then she added in a very quiet voice I could barely make out, “Plus there’s still work to be done on the data.”
      “Taavi’s suit has a radio. We have two now,” I protested, “so we’ll be fine.”
      She opened her mouth and then closed it again.
      “See! It’ll be fine.” I insisted.
      “We don’t have the right equipment,” she glared at me.
      I flicked my wrist, “We won’t go far, we’ll just look,” and then imitated Taavi’s grin, “it won’t even disrupt your schedule.”
      She gave me a sour look and I was pretty sure I had won. Unless she wanted to tattle and make us look like we were still five orbits old, there wasn’t much she could do. 
      Before getting up to clear the table Rumer signed the single word, “don’t”.
      After an uncomfortable pause, Taavi asked, “So, earlier, what did she mean about paddling on water?”
      “We have a lake in the center of our crater, for temperature regulation, and growing fish,” I answered, “it was one of the first things they built after the main dome went up.”
      “Neat! What else does your colony have?”

Chapter Two

    S leeping was difficult. Our fold-out beds were comfortable. As comfortable as any we had back in Cradle, but I kept checking the clock and of course finding that only half an hour had passed since I had checked before. When at last it was almost dawn I turned over and saw Taavi sitting straight up and cross-legged in his borrowed cot. His dark face barely visible, except for what was becoming an iconic smile. 
      I flashed a grin back at him and slipped out from under the woven covers to dress.
      The suit’s under piece felt particularly cold when I wriggled into it. It was designed with a network of tiny tubes, almost like blood vessels that channeled moisture away from the skin and regulated temperature. After a few minutes of wearing it, it was easy to forget they were there. But, in the first moments of putting it on, it was like wrapping yourself in tight strings, or spiderwebs.
      Rumer’s bed was right next to mine. So I had to be careful not to wake her. I tiptoed by, breath held. Silently I begged her not to wake up. It would be so much easier that way. I wouldn’t have to feel guilty. I didn’t want to argue again, and I didn’t want to see her look disappointed in me.
      When I reach the stairs to follow Taavi down I