Shadows of Mars (Broken Stars Book 1) I.O. Adler (read people like a book TXT) 📖

But She Who Waits didn’t move and appeared content to wait and defy what might have been another summons, whether out of duty as a translator to Carmen and the Cordice or because of Carmen’s appeal to her. Her choice begged a new question. Did she or the rest of her kind, the Dragomen, have any preference in the outcome of who controlled the Cordice tech?

“Mom, are you okay?”

“Yes, honey. I’ve gotten used to being inside the simulation. It’s a dozen worlds and a hundred habitats perfectly recreated. There’s lifetimes of things to see and do. I’ve met people who lost their home planets and have learned so many of their stories. But Carmen, there’s an urgency to what happens next.”

“Wait. How do I know it’s really you?”

“What else can I tell you? Ask me something, then. Something only you know.”

Carmen thought of a dozen things from her own childhood, about Dad or their homes during their many moves before settling in Garden Village, California, or about Jenna and the grandkids. But if Barrett was right that the aliens might have the internet downloaded, then what secrets remained?

She leaned closer to the white light above the console. “Tell me something I don’t know. Why space?”

“I don’t understand, honey.”

“You were at the top of the age bracket for Mars candidates. You had two daughters and didn’t live anywhere close to Houston. You knew you weren’t going to get a first or even a second alternate spot. But still you signed up. Jen and I were both still in school. Dad wasn’t well. It was going to take you away for months at a time and if you were accepted you’d be gone for years. How could you?”

It was a question reporters had posed to her mom before using more polite language. Her mom’s answers were always pat, always guarded and pained as if the choice had been a near thing. But Sylvia Vincent had never asked her daughters, and Carmen had never put the question to her so bluntly.

Sylvia Vincent’s announcement to her family had been made over a Saturday spaghetti dinner.

“I’m going to Mars.”

That was it, end of discussion. The likelihood she would set foot on board the launch vehicle was slim. But she would enter the training program and participate in every facet of prep leading up to the mission just like the primary crew.

Her mom let out a sharp breath. “How could I not, Carmen? It’s what I raised you to believe. You could be anything, you and your sister. Nothing can stop any of us. I cared for you and you were never without.”

“We needed our mom.”

“And I didn’t stop being your mother by signing on to the mission. We talked every day when you were around. And I came home every chance I got. I’m sorry about your father. But I couldn’t put my life on hold for him and you shouldn’t have either.”

Had her mother just said that? “Caring for dad when he was going through chemo wasn’t me putting life ‘on hold.’”

“You know what I mean. He made his own choices. I wasn’t going to set aside mine. He left me. And you should have finished college. But Carmen, you know that my work was too important.”

“More important than us?”

“That’s a false dichotomy. You and Jenna are the most precious things in my life. But my career is meaningful. I believed in our mission as a country and as a planet. I still do, especially now. Look at everything you two have done to get here. I’m so proud of you.”

“Jenna lost her leg. We were nearly crushed when coming here. And we don’t know how we’re going to get home.”

“There’s a lot to discuss. But the Cordice helped Jenna and you’re both going to be okay. We just have this situation we need to solve. Now does that pass your test or do you have some Myers-Briggs nonsense in mind to see if I am who I say I am?”

The impatient remark, big words when she got testy, doubling down on how free her conscience was for what had happened between her and Dad…

Typical Mom.

“The Melded took your body. Why did they do that?”

“The Cordice related their debate with the Primary Executive. It appears the Melded leader believes I can be persuaded into giving up control of the harvester.”

Carmen tried to imagine her mom’s face somewhere beyond the white light. “So we give it to them.”

“It’s not that simple. When the Melded leave here they’ll turn their back on the other survivors on the Framework. It’s what the Cordice were going to do. But the Melded have their own plans, and aren’t afraid to use force.”

“She Who Waits explained some of it. It’s not our business. We have no way of understanding what’s involved between a group of aliens. If they’ll let you go, I’m going to tell Jenna to release the harvester into their control. The Melded will have no reason to keep you prisoner. And then one of them might be willing to bring us back home.”

Her mom laughed. “They made it our business when they led the enemy to our solar system. I haven’t been idle since the Cordice took me in. I’ve studied their history and as much about the Framework races as I could. Even if the Melded or anyone else was willing to simply ‘bring us back home,’ I wouldn’t go. I can make you and Jenna safe. And my work here is only just beginning.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means our world has a choice to make. And in case it’s too late for that, at least my family will be preserved from what’s about to happen.”

“This enemy is coming back?”

“Yes. And there won’t be time for Earth to