A view from the “Kimberly” formation on Mars taken by NASA’s Curiosity Rover
Part 6 of 6
You can find Part 1 here:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars/images/index.html
I woke up a few minutes later, all kinds of people were milling around the room. Mom had a medtech kneeling next to her.
“Welcome back.”
I turned to my right, a medtech was kneeling next to me. “We gassed the room. You’re fine, you’re mom’s fine.”
“Amber?”
“They’ve been taken into custody.”
That’s when Dad knelt on my left. “Hey, pumpkin? How you doing?”
I coughed. “Okay. What’s going to happen to Amber and Tayln?”
“They were with the group that bombed the Security office. There will be an investigation. We’ll have to wait and see.”
I sat up. Dad held his hand on my back to steady me. “It’s so sad.”
“Yes it is, Pumpkin. Yes it is.”
The investigation didn’t take long. I guess Amber and Tayln told the authorities everything. They were charged with terrorism and sentenced to labor in the mines.
We were in the concourse when the verdict and sentencing were read. All of us clustered around a bench, watching the monitors. Kayla and I had our arms wrapped around each other and cried when the camera focused on Amber and Tayln. Both of them wept as the security officers took them away.
“How awful,” Elise said as we sat, stunned on the bench.
“How awful for Dary,” Albert snarled. “He died in the bombing.”
I nodded. “And Angus is still in the hospital.”
Tommie and Hope were besties and had their arms around each other as Kayla and I were. Both of them had tears running down their faces. “I don’t understand,” Hope said, sniffling. “What good did the bombing do?”
“It got attention, I guess.” The vids for the last few days had been full of the names of the separatist group. All of them arrested. “Maybe they thought no one was listening to them.”
“Maybe they were self-centered jerks,” Albert snapped. “Killing and maiming over a hundred people. That’s not how you get attention—get things done.”
I wiped my eyes and stood up. “True. We need to do better about keeping people informed.”
“Informed?” Kayla looked up at me. “How?”
“Well, Amber was angry that we’re eating soy meat. She really believed we eat that because we ship all of the food we grow to Earth.”
“That’s a load of crap.” Albert pointed at me. “People on Earth have rationing too.”
“I know. So maybe if we all knew how much of what we produce gets shipped to Earth, and why, it may make people more understanding.” I put my hand on Albert’s arm. He was trembling with anger.
“Maybe.” He shook my hand off of his arm. “But I’m going to be listening. Anyone who starts talking like a separatist is going to get my fist in their face.” He stalked off.
I just felt tired. “See you all later.” I waved and headed home. I was only twelve. I’d think about it all another day.
Thank You!
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