chapter 32
YET HERE WE BE
Pavel Brezhnaya-Bouchard was regretting he hadn’t attempted to perform surgical facial alterations upon himself while he had the
chance. His claim that despite being Lucca’s nephew, he was only in Yucca to build satellite dishes sounded implausible to many of
the residents.
“This whole group of strangers is part of an elaborate trap put into play by the Chancellor,” said Roy to Yucca’s leading citizens,
gathered to examine Pavel and his friends. “She makes everyone think her nephew’s been abducted by placin’ that reward on his
head, but really she’s got him doin’ her dirty work findin’ dissenters.”
The Shirff frowned and tugged at his moustache.
“It’s true my aunt wants me back,” said Pavel. “The reward is real. But the kidnapping claim is ridiculous. Does it look like I’m with
these friends because they kidnapped me?”
Brian snorted in laughter.
“Brezhnaya looks weak if word gets out that her nephew’s run off of his own accord,” muttered the enclave’s oldest citizen, her pipe
between her teeth.
“Exactly,” said Pavel. “But it’s also not the case that I’m doing secret spy work for her. My aunt knows the truth about me—that I have
no interest in supporting her goals or her government.”
Harpreet’s clear voice rang out. “With all due respect, I believe it might be better to ask why Lucca Brezhnaya would send her highly
-recognizable nephew to trap dissenters when an unknown face would surely garner more trust. Not to mention the fact that had her
government been made aware of your existence, Red Squadron might have put an end to all of us by now.”
The woman with the pipe nodded. “Yet here we be.”
The Shirff cleared his throat and addressed the five strangers. “We need time to discuss this situation. I’m sure you’ll understand if
we place your party under protective custody for the remainder of the day.”
Harpreet spoke for the group. “Of course you must be allowed to consider what you have learned. It changes nothing for us,
however. We remain grateful for your hospitality and hopeful that it will continue.”
But the discussion continued long into the night, and the party of five were told to expect word the following morning. Harpreet
graciously accepted the information, passing it along to her companions.
Pavel felt restless.
“I’m going outside,” he said.
“Are we allowed?” asked Dr. Zaifa.
“Guess I’ll find out,” replied Pavel.
He wandered up the set of stairs leading outside. The old woman sat just outside the entrance, chewing a pipe and blowing smoke
rings to the night sky.
“Is it okay if I take a bit of a walk?” asked Pavel.
She gazed at him. “I’m to notify the Shirff if you don’t return,” was all she had to say.
Pavel nodded and strode out and away from the small streaks of light leaking from the dwellings. He raised his eyes to the heavens,
searching the east-west arc of sun and planets until he found Mars. The red planet glowed a faint yellow, approaching the months
when the two worlds would be farthest apart. Pavel had told himself not to hope for Jessamyn’s return when the planets drew near
once again. He had repeated it often. But he hoped and ached and dreamed anyway.
He squatted, lowering himself onto the desert floor, still slightly warm, a memory of the day’s heat. Running his hands through the
sand—cooler on top, warmer below—he remembered the night he’d spent at Jessamyn’s side. She would understand Yucca better
than he did, fit in better. His weeks in the desert had fed a small flame inside him, a twinkling of an idea, half-glimpsed. He’d learned
that another sort of community was possible. Camaraderie existed among these people who lived each day uncertain whether or
not their most basic needs would be met. They needed one another. And they knew it.
It made him sad, in a way he didn’t understand. Now that he knew he might be expelled from Yucca, he admitted he’d felt more at
home living here in a hole in the ground than he’d ever felt with his aunt, in her well-appointed mansion. Of all the treasures and
trinkets in his aunt’s palace, Zussman’s smile was the only thing he wished he could see again, a black cup of kávé the only luxury
he missed.
He stretched out along the sand, looking up. The moon had not yet risen. Overhead, the stars glimmered, small fires hung in the sky,
multitudinous in this land so far from city lights. He wondered if the Marsian sky looked more like this one. Would Mars’s shallower
atmosphere make the stars glow brighter? Seem nearer? He hoped so. And then he hoped Jessamyn might be looking to the
faintly blue twinkle of Earth in her sky, thinking of him.
“Fool,” he murmured, rising to go to back inside.
The old woman with the pipe greeted him as he returned. “Shirff says as you can stay, boy.” With that she stood and left.
Slipping into his borrowed bed, Pavel felt almost content. He knew he should have been content. An hour ago, all he’d wanted was
permission to stay. To help, in some small way, the home world of the girl with red hair. But now all he could think of was the whisper
of the silk she’d worn, the warmth of her breath as his mouth found hers, the curve of her smile as she pulled away.