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they going?”
    She didn’t answer.
    I frowned. “Talk to me.”
    She remained quiet, stony faced.
    “Where is the food? It’s time to inspect it.” I scowled, irritated by her silence. Although we wanted to scan this food from space, vtp’s and other onboard equipment couldn’t do that.
    She pointed at a white dome.
    I hiked toward it, entered, and stopped next to a table with brown, yellow, and blue wafers, and bottles of liquid on it. Using my vtp, I scanned them. “Irea, the brown and yellow wafers along with the liquid are safe. But the yellow wafers are filled with arsenic. Why the hell did you give us poisonous food?” I glanced at her.
    She kept staring at me, a vacant look in her eyes.
    I blurted, “Is this some kind of stupid joke? Are you trying to kill us?”
    She didn’t blink or flinch.
    I went outside, spoke into my vtp. “It’s Greg.
    “Hello, it’s Sam. What’s going on?”
    I told her about the Council, the wafers, and liquid.
    Sam sighed. “I don’t know why they gave us poisonous food. We’ll have to eat the brown and blue wafers. Shit, what a fucking mess!”
    I paused, weighing my options.
    “Mary, Joel and Jen want to visit E 4. They’re tired of their cramped quarters. Will the Reen allow it?”
    “Interesting question.” I turned toward Irea, mentioned Sam’s request.
    “They can visit E Four any time they like.”
    I told Sam about Irea’s answer.
    “Good. UE will fly them down within an hour. He’ll bring along a flamethrower.”
    I scowled. “Let me ask Irea about the flamethrower . The Council might think I’m going to attack them with it.”
    “Okay.”
    I took a step toward Irea, mentioned my recent conversation with Sam.
    Irea raised her three-fingered hand, the palm aimed at my chest.
    “I don’t understand.”
    Irea remained silent.
    I spoke into the vtp, telling Sam about the cryptic hand signal.
    She blurted, “I don’t know what to think.
    “UE will bring the flamethrower.”
    “Understood.”
    The vtp went silent, off.
    I had mixed feelings about having a flamethrower. If the Council Members attacked, I couldn’t kill all of them. For all I knew, there were thousands of them, maybe millions. I exhaled, worried about my limited options.
    Irea walked away as a clam shaped vehicle about sixteen feet in diameter came to rest in the dirt. On its side, a door opened. She entered the vehicle. It rose, several feet. As the door closed, the vehicle veered right, and drove off.
    The shuttle landed. Mary, Joel and Jen climbed out of their compartments and walked down the ramps.
    Mary blurted, “Greg. I’m never going back to Exp One! I can’t stand space travel!”
    I frowned. “What about your relationship with Alan?”
    “We’ve discussed that in private many times.” She hurried away.
    I shouted, “We need to talk this over!”
    “I’ve made up my mind!” Mary entered a sienna dome.
    As I questioned whether I could convince her that returning to our ship was the best choice, Jen hesitated, balanced on crutches.
    Joel glanced at her, a determined expression on his face. “I want to end our relationship. Your leg is covered by scars. You look like a hybrid. If we stay together, I couldn’t find a job on Blue because people would think I’m a hybrid sympathizer. There’s no reason for me to discuss the topic anymore.”
    Jen started crying and headed toward a gray dome, moving slowly.
    I cleared my throat, thinking. “You’ve been with Jen for years.”
    Joel scowled. “Yes. I’ve thought about this a great deal. It’s for the best. She needs to find somebody else.”
    I raised both eyebrows, shocked by his decision. Nonetheless, I couldn’t force him to love her.
    He walked off and entered a green dome, an irritated look on his face.
    I headed for mine, hoping my next decisions would be good ones.
    After waking from a nap, I went outside, flamethrower in hand, and spoke into my vtp. “Irea, when will you return?”
    “Soon.”
    Within