Free The Ruins of Mars: Waking Titan (The Ruins of Mars Trilogy) by Dylan James Quarles Page B

idea?” asked Kubba, one eyebrow twitching at Liu.
    “Why wouldn’t it be?” said Harrison. “The sooner, the better.”
    “That is often the case, isn’t it?” Kubba grinned. “The sooner, the better.”
    Standing up from the table, Liu looked around at everyone, their surprise at her sudden movement written on their faces.
    “I’m not feeling that well,” she announced. “I’m going to go lie down.”
    Bending, she kissed Harrison on the cheek.
    “Stay and enjoy your dinner,” she whispered in his ear.
    “You want me to come with you?” he said with some concern.
    As her eyes flicked to Kubba and then back to Harrison, Liu shook her head.
    “No, you don’t need to do that. Just stay and...I’ll be fine.”
    Gently squeezing her hand, the young Egyptian looked into her eyes, a pondering expression on his face. Unable to penetrate her veil of half-truths and false calm, he shrugged and gave her hand another squeeze.
    “Sure. Alright,” he shrugged. “I’ll see you later then.”
    With a plastic smile, Liu nodded once then turned and walked out of the dining room.
    Following the Chinese astronaut with her eyes as she strode through the doorway, Kubba fought back a wave of nausea. The longer Liu waited to take the shot, the longer she was at risk. Though she knew she should just come clean on her mistake, she still didn’t even understand how it had happened. For that matter, she wasn’t even sure it was her mistake at all. She had personally cleared Harrison. The procedure had worked, and yet here she was, trying to stick a needle into Liu’s arm so she could kill her baby. It was insanity and she knew it, but she would not allow herself to end up like Crisp.
    That won’t be me, she said herself. Crisp got sloppy and he paid dearly for it.
    ‘I wish he would have just drifted away,’ came Crisp’s voice from the depths of her memory. ‘At least then one of us could have had a life after this.’
    Drift away, Liu, thought Kubba coldly. Just drift away.
    Taking a bite of eggplant, she forced herself to chew. She had overcome many hurdles in her life, many obstacles. This was just another annoyance, another twist of fate that she must master and control. Liu would come around sooner or later, she knew. There was a reason the girl had volunteered for the first manned mission to Mars. People like her didn’t want children. All Kubba had to do was help her see that. Of course, if Liu refused, then Kubba could always use her own position as the Crew’s Psychologist to come up with a few reasons for why the girl was mentally unfit for duty. After that, she could shoot her up with pretty much anything she wanted and no one would object.
    Yes, thought Kubba, tasting the food for the first time that night. It’s good to have a plan B.
     
    The trap— Sol 67
     
    With Liu all but hiding in her shop since dawn, Harrison hadn’t had an opportunity to speak to her after her strange disappearance halfway through dinner.
    She was acting odd, very odd, almost like she was in trouble. Then again, guessing Liu’s moods was oft en hard for Harrison. Sometimes when they were together, it seemed like she was only partly there, as if she was divided between two places at once.
    Remembering that early on in their relationship Liu actually had been divided between her hu sband and himself, Harrison chose to believe that her occasionally distant nature was a result of coming to terms with her impending divorce.
    Though her refusal to answer a call from him that morning had been uncharacteristic, he figured it was probably because she was busy modifying the Rover and couldn’t be bothered.
    Deciding to check for himself, he meandered down to her shop in the basement and found the red indicator light blinking, signifying that she was indeed inside yet did not want any visitors.
    Okay, he said to himself. She must need some space.
    Reluctantly, as if picking up on the tension in the air, he turned and padded back up