Free Saving Mars by Cidney Swanson

layer.
    “Incredible,” she murmured, pulling her hand back and forth through his fur.
    Rover’s muzzle darted toward Jess’s chin and he licked her again.
    “Unreal,” she said.
    “He reminds me to act with generosity,” said the Secretary. “It’s hard to have a water-grubbing attitude with Rover giving up moisture ten times a day.”
    Jess didn’t want to stop pulling her hand through the soft furry layers. Incredibly, she realized she was petting the creature. No wonder Ethan liked the planetary dog so much. No wonder Mei Lo was so grateful. Why don’t I see these things coming? Jess asked herself. Of course saving the dog had been the right thing to do. Of course the Secretary would be grateful and not angry. Harpreet’s words of the other day floated through Jessamyn’s mind: You must learn to see things from more than one perspective. But how was that even possible when she was stuck inside her own mind? Jess sighed in the quiet room.
    Then, with a kind of shiver, Jess realized this was the moment she’d been waiting for: she had the Secretary’s undivided attention right now . Like she might never have it again. It made her a bit dizzy, like coming in too hot on a fast ship.
    But Jessamyn found, as she considered this waited-for moment, that she did not wish to take unfair advantage of the Secretary’s current state of gratitude.
    “Listen, Madam Secretary, there’s something you should know. I wasn’t thinking about you just now when I saved Rover’s life. Or about Mars,” she added. “I saved your dog’s life because I don’t think I could’ve faced my brother otherwise. He’s crazy about your dog.”
    “ Mars’s dog,” corrected the Secretary.
    “Yeah, well, Ethan’s the reason I did what I did. I don’t want you having any false ideas about how I was trying to be all noble for the citizenry of Mars or whatever. ‘Cause I wasn’t.” She noticed her fingers gripping tightly to a handful of fur and forced herself to relax. Rover didn’t seem to mind. She spoke again, quietly. “It was all for my brother’s sake.”
    “All right,” said Mei Lo, nodding, narrowing her eyes as she examined Jess. “I can still be grateful for the end result, you know, regardless of your motives.”
    Jess swallowed and continued before she had a chance to get scared and freeze up. “Listen, I know you want Ethan for some secret assignment, but it won’t work. Eth won’t make it to Earth. You put him in that ship for three weeks, and by the time he comes out the other side, his mind will be destroyed. He’s claustrophobic. Severely claustrophobic. And that’s only one of his peculiarities that I can put a name to. He’s got other … habits and preferences and quirks that don’t have names. But I can guarantee none of it will look good aboard the Red Galleon.”
    “I’ve noticed he is … different,” said the Secretary. “But he seems strongly committed.”
    Jess released Rover and straightened up so that she could look the Secretary in the eye. “Let me ask you something. Can you afford for him to fail at … whatever this is?”
    The Secretary turned sharply. “Has he told you what I’m asking him to do?”
    “No,” said Jess. “And you can bet he never will.”
    Rover shook his coat and wandered off to a pillow that had his name on it.
    Frowning, the Secretary crossed her arms and looked at Jess. “Why do you ask whether or not I can afford for him to fail?”
    “I know my brother. I understand that whatever you want him to do, he’s convinced that only he can do it, and he believes it ought to be attempted. But he’s not sure of himself. Asking my brother to climb inside a small, enclosed space with no escaping for three weeks is like …” Jess struggled to come up with something the Secretary might be able to understand. She saw Rover. “It’s like your dog wanting to be outside. Sure, Rover can survive in his hamster-ball for a short time, but if you left him in the