22
ARI WAS THE FIRST to take off his helmet. While Melati was undoing the clips to hers, he looked around, wiping sweat off his face. “Well, that didn’t go quite as I’d hoped.”
He noticed the blood on his suit, and tried to wipe it off, but only succeeded in smearing it over a larger area.
“There will be trouble about that.” As soon as Melati lifted the helmet off her head, the familiar smell hit her in the face. Cooking, stale food, years of overcrowding. The air was a bit stale, and it was quite cold.
“Yes, there will definitely be trouble,” Ari said. “As soon as they’ve worked out that their mates aren’t coming back and send out a team to look for them.”
Melati couldn’t get that image of blood mixed with electronics out of her mind. “Where is everyone?” Ari asked.
They had come ou
