Chapter Twenty-Three
Under Valles Marineris V
In the morning, when they loaded up on the train cars, it was no longer possible for Hero and Valentina to ride alone. That suited her fine; since Kiyoshi and Hazel had left the night before she knew she had been withdrawn, lost in her own head, and that he felt shut out. She hadn’t joined in the storytelling, just sat by herself, perhaps casting too many glances toward the door. Hero had tried to tempt her with extra helpings of food, but in the end she had just wrapped herself up in one of the camp blankets and feigned sleep until at some point deep in the night, long after the others had at last wandered to bed themselves, it became a real, if fitful, slumber.
The others who joined them on their train car were all in one group, following
