*~[]

Axel began shivering before his feet landed on the usual platform in the lab.

Teresa hustled over. "Finally. Where's Connor?"

Axel, in a hissing panic, took his mask off, and as he did, Thomas immediately took the Aeon Switch out of his hand. To Axel, it almost felt like he accidentally let go of it. Thomas pulled it away with ease.

"Where's Connor?" Thomas got in his face. "Christ, boy, I can feel how cold you are from here."

Axel kept rubbing his arms.

"You've been gone for thirty minutes. Did you know that?" Teresa said.

"No, the trip was quick."

"Connor's on Mars," Teresa said. "Shit. That's Connor's mask?"

"No."

Thomas put his hands on his hips and looked dejected. "He's got no oxygen."

"Connor's fine. There's heating in the Mars station."

"No," Teresa ignored Axel. "He has some oxygen, but he may be freezing to death. Alright, new plan. Thomas, you and I are going to pick him up, and we go home. We can't find Stephanie, but we can try again."

"Alright."

"Are you leaving me here?" Axel approached the floating Teresa.

"Yeah, what are you going to do about it?"

Axel pushed her, but he was the one who landed on his back as if he had pushed off a cement wall. As he stood up, he recognized the plasma rifle was on the floor, no longer stuck in the corner. That slight shine that was around the gun was now around Teresa.

"You left your brother, then you don't want to get left behind yourself, and now you push a girl?" Thomas said. "Son, I don't know what to say. But you're a liability right now. Even your dad would agree with me."

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"What? What do you know about my father?"

He raised his voice, "I've known him since pre-school. I was there the day you were born, and seeing you like this is killing me right now."

"Fuck off. You know jackshit."

"Watch it."

"Gentlemen," Teresa stopped them. "I believe Thomas and I have made our decision." She began browsing the GUI and found the option for Mars. Teresa floated closer to Thomas. "We're about to get to know each other really well here."

Two of the three felt a shift, a shift in something they both couldn't describe. Thomas's and Axel's arms lifted on their own, just a little.

"Wait," Thomas stopped her. "Something's off."

"Describe it," Teresa said. "Can't feel anything with the suit."

"I feel lighter."

Axel played along. "Me too."

"No one asked you," Teresa said.

Teresa floated to the defunct distorted plasma rifle, grabbed it (with no effort), and released it.

"Oh shit, that gun fell slower than it should have," Teresa said.

"What's going on?" Thomas said.

She began thinking fast. She didn't discharge gravitons as she did at the reservoir in the Estelar. She was also the only one wearing an anti-grav suit. It's not like the room thirty floors deep in the Earth would need anti-gravity tech, and there's no way they could install it under solid ground. And what would be the point?

"I'm not sure."

The intercom by the switch stand turned back on, this time remotely.

"Teresa," Mr. Furyk remained direct as always. "You need to fix this right now."

"Fix what, exactly?"

"Go outside and look."

Teresa hesitated for a moment, considering her move.

"He might be lying," Thomas said.

"I can tell by his tone that something is wrong," Teresa said. "But you're right. It could be a trick." She stared at the intercom mic and thought for a moment. "Wait a minute, a one-way trip to Mars takes about thirty minutes. He should still be on his way back if he were on Mars for a two-way trip totaling one hour." But the red residue on Axel's shoes said something different.

"Mars is right outside," Mr. Furyk said.

"What?"

"Go look."

Teresa didn't hesitate. She flew towards the surface. Crashing through thirty floors didn't slow her down, and she didn't feel a thing.

And there it was. Mars.