20 THE GIFT

20 THE GIFT Lunar day 253 T minus 3 hours to evacuation I slept better than I ever had in my previous 252 nights on the moon. Maybe it was because I was exhausted from the extremely long day and all the time on the lunar surface and the fact that Lily Sjoberg had tried to kill me. Or maybe, after eight months, I was finally getting the hang of lunar sleep, just in time to leave. Whatever the case, I was out cold until my parents shook me awake at seven a.m.

"Sorry to do this," Mom whispered, "But we have a lot to do today." And we did. There was still a lot of prep for evacuation, which was more complicated than expected because of the emergency evac we'd done the day before. Our space suits, which were still piled by the air lock, all had to be reorganized, cleaned, and examined for damage. There were many more experiments left to break down in the science pod, and there was still equipment to pack. Plus we were shorthanded, due to the Sjoberg situation. In addition to the evacuation, Nina now had her hands full dealing with Lars and Lily, her two newest criminals. While I had been asleep, NASA had floated the idea of having the Sjobergs sent down on the rockets that day instead of my family, so they could be jailed immediately back on earth, but it was ultimately decided that leaving children in a potentially dangerous moon base (one that had already suffered a life-threatening oxygen leak) while sending criminals to safety would make NASA look bad. Besides, it wasn't as though the Sjobergs would end up in jail immediately anyhow; they had more than enough money to post bail back on earth. For the

time being, the best punishment seemed to be to keep them at MBA for as long as possible. Meanwhile, NASA public relations was freaking out that they now had to handle an emergency evacuation and Lily's attempt to murder me. Unlike the Dr. Holtz murder, there was no way to sweep this one under the carpet. Then, Dr. Holtz's death had been proclaimed an unfortunate accident, and Garth Grisan, a little-known government employee, had been quietly tried and convicted by a secret tribunal. In contrast, the Sjobergs were world- famous, and any attempt to bring them to justice was going to be big news. Therefore, what would have otherwise been a chaotic and tense preparation for evacuation was now an extremely chaotic and tense preparation for evacuation. To my surprise, I found myself feeling a little sad about leaving. The whole time I'd been at MBA, I had never found much to like about it. But now I realized there were things I would miss: the view through the skylight in the greenhouse, the marathon games of holographic Risk I'd played with Kira, helping Violet do low-gravity gymnastics when Nina wasn't

watching, and having conversations in the mess hall with some of the smartest humans alive. (True, these were often about how repulsive the food was, but I'd learned some fascinating cutting-edge science as well.) I found myself taking any spare moments to wander into the science pod or the gymnasium, just to spend a few last minutes there. Zan found me in the greenhouse. Although I'd helped uproot most of the plants, Dr. Goldstein had repotted a few to bring back with us, so she could examine them more closely on earth and study how low gravity had affected them. It wasn't much, but it was still a nice little oasis in the midst of the bustling base. "Hello, Dashiell," Zan said. Although she was smiling and her bright blue eyes were radiant, I got the feeling that she was very sad. "Is something wrong?" I asked. "Do you have time to talk?" I looked through the glass of the greenhouse into the rest of the base, watching my fellow Moonies bustle about. I had probably wasted too much time hanging out in there already, but I desperately wanted to speak to Zan. "Sure," I said. "A little." Then, because I wanted privacy, I had no choice but

to exit the greenhouse and cross the hall into the bathroom. Thankfully, there wasn't anyone else in there. I slipped into the middle stall and sat down on the space toilet. I wasn't going to miss those things one bit. "I'm happy to see that you are all right after yesterday," Zan said. "Thanks." It seemed that, since the fate of humanity might be on the line, I should do my best to defend us. "Zan, you need to realize that, even though people have tried to kill me up here twice, that's not really normal. It's a factor of being up here on the moon, I guess. Space madness or something. All of us living up here in this little confined space with nowhere else to go." "I suspected as much." "Back on earth, most kids my age have never had even one attempt on their life. In fact, lots of people never have anyone try to kill them." "I know that. But I am actually pleased to have witnessed what I did yesterday." I suddenly understood why Zan had seemed so sad. "You're not going to help humanity, are you?" Zan blinked, surprised. "I'm afraid you have

things backward. What I saw yesterday convinced me to give you what you need." I sat up, so thrown by this that I couldn't quite make sense of it. "But you saw Lily trying to kill me." "Yes. However, I am aware that the Sjobergs are not normal humans. And in your moment of need, I saw something else more important than Lily's behavior. Cesar Marquez came to your aid. And Violet's. To protect you from Lily." "And that surprised you?" "I have always gotten the impression from you that Cesar didn't like you very much." "Right." "And yet, when he saw you were in trouble, he came to your rescue without any hesitation. Even though that meant he could have ended up in danger too. And others were also rushing to help; Cesar simply got there first. That doesn't strike you as extraordinary?" "Well... no," I admitted. "I mean, I would have done it for Cesar—or anyone else." "Even the Sjobergs?" "If I saw one of them was in danger, yes, I would help them." I wasn't saying it merely to make myself