14
“Look.” The voice sounded far away. “Hey, Austin, look!”
He peeled open his eyes. His mouth was dry, his jaw hurt. He blinked twice and looked at Skylar. It took a moment for him to recognize his surroundings, and he wondered if it had all been a dream.
Skylar smiled and pointed out her window. Craters pockmarked the gray, lifeless surface like the site of an intense artillery barrage. The moon rotated by the window as the freighter moved into orbit.
“There’s Armstrong’s flag,” she said, pointing.
“Where?”
She giggled. “So gullible!”
Austin scowled and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “Don’t you think this is strange?”
“Understatement of the year,” she said, turning around. “Of course this is strange. That word doesn’t even do it justice.”
“We worked so hard for a scholarship, w
