Part 5
The sleeping quarters are on an upper deck,
above the labs and the commons area. There’s one stairwell at the
far end of the ship and this time when we cross the commons,
colonists line the walls to see us. This is what I expected,
but I don’t like the closed looks on their faces, the undisguised
fear, the hostility and anger. Dylan keeps a hand on my wrist and
glares around us distrustfully, like he thinks someone’s going to
come up and snatch me away. “It’s okay,” I tell him, but I don’t
believe that myself. They think we’re here to make them leave
with us, I think, watching one woman shrink back as we pass.
Or they think we’ve brought our own diseases and they’ll go
through the sickness and death all over again. Or we’re just the
first, and others will follow, and th
