Peyton sat on a cold metal chair, trying to read Rocky’s mind. It was pointless. All she could get was static. Alex refused to sit, pacing ridiculously around General Stone's office. Edward and Lilly chose to stand by the door.

  "What do you want from us?" Peyton asked.

  Rocky ignored her question and asked one of his own.

  “So you visited the dig site and saw something you're calling an Orb. Where did you go after that?”

  “We were pretty shaken up by the Orb, sir. Why did you keep that from us?" Peyton asked.

  “Don't judge me, Ms. Lawrence. You took four students out into Mars unsupervised for over 24 hours. They could have died. I’m utterly baffled by your actions.”

  “What is the Orb, Stone? I'm not going to stop asking until you tell us,” Peyton said.

  General Stone slammed his hand hard on the table and grimaced. “I’ll ask the questions here, Ms Lawrence. You will stand down.”

  “You don’t know, do you?”Alex said.

  Rocky Stone stood and sucked in a deep breath. His flight suit hung off him like he'd forgotten to eat for weeks. He gazed out the only portal in his small office. The rover he'd used to transport them from the dig site back to the hub stared back obediently.

  “We think your Orb is a pocket of gas. How it got here, no one knows. It flames continuously while giving off no heat. The light waves are shorter than anything we’ve studied back on Earth, yet we can see them. Nothing goes in or out, like a closed system. It simply recycles energy. A bit of science too advanced for us, I’m afraid.”

  Edward looked at Peyton, who was reading his mind. He'd come to the same conclusion as she had. Stone didn't know the Orb was a portal.

  “Why keep it a secret? You said the purpose of the dig site was to look for new elements. You expect us to believe you coincidentally dug a hole precisely where a gigantic gas ball was buried?”

  “We didn’t find the Orb, Peyton. Mission 4 did. We've been studying it ever since.”

  “But you acted like the location of the dig site was debatable. Remember, you originally planned to dig by the crater until Sloan had that vision with the bird people and pleaded with you not to dig there.”

  “The plan was always to monitor the Orb at this established site. You, kids, are on a need-to-know basis. Any untruths became necessary to shield you from yourselves.”

  “From ourselves?” Lilly asked, her face radiating disgust.

  “Yes, Lilly. From yourselves. What can we do about the Orb? We don’t understand it. The best scientists on Earth don’t understand it. It only generates fear and prompts poor decisions, like running away.”

  “We didn’t run away,” Alex said defensively. “And where we went is so much better than here!”

  Peyton snapped her neck toward Alex. If Rocky didn't know about Merrick, that meant he couldn't use it to hurt them. She tried getting Alex’s attention, but he was focused solely on General Stone. Was he intending to murder him right here? Edward walked toward Alex, pulling him back. General Stone eyed Alex, his eyes flickering between both boys. Either of them could crush him to death if they wanted. But either he'd forgotten that or didn't care because what he said next made everything worse.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “And Edward, you wanted everyone to join you in this place that's so much better than here. We found your letter.”

  Edward, keeping his hand on Alex, pivoted casually to face Rocky.

  “And what letter was that, sir?”

  “The letter where you asked the entire M6 crew to boycott the return trip to Earth.”

  Edward stared at General Stone, as if processing his words but finding no sense in them.

  “How did you get on the ship without us knowing? I’m very curious about that.”

  “What letter? What ship?” Edward asked, confused.

  “The time for games is over, son. You're part of a mission that’s failing to reach its objectives. I’m ready to use physical force. Max knows. His punishments were severe. Just as yours will be.”

  “What did you do to Max?” Lilly demanded, flying up in Rocky’s face.

  The taser came out of nowhere, freezing Lilly’s legs so quickly she hit her head on the corner of the table before crashing down on the floor.

  “Don’t touch her,” Rocky said, watching Lilly hold her head in pain.

  “You can't do that, buddy,” Edward said, lunging forward

  And then Edward picked General Stone up by his flight suit and threw him into a wall. Blood streamed from Rocky’s nose, but he lunged forward, knocking Edward off balance long enough to pull a pistol.

  “Everyone, STOP! I’ll tell you anything you want to know. I left the letter, not Edward,” screamed Peyton.

  “There’s no letter,” Edward bellowed. “He’s baiting us!”

  “Edward, do you remember the time I spent apart from you while we were exploring?” Peyton asked.

  Edward stared at Peyton in disbelief. Lilly groaned on the floor, her body twisting in pain.

  “I wrote the letter, signed your name, and left it on the ship for the others to find. I knew they’d search the ship for us eventually. No one came to join us. That's why I decided we should come back. We need to do things the way General Stone wants us to.”

  Lilly was sitting up now, her face wrinkled in horror. Peyton could barely stop the flood of thoughts from all three kids who knew she'd never written any letter, much less planted it on a spaceship.

  “You can’t save us from him alone," Lilly said.

  “I promise you that is what happened. It was a horrible idea, and I deeply regret it,” Peyton said.

  “Well, I appreciate the honesty, Ms. Lawrence,” Rocky said. “It seems these kids were acting directly under your orders, which helps their case.”

  Stone used the gun to motion for Lilly to get up off the floor, but she glared at him, unmoving.

  “Here’s what's going to happen. You three will return to the pod and spread the word that any additional boycott attempts will result in solitary confinement or worse.”

  “General Stone, I promise the boycott was all my idea.”

  “And if I could finish,” Stone said, glaring at Peyton. “Tell them to expect one-on-one meetings with me during this brief period before launch. I need to be certain I have absolute compliance.”

  “No one is going to talk to you,” Alex said.

  “Oh yeah,” Rocky said, turning the pistol around before he used it to strike Peyton hard across the face.

  Alex's mouth fell completely open, his hands balling into fists. Lilly began to cry, and Edward put his arm around her. And Peyton, who had muffled her scream, remained standing, although now bent over at the waist.

  “Tell them every time they make life hard, Ms. Lawrence pays the price.”

  “You’re not worth the skin God wrapped you in,” Alex said.

  And Rocky, true to his word, kneed Ms. Lawrence so hard she fell face-first on his boots, her arms held protectively over her head.

  “Stop! My God!” Edward shouted, dropping to his knees. “You're going to kill her!”

  But Rocky stepped between Edward and Peyton as if daring the boy to come closer.

  “Get out, all of you,” he said. “And don’t think I won’t kill Ms. Lawrence if it serves the mission.”

  But as the kids fled the office, General Stone let his emotions take control, allowing Peyton to access his mind for just a moment, revealing two truths. 1. He'd been the one to write the letter, and 2. General Stone knew absolutely nothing of Merrick.