Tilly gave a wave above her head. “It’s green, like the ones back home.”
Atlas was silent, but his jaw tightened as he watched Anna wave.She’s waving up to them like it’s a party.
Anna picked herself up. “Well. They can see me do this.” Struggling to stand, she took off her boots and socks, almost falling over her stomach as she did.
Atlas jumped to pull her up.
Once she regained her footing, she patted his arm gingerly. “Thanks. C’mon!”
She walked to the water’s edge and then beyond. The lake was muddy in spots, but mostly a deep, inviting blue. When her feet were almost wet, she glanced back, waving him forward. Simon and Nora were already half in the lake, an arm’s length from Tilly. She put a toe in, then called to him, “Oh shit, it’s cold!”
“Here, do you want to come out?” Atlas stretched out his hand.
“No.” She giggled. “It’s freezing!”
“Anna, be careful.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not going all the way in.” She put her hands on her hips. “One day I’m going to learn how to swim for real. Both me and this baby girl.”
Tilly streaked across the water, touching everything in sight, as Nora and Simon chased after her. Tilly came stomping by, sloshing everywhere. Then she twirled in the lake, hands cupping the water and tossing in the air.
Atlas’s eyes grew distant watching Nora and Simon play with Tilly in the lake. Now that. That. Everything about them together was like his movies.
Anna joined them a second later, completing the scene. She turned back to Atlas, grinning. “Here, you want some water too?” She threw a handful, and it fell only a few feet away.
Then she began to laugh. Soft at first and then louder, until she doubled herself over on her stomach. The laugh echoed back to him. Then she wiped her eyes, her hand still damp. “That’s the first full laugh I’ve had in . . . years.”
“Anna . . .”
But she didn’t let him finish. The water sloshed around her thighs as she walked back out toward him, feet dripping. She gripped Atlas’s arm and shook his hand with her almost healed one. “You don’t know . . .”
She tossed back her head to laugh again. Her hand dripped as she grabbed his sleeve.
He braced himself under her weight, his nerve endings tingling. “I don’t know what?”
Anna reached down to the shore’s edge to pick up the dark red rose dropped there. She held the rose in front of her, pressing it on his chest. The red petals spread across his sweater, splayed out.
“You just don’t know.” Her eyes shone. “It’s beautiful, Atlas. It’s beautiful.”
A flush came over his skin and neck. His smile slowly built, eyes not leaving her face. “Yes, it is beautiful, Anna. Yes, it is.”
Chapter eleven
Anna
Anna’s footsteps were heavy with mud clinging to her soles. Atlas was bringing them to the facility, with the sun now low in the sky. They walked to where the ship had initially landed, next to a large structure that Anna had only glanced at before. Now, in front, she shrank back in the shade of the tall building. No building this big existed on Earth, except maybe the power plant. Her eyes traveled up over the sprawling structure. The complex was easily as big as the spacecraft and showed no signs of wear. And, after the walk in nature, it seemed completely out of place in the forested background. Everything on Earth was covered in dust and run-down, not pristine or polished like this.
In front of the structure, a line of androids stood so still they could have been part of the building itself. Several models appeared to repeat in order. The only ones Anna recognized were the model-Ms, all looking like Zero—one of the friendlier androids on board.
She did a quick count. Close to half of the androids lined up looked like he did.
“Why am I not seeing . . .” Nora elbowed Simon. “Any others that look like you?”
Simon chuckled low. “I was a custom order.”
“Oh,” Nora answered with a small laugh of her own. “Were you now?”
Anna kicked at the dirt in front of the facility, noting that the dirt darkened in color as they came closer. The dirt was red. Martian red.
