Zak heard the door open behind him, and turned to see Skye come out.
‘Hey, I’ll check the video later,’ said Tom. ‘I’m going back to bed. See you tomorrow.’
‘Yeah. Whenever that is,’ said Zak.
The commando went back inside his tent, and Zak turned off the video wristband.
A pair of arms wrapped around his neck.
‘Hello Zak,’ said Skye. She was hugging rather than strangling him.
‘Is that it now, are we going?’ asked Zak.
‘In a minute.’ She stretched out her fingers to show him the ring. ‘What a fantastic present, don’t you think?’
‘Better than a piece of tat I suppose.’
‘When Gran’s Gran received it originally, she could never have imagined that one day it would end up on Mars,’ said Skye.
‘Yeah,’ said Zak. ‘And who knows what may happen to it in the distant future.’
Skye let go, and Zak turned to face her.
‘So how do you feel about it now?’ she asked. ‘Going to Mars.’
Zak didn’t want to reveal his plot. He had to lie.
‘I’ve no interest in the place,’ he said. ‘But I’ll put up with it, until I’m old enough to come back.’
‘Well you’re going to be fun to live with for the next few years,’ she said. ‘I’m really excited now. I’ve never taken much interest in space, but this is something new. I’ve been reading about the cities on Mars. The people there have an easy-going attitude. There’s a good music scene and lots of clubs. It sounds like it might be the place to be.’
‘Yeah, but on Earth you can be anywhere that is the place to be.’
Skye lunged at Zak, gave him a full-on hug, and laughed.
‘You’re so stubborn Zak,’ she said.
Zak refrained from pushing her away. It would only make her angry.
