Chapter Twenty-Seven Please Help

I dragged through my after-supper chores. I was exhausted; I hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep in days, and it wasn’t due to Albie’s snoring. He had finally moved into Phinneus’s old room, and Trey was back with me. It was because every time I tried to fall asleep, my mind raced. I couldn’t stop thinking about Lissa, Commander Laurent, Petyr, and Sai. It was like a puzzle with a missing piece. I knew what the outline looked like, but the middle was confusing.

I yawned as I did my rounds. I was on dust duty, and Leo trailed after me. We’d discovered how he’d gotten to the French settlement: there was a hole in an air duct that connected to the train tunnel. Sai had sealed it up tight, so now Leo was stuck here, just like us. I think he was sad about not getting any more tasty treats.

The corridors were quiet. I missed the noise of the French settlement most of all. Someone was always talking or laughing or arguing. I even missed the sound of the baby crying.

As usual, my last stop was the train tunnel. I had just emptied the dust when I saw a folded note taped to the outside of the door. It hadn’t been there yesterday evening when I’d done my rounds, so someone must have placed it there early this morning.

I unfolded it and scanned the words quickly.

Bell,

Please help us! Come tomorrow. It’s urgent!

—Amélie

My bucket fell to the ground, forgotten, as I ran.


All the kids huddled around my bed, looking at the note.

“What did Sai say when you showed it to him?” Flossy asked me.

“He thought I wrote it,” I said. “That I was trying to trick him into letting us visit the French settlement.”

“You?” Vera scoffed. “If anyone would write a note like this, it would be me.”

“Where did you find it?” Trey asked.

“In the train tunnel. It was taped to the back of the door,” I said.

Vera flopped down on my bed. “Well, what are we going to do?”

“What can we do?” Flossy asked. “Sai doesn’t even believe Amélie wrote the note. Which, by the way, he should. I’ve seen Bell’s handwriting.”

“It’s not that bad,” I protested.

Albie looked worried. “What do you think’s going on at the French settlement? What if they’re sick? What about Layla?”

“Why don’t you talk to Sai, Flossy?” Trey suggested. “He’ll listen to you.”

It was a good idea. Sai respected Flossy.

“Right,” she said, nodding. “I’ll go find him.”

We didn’t have to wait long. She was back less than five minutes later.

“Well?” Vera asked.

She shook her head. “Sai said no. He said even if Bell didn’t make it up, it was probably one of the other French kids, playing a prank.”

“But they wouldn’t do that!” I insisted.

It didn’t matter. Sai’s mind was already made up.


The next morning on my dust rounds, I lingered in the algae farm. I saw traces of Phinneus everywhere: in the wall charts noting the water’s pH balance, in the cookie jar on his desk, in the container of Earth soil.

My eyes landed on Phinneus’s ratty blue sweater, hanging on the back of his chair. I picked it up and hugged it tight. It still smelled like him—like Earth soil and algae. Memories of Phinneus flooded out. His endless curiosity. The way his eyes brightened when he talked about plants. How he made funny voices for characters when he read to me.

Commander Laurent was right. Good memories were important. They kept us going. But the grown-ups had forgotten that. They couldn’t remember what life was like before everything went wrong. They needed someone to remind them.

Someone like me.


It was lunchtime, and we were sitting at a table. Salty Bill ladled stew into my bowl.

“I had the best bread in the French settlement,” I told him.

His head snapped up. “A baguette?”

“You were right! It was so good,” I said.

“I told you.”

“Remember that amazing dessert they made?” Meems mused. “It was custard with dried cherries in a piecrust. I dream about that dessert sometimes.”

“Did they have parties back then?” I asked.

“There were wonderful parties!” Eliana said.

“The Halloween party was one for the ages,” Darby said.

“I seem to recall Sai dancing,” Meems said with a mischievous smile.

Sai frowned. “I’m sure I didn’t.”

“Tell me more stories,” I prompted them.

And that’s all I needed to do.

Meems and Eliana and Darby and Salty Bill couldn’t stop reminiscing about friends, fun, and food. They talked about silly pranks they played and adventures they had. Sai’s expression got stonier and stonier.

I took a deep breath and said, “Are we going to help them?”

“Help who?” Salty Bill asked.

“The French settlement. They’re in trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?” Darby asked.

I pulled out the note. “They left us this.”

Sai shook his head. “The children made that up—”

“Let me see it,” Eliana demanded.

I handed it to her. She read it and passed it to Darby.

“Where did you find this?” she asked.

“It was in the train tunnel,” I said.

Meems had the note now. She scanned it and looked at Sai.

“Really, Sai,” she said, sounding like a disappointed parent.

“Bell wrote that,” Sai said.

“You think I don’t know my Bell’s handwriting?” she countered.

His looked down quickly, as if embarrassed.

“Did you know that lions without a pride don’t live long?” I asked.

“What?” Sai asked.

“We’re like lions,” I explained. “We’re alone on Mars. We need the people in the other settlements to survive. We need a pride.”

“Bell’s right,” Meems said. “This has gone on long enough, Sai. They saved us. Now it’s our turn.”

“But Command—” he protested.

Eliana got up and walked to the door.

“Where are you going?” Sai asked.

“To make sure the train is charged,” she said.

“Right behind you, Peanut Butter,” Darby said, following his wife.

“I’ll get my med kit,” Meems called.

I flushed with happiness.

“Wait!” Sai shouted. “We’re not going anywhere!”

Everyone froze.

Then Salty Bill stood up and crossed his arms. “Commander, I’m not cooking another meal until we go to the French settlement and check on them. Understood?”

Sai’s shoulders drooped.

“Copy that,” he said.

Not that Sai ever had a choice. Like he always said, the most important person really was the cook.


“I can’t believe we’re back here,” Trey whispered to me as we sat next to each other in the train.

“At least we’re not alone this time,” I said with a grin.

Everyone was packed into Percy with us. Sai had radioed ahead to tell them we were all coming. And we weren’t going empty-handed. There were boxes of emergency supplies, like glow sticks, food, water, and bandages. Salty Bill even brought a pie he had baked the day before.

When we arrived at the French settlement, Layla answered the door. Her face was pale and she was wearing Albie’s ball cap.

“Albie!” she cried, throwing herself into his arms. “We’d almost lost hope!”

Albie hugged her tight. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

“I’ll show you! Quickly!” she urged, pulling him down the hallway, walking fast.

The rest of us followed them until finally we were standing outside the recreation room.

“In here,” Layla said, and slipped through the door.

We quickly filed into the dark room after her.

“Where’s the emergen—” Sai said. But before he could finish his sentence, the lights suddenly flicked on to reveal a room full of people. A huge sign that said HAPPY BIRTHDAY, VERA! was strung from the ceiling, and there was a birthday cake.

“Surprise!” everyone shouted.

Vera’s stunned expression proved it was actually possible to keep a secret on Mars.

“Bell!” Amélie shouted, running over to me.

“Amélie,” I cried as we hugged.

“So this was all a trick to get us to come here?” Sai asked.

Amélie rolled her eyes at him. “It wasn’t a trick. We needed your help. You can’t have a surprise party without the birthday girl!”

Meems snorted a laugh.

Sai turned and glared at her.


It was wonderful to catch up with all my friends, although Captain Laurent wasn’t there. She had gone to the Chinese settlement to help with something.

At first, it seemed like two different parties: the kids on one side of the room and the grown-ups on the other. While we chatted and laughed, the grown-ups stood around awkwardly.

But after the cake and presents, the teens turned up the music and started dancing. That’s when the party really got going. Seeing all the kids dancing seemed to melt the invisible ice. The next thing I knew, Salty Bill was slapping the French chef on the back and Meems was hugging an older woman. Eliana and Darby chatted with some grown-ups from the Chinese settlement; they’d worked together on the lunar colony. It was like a reunion. Everyone was happy.

Except for Sai.

He sat stiffly on the side of the room, back rigid, as if he wished he was anywhere but there.