The Far Side of the Moon

Chapter two.

Jupiter looms in the distance, the red-orange swirls of color mesmerizing. I clutch Finn's hand tighter as we enter Europa's atmosphere.

"Miss Allen?" The flight attendant, a young guy with dark skin and darker eyes, leans down to speak to us. "You have a transmission." He hands me a slip of paper.

My hands are shaking. "Read it?" I mumble to Finn, handing him the paper. "Please?"

His eyes scan the paper, and he shakes his head at me. My heart sinks. "What'd they say?" I whimper.

"Not nice things." Finn crumples up the paper, then presses his lips gently to my temple. "But it's no matter. We'll be okay when we get back."

My parents were avidly against my job. Well, they were against me on anything and everything, to be honest. "Diplomacy isn't necessary!" They liked to say. "Mars could be entirely self sufficient if it pleased." They even hated the visits I took to our moons. So I'm not surprised they've sent a nasty transmission the moment they found out about my trip to a far off moon.

The shuttle shudders as we land on Europa. As always, I squeeze my eyes closed, clutching Finn's hand tightly.

"Welcome to Europa!" The pilot's voice crackles over the speakers. I crack open an eye.

There are lights outside the windows. A city stretching as far as the eye can see, and far in the distance, a line of fires from the rebellion. We've landed on the side of Europa where the rebellion has barely made a dent in the government, where the foreign relations center is.

Finn and I are two of six passengers on the shuttle. Not many people are exactly lining up to travel to war torn Europa.

I learned that history repeats itself. Rebellions on Earth were quite like this. Aid from foreign countries, the end seeming to be out of sight. Although, this is the first rebellion in space- humanity has done well until the first sparks on Jupiter's Europa.

The rebels want anarchy. The government wants peace. That's what all the facts say.

A woman with stiff hair, a stiff smile, and a stiff pantsuit is waiting outside the shuttle for Finn and I. He carries our one case of luggage, which holds enough things for a month.

"Ms. Allen?" The woman holds out her hand to shake mine, pumping my hand with a huge smile. "And Mr. Jakovi." Her smile isn't quite as large for Finn. "I'm Lola. Right this way, please."

Finn and I follow Lola through the empty hallways of the spaceport, our shoes clicking on the marble tiles. None of us speak.

I stare out the windows as we walk past, my breath coming fast at the beauty of all the lights down below. I've never seen such a vast city before, one uninterrupted by red deserts or icy seas. Sure, in holos or photos, but that's no substitution for the real thing.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Lola calls back to us. "The country sponsor had it designed to reflect its most beautiful and famous city. Just much bigger."

I think for a moment. "England, right? Their capital was London?"

Lola nods, her ponytail swinging. "Spot on."

We stop in front of an elevator. Once we've squeezed into the tight space, Lola hits the button for the first floor. I notice we're only on the twenty-seventh.

The elevator whooshes down so fast I nearly lose my balance. Finn catches me, and I look up at him gratefully. The doors open with a ding. Lola steps out, looking back with a bit of annoyance.

"Lord Parkwood has sent a hover to collect you and take you to your lodgings. And an hour after that, another hover will collect you for the very first meeting. Tomorrow you will be taken to meet with our government representatives." Lola looks at Finn disapprovingly. "You'll have to sit that one out, Mr. Jakovi."