Dying Star Arc
March 2041
Me and Mohammed, the now semi-famous leaders of the Palestinians, are meeting. When I came over to his hovel, Mohammed showed me something. A tunnel that leads up to the surface of the planet.
"What do you need a tunnel for?"
"We're going to destroy the Persephone."
I blink a few times, struck by disbelief. What did he just say?
"Your joking, right? Why would you say that?"
"I'm serious," Mohammed replied, "someone hid some of the explosives that we used for tunnelling. There isn't enough to destroy the Persephone, but we could ground it."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"We need your help, Sayyad. The only spacesuits on Ceres are in the hangar block on the surface, and their far too big to smuggle down through the settlement. We're going to charter a flight on our ship, go dig up the explosives, and then return to the base. If a member of the Legislative Council like you erases any record of our flight, then we'll be cleared."
"Why are you doing this? We can't afford the colony to be isolated from Luna. The colony won't survive for much more than a few years without supplies."
"It's fine. The Lunarians value the resources we have here; they'll build a new ship to transport the resources."
"Why are you doing this then? You just admitted that it won't change anything, so why?"
"I never said it won't change anything. It'll force them to take us seriously, give us a more equal partnership in this colony. Let us rule ourselves."
I stare at Mohammed. What happened to him? I always knew that Mohammed was a bit extreme at times, but even for him this goes way too far. He can't really think this right? This has to be a joke. And yet… I can tell that he is completely serious. That there's nothing about this that's a joke to him.
"I'm leaving. I can't help you."
I turn to walk away, but Mohammed grabs my arm, squeezing hard.
"Wait. Ms Montague… Ms Montague is leaving, isn't she? If you do this, she'll have to stay here. That's what you want, don't you?"
In Seine's apartment later, I couldn't help but keep my mind from wandering back to my conversation with Mohammed earlier. I'd refused to help him, but I'd kept silent about what he was planning as well. His last words to me in particular, stuck in my head. Maybe he's right. I do wish that this time I spend with Seine would last longer, and if she were to stay here longer, that would achieve that, wouldn't it? But… isn't that just wrong? No matter how much I want something, surely there's some limit to how greedy I can be. It isn't my place to stop Seine from going, is it?
"Sayyad! Sayyad!"
Seine calls out to me, but it takes me a bit to snap out of it. I had almost forgotten where I was, or what we were doing for a moment. We're watching an old movie – one of Seine's favourites. She's an avid fan of movies, though she didn't bring many with her to Ceres. Internet capacity here is limited to an extent that she calls medieval. It doesn't make much difference to me or the Palestinians. Here or home, internet is a luxury to us that many don't know.
"What?"
"Come on, it's the part we always do."
"Huh? Oh…"
"Come on, stand up."
I don't like doing this. It's embarrassing. But Seine loves it, so I feel like I don't have much of a choice. I don't even really get what's so great about this particular scene either, but according to Seine, it's a masterpiece. As I rise, Seine starts speaking the lines of the lead actress.
"I wanna dance."
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no," I reply along with the male actor.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I do believe Marsellus, my husband, your boss, told you to take me out, and do whatever I wanted. Now I want to dance, I want to win… I want that trophy. So, dance good."
"All right, you asked for it."
Let's hear it for our first contestants.
Now, let's hear it for our first contestants this evening. Young lady, what is your name?
"Missus Mia Wallace."
And, uh, how 'bout your fella here?
"Vincent Vega."
All right let's see what you can do. Take it away!
The two of us, four if you count the actors, then danced. I don't know what the song is called, but I like the lyrics. It talks about a couple who get married, which I get the feeling was against their parents' wishes, and their life afterwards. It really is a beautiful song, and it does make you want to dance.
When the scene ends and the music fades, the two of us drop back down onto Seine's couch, to watch the rest of the film. It doesn't take long for my thoughts to bring me back to Mohammed and his plan. He's right. I don't want moments like this, my precious moments with Seine, to come to an end. I think I had already accepted the fact that she was leaving and there was nothing I could do about it, but now maybe… maybe there is a way to stop her from leaving. If there is a way to stop her from leaving, then I think I already know what I feel I have to do.