Epilogue
11th May 2054 (Two Years Later)
The day has come. The day that Akira Scuderi retires his title as Governor of Ceres, and boards the returned Proserpina on a return journey to Luna. What he'll do once he returns back to his home planet, I don't think anyone knows, least of all him. I asked him, and he simply replied, 'whatever is asked of me'. That's all he needs to know. For him, I guess, that is enough. To serve out his duty to the Freehold is all he needs in life. I doubt that I could live like that.
In the two years since his arrival here, the Colony of Ceres has changed quite dramatically. After the Ceres Penal Labour Act passed into law, action was immediately undertaken to change things here in preparation for the convicts. It was decided that the convicts would work for Medano or the ICMU on contract from the colonial government. I don't think there's any place on Earth, or on Luna or Mars, where that would be legal, but out here, we have a great deal of independence and freedom to make our own laws, whatever they may be.
There are many colonists who are opposed to the idea that we're turning into a penal colony, but we, the Legislative Council, have insisted that there is no other alternative. Truthfully, none of us have been able to come up with a different alternative. I admit that what we're doing isn't exactly moral or just, but what other choice did we have? The alternative was having the colony come to an end. Perhaps that wouldn't have been a bad thing, but the community we have here would not survive in the cultural bombardment of Luna's hyperactive society. On Luna, the old cultures of Earth no longer exist. If we want to keep our old customs, traditions, and culture, then living out here out on the frontier is the only choice left to us.
The first convicts arrived a few weeks ago, onboard the Proserpina. About thirty of them, are now housed in a newly constructed cell block down below the surface, on the far side of the settlement proper from the tunnels, where a number of Palestinians still continue to live. The Governor commissioned two new ships, smaller than the Proserpina, that can be used to transfer convicts from Luna to Ceres with much more ease. The first of the two ships will be complete within a couple of months.
It isn't just things in relation to the convicts that have changed around here recently, however. There have been a number of other changes around the colony. In coalition with the colonies on Mars (known as the Martian Provinces) we're in the process of creating an interconnected communications network between each other and Luna, by placing a number of relays throughout the solar system, so as to deal with the blind spots in communication that occur from time to time with the current arrangement without relays.
Closer to home, a number of Palestinians have moved up out of the tunnels, and back into the settlement itself. At a guess, I would say perhaps half of those in the tunnels have moved up. I, myself, like a number of others, decided to stay in the tunnels. We may have only lived in them for half a decade or so, but for quite a few of us it seems like they've become a home. I don't think I'd ever considered the tunnels as such until quite recently. It feels like this place has finally become somewhere that we can all call our home. A new place to live. There have even been a few children born here over the past year. If anything marks the success of a new colony, I suppose it might just be that.
Our settlement has a new name now too. No one had ever named it before, so it was simply referred to as Ceres, after the planet. Now, however, we have a new name that was popular with both Palestinians and others, here in the settlement. The new name we settled on was Palestine.
Hana and Ahmad eventually worked out their differences, and have gotten used to living together as a family again. Well, I say they've worked out their differences, but it seems they still have arguments all the time. I think families are just like that, however.
As for me, after Akira leaves, I will be taking his place as the colony's Governor. I wasn't sure at first, but Akira was able to convince me. He told me I have the support of the council, and he repeated his words from the first time we met. 'That's how we'll save this colony. Working together, towards a better future'. It might seem strange that he's repeating that when he's leaving, but that's not what he meant. Not even the first time that he said it. He didn't just mean the two of us. He meant everyone here. All the people here on this planet. What he wants is for all of us to work together. Towards a better future.