The walk to Solomon’s house was short. A thatched door hid the tunnel to his home.

  "You live underground?" Edward asked?

  “Yes. I live alone, so you won't have to explain yourself to anyone,” Solomon said.

  Edward watched the tiny man open a hole in the ground and point to a rope bridge.

  Edward glanced backward, wondering if he might be ambushed. But they were alone, and Solomon continued smiling at him, waiting.

  “So, just step onto the bridge?”

  “Yes, it is a solid bridge. You’ll be safe.”

  Edward stepped onto a bridge strung with some glowing stones and, in minutes, found himself at Solomon’s front door. The tunnel reminded him of the dig site. Was the digsite part of Merrick's tunnel system? Did General Stone know about Merrick?

  “Come in. My house is very simple, but I hope you can rest here. I have bread and meat if the crackleberries didn’t satisfy you.”

  Edward looked around. The house was a gigantic underground dome. Inside, there was a small wooden table, two chairs, a bed, a bedside table, and an extensive library.

  “Sit, sit, Edward. I will make you something.”

  “Thank you,” Edward said, not seeing any food.

  He watched Solomon access a cabinet hidden in the shadows and a tap jutting from the wall. Several metal buckets sat under the tap, which Edward assumed supplied water.

  “Here you are,” Solomon said, handing Edward a plate of bread and something like beef jerky.

  Edward eyed the food. If the dude wanted to kill him, being down here increased his odds.

  “You are unsure of me. I understand. I'll sample the food to prove it's safe,” Solomon said, tearing off a piece of the bread and a strip of meat.

  Solomon popped both into his mouth and chewed exaggeratedly, as if he were savoring steak and lobster.

  “Ok, now I’m hungry,” he said. “I’m having what you’re having.”

  The little man made an identical plate for himself and poured them both a glass of whatever came out of the tap.

  “Merrick has delicious water, try it,” Solomon urged.

  Edward peered into his cup. He quickly took a sip, bracing his knees under the table. Nothing happened.

  “So, this Lilly, is she a female?”

  “Yes. She also traveled through the Orb. I followed her.”

  “So the Orb is in your future, but no Merrick?”

  “I believe so. Future Merrick, or Mars as we call it, is a dead planet. We've found no fossils that prove anyone's ever lived here. We left Earth to see if we could live here.”

  “But why don’t you want to live on Earth?”

  “We do, but eventually, our planet won’t be big enough.”

  “You must have lots of people.”

  “Over 8 billion.”

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “That is extraordinary. How do your people get along?”

  “Not very well, I’m afraid.”

  “It is the same for Merrick. The readers, movers, and strengths are at odds.”

  “Readers and movers?”

  “Edward, we are strengths, you and I. But some Merrick are movers, which means they move things with their minds, and readers are just readers. They read thoughts.”

  “You’re talking about superpowers.”

  “What is a superpower?” Solomon asked.

  “Superpowers are like talents, such as being strong, using your mind to move things, or reading minds. We don’t have superpowers on Earth. If we did, I'm sure we'd use them unwisely. Humans have enough divisive issues. Hell, some people want to decide who you can and can't have sex with.”

  “What is sex?”

  Edward looked up and saw genuine confusion on Solomon’s face.

  “It doesn’t matter. Everything is a big mess back on Earth.”

  “Is that why you came to Merrick?”

  “Partly. I'm not exactly sure why. Seems like a test to see if kids acclimate better than adults?”

  “This sounds like a weird test. So you have superpowers now?”

  “Yeah, we developed them here. They’re supposed to be temporary, and maybe morph into a cancer.”

  “Cancer? Your people sent you here to die? This is unexcusable,” Solomon exclaimed.

  “No shit,” said Edward.

  “So your leaders know they are killing you?”

  “I think they're hoping our bodies handle superpowers differently. We won't know until we go back to Earth.”

  “So once you find Lilly, you will travel back through the Orb and eventually go home?”

  “Yes, that is the plan.”

  “It sounds as though you do not like the plan.”

  “Some of us want to stay. We can't colonize Mars. It’s not safe. If we go home, they'll send more people to die.”

  “This makes me sad. The Orb knows what to do. I will ask it tonight at the meeting.”

  “So, what’s this meeting about?”

  “The meeting is to bring our factions into agreement. Recently, a large fire burned much of Merrick, and many lost crops. The strengths extinguished the fire, carrying countless water wells over long distances. Movers helped to distribute the water quickly. The readers were no help. Readers have always been most valued, but what good were they to us?”

  “So factions are groups with the same superpowers.”

  “Yes, Edward, and the fire could happen again. Merrick want strengths to move their homes closer to the fields. Which means anyone who is not a strength will need to move further away from the fields.”

  “Why not just build more homes?”

  “You might not understand. Our homes are part of a tunnel system. Lots of planning is required to dig a new home without compromising the stability of the ground above it, the surrounding houses, and the tunnel system. Merrick, who live by the fields, will have to give their homes to strengths and build somewhere else or use a strength’s empty home.”

  “Wow, that’s shitty.”

  “What is this word -shitty?”

  “Well, it’s not fair.”

  “It is fair, Edward. We need crops to survive, and strengths are best suited to protect the fields.”

  “I get that, but you’re talking about people’s homes. A home is sacred. People make memories in a home.”

  “Edward, this is for our people. It is to make Merrick stronger and less vulnerable.”

  “So, tonight's meeting is to convince people to give up their homes?”

  “Somewhat. Mostly, I want to speak about how readers make all the decisions, especially Hameel. He is an elected reader and believes himself to be equal to the Orb.”

  “Oh yeah? Should I crush him?”

  Solomon smiled, his face curling into a grin.

  “If Merrick saw that strengths are the only faction to survive in the future, they would realize WE are most valuable and need more voice.”

  “I hate to bust your bubble, but Lilly is not a strength.”

  “What?”

  “Is she a reader or mover?”

  “Lilly's superpower is that she can fly.”

  “But all Merrick can fly, Edward. She won't hinder our agenda as long as she’s not a mover or reader."

  “You haven’t met Lilly. She can hinder almost anything.”

  Solomon wrinkled his snout, and pink crept up his cheeks.

  “I’m just teasing, don’t worry about Lilly. She’s probably out in the woods eating crackleberries. All she'll want is to go back to Mars.”

  “If you don’t have superpowers, how do you put out fires on Earth?

  “We have firemen.”

  “This is a job on your Earth?”

  "Yes."

  “Do you have many fires?”

  “I mean, yes, probably with 8 billion people.”

  “And you have no readers on Earth?”

  “Nope.”

  “That is good. Thoughts are private, and readers get to see them. It is worrisome.”

  “You got lots of bad thoughts, Solomon?”

  “No, but my thoughts are how I feel, and feelings are not wrong, even bad ones. They can shame us for our feelings while keeping theirs private.

  “Yeah, that does suck.”

  “Our teacher, Ms. Lawrence, had a breakdown because of a voice she kept "reading".”

  “She shouldn’t have been listening,” Solomon replied angrily. "I'm glad she had a breakdown."

  "Nice," Edward said, amused.

  "What kind of breakdown?" Solomon asked.

  “Well, she described it as intrusive. Said Mars was talking to her.”

  “How can a planet talk? It is not alive. Do you agree?”

  “One thing I know about Merrick, Mars, or whatever you want to call it here, is that anything can happen. If hunks of rock hurtling through space can talk, I bet this one's got quite a story.”