text: [Themes: sci-fi, female protagonist]
  
  The man leans in close over where I'm sitting. "Do you know what Gideon Redlaw was really planning to do, Miss Willamon? Do you know what his real role is in the government?"
  
  "He works for the Registry of Official Documents..." I start to say, but I have a hunch my interrogator is about to tell me I've been misled.
  
  "My foot. Gideon Redlaw was seeking female companionship for Colonel Green. And not the voluntary kind, either. Our exalted leader likes it a little rough, you see."
  
  I do see, sort of. But who are these people, whisking me off to this secluded room to tell me all this?
  
  "Enough games, Cephis. Let's get on with it." For the first time, someone else speaks up, one of the three men who had been waiting for me in the corridor behind the cafe.
  
  "All right," the first man continues. "You probably have no idea who we are. We wouldn't be good at what we do otherwise. Let's just say that the five of us represent a very special subcommittee of the Utopia Planitia Chamber of Commerce."
  
  "The Chamber of Commerce?" I say. These guys own shops on the promenade? None that I've ever patronized, apparently.
  
  "In a way, yes," Cephis says. "Business in this so-called 'worker's republic' is not as good as it used to be. The purpose of our subcommittee is to investigate ways to, umm, create a more favorable structure of governance here."
  
  I look around at all five men. This is a resistance cell of some kind!
  
  "What do you want from me?" I say.
  
  "Well, Miss Willamon, when we heard about you we immediately came up with two potential roles in which someone like you might be useful to our, ah, investigation."
  
  This seems like a good moment to resume my previous strategy of keeping my mouth shut. Let Cephis here do all the talking; he seems good enough at it.
  
  "On the one hand, we've heard the same rumors you have," he continues. "About the Americans, that is. If not an actual military mission, then we at least know the coordinates of a probe they've placed not far away. Getting to the surface is not easy for anyone, but it's possible that someone of your physical stature could make the trip. It wouldn't be easy, and there would be no need for visas. But if there are people from Earth waiting for refugees to escape from our fine city, you'd get your opportunity to join them. So long as you carry a special message on our behalf.
  
  "Now the other role is certainly not something that anyone else here could do. But if you were successful, you could permanently improve the lives of everyone living in Utopia Planitia."
  
  "How so?" I ask.
  
  "Our mutual friend Gideon Redlaw has no idea you've joined us here this evening," Cephis says. "Thus you could return to the promenade as if nothing ever happened, and make your scheduled appointment. He wanted to see you off personally, right? But we all know what he's really up to. So let him take you to the colonel. Let you get close. By the time the night is done, Green could be dead and Utopia Planitia could be free again."
  
  "You want me to assassinate Colonel Green? I'm no killer!"
  
  "I assure you. We can make sure it's a bloodless coups, and besides, just a few minutes alone with that slimeball will melt away all your inhibitions."
  
  > You'd rather not get involved at all, thank you very much.
  All I wanted was to get out of this place — no commitments, no entanglements, just freedom and a shot at a better life. I thought that's what I had paid for, but as this day wears on it seems like nothing is going as planned.
  
  "Sorry," I say to the man named Cephis. "I'm not your gal."
  
  "I don't understand," he says, with a look of genuine dismay. "I thought you were eager to get out of this place."
  
  "I have no idea who any of you people are!" I say. "You've kidnapped me and brought me to this place, and now you've told me all sorts of fanciful stories. You tell me I can't trust Gideon Redlaw, and you're right. But what you meant to say is that nobody here and can trust anyone."
  
  "But—"
  
  "Don't but me!" After all that I've been through, I feel like I'm on fire. "You claim to represent promenade businesses, but I've never seen any of you before! Tell me, what shops do you run?"
  
  "N-now wait—"
  
  "No, you wait," I say. "I've had enough. Just let me out of here and pretend none of this ever happened."
  
  I begin to stand up from my spot in the chair, but one of the men quickly moves behind me and presses down on my shoulders, forcing me back into a seated position.
  
  "Miss Willamon, your response is very disappointing," Cephis says. "This can't be what you really want, is it?"
  
  But before I can respond, the man behind me speaks up. "This is a waste of time."
  
  "Then let me go!" I say, still held down by his firm hands.
  
  Cephis looks around at his compatriots. "I'm sorry gentlemen. It looks like we overestimated this one."
  
  "Agreed. Let's get out of here."
  
  "What about this one here?" the man holding me down says. "She knows too much."
  
  "Let her rest here a bit," Cephis says, his hand on the door. "Someone will find her eventually. But we need to leave, now."
  
  My captor wastes no time. With both hands he lifts me out of the chair and flings me toward the wall at the back of the room, where I crash into a set of storage racks. Before I can collect my bearings and get back on my feet, all five men are out the door. I hear the click of a lock behind them.