text: You follow Andrea's suggestion and take a hot bath yourself as soon as you've checked into your room. Then you take advantage of Esmeralda's built-in chronometer and have her wake you up in an an hour and a half so you can get yourself ready for lunch with Solon and Yuja.
  
  "She's really cute, Esse," you say while brushing your teeth.
  
  "Who, dear?"
  
  "Yuja, of course. I wander how old she is."
  
  "I'd say about thirty. You're a minor; you needn't concern yourself with her."
  
  "I can still look." You spit toothpaste into the the faux marble basin. "What she said about Solon noticing I was in pain, though. That was pretty unsettling. Looking into his eyes...I don't know. I almost feel like I can confess everything to him."
  
  "I advise you do talk about what's happened in your life, Sandra. I'm concerned about you. Things are getting increasingly dangerous."
  
  "I know..." You sigh, take a sip from a plastic cup, swish water around the inside of your mouth, then spit.
  
  "If it's easier for you to speak to Solon without Yuja present, then it should be noted I can speak the major dialect of Martian fluently."
  
  "You, Esse? How? Even Yuja can't do that."
  
  "She's human and suffers the limitations of human vocal chords, tongue, and lips. I have an electronic voice-box which can manipulate sound waves the same way an oscilliatron does."
  
  "Wow, I never considered that!"
  
  "If you're ready, we should be on our way, dear."
  
  "I don't mean to sound like a cheapskate, but I hope they can pay for our meal."
  
  "Solon says he's happy you decided to take him up on his invitation," says Yuja.
  
  You, Esmeralda, Yuja, and Solon are sitting at a large circular table in an alcove-like section of the dinning room. Surrounding the table are potted palm trees, several statues of naked women you assume are nymphs and dryads, and a small fountain shooting an arc of water high in the low gravity.
  
  You take a sip of your glass of Carmichael's Colo. "Yeah...um, I guess you could say I've got a lot I'd like to get off my chest. Yuja, Esmeralda has informed me she's fluent in Martian. I, uh, think it might be a little easier for me to open up to your employer without you present...Sorry, I hope that didn't sound bad."
  
  Yuja's dark brown eyes widen and her mouth forms an "o". "I see. Well, I think I can understand your uneasy feelings, Sandra." She looks around and then smiles. "Here, I see an empty table. I'll just take my salad over there and I'll be back shortly."
  
  She gets up with her salad and drink and goes through a clump of palm trees to a table beyond.
  
  Esmeralda talks to Solon in the fluting tones of Martian. Solon replies and Esmeralda turns her pink eyes to you. "He says he is ready to hear all you have to say, Sandra. If you want, dear, I can just give him a summary of our misadventures, if that will be easier for you."
  
  "Thanks, Esse," you say with a sad smile.
  
  For the next ten minutes Esmeralda recounts all that has happened to you and her. Solon says little in all this time but just nods his head --you wander if that's a truly universal gesture or if he's merely imitating human body language. All this while you just slowly stab at your Tilapia fish with your fork and nibble tentatively. Eventually, Esmeralda finishes her tale and Solon replies.
  
  Esmeralda says, "He can understand your need to seek justice in the deaths of your mother and father, but he also believes the violence is becoming increasingly chaotic. He told me that there is a news story circulating about the hostage rebellion we were part of. Mildred, the stewardess, was killed in the debacle and the Jovians and other hostages have concluded that you and Andrea are responsible."
  
  You feel your blood chill.
  
  "Mildred...she's dead?" you ask.
  
  Esmeralda's eyes darken to a bloody hue. "Apparently so. I'm afraid this is the first I've heard of this. Is it true?"
  
  You suddenly feel dizzy. Your hand, now drenched in cold sweat, lets the fork clatter onto your plate. You feel like you're going to hyperventilate, but you manage to slow down your breathing to a deep, steady rhythm.
  
  Seconds drag out into an eternal non-time.
  
  "I-I...." you say, taking in another deep breath. "I didn't kill Mildred. I checked her pulse when we left her quarters; I swear she was still alive. It was Andrea who hit her over the head with a chair. She didn't seem concerned about all the blood...but I checked Mildred and her heart was still beating. Esmeralda, please believe me. I would never kill an innocent person..."
  
  "I would certainly like to believe that, young lady. All this time, I've been assisting you. All this time, I've been trying to persuade you to choose a better path. It's as if your hell-bent quest for vengeance has made you disregard your very future. Have you even considered where you will be in five or ten years? Do you even care at this point? Has the sum total purpose of your life become avenging your parents? Is this what they would have wanted for you?"
  
  You put year head in your hands and close your eyes. Hot tears stream down your cheeks.
  
  "There you are!" says a familiar voice.
  
  You look up into the shaded eyes of Andrea.
  
  "I've been looking for you two," she continues. "Have you forgotten the plan? John and his men are here. I need your help." She glances at Solon. "What have you been saying to this Martian?"
  
  "Nothing...Everything."
  
  Andrea scowls. "Nothing, Everything. It doesn't matter now. Come with me. You want justice for your mother and father, don't you?"
  
  Solon says something in his chirping language.
  
  Esmeralda gently places a claw on your shoulder. "He says there is an alternative to all this vengeance business. He says he can speak to the Jovians about what happened at their city and explain your situation. He can offer you a way out of this. A new life."
  
  Andrea chuckles cynically. "There's no way out of this, Esmeralda. She's my accomplice. Sandra, do you want to punish the people responsible for this or not?"
  
  > admit to Yourself that there's No Way Out and Help Andrea Kill John and His Men
  You look down at your plate and sigh. "Fine, Andrea, I'll help you."
  
  Yuja and Solon give each other a look.
  
  You slide back your chair and reluctantly stand up. "Let's go, Esse."
  
  "Goodby, then," says Solon, standing and bowing to you.
  
  Yuja puts out her hand. "I wish you the best of luck, Sandra."
  
  You take her hand and are shocked to feel a cold pricking on one of your fingers. You pull your hand away.
  
  Yuja looks embarrassed. "Oh, forgive me, Sandra. I forgot about my ring." She holds up her hand, revealing a barbed silver ring around her index finger.
  
  "Come on, let's go," says Andrea. "It's too late to confront John and his men in the dining room, but I think I may have found out what floor they're staying on."
  
  You and Esmeralda follow Andrea as she heads for the exit to the dining room. As you pass the different tables, you notice the statues of nymphs seem to be moving. It's a slow, graceful sliding of limbs, as if they're doing interpretive dances. You stop momentarily to stare at one nymph before you. Here stark white arms are pulling apart. Then she locks her eyes on yours and smiles.
  
  "Oh, my God!" you scream, looking back at your robot. "Esse, did you see that?"
  
  "See what, dear?" asks Esmeralda.
  
  "You didn't see the statue smile?"
  
  "What's the hold up?" asks Andrea, stepping up to you.
  
  You put your hands on your temples and shut your eyes. "I think I'm going crazy."
  
  Andrea grabs your wrist. "Missy, I don't need any excuses from you! I busted you out of the Jovian city. You owe me."
  
  You open your eyes and stare at her. "You're a murderer."
  
  Andrea's darkly-spectacled face contorts like a fun-house mirror reflection. "You're in this too, dear! Don't forget that."
  
  To your horror, you notice her voice is going down several octaves. She almost sounds like a monster.
  
  You pull your wrist from her clutching hand. "I'm losing my mind!"
  
  "What are you talking about, Sandra?" she replies in a demonic voice, her face twisted like a visage from a Salvador Dali painting.
  
  You stare up at the gold ceiling. It ripples like a liquid and you notice skull-like faces contorting out of it.
  
  You slap you palms against your eyes and scream.
  
  "Sandra. Sandra, can you hear me?" Esmeralda holds our hand in a gentle claw. She's removed the space helmet she used as a disguise and she seems to be hovering over you.
  
  You look around you and notice you're in bunk bed in a metal room. There's a steady, quiet rumbling sound.
  
  "Where am I?" you ask.
  
  "On Solon's ship, my dear girl. He has offered to take us to Mars to get you away from all this revenge nonsense. Our Martian host was able to convince the authorities of New Melbourne that you are in his charge."
  
  "What about Andrea?"
  
  "She can no longer hurt or threaten you, Sandra. Yuja has told me that she was killed in a gunfight with John and his men."
  
  "Why did I have those horrible hallucinations?"
  
  Esmeralda gently places your hand at your side. "It seems Yuja deliberately drugged you with her ring. She wanted you to escape your predicament so she opted on making you suffer a form of temporary insanity. You eventually passed out and Andrea got nervous and left us to our own devices."
  
  "And now we're going to Mars?"
  
  "Yes, Sandra. To Mars and a new life."
  
  You smile and drift off back to sleep.
  
  The End