Mira had never seen rain.

Nobody on Mars had.

Not real rain, anyway.

They had seen it in old recordings.

They had studied it in history lessons.

They had watched ancient movies where people stood beneath gray skies while water fell from the clouds.

Children on Mars thought rain was a kind of magic.

Mira thought it was a lie.

She was twenty-three years old and lived in the underground city of Elysium, beneath seven kilometers of red rock.

Her world had no oceans.

No forests.

No birds.

No blue sky.

Every morning began with the same artificial sunrise.

Every evening ended with the same artificial stars.

The city was designed to make people forget that they lived on another planet.

Mira hated it.

She wanted to see Earth.

Not a recording.

Not a simulation.

The real Earth.

The planet her ancestors had abandoned 146 years earlier.

The planet everyone called home.

Her grandmother used to tell her stories about it.

Stories that sounded impossible.

“Earth smelled different,” her grandmother would say.

Mira would laugh.

“How can a planet have a smell?”

Her grandmother would smile.

“Because it was alive.”

Those words stayed with Mira.

Alive.

Mars was not alive.

Mars was controlled.

Every breath was measured.

Every drop of water was counted.

Every person had a purpose.

And every dream was monitored.

At least, that was what Mira believed.

Until she began dreaming about rain.

The first dream came three months earlier.

She was standing in a field.

Grass surrounded her.

Real grass.

Wind moved through it.

Clouds covered the sky.

Then water touched her face.

She looked upward.

Rain.

She had never felt anything like it.

It was cold.

Gentle.

Beautiful.

And somewhere behind the rain, someone was calling her name.

“Mira.”

She turned.

A boy stood in the distance.

He looked about her age.

Black hair.

Pale skin.

A strange silver mark around his wrist.

“Mira!”

She tried to reach him.

But the dream always ended before she could.

Every night, the same dream returned.

Every night, the boy stood farther away.

Every night, the rain became heavier.

And every morning, Mira woke with the same words in her mind.

Come home.

She had no idea why.

Earth was not her home.

Mars was.

At least according to the records.

Then one morning, something impossible happened.

Mira woke up with water on her pillow.

She stared at it.

Touched it.

It was cold.

She smelled it.

The scent was unfamiliar.

Fresh.

Clean.

Almost sweet.

She ran to the bathroom.

The water was still on her face.

Mira stared at herself in the mirror.

Her eyes were wide.

She whispered:

“Rain.”

The apartment system activated.

“Good morning, Mira.”

She ignored it.

“Environmental anomaly detected.”

“What?”

“Unregistered liquid detected.”

Mira wiped the water from her face.

“Where did it come from?”

The system paused.

“I do not know.”

That answer frightened her.

The city computer knew everything.

It monitored temperature.

Oxygen.

Water.

Power.

Food.

Population.

It even monitored dreams.

But now it didn’t know where the water had come from.

Mira looked at the mirror.

For a moment, she saw the boy from her dreams standing behind her.

She spun around.

Nobody was there.

Then her wrist began glowing.

A small silver symbol appeared beneath her skin.

Mira stared.

She had never seen it before.

The symbol looked like a planet surrounded by a circle.

The apartment lights turned red.

WARNING.

GENETIC MEMORY ACTIVATED.

Mira’s heart stopped.

“What’s genetic memory?”

The system did not answer.

“Mira?”

A man’s voice came through the speaker.

“Don’t move.”

She recognized the voice.

Commander Kael.

Head of planetary security.

Mira backed away from the door.

“Why?”

“Because they’re coming.”

“Who?”

Silence.

Then:

“The people who have been waiting for you.”

The door opened.

Three security officers entered.

Mira raised her hands.

“What is happening?”

Nobody answered.

Commander Kael stepped inside.

He looked at her wrist.

His expression changed.

“You have it.”

“What?”

“The mark.”

Mira covered it.

“What is it?”

Kael looked toward the officers.

“Leave us.”

They obeyed.

Mira stared at him.

“Tell me the truth.”

Kael sighed.

“Your mother was right.”

Mira froze.

“My mother?”

“You were told she died during the Earth evacuation.”

“Yes.”

“She didn’t.”

Mira couldn’t breathe.

“What?”

“She was one of the scientists who stayed behind.”

“On Earth?”

Kael nodded.

Mira stepped backward.

“That’s impossible.”

“No.”

“Everyone who stayed died.”

“That is what the government told you.”

Mira stared at him.

“Why?”

“Because Earth wasn’t destroyed.”

The room went silent.

Mira’s voice became a whisper.

“Earth is alive?”

Kael nodded.

“And your mother is there.”

Mira felt tears filling her eyes.

“Why didn’t she come back?”

“Because she couldn’t.”

“Why?”

Kael looked at the silver mark on her wrist.

“Because she was waiting for you.”

---

Hours later, Mira was taken beneath Elysium.

She had never known the city extended so far underground.

They passed through twelve security doors.

Then thirteen.

Then fourteen.

At the bottom was a massive chamber.

A spacecraft stood in the center.

It was unlike anything Mira had ever seen.

It had no engines.

No fuel tanks.

No wings.

Its surface was completely black.

Kael stood beside it.

“This is the Aurora.”

Mira stared.

“Where are the engines?”

“It doesn’t need engines.”

“How does it fly?”

“It doesn’t fly.”

“Then what does it do?”

Kael looked at her.

“It remembers where it came from.”

Mira frowned.

“What does that mean?”

“You’ll understand.”

They entered the spacecraft.

The interior was almost empty.

A single chair stood in the center.

Kael pointed toward it.

“Sit.”

Mira did.

The chair closed around her.

A screen appeared.

IDENTITY CONFIRMED.

MIRA SEN.

Then another message:

ORIGINAL GENETIC DESIGNATION: EARTHBORN.

Mira’s eyes widened.

“Earthborn?”

Kael said nothing.

The spacecraft activated.

No vibration.

No sound.

The walls simply disappeared.

Mira screamed.

Suddenly she was standing in space.

Mars was behind her.

Earth was ahead.

Blue.

Beautiful.

Impossible.

Mira began crying.

“That is Earth.”

Kael stood beside her.

“Yes.”

“I thought it was dead.”

“So did everyone.”

“Why did they lie?”

“Because humanity left Earth for a reason.”

“What reason?”

Kael looked at the planet.

“Earth wasn’t dying.”

Mira looked at him.

“Then what was?”

Kael’s face became serious.

“Humanity.”

Mira frowned.

“What does that mean?”

Kael didn’t answer.

Instead, the spacecraft accelerated.

The stars stretched.

Earth grew larger.

Then something appeared around the planet.

A massive ring.

Mira stared.

“What is that?”

Kael whispered:

“The wall.”

“What wall?”

“The reason no one has returned.”

The ring suddenly opened.

A signal entered the spacecraft.

A woman’s voice filled the cabin.

Mira recognized it immediately.

Her mother’s voice.

“Mira…”

She stopped breathing.

“Mom?”

The voice became emotional.

“If you’re hearing this, then the Aurora has reached you.”

Mira began crying.

“Mom, where are you?”

The recording continued.

“I need you to understand something.”

Static.

“We didn’t abandon Earth.”

“We were trying to protect it.”

Mira stared at the blue planet.

“From what?”

Her mother’s voice became quieter.

“From us.”

The spacecraft shook.

Kael looked toward the controls.

“Something’s wrong.”

The ring around Earth began glowing.

A massive wave of light moved across space.

Mira’s mother’s voice returned.

“Mira…”

“Don’t come home.”

The transmission ended.

Mira looked at Kael.

“What was that?”

He didn’t answer.

The spacecraft began losing power.

Then something appeared outside.

A fleet.

Thousands of ships.

Kael’s face went pale.

“They found us.”

“Who?”

He looked at Mira.

“The people who own Earth.”

Mira stared at the fleet.

A message appeared on the screen.

WELCOME HOME, MIRA SEN.

Then another.

WE HAVE BEEN WAITING 23 YEARS.

Mira’s heart stopped.

She looked at Kael.

“Twenty-three years?”

He nodded.

“You’re twenty-three.”

Mira stared at the message.

“But I’ve never been to Earth.”

Kael’s voice was barely a whisper.

“You have.”

Mira shook her head.

“No.”

Kael looked into her eyes.

“You were born there.”

The spacecraft fell silent.

Mira stared at Earth.

And suddenly—

she remembered.

A blue sky.

A green field.

Her mother’s face.

Rain falling against her skin.

And the boy from her dreams.

He was standing beside her.

He wasn’t a stranger.

He was holding her hand.

A little boy.

Her brother.

Someone she had forgotten.

Mira whispered:

“Who is he?”

Kael looked at the approaching fleet.

“Your twin.”

Mira’s eyes filled with tears.

“Where is he?”

Kael didn’t answer.

A final message appeared.

HE IS WAITING FOR YOU.

Then the stars disappeared.

And the spacecraft entered Earth’s atmosphere.

END OF CHAPTER ONE