Canary in the Cage (7)

The inside of the Space Center was very quiet.

Unlike an ordinary airport, there were not many space shuttles traveling to the Moon or Mars.

The price varied enormously depending on the boarding date and seat class, but even a flight ticket from Korea to the United States was quite expensive. If the destination was ‘another planet,’ there was no need to say more.

The area around us was deserted, giving off a distinctly quiet atmosphere.

Only a female Web Spider technician who seemed to have quite a story to tell, a bourgeois family traveling together, and an elderly couple—an extremely rare sight in this world—were waiting in the lobby for their space shuttle.

If word had gotten out that Frederick Kessler, chairman of Velltech International Solutions, was leaving for Mars today, countless reporters would have been waiting in the lobby.

Whether he was trying to avoid the commotion or had some other reason, he had finished preparing to leave for Mars earlier than the time announced on the news.

If Luciana had not told me about it in advance, I would have ended up staring at Rami and saying something idiotic like, ‘They say Frederick Kessler already left for Mars?’

Anyway.

I set down a paper bag containing a burger meal in front of Rami and spoke...