Harvey looks at the clock that will chime soon. It is five minutes until dinner shall be served. The work is almost over, but Harvey is unsatiated. He has begun to count down the days.

Benji comes down the stairs and blows the whistle. It is heard in the trellises, where other workers begin to whistle, and the noise is carried through the busy fields all of the way to the back of the vegetable patch. Titus throws down his shovel, and a dust of dirt sprays into the air.

Harvest season began that week, and they are more tired than usual. As such, it takes Titus far too long to walk back to the farm. Everyone else is sitting at the table when he begins to wash his hands. People begin to serve themselves with his arrival, and soon enough everyone is sitting and digging into the ribs on the table. They are sticky and sweet, tender as their muscles.

"Alright, so one week left," Benji says from the head of the table. "Here's the deal. Friday next week is your last day. So, just seven days left. They'll come and pick y'all up Saturday morning. Now, I understand y'all won't be free to go. They have some post-interviews and testing to do, but I don't know much about that."

One week. Seven days. Cosmia absentmindedly taps her leg seven times.

After this, they are free. Well, free enough. The terms of the NMCPP were clear. Quarterly follow-ups for the first year and then yearly check ins for the following four. A total of five years of supervision.

"What if we want to stay?" Gale asks.

Eurydice goes to kick him under the table and Norbu kicks her chair before she gets the chance. Titus leans in closer to listen.

"I've asked, and they said no," Benji says. "But, as far as I understand, they can't stop you from immigrating. You can pay for passage back here on boats. That's mostly how we send y'all food. There are some planes too, but that's right expensive, and they are meant for cargo, not passengers."

Gale wilts into his chair. His factory job, if he's even allowed to return to it, doesn't pay enough for him to live independently. He might even be required to move back in with his father. Gale can feel himself melting, even though this week the air is beginning to cool.

"We'll figure it out," Norbu laughs, gripping the back of Gale's seat. "Won't keep you away from George forever."

Gale feels his face redden.

"Well, I've invited him over for the bonfire tonight," Benji says. "A few other folks too, but people are too busy around this harvest time to come on down. So, you'll have your chance to thank him for his hospitality tonight."

Dinner in one hand, Benji rises from the table. He carries his plate out of the room. The others hear the creak of the stairs.

They chat about their day. Gale nearly decked a farmworker who was whistling to piss him off. Harvey tripped the bloke with his cane. Norbu's been running around flirting with some of the newer women, but they still fawn at Faris' feet. Soon enough, they are finishing dinner.

~~~

Rhiannon Rose sets up the bonfire. She usually appreciates the silence, but today Norbu is out there with her, listening to the radio.

"What's going on with you and Shark Tooth?" he asks, sitting upside-down in one of the lounge chairs. "I see the way you too look at each other."

Rhiannon Rose drops down the wood. It clatters as it hits the ground.

"You're one to talk," she plants a hand on each hip, the most digging she has done in weeks. "You sneak off with Gale twice a week."

"Well, we hooked up once, but we were just bored," Norbu rolls his eyes. "Nothing more. And you're welcome to come with us. We're just going to the pond."

Rhiannon Rose was clever enough not to touch the filthy water, unlike some of them. Even Eurydice jumped in at one point. She shudders at the thought.

"I'd rather not have a threesome with you two."

"What about just me?" Norbu cocks his head slightly. He winks.

Her tight skin tinges pink. Rhiannon Rose turns her back to him and continues to organize the wood in a circle.

~~~

The sun is setting, and Cosmia climbs up on top of the shack to have a look at it. It disappears beyond. It's lowering earlier now. The days aren't all the same length. Faris explained it to her yesterday, how the earth rotates, how sometimes they are closer to the star than at other points. In Neo Elysium, all days are only different than nights because it is agreed upon. The sun does not factor into their living.

From her spot, she sees the hood of the rusted truck propped open and someone digging around inside it. She hops down off the roof and approaches.

Titus opens the truck door and puts his foot down on the gas.

"Are you doing it?" Calath asks, trying to peer past the hood.

"Yes," he says.

He found her three nights ago digging around inside it. She didn't seem to mind as he watched her work.

"What are you doing?" Cosmia asks.

Titus slams back into the seat, and then winces. He hasn't been caught by one of Harvey's minions in weeks. Surely, Harvey must know where he is now, as Harvey always does. Titus wonders if the man installed a GPS tracker somewhere in his hair while pulling it.

"Fixing the truck," Calath pays Titus no mind. "Harvey asked me too."

Titus feels his skin go cold.

"Harvey?"

"It just needs gas," Calath grabs the hood and closes it.

Cosmia and Titus stare at each other through the dirty windshield. The fire roars somewhere behind them as Rhiannon Rose lights it.

"You seriously can't last one week?" she rolls her eyes. "You can tell your from The Arch, you know. Lazy asshole."

She spins around and begins to march through the field. Titus grabs his forehead, clutching it. All along, Harvey has been behind this too? What angle is he playing?

~~~

After dinner, Gale occasionally returns to the kitchen to try to steal something sweet. The hankering takes him sooner tonight, and normally he would wait until after he was sure the dishes were done. This evening, he stands outside the doorway, just for a second, to see how far along Harvey is.

He stands at the sink, hands deep in the water to scrub away the grime on the plates. Beside him, Faris dries. It is there usual routine, no matter how hot it is or how much work Faris has accomplished that day. This week, his focus was on Benji's accounting and so his shoulders are feeling particularly loose. His grip seems already to be fading, he is worried the slippery plates will fall from his hand and crash into the ground.

"How much do you think a cob of corn goes for?" Faris asks.

Harvey looks out. The cornfield stands tall. This week, they've begun to take out some of the cobs. The unlucky ones, unlike Faris, come in with callused and bleeding hands from shucking it day in and out. Harvey will take the time to throw the first aid kit in their direction, if Faris isn't in the room to stop him.

"Back in Neo Elysium?" Harvey cocks an eyebrow. He shrugs. "I don't know."

Fresh food is not an option where Harvey grew up.

"Probably twenty," Gale says. He coughs, covering his mouth. His throat is dry. "Yeah, twenty."

"Not astronomical," Harvey looks back.

Gale straightens himself. They only ever had fresh food once or twice a year, on special occasions. Rarely if ever meat, which was all the more expensive. It was never around holidays, when demand would sore and the price would double.

"You want a slice of pie?" Faris asks. He grabs the dry plate and grabs a knife. The pie is just above him, in a cupboard, and so he pulls it down.

"Thanks," Gale says.

Faris nods. He looks at Harvey, "I don't understand how the farm is sustaining itself. I've seen the costs of running it. Seems to me like Benji will be lucky to pay back the Lord."

"Well, George said they help each other out, right?" Gale asks.

He doesn't sit when Faris passes him the slice of pie. Harvey broods, back to him, no more than two words have left his lips since Gale came in the room.

"George said that?" Harvey asks, turning to look at Faris.

Gale exhales.

Grabbing another dish to dry, Faris nods, "yeah. They've got a strong community spirit here. Benji lost some land to save George, or something like that."

Harvey stops scrubbing. His hands feel warm in the sudsy water. He thinks of his Wraiths.

"Well, I..." Gale breathes in deely and then exhales. "I just wanted to thank you, Harvey. For fucking with that guy today. He was being a right dick."

With Harvey barely offering a nod in response, Gale leaves the room with the pie. Faris nudges him, "look at you, gone all soft."

"Shut up."

~~~

"Tonight," Eurydice says.

Kae looks up at her and nods. No one else is in Kae's bunk. It is risky, meeting so brazenly. She touches the charm on her wrist, feeling it's cool touch. She can do it. She has the discipline, the self-control.

"Once you unlock the room, come back to the bonfire," Eurydice instructs. "Don't go through his shit. We'll give it a few minutes and then I'll go check it out. Breaking and entering without leaving a trace is my thing."

"How do you know it isn't mine?" Kae blinks.

The truth of the matter is, Eurydice does know. If she had to guess, this is Kae's first time caught though not her first offense. Something small. They haven't talked about what Kae did to end up here. She carries herself too much in the same was as Pya. All that said, Kae was caught, even if once. Eurydice would never have been if she hadn't sacrificed herself for her sister.

Besides, letting someone else go through Benji's secret room, no matter how light fingered she is, entirely defeats the purpose. The blackmail doesn't even matter anymore. There is one week left in her stay. Finally, Eurydice will have the proof she needs. Benji is not who he claims to be. There are no good people in this world, only delinquents.

"Sorry, do you want to be the one caught in his room?" Eurydice asks.

Kae looks down. She shakes her head ever so slightly. In the last few weeks, she'd almost forgotten why she agreed to this. Grudges are unlike anything she's ever held before, trying constantly to slip through her fingers. It's because Faris seems to think he knows what's best for her. It's because her father wouldn't just go home when she said. It's for anyone who ever looked at her and thought she could accomplish nothing. Well, she is not nothing. She is a damn good thief.

"That settles it," Eurydice says.

She reaches out a hand, and Kae shakes it.

~~~

That night, they all gather around the bonfire. Music plays, they enjoy a few fruits and baked goods. George Rooney has arrived, and he sits next to Gale. Their knees touch, and Gale lets the warmth over take him. Norbu forces Faris to dance with him and is rather disappointed when Faris is better than him. Titus and Harvey watch each other across the fire. Beside Harvey, Calath tinkers with one last piece of the truck, aware that both men occasionally flicker their eyes toward her. The fire dances in front of Rhiannon Rose. All the while, Cosmia reclines in her chair and stares up at the stars.

"I'll miss this," she lets out a sigh.

Benji looks straight at her. She sees it out of the corner of her eye, "so will I."

Eurydice looks at Kae and then twists her head. Kae gets up and starts to slink away, heading into the house.

She rounds to the front of the homestead and puts her head on the front door. She stops and twists her head. Headlights beam straight at her. She covers her eyes. The truck stops, and she's unable to see the figure who steps out. The lights are too blinding.

~~~~~

Here we go again! Urgh, so excited for this one to come out. I've blown through my prep so it'll be back to the writing board for me this week. Who do you think is here? Let me know in the comments!