When Luk turns to face me, the anger has drained from his expression and he looks ten years older. Bags swell under his eyes, his forehead is lined, his cheeks are sunken. All the death and loss have aged him, and I wonder if I look that much different from when we first met.

Luk leans against the wall facing me and hangs his head. "I...I know you didn't really have a choice, Ren," he says. "I know that, but I can't help but imagine--I wish you'd saved her. I don't care what happened to the rest of us. I just wish you'd saved her."

But I know that if I'd saved Ila, Mizpah wouldn't have released her, and she certainly wouldn't have let me go, no matter what information about the Underlings I told her. I'm not sure any of our choices really could have stopped what happened. But at the same time, I made the choice. I could have tried to save her, but I didn't.

I want to tell him that at least she's still alive, at least there's hope, at least we made it, but those seem so empty and trite compared with the depths of his loss. And even though I wouldn't change my decision, I blame myself as much as Luk blames me. Maybe I could have done something. Maybe I could have stopped this.

"I had to protect the Underlings, Luk. If I hadn't, the Civilization would have caught you and the rest of them and you never could have rebelled. I had to choose between Ila and thousands of people."

Luk raises his eyes to me; this isn't the answer he wanted. He wanted me to say I was sorry, that I made the wrong choice, that I'd take it back, but I can't. As awful as all of this is, Luk needs to face the reality that most of us--at least Hayl, Elz, and I--had to choose between two evils and we have to live with our choices.

"But you could have saved her," he says, his voice low and empty.

I want to go to him and hold him and tell him I'm here, but I'm not sure my presence gives him comfort anymore, and besides, I'm crippled. I heave a sigh and lower my head.

"I didn't want to watch that happen to her, Luk, but how could I betray Jaim and Peet? How could I pretend that Betta's sacrifice didn't matter? If I'd told them when the Underlings were going to rebel--"
"What if you had? Would they have been able to stop us from rebelling? No. You keeping their secret meant nothing!" Luk yells, and my stomach rolls. What if he's right? What if my choice was not as black and white as I'd thought it was? What if I sacrificed Ila for nothing? "The Civilization couldn't stop the Underlings before, so what difference would it have made if you'd told them when we were going to rebel? Did you...did you even hesitate when you made the decision?"

I hang my head, my breaths coming short and sharp. "Luk, I--I had to choose, and I couldn't risk the Civilization destroying the Underlings because of me."

Luk puts what he cares about--Ila--above everything else, but I can't do that. Just like the Analyst the Civilization trained me to be, I look at everything through the lens of ration. One girl versus an entire society of people. I barely even considered saving Ila, but I know Luk would have sacrificed almost anything for her.

I sigh and rest my head in my hands. "For what it counts, I'm sorry, Luk. I know what she means to you, and I...I wish it wasn't like this. I know you won't be able to forgive me--I'm not even sure you should if you could--but I'm sorry."

I keep my head ducked, and my words sound meaningless even in my own ears. An empty apology from an empty woman. Whatever was between Luk and me in the Civilization has surely been extinguished by everything that's happened since then. I can feel Luk's eyes on me, and he takes a step forward as if to bridge the gap between us.

"I know," he murmurs, voice husky, but he doesn't move closer.

Even if he could forgive me, even if he wanted reconciliation, how could I accept it? I'm responsible for so many deaths. I don't deserve even the affection of Elz and Orrick, much less Luk's continued devotion. He carried me to this outpost when he should have left me behind. He defended me even when Mizpah revealed the ugly truth about me. He's been too loyal and done too much for me, and this has to be the end for both of us. He might have a future in Domus while I have nothing.

I look up when Luk takes another halting step towards me, and the confusion in his eyes makes me want to fall apart. He still cares about me, more than I deserve, but I'm no longer the brave renegade he thought I was. I'm the screwed up Intellect, the traitor Underling, the harbinger of death and loss. He sees me for who I really am, and I've known for a long time that no one can love me for that.

"Ren," he murmurs, his voice breaking. "I--"

But his words are drowned out by an overpowering humming sound, like a helicopter is landing on top of us, and we both look toward the one window in the room that glows bright from the snow. The thrumming rattles the cracked glass in the window.

"Domus," Luk murmurs. "They're here."

Luk helps me to stand, holding me up with a secure arm around my waist. I wish I weren't so weak so that I could walk on my own, but I can't. I have to trust him and everyone else to take care of me. The muscles in Luk's back are taut, and I realize my fear has blinded me to just how terrifying this has to be for him. The last time he was in Domus, they forced him and Ila to leave because he was no longer married. The unknown of Domus scares me, but the known terrifies Luk even more.

I lost a lot of weight from my imprisonment and sickness, so I'm light enough that Luk has no trouble bearing my weight into the common room where all of our friends crowd around a snow-swept window.

"What's going on?" Luk asks, craning his neck to look over their gathered heads.

Hayl turns around, her near-black eyes bright with curiosity and excitement. "There's some vehicle here, it must be from Domus!"

Domus came to take the kids we saved while I was unconscious and left us with food and medical supplies, so I haven't seen any sign of Domus yet. Though Luk has told me a few things about his home, I don't have any idea what to expect.

"Orrick, take Renna," Luk says, and he does while Luk goes to the door and deftly straps snow shoes on to his feet, grabbing a dark green coat and pulling it around his shoulders. He doesn't even bother to zip it up to his chin before he throws the door open and trudges out into the snow. The wind blows the door open and hits me with so much force that I start to shiver, and Orrick tries to shelter me as Luk struggles to pull it close behind him.

"I want to see," I murmur to Orrick, too weak from my fight with Luk to announce it louder.

Orrick shoves Ryke out of the way and helps me to the window, and I squint at the blinding light outside. A huge metal vehicle idles in the snow with thick treads around a set of five wheels. The cab sits high above the ground and I see a woman climb out, clothed in a head to toe snow suit. She approaches Luk and they exchange a few words, the wind whipping at the loose material of Luk's coat, and he beckons for her to follow him inside.

All of us turn towards the door, Orrick holding me up with one arm and Elz squatting next to Ila. Now I have to face Domus whether I'm ready or not; I should have known our seclusion here wouldn't last forever. The door opens and Luk struggles out of the snow, the woman following him. They both pant for a moment; Luk removes his coat, and the Domus woman unzips the top of her snowsuit and removes her hat, releasing long blonde waves. Her eyes are an alarming shade of turquoise and her cheeks are rosy from the cold as she smiles at us, eager and friendly.

"Hello!" she says with that same accent of Ameratic that Luk uses. "I'm Audra, your Domus guide. I apologize for leaving you here at this rustic Outpost for so long." She releases a high-pitched laugh. "But I'm glad you've all recovered from such a harrowing journey." Something in her voice strikes me as off-color, and she's obviously nervous as her brilliant eyes skitter between us.

"Are we going to meet Father Paul?" Luk asks, his eyes narrowed on her.

"Yes," Audra says with hesitation. "Yes, I believe he and the Mother will be waiting for you upon arrival. I'm to escort you there immediately."

My mind spins with this strange exchange--Father? Mother? I know Luk said that Domus valued family, but could Father Paul and the Mother be their leaders? With my abysmal grasp of the concept of family, I somehow doubt I'll fit into this society.

"Let's pack our things," Elz murmurs to Ila, leading the girl by the hand to our meager collection of supplies, barely enough to fill a single bag.

Luk comes alongside me and takes Orrick's place, and I sag against him despite our fight. "Are you all right?" he asks as Audra watches us.

I don't know what to say, so I choose the one thing I know is true. "We're going to Domus. You're going back to Domus."

Luk doesn't say anything, but as I lean against him, I feel his muscles tense.

"You haven't told me much about it," I say, gathering my scanty knowledge of what Luk has told me of Domus.

"Well, you learn soon enough."

"Hi!" Audra says, approaching me with a perky smile. "You must be Renna." She leans forward and kisses me on both cheeks while I try to pull away from her. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Domus thanks you for your role in saving our children."

When she pulls away with that irritating grin, I try to smile at her. "Uh, sure."
"Let's get everyone in the tank!" she exclaims, clapping her hands together.

Tali, Hayl, and Ryke carry our meager possessions, Elz carries Ila, and Orrick and Luk support me on either side when I refuse to be carried.

As we don coats and Audra opens the door, I hear Ryke mutter, "Could she be any more irritating?"

For a second, I forget about Ryke's grievances and stifle a laugh. We make it to the huge vehicle in the snow, the cold whipping against my cheeks and leaving them red and burnt. A set of five metal steps descends from the cab's glass door. Luk climbs up first, opening the door, and then he pulls me up by the hand. I grimace as my destroyed leg hits one of the steps and Orrick has to hold me up as Luk grunts and pulls me inside. I sag against the seat and breathe a sigh of relief at the heated cab.

"Come on," Luk says. "Let's move you to the back so everyone else can get in."

The cab has a set of controls and a giant steering wheel with two rows of leather bench seats behind it. A bearded man in a snowsuit identical to Audra's sits behind the wheel and doesn't look at us as we get in. I don't protest as Luk helps me into one of the back seats and I sag against the window. The heavy window blows the snow so much that I can't see very far ahead of us even though I strain my eyes for sight of Domus.

Everyone else climbs in, Ila curled up in Elz's lap. As the wind sweeps through the cab, I start to shake. I don't know if it's from the snow or my own fear or the lingering hypothermia, but Luk reaches for my hand and squeezes it. Part of me wants to pull away, especially since I know how angry he is, but I need his reassuring presence.

"Here we go," Audra announces as the driver presses a pedal and the vehicle surges forward.

For the first few minutes, I can't see anything even though I squint through the window, but then the blinding sun reflects on something, and Hayl shouts, "There, I see it!"

Luk doesn't even turn to look at the window as the rest of us murmur and study the reflection before us. When Luk said Domus was covered by a geodesic dome, I didn't know what to expect, but I can't help the exclamation of awe when I see it. The dome is composed of connected triangular panes of thin glass. The glass is clear and through it, I see green, brighter and bolder than anything in the Civilization's finest greenhouses. I see trees and grass, the likes of which I've only heard about in the Curator's books, and everything is verdant and lush. I press my hand against the window and lean into it, my breath fogging the glass. Luk told me about all the horrible parts of Domus, but this looks more like a sanctuary than a nightmare.

As we get closer, I see domes inside the main dome and huge buildings crammed together inside these smaller domes. Though Domus only covers a small area, it contains huge crowds of people inside, smiling as they go about their business.

The driver uses a radio to announce our arrival and requests the dome to open, and my anticipation grows. No one says anything as we approach the dome, towering stories above us. A section of the triangular glass panes lifts, and we get our first sight of the inside of Domus.