Contents Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four Chapter Twenty-Five Chapter Twenty-Six Chapter Twenty-Seven Chapter Twenty-Eight Chapter Twenty-Nine Chapter Thirty Chapter Thirty-One Chapter Thirty-Two Chapter Thirty-Three Chapter Thirty-Four Chapter Thirty-Five Chapter Thirty-Six Chapter Thirty-Seven Chapter Thirty-Eight Chapter Thirty-Nine Epilogue Deimos Station Chapter One Deimos Station Chapter Two Deimos Station Chapter Three Copyright © 2021 I.O. Adler All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or recording, or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the publisher. You must not circulate this book in any format. Published by Lucas Ross Publishing. Author website: ioadler.com Edited by Brittany Dory at Blue Minerva Copyediting Cover Design by AFG Illustrations. Image used in cover art courtesy of NASA. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to similarly named places or to persons living or deceased is unintentional. Shadows of Mars by I.O. Adler Broken Stars Book One Chapter One “My dad’s a rock star, my mom’s an astronaut on Mars, and once I get my master’s in water chemistry, I’m going to apply for upper management.” Carmen Vincent forced a smile and hoped this response was snippy enough to end the conversation with her workmate Nora. The room was stuffy. She unzipped and pulled off her red hoodie and reclipped her ID badge to the front of her black T-shirt. The photo of her was off, making her skin appear a darker shade of brown. The photographer also hadn’t waited for her to retie her ponytail. The poof of black hair made it look like she had just rolled out of bed. Nora remained leaning in the doorway to the Ross County Water Treatment control room and didn’t appear to be going anywhere. She was a tall woman, mid-fifties with a broad jaw. She had big arms and wide shoulders and Carmen wondered if she lifted weights. Carmen shifted slightly in her chair to block the screen of her laptop. Nora snorted. “The point of two truths and a lie is to only lie once. Come on, Carmen, lighten up. You’re new on the night shift crew. The bosses don’t care what we do as long as we pick up the phone before it rings three times.” As if to emphasize her point she produced a flask, took a swig, and offered it to Carmen. Carmen closed the laptop. “No thanks.” Nora set the flask down in the center of the long table, rounded the workstation, and took
