The Toll (Arc of a Scythe, #3)

by Neal Shusterman

“The Mars colony was reduced to a radioactive crater long before I was born—but for those of you who are pushing a hundred, you’ll probably remember the public outrage. After the moon, and then Mars, people felt that colonization was just too dangerous. People turned against the idea of off-world solutions. Or should I say were turned against it, by some very loud and opinionated news feeds—the biggest being OneGlobe Media. Ever hear of it? No? That’s because it doesn’t exist anymore. It was there for one reason and one reason only—to sway public opinion, so that the Thunderhead’s decision to stop all space colonization efforts would appear to be a response to public outcry—and not a response to repeated scythe attacks on those efforts. “And, to add insult to injury, one of the key scythes responsible was rapidly rising in the ranks of the MidMerican scythedom. Even the Patron Historic he had chosen was a secret snub. “Dr. Robert Goddard, the rocket scientist who made space flight possible. “But the Thunderhead wasn’t done yet. It was determined to try one final time to establish an off-world presence. Not a lunar or planetary colony, but an orbital one. Closer to home. Easier to directly oversee. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to guess what happened next.”