The Last Cuentista

The following morning, Petra hurries down to the breakfast room to join her team before going to the planet to gather more samples. She overhears complaints by a girl named Glish, who questions some of the Collective’s rules. Nyla and Crick have also overheard her conversation. They summon a huge member of the Collective that Petra dubs “the Prawn.” He takes Glish away, presumably to dispose of her.

As the Zeta team prepares to board their shuttle, Petra sneaks some additional food loaves into her pack. Voxy sees her but promises not to tell. She plans to hide these on the planet for the time when she and the other Zetas make their escape. On Sagan, Petra wanders off to explore a deep cave when the others aren't looking. She hides the stash of food inside.

Back on the ship, another member of the Zeta team appears. A girl named Suma had been put back into stasis to be reprogrammed, but Petra remembers her from their first day on board. Her official name is Zeta-2. Since it’s now time for everyone to go to bed, Rubio urges Petra to tell them all a cuento, but she hesitates, acknowledging both the importance and the risk of her storytelling:

My stomach twists in a nervous knot. Now, I need them to hear the stories. Hopefully, these stories from Earth will remind them of who they are and who their families were. But if they do remember, I pray they don’t decide to share with someone outside (171).

She tells them a tale about a poor old couple who shares food with a beggar. The beggar rewards them by directing them to a cave with a treasure jar inside. Before they can get there, an evil neighbor steals the treasure, but it turns out to be a jar filled with poisonous insects that bite her. Out of spite, she takes the jar back to the old couple’s house and throws it on their kitchen floor. The next morning, the insects have turned to diamonds.

Everyone enjoys the story and falls asleep. Petra then sneaks out to find the supply room, where she hopes to find more items that the Zetas can use on the planet. She is dismayed to find the storage area depleted. While there, she is found by an old human man who has been reprogrammed. He is called Epsilon-5. Petra says she was looking for the lab because she is eager to get started testing the plants that were found on the surface. Epsilon says he will be working with her and isn’t suspicious of her excuse. He leads her to the lab when Nyla arrives to inspect the facility. Petra assures her that she can concoct a defoliant in a few days to make it easier to travel on Sagan.

Back in her room later, Petra dreams again of the rabbit who wants her to follow him. She still hesitates and begins shouting in her sleep until someone wakes her. It turns out to be Voxy. He says that he sneaks in to listen to her cuentos and stays in the youth room, even though he’s not supposed to, and he woke her up so he wouldn’t get caught by the Collective. Petra realizes that Voxy was also the intruder from the night before. During their chat, he reveals that he’s seen an actual book on the ship. He says that he will show Petra where the books are kept if she lets him listen to more stories, and she agrees.