The Choice

What makes something worth living for? What makes something worth dying for? Marin thought she knew the answer. As an Enforcer, she knows that she—and everyone on Iamos—lives for the geroi. But all that changes when she meets a young farmer's apprentice named Eos, who tells her about a legendary city called Elytherios. Will Marin choose a life of comfort in the upper castes of the geroi's citidomes? Or will she follow Eos' dangerous path to freedom, no matter the cost? Originally published in Ama-gi Magazine in 2014, this award-winning short story laid the groundwork for what was to become The Iamos Trilogy and features characters Isaak and Nadin encounter on their journey. Set thirty Martian years (about fifty-six Earth years) before the events of the main series, The Choice shows us what life was like on Iamos in the early years after the Progression, and gives us a glimpse of the burgeoning rebellion that would come to a head in Nadin's lifetime.