Colonization (5 page)

He shook his head, wires quivering. “I can, but I won’t.”

A fist squeezed in my chest, and my throat constricted. “Why not? You have the power.”

He swallowed hard and paused. The familiar buzz of the engines filled the silence.

“You’ve been taught many times how the computer must assign mates to keep our small population from inbreeding, to keep our genes strong.”

“We could look up Sirius’s family history. I’m sure his ancestors were different from mine. The odds are—”

He shook his head as if it didn’t matter. “I should have told you the real reason Aries Ryder ran away.”

My thoughts ricocheted in my head. He’d changed the subject to something that had nothing to do with me. Or at least I thought it didn’t. “What?”

“People say she didn’t favor her job assignment, or the lifetime confinement on the ship drove her crazy. That’s not the whole truth.”

I didn’t know what to say. The floor tipped underneath me and I swayed. “What is it, then?”

“She left the
New Dawn
because of me. I manipulated the system. I bribed the computer analysts and defied the assignments to make her my bride. I cheated, Andromeda. It was the biggest mistake of my entire life. Many people died because of it, and my actions threatened the entire course of this mission.”

“That’s not true. You were the one who found the mineral deposit on Sahara 354, providing enough energy for the ship to make it to Paradise 21. We wouldn’t be here right now if it wasn’t for you.”

“A man named Smith found the mineral deposit, a distant ancestor of your friend Sirius.” His gaze wandered above my head, as if looking back through time. “I was too consumed with anger and revenge to see it. Smith found it, but I reported it to the higher command.”

“What does this have to do with me?”

“I’m not going to do it again, not for anyone. Tampering with the computer analytics is tempting the devil and opening Pandora’s box at the same time. It will only put you in danger in the end.”

“It brought you Great-grandma Tiff.”

“Only after much pain and suffering. Trust me, I wouldn’t give up Great-grandma Tiff for the world, but I must protect you from making the same mistake.”

The control deck swam around me and I gulped down air as if drowning. There was resignation in his eyes. He wouldn’t help me. I was doomed to be with Corvus.

“No.”

“The quicker you accept it, the sooner you can move on with your life.”

“No.”

He cupped empty air with his old hands. “There is nothing more I can do for you.”

I spat out my words. “Then there’s nothing more I have to say to you.”

I pulled away and scrambled to my feet toward the portal. As if he sensed my direction, the particles dematerialized immediately and the warmer air of the rest of the ship hit me like a hot bath.

“Forgive me, dear Andromeda.”

His wispy voice followed me as I left him in his control seat to stew over his past and my predestined future. As I paced down the corridor with guards on each side, I felt as though I walked to my death.

Chapter Six

Arrival

“Attention. All colonists must be restrained in their containment cells by nineteen hundred. Attention—”

The calm woman’s voice repeated in a looped recording and I covered my ears. They’d bleed if I heard it again. We’d spent the entire day securing every item we owned in large storage bins in the walls of our family’s cell. I wondered if my antique glass snow globe from Old Earth would crack and wished I’d kept it out to hold in my hands.

Dad knocked his fist on a panel in the wall of our dining room and the metal retracted, exposing three seat carriers with various belts and buckles. I stared in awe at the place where the family portrait used to hang.

“These were built by the first astrophysicists as they fused together the chrome plates of the
New Dawn
six hundred fifty-eight years ago.” Dad stared at them like they were some type of holy statues. They looked closer to a forgotten antique to me, old and cracked with worn plastic seats and tarnished buckles.

Beside me, my mom wrung her hands. “Let’s hope they still work.” She’d had to leave her precious biodome unattended. The Guide dictated that everyone onboard secure themselves in their cells during landing. With the entire population spread out, it would ensure the survival of the majority if one part of the ship were damaged during landing.

I hoped the greenhouses survived because the purple haze distorted the rays of Paradise 21’s sun, and we had no idea how, or if, our food would grow in the ultraviolet light. I wasn’t prepared to eat strange nectar and flower ovaries every meal.

“Everything will be fine, Delta.” Dad gave Mom’s arm a squeeze and turned back to flash a grin in my direction. “You heard the lady. Have a seat and strap yourself in.”

Paradise 21 peeked out of the corner of the triangular window beside us, a glowing orb smothered with lavender clouds of cosmic dust. I stared, unable to tear my eyes away as I sat down.

“Secure your seat restraints, Andromeda.” Mom’s voice was shaky and high-pitched.

I huffed but said nothing. Would a leather strap really save me if the ship lost pressure, disintegrated upon entering the atmosphere, or crashed into the turf? Mom looked so nervous and scared I humored her, pulling it down across my chest and snapping the buckle into place by my thigh.

Panic fluttered my stomach. “What’s happening?”

“Your grandpapa released the gravity rings.” The string holding Dad’s glasses around his neck floated up to his chin. “We don’t need them anymore.”

Silver arches floated by the window as the
New Dawn
shed its outer layers to enable landing. We could never fly in space again. That thought smacked me in the face, and my eyes teared up. We were stuck with whatever awaited us on Paradise 21.

Mom reached for my hand and squeezed. The rumble of the engines intensified as Grandpapa steered the ship into orbit. Mom’s stew vibrated in my stomach, and I closed my eyes, hoping I wouldn’t spew it up. I shouldn’t have stuffed my mouth at dinner, but I always ate too much when my nerves acted up. To say I was nervous all day would be an understatement.

The ship pitched sideways and our dining room turned upside down. Bubbles of water from the faucet glided in the air around me like giant amoebas, and I held onto Mom’s hand tightly.

“What’s going on?”

“Grandpapa is figuring the landing coordinates.” Dad craned his neck, looking out the window. “He needs to find a large body of water.”

I broke out in goose bumps. What if the sight panel cracked when we landed and water came pouring in? I pictured it rushing through the window into our cell. Surely we’d get out in time, but even if we did, all our stuff would be ruined and we’d be forced to live as savages in the jungle of Paradise 21.

Suddenly I remembered the pair of scissors I’d used to cut the plastic wrap to preserve my uniforms. Did I remember to put them away? Try as I might, I had no memory of opening the storage bin. In fact, the last place I saw them was on the countertop in the kitchen. I scanned the adjacent room with wild eyes. A twinkle of silver caught my attention in the corner, the sharp blades spiraling around.

“The scissors! I didn’t put them away!” I raised my hand as far as I could against my restraints and pointed to the far end of the room.

“Andromeda, how could you forget?” The harshness in Mom’s voice punched me in my stomach. She put her hand on Dad’s arm. “We can’t have them floating around us as we land. They could take out one of our eyes.”

“All right.” Dad reached down and unbuckled himself. “I’ll get them.”

“No, Dad.” I wiggled against my restraints and tried to hold him back but he’d already slipped out.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”

He floated toward the kitchen, using the knobs on the wall cabinets to pull him forward. The deep rumbling of the engines turned into a high screech and our family room shook as if we sat in a giant blender and someone had punched the
puree
button. We heard a thud from the kitchen. What if something hit him in the head? I screamed. It was my fault.

“Al! It’s too late, come back!”

The ship pitched again and flipped us around so much I couldn’t tell up from down. Dad’s legs sprawled across the archway, and my heart beat so hard it hurt.

Mom dropped my hand and moved to undo her own restraints. I grabbed her hand and pulled it back. “It’s too dangerous.” What if they both died and left me completely alone?

Her eyes widened with fright. “I have to go get him.”

She whipped her hand back and it slipped out of my grip. I struggled with my own restraints, but my shaky fingers couldn’t unlock them. Just as Mom snapped out of hers, Dad appeared in the portal. Blood trickled from his head above his right ear. He spoke to us, but we couldn’t hear him above the squeal of the engines.

Mom put her shoulder straps back on and extended her arms out, gesturing for him to come to her. He braced his legs against the wall and pushed, propelling himself toward us. Mom reached out and caught him as he floated by. “Al, you’re hurt.”

“It’s okay. I just hit my head. It’s not bad.”

“Get back into your seat and I’ll take a look at it.”

Just as we secured him in his seat, the heat shields spread out around the ship in silver wings, blocking half the window, and the
New Dawn
tumbled through layers of atmosphere. Pressure crushed my chest and I struggled to suck in air, thinking each would be my last breath. The black, velvety space turned to a vibrant red-orange brightness.

The room rattled so much I feared my bones would turn to splinters and my body would be a glob of jelly with no spine. My teeth chattered and I bit into my tongue. The bitter, metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. A slate of metal careened by the window and I wondered if the ship was falling apart around us.

Parachutes whipped out like giant jellyfish, and the ship’s descent slowed until I caught a glimpse of purple skies beyond the white nylon shifts.

I barely heard Mom’s voice over the roar of the wind. “It’s beautiful.”

Dad squeezed my hand. “It’s our new home.”

I jerked in my seat as the
New Dawn
hit water. The window went from purple to a deep, dark blue, and bubbles raced up. I held my breath, but the glass didn’t break. The water muted the engines. Had the landing ruined them?

I turned to Dad. “Will the engines work underwater?”

“Don’t worry. After the momentum slows, we’ll float back up to the surface.” He’d wiped the blood from his face. His eyes were wide and alert. “Just wait.”

He hadn’t answered my question, and his omission made me nervous. As the ship slowed, shapes moved outside the glass—discs of white with numerous insect-like legs and ribbons of golden fish. I’d never seen another living being outside the
New Dawn
, and suddenly a vast bubble of life protected me. Deep space could no longer suck me out.

Just as Dad said, we began to rise, and the engines kicked in, steering us up. We broke the surface and bounced on the white-crested waves. I saw nothing but water and purple sky all around us.

The woman’s voice came back on the intercom. “We have successfully landed on Paradise 21. Please stay in your seat restraints until further notice.”

After what happened to Dad, I didn’t question her. Sitting back in my seat, I breathed deeply to calm my racing heart and bubbly stomach, watching the waves swell against the glass.

“How long will it take?” I loosened the restraint across my chest to breathe easier.

Dad shrugged. “It depends on how far we landed from shore.”

Although it was nighttime on the
New Dawn
, it was mid-afternoon on Paradise 21, and my eyelids drooped. I wondered if they’d have to change our clocks. The system was based off of Old Earth’s sun, and we’d lost contact with the other colony ships hundreds of years ago, so it didn’t matter anymore. Maybe they were reluctant to shed their last ties?

I drifted off to sleep, my head falling and bumping on my chest as the ship rose and fell with each squall. I don’t know how long I was out, maybe two or three hours at most. The woman’s voice woke me up, calm as ever.

“Attention. All colonists prepare for docking.”

I rubbed my eyes and stared as a tangle of vines and monstrous flowers of impossibly brilliant colors claimed the coastline in a sprawl of dense jungle, tapering off onto a black sand shore.

My parents were already out of their seat restraints. Mom walked around the dining room, checking to see if our belongings survived the flight, and Dad packed a backpack with vials for soil samples, beacon lights, water bottles, and a video recorder.

“Are they planning to let us go out?” I unbuckled the snap at my thigh and shed the restraints, pulling them over my head.

“You bet.” Dad winked at me. “But we shouldn’t wander far.”

“Mom, are you coming too?”

She slipped a laser knife in her shirt pocket and glared at me as if I questioned her reasoning. “It’s for gathering specimens.”

Before I could respond, the intercom buzzed again. “Docking successful. Report to the main auditorium for further instructions.”

Before I could process the landing, Dad pressed the portal panel and the chrome dematerialized. “Come on, Annie, let’s go.”

Everything moved in a blur as we followed a stream of colonists through the main corridors to the front of the ship. We took our seats in the first pew of the congregation as always, but ahead of us lay a giant reminder that my world had changed forever. The vibrant colors of Paradise 21 cluttered the main sight panel in a thrashing wonderland, too strange to be true. All my life I’d stared out that sight panel and seen nothing but silky deep space, and now lush vegetation, sparkling waves, and a lavender sky cluttered the oblong piece of glass.

Grandpapa was slumped in his hoverchair, chest heaving. Tubes and wires trailed him like a bride’s veil down the aisle as he floated to the main podium. Dried blood cracked around the input holes in his forehead where the wires rubbed against his skin.