WORLD 4: AWAKENING
Chapter Eight: Free at Last

Screams of varying decibels echoed throughout the disembarkation room as the line grew larger. Nobody had been outside in so long it was like that glimpse of sunlight was just as frightening as it was amazing.

I was about two-thirds of the way back in the crowd. Ceres was gone, along with any others from Med Lev; it didn’t look like anyone had stayed in their groups as they were supposed to. The room was like a painting of different hues, melting together into one colorful crowd.

“Why is this taking so long?!” I exclaimed at Ty. The doors were creaking out a scary amount of sound, almost like they would break apart at any moment. Which was fine with me — whether they slid open on their own, or completely shattered into pieces, all that I cared about was getting out of there.

Ty took my hand. “When those Protection Officers went out thirty minutes ago, it was the first time the doors had been opened in eight years. It’ll take some time for them to move smoothly again.”

My mouth opened up in astonishment as the light grew. The crack became steadily wider until finally, the doors slid open all the way, filling the room with the most wonderful, piercing light. My hands flew up to shield my eyes from the blinding sunshine, just like everyone else. I couldn’t believe how bright it was. I left Ty’s side and inched my way forward, herded inside the crowd until finally stepping all the way out. My eyes blinked repeatedly as they adjusted to the brightness.

I gasped as dirt and patchy grass appeared underneath my feet. My knees folded immediately; I crouched down and spread my hands over the ground, rubbing the grains of soil through my fingers and palms, even pressing some to my nose. I inhaled its scent and felt an incredible peace flow through me. My fingers played with the grass’ texture. Some green stained onto my skin.

Standing again, I turned my face toward the sky. The feeling of natural light was unreal. Not only was the sun bright, it was warm; I could actually feel its rays beating down on me as I walked further on, sinking into my skin. A breeze came up and I closed my eyes, tilting my head back even further in utter bliss and taking in a huge breath of the fresh air. I could feel its cold bite touch my lungs. It smelled like trees and their woodsy musk. Even the dirt smelled wonderful. Immediately, reminders of home came flooding back.

When I opened my eyes again, I focused in on the sky and a huge lump formed in my throat as I noticed the brilliant color. Blue, just like home. I remembered Ebie telling me once that it’s possible to have different color atmospheres depending on the kind of gasses present. My heart just about burst with love seeing that our new planet had a normal, blue sky instead of purple or something else ridiculous.

Colony Four had landed in an enormous green field that was surrounded by forest on three sides, with a sharp decline of rolling, grassy hills on the fourth. Huge boulders stuck out from the landscape in various places. It was like the areas back home I’d only see in professional, scenic portraits on a wall. I was grateful that my father had chosen such a beautiful place to land in. Part of me couldn’t help but wonder if he’d picked it just for me.

Ty ran over and we embraced. “Can you believe how much this looks like home?!”

“I know!” I screamed. I sighed and calmed down to a normal volume, wrapping my arms around him even more tightly. “Can’t we just sit out here all day and stare at everything instead of setting up the shelters? We don’t need a place to sleep or anything, right?”

He smiled at my teasing. “I wish we could, May. I’d spend all day out here in the sunshine with you if we could.” He swiped back some hair that had fallen out of my ponytail and we shared a meaningful look. “I mean it.”

My eyes locked with his ice-blue ones. “I know.”

“But as for right now, we need to get down to business,” he said and pulled away. He began shouting at the other Med Lev workers wandering the area to get started.

I heard loud screaming and turned, terrified, only to see a flock of some kind of bird race past us. People everywhere were pointing at them as they flitted around the trees — I knew Science Lev Officers were going nuts wanting to study those things up close. My first preconception of what an alien animal would look like always involved something really ferocious and odd-looking. But those alien birds surprised me. They actually looked…normal.

“Hey, you!” Athan came up from behind me as Ty walked off to start the work. His teeth were whiter in the sunlight than I’d ever seen them on board.

“Hey, can you believe this?!” I shrieked and hugged him. I’d never hugged him before.

He looked surprised and widened his bright smile. “I know! I swear I can feel the sunlight adding years to my life.”

“Seriously! I think I’ll live forever at this rate,” I said, then noticed something at his side. It was a metal sheath attached to his belt with three white bulbs stacked on top. “What is that thing?”

“Oh! It’s a dagger, it’s pretty amazing, too. Watch this.” Athan happily unclipped the sheath from his hip and held it upside down. The dagger stayed in place. He beamed at me. “The metal sheath that the dagger sits in has electromagnets to keep it securely in place. That way it won’t fall out on accident.”

“Oh wow, that’s really cool. How do you get it out?”

“Watch.” He gripped the three bulbs with his hand. “The handle is programmed to know if a person is gripping it. Only then will it let the blade come out.” He slid out the dagger easily, revealing a narrow, six-inch blade. “Plus, as an added bonus, the sheath is made out of a special metal that sharpens the blade just a tiny bit every time you slide it out. Great, huh?”

“Yeah, I’m definitely not going to mess with you, Athan!”

His huge teeth glinted in the sun as he laughed at me. “Well, I have to —”

“Officer!” Trace barked out and marched up to Athan. “Tell me where you’re supposed to be right now.”

Athan’s smile disappeared immediately. He stood up straighter. “I’m supposed to be monitoring the tree line, sir.”

“Now tell me what it is you’re doing instead.”

Athan stuttered nervously. “I — I’m here talking to my friend.”

Trace scowled. His forehead wrinkled up dramatically. “That’s right. You’re disregarding your job and risking our safety. Now get out of here!”

Athan spun around and ran full-speed through the field to his post. Trace turned to face me. “And just where are you supposed to be?”

“I’m on my way to help with Med Shelter, but they don’t care if I take my time,” I said with a touch of defiance.

Trace chuckled. “Spoken like a true Commander’s daughter.” He took a step toward me. “You know, if your father wasn’t so important I’d make sure you were punished for insubordination.”

My voice turned out-right rude. “Well thankfully you’re not my boss, Trace. Isn’t there somewhere you’re supposed to be, too?”

“Watch it, girl,” he growled as I moved past him.

I shuddered a little — Trace was such a negative, creepy guy. I had no idea why my father liked him so much.

I’d barely finished stomping away from him when Sirone ran up to me. She was practically dying of laughter, barely able get out the words. “You’d think his parents would have chosen to alter another body part to balance out the teeth.”

“Trace?” I asked her with a weird look.

“No!” she cried. “Athan! You don’t know that he’s a Genetic? How could you not see that the second you met him?!”

My hand flew to my mouth. “NO! You’re joking!”

“Totally serious!” she said and burst out laughing again. “His parents are some of those new-age weirdos who chose different upgrades for their unborn child. Obviously they were really nervous about him getting nasty yellow teeth.”

“Now I’m going to wonder who else is a Genetic!” I said. “Hey, your skin is pretty awesome, Sirone, are you one of them?”

“Yeah, right!” she shouted and touched her arm softly. “This beauty is all natural. Which is why I won’t defile myself with that disgusting uniform shirt.” Like always, Sirone had decided to break the rules and wore a flowy white blouse instead of her Food Lev shirt.

I looked upward and shook my head at her with a smile. “Well, I’ve got to go help with the shelters, but I’ll see you soon, okay?”

“Mmhmm, see you!” she said, flitting away to a group of green shirts.

My footsteps thudded through the grassy dirt over toward the Med Lev assigned area, when suddenly, I paused, slowly turning to look back at Colony Four. It towered above us and was wider than I had ever remembered. The first time I’d seen it, I’d been in my dad’s arms, at night, with chaos and distraction all around me. Standing right there outside it in the sunlight was the first time I’d really ever had a good look at it. The dark blue paint covering the outside was dingy, but other than that it looked as normal as I imagined a ship like that would be.

That big piece of machinery had caused me so much anger and frustration over the years, I’d despised it almost like it was a person. But suddenly, standing there in front of it, I didn’t hate it anymore. I felt oddly at peace, like we’d reached a truce, in a way. Experiencing how wonderful it was to finally have a new planet made me reconsider my bitterness about the past. I gave Colony Four a silent apology right then. It had saved me from death, then delivered me back to life.

Finally, I was alive again.

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