Ch1: By Herself

Her high black boots make a small clicking noise against the metal of the floor as she walks. The sound is a small comfort within the walled confines of the ship. Twisting a finger through her gnarled waves, a sigh escapes her lips. Suddenly, a shadow appears on the steel beside her own and a hand slips through hers.

"You seem out of it today," his voice sounds like one of the soothing, cheerful voices that speak over the ship-wide intercom. She turns to glare at him before turning back to stare at her shoes. "You okay?" She can hear the concern echoing through the corridor and she looks up to see it in his crystal blue eyes.

"I'm fine," she reassures him and, upon seeing his doubtful look, she explains. "Sikowitz kept me up all night going over emergency procedures." He scoffs.

"He would," the boy says and she rolls her eyes, nudging his solid shoulder with her own. "You know I'm right… the old man crazy paranoid." At his statement they are both laughing and she's leaning against him with tears of laughter in her eyes.

"Anyway, what's on the agenda for today?" he asks, his voice light and playful.

"Just training and down time, as usual," she replies with a bored tone. "Don't you have somewhere to be?" Her gaze turns from playful to suspicion in seconds as she glares at him. He shrugs and, with a wave of his hand, is retreating back down the corridor. She laughs as she watches his long black hair bounce and she remembers, on more than one occasion, she asked him how he got his hair so fluffy if everyone had the same washing material. He would only reply with a wink but his lips were sealed.

Taking a deep breath, she continues down her original path. Her earpiece crackles softly and she knows that her mentor is trying to contact her over the wi-com link. He is the current leader of Sundancer, the solar wind surfing spaceship bound for Andromeda's only habitable planet Andros in the quadrant Zeta 5SB1. It's strange for her to think that she'll be the one who will help the people on the ship settle on Andros and it will be by her steady hands in the first few years of colonization— they'll be landing in two months and by that time Sikowitz will have stepped down from his post.

At the bottom level of the ship, near the waste ports and only windows, is a room. Swiping the pad of her thumb against the lock, she has to bite her lip when the familiar prick takes a sample of her blood. Authorized access only rooms will only admit Sikowitz and herself and all others trying to get in will set off an alarm. With yet another sigh, the door slides open and she slips inside, a small smile gracing her features.

Inside are rows upon rows of what look like lockers units and, from what her mentor has told her, there are frozen people inside them from a place called Terra, or Earth. She and her best friend, an upper-class Technician from Middle Deck, have looked up Terra at the Center, where all information and creations from previous gens are stored along with all Terra knowledge. Sometimes they'd watch movies from the 2000s and below. Books are a particular subject her mentor hates but she loves them.

The chambers line the walls and the thought of being stuck inside makes a shiver crawl up from the base of her spine. Each and every one of those people is important to the colonization of Andros. Each one has a purpose.

Shaking her head, she pulls out her Inteli-Tab out of her pocket. The light blue microfibers shimmer as it flops and they hum under her fingertips as she unlocks it with the swipe of her finger. With a click, the Tablet unlocks and she's instantly plugged into the Network. She scans through the choices and taps against her choice and it pops up automatically, allowing her to type in her Access Code when met with a block.

She knows Sikowitz will be able to Track her but he won't ask, because this place— this quiet place full of frozen bodies and the sleeping dead— is a haven where she goes to get away from all of the pressure. A place where she can just be herself, normal, not Leader-In-Training.

So I have no idea what to call this story and I really need help choosing a title. So for now I'm using this title. Please don't forget to review and let me know what you think.

P.S. This story is loosely based on Across the Universe by Beth Revis. You can see the basic idea of her spaceship Godspeed from the link on my page. This will also be the basic idea for Sundancer as well. All of the credit for it goes to her and the people who drew it.