Chapter Text
Life...
The monotonous drone of everyday life ate away at the soul, leaving the world appearing as if in tones of gray rather than the vibrant colors which existed in real life. The teacher droned on, his voice likewise monotonous. The rhetoric passing his lips drummed through the young students' minds pushing the perceived lie; if life really did come to mean nothing, then why did everyone on board the ship see the world represented in colors.
"That's what you should take away from this book, The Giver, that there is still hope for our colony ship despite the damage sustained a hundred years ago during the Great War. Eventually, we will arrive at our utopia, the land of milk and honey."
A finger swept across the computer screen, pulling colorful clothing unavailable on the colony ship on and off an electronic doll. The fifteen-year-old shrugged off her boredom. Every so often her hazel eyes darted up with a dirty look aimed at the teacher. Savi wondered when the younger students would come to realize the information given in class proved useless regarding everyday life. In this case, she also held personal doubts regarding the message in the book.
"Seeing life in color my ass. The only real place we find the color on this ship are these electronic games they allow us to play."
Heaving the words from the classmate who shared her desk setting made Savi reach up allowing her finger to twirl a strand of her blond hair. Her thin lips pushed together. "Go away Avrid." She gagged at the sight of the flirtatious seventeen-year-old chuckling, his light strawberry-blond locks falling in front of his crystal blue eyes. The fifteen-year-old twisted the blond lock of hair tighter, her lips pushing together more. "Seriously, the options for a fifteen-year-old looking for romance on this ship are way too limited. The guys are either too old, too young, too dumb, or too ugly. "
A sigh of relief left the blond-haired teen upon hearing the delightful sound of the school bell ringing. Her eyes drifted over towards her best friend. The frown on Darin's face made the side of Savi's face wince, her lips pushing together even tighter, her hazel eyes watching as Avrid purposefully bumped into the brown-haired sixteen-year-old. "What?"
"I could ask the teacher to allow you and me to switch places, that way you don't have to deal with Avrid."
"No thanks." A heavy feeling settled into Savi's stomach, her eyes darting away to look at the electronic blackboard at the front of the classroom. The fifteen-year-old quickly detached her pad from the classroom console, hoping to escape from her peer group, and into the quiet sanctuary of the captain quarters, only to stop upon seeing Avird let out a curse when one of the elementary level students crashed into him.
"Hey, you do know what happens to kids when they misbehave? The officers put them in an escape hatch, and launch them out towards the Demon Colony, so the monsters can eat them."
The corner of Darin's mouth twitched. "Come on Avrid. Everyone knows that place is a myth. That colony never existed. Even if it did, that would be a waste of escape pods."
Avird made himself stand at his full height, his crystal blue eyes flashing with anger. His mouth opened while his fist clenched together, indicating he wished to pummel the sixteen-year-old. Savi felt the tension in the small hallway of the ship grow and braced herself for the two to break out into yet another fight. A small, soft voice next to her spoke up; the sound of the voice of the ten-year-old sent chills down Savi's spine.
"The Demon Colony isn't a myth. The place really exists, bull all ships are expected to avoid the place. What exists there is another question entirely."
Savi tilted her head, her hazel eyes noting the presence of her younger sister. Navi's blond hair was lighter, to the point the strands appeared white with only a slight tint of gold; in addition, her eyes were a vivid red. The youngest of the captain's children looked like a ghost; some of the other children thought the pale child enjoyed things of the occult nature or was herself a phantom. Navi's mouth also spouted off random details about the stellar myths floating around the ship with ease; Savi knew, though, her sister simply picked up any piece of information she somehow managed to retain within that eclectic mind of hers.
The fifteen-year-old steered her ten-year-old sister into leaving the group comprised of the ship's youth behind by placing pressure on her sister's shoulder. She didn't see the looks on their faces, yet she knew they were contemplating how odd Navi was. "Come on. Let's go see father on the bridge. You know he prefers you not loiter around after class."
Somehow, her super-intelligent sister somehow at the age of ten managed to land a position upon the bridge, allowing the youngest of the captain's daughters to hear things she shouldn't. In some ways Savi suspected the reason behind the decision was to keep a closer eye on the eccentric child. The cold air of the hallway blew down, allowing fresh air to circulate, and yet the musty smell of a hundred years still seemed to permeate the ship. Everyone dreamed of the day the members of the colony ship would find a place to call their own, but the place to call home seemed a long way off.
The door of the bridge swished open, interrupting a conversation being held by the captain and the higher-ups on the crew. "Eventually, we will need to tell the general populations our course has been off for some time because of attacks we suffered during the Great War."
"You mean we're not heading towards the colony?" Savi felt her throat tighten, panic welling in her chest upon realizing something was wrong. Navi headed over to her small station, her tiny fingers touching the screen under the instructions of the crew member who was teaching Navi the ins and outs of her particular job.
"Savi, I need you to leave. You're not supposed to be here."
The fifteen-year-old felt like twisting a lock of her hair, the words she overheard having sent a chill down her spine. "You know full well that if I didn't bring Navi here, she'd find something to distract herself with." Savi's hazel eyes moved around the room, noting the tension in the room. The fact Navi would wander off should have prevented them from selecting Navi for the bridge. The young blond-haired teen's throat tightened, realizing she'd sensed the tension from her father and mother whenever she was at home, explaining why even that place of late wasn't the calm sanctuary it usually was. "If we're not heading towards the colony, then where are we heading?"
"The demon colony."
Savi turned her head and looked at the pale child standing at the console, realizing why Navi recently started talking about the stellar myth in front of everyone. The girl felt her throat tighten but found herself quickly ignored by the adults around her. The captain's lieutenant spoke in a monotone manner, his eyes narrowing while he spoke to the captain. "I don't see why we should tell the general population. One hour or a couple of days isn't going to help them prepare for the fact we're in trouble. All they need to know is the protocol for landing on an unknown planet."
"They aren't going to be pleased with the fact we've known about this for some time and have done nothing."
"Our predecessors decided it was best not to say anything, as we actually can't do anything about the situation. We also discussed this a few months ago, not to mention a few years ago, and every single time you were outvoted. We're lucky Navi's mind is able to calculate the adjustments needed based on the damage sustained, and what limited data we've been able to retrieve regarding the planet when we make planetfall. She's even calculating possible reaction scenarios, and none of them require the crew having prior knowledge."
The captain opened his mouth to say something but stopped upon noticing Savi was still watching him. "You really need to leave."
Savi took a deep breath, her eyes darting back over to Navi, knowing full well the mind of ten-year-old was too much like a robot for the blond-haired female's liking. The fifteen-year-old turned on her heels, only to hear the chilling voice of her younger sister. "Wait." The teen turned, her mouth pushed together in frustration. Navi, however, for once looked her in the eye, her own mouth pushed together, almost as if she sought to mimic her sister. "Stay. You need to buckle up."
The young woman working with Navi turned her head, the agitation quite apparent on her face. "Captain, it is advisable that we send out the alarm."
"Whatever for?" The lieutenant folded his arms, his mouth twisted in a stern manner.
"Our data shows that the planet the demon colony is on shouldn't have any moons, and yet there is the moon there, circling the planet."
A silence fell over the room. Navi turned to speak to her father, her face emotionless. "We're reaching planeside in three minutes."
The lieutenant snapped, his eyes nearly bulging out of his head. "You said we would have anywhere between an hour to two days."
"You told me to calculate within all possibilities, and I told you this information this morning, meaning a few hours have passed." Navi started to buckle herself in, and Savi quickly moved to a seat nearby, the color draining from her face. Her father stared for a few seconds before heading to the console so he might issue out the order for everyone on the ship to head to stations which would allow them to ride out planetfall, should it occur.
The red light flashed; Savi's eyes darted to the front screen which showed what was just outside the bridge. A planet loomed, green and lush like the members of the ship wanted, and yet a morbid feeling settled into her stomach. A gaping brown spot covered a section of the land, and the moon came closer; the celestial body did not seem at all-natural compared to the pictures of the moon from Earth.
A blast jarred the ship; Savi felt her neck snap slightly, the computer reporting that the shields were out and that one of the systems preventing immediate planet falls managed to turn off at the most inopportune time. The hazel eyes of the fifteen-year-old snapped shut while Navi's fingers went to work on the computer screen in front of her, the ten-year-old acting as if nothing out of the norm had occurred. Savi's eyes opened back up in time to see desert sands quickly approaching the ship as a loud cracking sound riveting through the entire place.
Somehow the ship managed to remain intact while sliding through the desert, the deluge of sand waves erupting out to the sides. For a moment her breath stopped, the sight of a small figure staring at the ship appearing on the screen as if the ship might hit. More sand from below suddenly erupted up despite the distance, making the space ship tilt to the side, and then everything tipped over, leaving Savi to hang upside down. Opening her eyes left her seeing a broken visual screen.
She couldn't erase the red-haired figure from her mind, or the fact she thought someone as small as a human somehow managed to toss a ship the size of one of old Earth's city blocks. The word demon seemed all too apt.