The loud alarm I had set on my phone the previous night goes off waking me up for my 8 AM class. Followed by my dad banging on the door just before he left to work at the laboratory.
“Enough!” I screamed, trying to reach for my phone to turn off that annoying alarm with my eyes closed still.
After an hour of wrestling with myself to get out of bed, I threw on whatever I could find and went downstairs for breakfast.
“Dad left the TV on again…”
“Tensions continue to grow as the Prime Minister of the Republic of Mars and the President of the United States on Earth are unable to reach an agreement on the disbursement of natural resources between the two colonies.” The news reporter said before I grabbed the remote and turn the TV off.
“Tsk. More politics.”
After I made a piece of toast, I headed off to class the same way I always have for the past month. People on bicycles rode past me and headed toward the school. Or if you had a car you drove, but then there were people like me who just walked.
“Hollow!” A familiar voice shouted out to me causing me to stop in my tracks.
“Hollow I have great news!” The voice continued from behind me
Finally, Will had caught up to me even though he was out of breath.
“What is it?” I asked watching him grin from ear to ear.
“I’m being deployed!” Will shouted.
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“What?” I asked again not believing what I had just heard.
“Have you been following the news recently?” Will asked.
“Not really, what does the news have to do with anything?” I asked trying to get an answer out of him.
“Well, the whole thing between Mars and Earth. The rumor is that tensions are so bad no one would be surprised if a war broke out over it. Which is why they’re going to bring it to the USS before it gets to that point.” Will explained having caught his breath.
“The USS?”
“How could you not know about the Union of The Solar System? They’re the group of people that govern the Five Colonies.” Will explained.
“Anyways what does that have to do with you being deployed in the middle of all of this?” I asked him for the last time.
“The Prime Minister is asking the Federalist for security.” Will finally answered.
“It’s almost as if he wants a conflict to happen.”
The idea that the Prime Minister is looking to start a conflict regardless of the outcome of the press conference puts a heavy feeling in my stomach. He’s willing to start a war over something that could be solved with just words. On the way to campus, Will continued to talk about his excitement about officially becoming a military soldier for the Republic of Mars, but all I could do was hope my friend makes it back alive.