Allison leaned on the metal sink of her prefab housing unit. Her eyes focused on a whitehead that had appeared on the side of her nose. In her opinion one of her most attractive features, now marred by acne. She mulled over the fact that humans had managed to breach the light barrier and create artificial wormholes that could travel billions of light years in seconds… But they still hadn’t found a cure for acne. Medical science could bring people back from the dead. Clone organs and limbs. Integrate cybernetics. They had t-cell enhancers that made the majority of diseases a thing of the past. And still here she was with a giant whitehead on her first day of school back from flight training. She squirted a dab of orange anti-bacterial soap on her palm and washed her face with it. With a sigh she looked back at her reflection and spoke to herself.
“The cost of being a teenager.”
She stood up straight and brushed her long auburn hair out and pulled it into a ponytail. A non-descript black band on her wrist buzzed. She tapped it once and sighed again after deciding whatever it was could wait until she was finished getting dressed. The next step in her morning ritual was to equip something she only had access to because she was in the Systems Alliance Reserves. They were a pair of military grade augmented reality contacts. A less invasive substitute to the advanced optics available from cybernetic eyes. Even if she had wanted the real thing she would have been denied. Medical’s estimates were that she wouldn’t be able to get her first cybernetics until she was twenty-three based on her body’s developmental pace. As a minor, only those who had physical disabilities that required limb, eye or hearing replacement were eligible. Finally, she put a small boomerang shaped accessory behind her right ear.
Allison slipped them into her golden eyes. Another feature that set her apart. No one knew how she ended up with golden irises, but she had. She moved her head side to side and a HUD appeared in front of her. When it connected to her military grade holo-phone it flickered before solidifying. The message she’d received was just a warning of increased solar activity from colonial headquarters.
She sighed again and pulled off her underwear before going back into her shower. With her HUD in front of her she didn’t bother with the controls in the shower she just tapped the sun block option. The shower sprayed her exposed skin with a thin film of potent sun blocking agent. She gave it a few seconds to dry before getting her underclothes on. She was one of the unlucky ones, at least on the world she’d been moved too. She was pale. Her assigned parent’s ancestors would have been from Africa on old Earth. Their natural complexions made them immune to the vagaries of the systems sun and Eden Prime’s atmosphere. Part of why they were among those chosen for the colony. On Earth as it was now, living in domes under artificial light most people were pale. Not that Allison remembered Earth, she’d been three when they left.
Allison looked down at her school uniform with a frown. She picked up the white blouse and pulled it on and started to button it up. She much preferred her flight suits. Even her System’s Alliance uniform was less annoying than the monstrosity she had to wear to school. There was only one school board on the colony of Eden Prime and it was run by the Sisterhood of the Dark Mother. For some reason or another, they had uniforms and the uniforms were based on old Irish Catholic schools. Which meant, girls wore skirts and blazers and boys wore pants and blazers. Allison hated skirts. She always wore pants when she was in her System’s Alliance uniform. With a sigh she pulled on her grey skirt and slipped the blue blazer over her shoulders and then stood in front of the mirror to get her blue tie on. She finished it off with the Dark Mother’s pendant which hung from a synthetic silk cord. The pendent wasn’t fancy, just a tiny sword with a ruby at the top of the hilt. She looked herself up and down then shook her head.
“I hate school.”
She heard her mother calling. Allison grabbed her newly fabricated school bag and walked across the prefab housing unit. They weren’t luxury homes by any stretch, but they offered a view that would be envied by anyone on Earth. There were lots of windows that gave a view of trees and actual sunlight. The walls were white. Allison couldn’t name the material, but the habitation units were warm in the winter, cold in the summer and sprawling. Her father was in his System’s Alliance uniform. Allison looked at him with envy. The System’s Alliance Space Navy uniform was stylish. Depending on the season they were black or white if on a ground-based assignment and grey when on a space assignment. Since it was the end of summer her father was in his whites. His dark skin stood in stark contrast to the pristine white of his uniform. Four bars graced his shoulders denoting him as a Captain of the Space Navy. He smiled when he saw Allison and gave her a kiss on the forehead on his way past.
“See you tonight kiddo.”
Allison was not satisfied with that and gave him a hug. He hugged her back before putting his hat on he waved before he left the house. Her mother walked out of the kitchen and looked her up and down then frowned.
“You look… frumpy. I told you to hang your uniform up and not bunch it up in your closet.”
Allison rolled her eyes slightly.
“Seriously mom?”
Her mother walked around behind her.
“And you put sun block on, yes? It is a solar category five today.”
Allison sighed.
“Yes mom, I’m sixteen, yesh I know how to take care of myself.”
Her mother looked into Allison’s eyes.
“You have your contacts in. You don’t need them for school.”
Allison didn’t meet her mother’s brown eyes.
“Well, there could be an attack, its better I have then in, one less thing to do. System’s Alliance regs say I can and should wear them if at all possible.”
Her mother grabbed her wrist.
“And the holo-phone! You know they’re not allowed at school.”
Allison pulled her wrist away from her mother.
“Again, I’m allowed because I’m in the reserves. If we get attacked, I need to be able to launch as soon as possible.”
Her mother threw up her hands.
“Why your father signed off on you joining the military at your age, I will never understand.”
Her mother sighed and motioned to the kitchen.
“Go, eat. It’s like they didn’t feed you at the academy. Skin and bones.”
Allison rolled her eyes again and sat down. She started eating synthetic bacon and eggs. Her mother poured a glass of salberry juice. It was from a berry that grew only on Eden Prime. Allison grimaced as she drank it. She wasn’t a fan. Especially after having access to real actual apple juice and orange juice at the Academy every morning. Technically Salberries were much better for vitamin content, but they were sickly sweet. Her mother crossed her arms.
“I freshly squeeze you salberry juice and cook your favorite breakfast and you make that face.”
Allison down the last of her juice.
“You know why dad rushes out of here in the morning?”
Her mother shook her head.
“It’s so he can get to the base while they’re still serving breakfast.”
Her mother frowned.
“Are you saying they cook better than me?”
“No mom, they just have more stuff from Earth. Like real apple juice and real orange juice. Real eggs and milk.”
“Allison Wanjala, you know there are people starving under those domes on Earth, eating rats! You should be thankful for what you have.”
Allison groaned.
“Really? The old, people are starving under domes thing again? That was old when I was five mom.”
Her mother narrowed her dark brown eyes.
“Obviously not because you still haven’t learned that lesson. We live very privileged lives here. You should be thankful. When your father was your age his family lived in an apartment that could fit into this kitchen. Everything they ate was out of pouches. No fresh juice from berries picked from a garden. No fresh vegetables.”
Allison’s face darkened as she stood up.
“Whatever mom.”
Her mother threw up her hands again.
“Whatever she says! I thought your attitude would be better after a summer of military training but you are still the little burly mtoto aliykeosewa you always were. Maybe even worse.”
Allison groaned and grabbed her school bag before storming out of the house. She hit the end of their walk and promptly spun around. At the academy she could just walk to her classes. Here she’d need a ride. Her mother shook her head as she left the house. Allison hung her head and walked towards their car. It was a white wheeled vehicle shaped for optimal aerodynamics. Which meant it had a lot of curves. Allison leaned her elbow on the passenger side door and glared out of the window.
“It sucks. I can fly a starfighter with antimatter weapons, plot FTL jumps, but I’m not allowed to drive a car?”
Her mother shook her head and gave a small laugh.
“I will sign you up for driving classes.”
Allison smiled.
“Thanks mom. I can’t wait to buy a motorcycle.”
Her mother’s eyes narrowed.
“And what makes you think I’m going to allow that.”
Allison looked at her mom, eyes wide with disbelief.
“Mom, I fly a fighter.”
Her mother shrugged.
“An armored fighter with an ejection seat in an armored suit. There is no way I’m letting you ride on a motorcycle. Too dangerous.”
Stolen novel; please report.
Allison rolled her eyes.
“Next thing you know you’re going to say I can’t get a tattoo.”
Her mother slammed the breaks on and pulled over to the side of the road. She held up one of her hands and held her fingers about a centimeter apart.
“Allison Wanjala you are this far from being grounded until you’re eighteen.”
Allison shook her head.
“Like that means anything on this colony. It is at the edge of a galaxy two and a half million light years away from Earth.”
Her mother frowned and pulled away from the curb.
“When I was a girl your age, I would have never talked back to my mother like you do!”
Allison rolled her eyes and glared out of her window and muttered under her breath.
“When you were my age Earth still had trees and a blue sky!”
Allison regretted her words immediately when her mother just got very still and very quiet. Her mother was one of the rare few from the Earth before the Grey came and caused an ice age. She lost everything she knew and was thawed out and brought back from the brink of death when she had been found in what used to be Kenya. It was definitely not a button that should ever be pressed. Allison hit her head on the window gently a few times and spoke quietly.
“Sorry mom. That wasn’t fair.”
Her mother didn’t say anything further but when Allison went to get out of the car her mother held out a pair of sunglasses. Allison took them wordlessly and slipped them on before getting out of the car. Her mother drove away. Allison felt like the worst person in the universe. She glanced towards the system’s sun. It appeared white but on the charts of star classes it would be called a class O star. Or blue stars. It was super-massive, and it was extremely hot and short lived. Still had a lot of life left in it or they wouldn’t have colonized the system.
Allison shook her head and trudged towards the school’s front doors. They slid open as she approached a calming female voice declared via her small earpiece.
“Allison Malaika Wanjala, Grade Eleven Student, Active System’s Alliance Military, Rank Ensign. Active Flight Status Recognized. Additional electronics authorized. Please have a blessed and education filled day, Ensign Wanjala.”
Allison had arrived ten minutes before classes were set to start. She tapped the email that held her schedule and opened it. Then she swept her finger through the attached schedule so it would populate on her HUD’s map overlay. Then tapped locker on the list of target locations. An arrow appeared on the HUD provided by her contact lenses and directed her through a couple of hallways and towards a bank of lockers. The school like everything else in the Eden Prime colony was prefab. The base structure was dropped from a cargo ship and everything else filled out from self-fabrication devices. It was effectively plastic that was hard and felt like steel. Thus everything had a strange looking texture at least to those who were born on Earth. Her locker was part of a bank of double lockers. Her access to the locker was blocked by a boy who was her age.
She didn’t recognize him from her previous years. He was struggling to get his locker open. She did not understand his confusion. They were very simple to operate, you put your thumb on the pad and it recognized the print and DNA and opened. Pretty basic colony hardware. She watched him while tapping the nylon strap of her backpack.
He had a skin complexion that matched her adoptive parents. Most of the colonists chosen for Eden Prime were dusky or darker complexion to minimize skin damage from the system’s star. A rare few were pale like Allison which set her apart. His hair was a wild mop of coily black hair. Most of the people with African heritage on the Colony kept their hair short. Her mother had a sizable afro but usually kept it under control with a colorful wide hairband. The boy was darker than either of her parents. Allison blinked a few times when she saw he was wearing actual eyeglasses. Short-sightedness was considered a disability by System’s Alliance and therefore qualified for cybernetic enhancement if the family could afford it. They were extremely affordable if they were just twenty-twenty. Allison glanced at the time on her HUD. She didn’t really want to be late for class so she cleared her throat.
“Excuse me.”
He didn’t seem to notice her. She tapped him on the shoulder. He jumped and hit his forehead on his locker. A few other students laughed. He rubbed his forehead and stood up. He looked up at her because he was about four inches shorter.
“Are you talking to me?”
Allison sighed.
“No, I’m talking to the other Earther that just got off a ship who’s blocking my locker.”
He adjusted his glasses and didn’t meet Allison’s gaze. Allison rolled her eyes, looked directly at the new kid and pressed her thumb on a black pad on her locker and the door opened. She pulled her tablet out of her bag and tossed her school bag in the locker. She closed her locker and walked towards homeroom. She recognized most of her class the colony wasn’t exactly huge, though a new batch of colonists must have arrived, because there were four new students. She corrected herself, five, after the boy who’d been blocking her locker walked in after the bell. The boy nearly tripped when he saw their homeroom instructor. Allison rolled her eyes. Fresh colonists always did that when they saw an actual alien for the first time.
Their homeroom teacher, who was also the Religion teacher at the school was Sister Silra. Sister Silra was a member of a race of humanoid dinosaurs called Sauroids. They were the first aliens the System’s Alliance had made contact with. Sister Silra was a priestess of the Dark Mother. She had brightly colored red and turquoise scales. Allison had liked her from the start. Sister Silra was what you’d call a cool teacher. She was also young. Though she did have a thing about being on time. Allison could tell the sister was not pleased with the new kid’s tardiness because the end of her tail was twitching. Sister Silra and her life mate were the only two aliens on the entire colony. The boy was trying to fix the desk he’d knocked out of position. Sister Silra cleared her throat. To someone not used to the mannerisms of a Sauroid it would sound somewhat akin to a vicious snarl. The boy jumped and he dropped his tablet. Sister Silra addressed him in Earth standard, which would have been called English in the twenty-first century.
“Turn around, young human.”
He slowly turned towards her.
“You are newly in from the Earth sphere. So, I understand this all must be very confusing, but at this school we are in our desks before the bell rings, not five minutes afterwards.”
Something else that should be mentioned about the Sauroid race, they evolved from something akin to Earth’s velociraptor’s, so their mouths were filled with vicious rows of razer sharp teeth. And their hands ended in three fingers and an opposable thumb, all tipped with razer sharp talons. The boy looked positively terrified. Allison mused that it was like he’d never seen a Sauroid before even on the Alliance-net. Sister Silra looked around the room and noticed Allison’s wristband. Her tail slapped against the prefab floor. An indication she was pleased or happy, a Sauroid version of a smile. Allison didn’t like where this was going at all.
“What is your name child of the Earth Sphere?”
He opened and closed his mouth a few times.
“Tyler.”
He corrected himself.
“Umm, Tyler, uh, ma’am.”
Sister Silra’s tail slapped a few more times as she spoke.
“My proper honorific is Sister. Tyler, go sit beside Allison there near the back. She will be your guide until you can show up to class on time. Go, hurry before morning prayer and reading.”
Sisters Silra motioned with one of her taloned hands. Tyler picked up his tablet and when he saw Allison glaring between him and Sister Silra he hesitated. Sister Silra tapped her talons on her desk.
“Hurry now.”
Tyler seemed to decide he didn’t want to antagonize the sister, who by appearances was a flesh-eating predator any further and sat down in the requested seat. Sister Silra cleared her throat again and motioned for them to be quiet with her talons. Tyler along with the rest of the newcomers all jumped slightly. The morning announcements started with a prayer. Sister Silra and most of the class crossed themselves. As the prayer started.
“Dark Mother, daughter of our father who art in Heaven, Hollowed be his name Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, On earth as it is in Heaven. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us away from temptation and deliver us from evil. Daughter of our Lord continue to guide us with your light as we spread throughout the universe.”
The reading from the Book of Shadows was short today, something from the son’s time. Allison knew exactly who the reader was. Ajay Avan. Her ex-boyfriend. She was thinking very uncharitable thoughts about him. They finished with another prayer, led by the colony’s high priestess.
“Dark Mother, help guide our students, new and returning, through this year of education. Please grant us continued peace and prosperity. And please help make our newcomers feel welcome and blessed.”
The announcements followed.
“We would like to welcome everyone to a new year at Saint Sarah of Savia Secondary School. We would also like to congratulate: Ajay Avan, Jabari Owolabi, and Ethan Smith who joined the System’s Alliance militia reserves and have graduated from the System’s Alliance Academy! We would like to give a special congratulation to Allison Wanjala, who not only graduated from the System’s Alliance Academy with honors but also finished military flight school at the top of her class and FTL navigation school.”
Allison blushed as she sunk into her seat. She should have known that was going to happen. They congratulated everyone who joined the System’s Alliance reserves the entire time she’d been at the school. The rest of the announcements were reminders for sports team and extracurricular activities sign ups. Sister Silra’s tail slapped on the floor as the announcements ended.
“Well, I’m supposed to give you all a lecture on scripture from the Book of Shadows, but we have time for that tomorrow. I decided that instead of that we will have a telling to share what we did this summer and introduce ourselves for the newcomers. I’ll start. I am Sister Silra, I’m a Priestess of the Dark mother and I teach religion and women’s studies. I took a pilgrimage home to the Temple of the Universe, then went to the Dark Mother’s Cathedral in New Amazon.”
Sister Silra glanced at her list and motioned to Allison.
“We’ll go from the bottom of the alphabet up to give Ajay a chance to get back. Allison?”
Allison muttered under her breath and stood up.
“Hi, I’m Allison Wanjala.”
Tyler blinked at Allison when she said her name, as did the other newcomers. The other kids, the ones she grew up with knew her name and who her parents were so didn’t bat an eyelash.
“You know what I did this summer.”
Allison went to sit down but Sister Silra shook her head.
“What did you do when you weren’t training?”
Allison laughed softly.
“I trained and I slept. I didn’t have time for anything else. It was the only way to finish flight school.”
Ajay returned to the class and gave Allison a dirty look before sitting down. Allison fought the urge to flash her middle finger at him. She was mostly polite but Ajay was on her people she’d let die list currently. Leth held up his hand. Sister Silra motioned to him with her index talon.
“Yes Lethabo?”
Leth frowned slightly when he heard his full first name.
“Since Allison doesn’t have much to say, can we ask her questions, like a real telling?”
Sister Silra nodded her tail slapping.
“Yes, yes. Excellent Lethabo. I appreciate your knowledge of my culture. Please ask.”
Leth turned to Allison.
“Did you get to fly one of the new VDI-02 Artemis fighters? Did you blow anything up? Do you have a personal AI?”
Leth seemed positively excited. Allison was probably the least popular girl in school if for no other reason during previous years she’d had an almost single-minded devotion to earning her Starfighter wings and she was often referred to as a heinous bitch. Allison was a bit shocked to see how interested Leth was in her experiences. She shrugged.
“Yes, Yes and Sort of a yes.”
Leth looked a bit disappointed Allison felt bad. Leth was very attractive and she’d always had a crush on him. She decided she’d expand a bit.
“I flew a VDI-02 trainers when I was in flight school which we were able to use to fire micro-antimatter torpedoes. We couldn’t use much because antimatter generated from FTL travel is used to power wormhole generators for comms and ships. I have been assigned one of the recovered Synthlin fighters the Dark Mother found that is now part of the CDF err Colony Defense Forces. The new ones from Earth are for more senior pilots. Mine is metallic purple the ones from Earth are black. My AI is named Bit. I gave her that name because well Synthlin doesn’t really translate into anything we can speak so I couldn’t possibly pronounce her real name. She has particle beams which I was able to fire on asteroids in the AGNE6 system. Yes, it was just as fun as it sounds.”
Leth grinned at her. Allison swept her stray bangs behind her ears and gave him a small shy smile back. Ajay scowled at the pair. One of the new girls held up her hand, she was likely from the Africa dome on Earth. Sister Silra motioned to her. The girl spoke.
“Why did you join the military industrial complex that empowers the corporations and System’s Alliance to make the entire human race into indentured servants?”
Allison frowned at her. So, she was one of those. Sister Silra was about to intercede especially after Allison clenched her fists, but then Allison took a deep breath.
“One, because I get to fly starfighters, two, see answer one, and three we are in an unexplored galaxy two and a half million light years from Earth, it could be inhabited by hostile aliens. What are you doing to make everyone safer? You sit on Earth, and you pretend you’re all high and mighty with your superior morals but you’re in the colonies now sister, we’re on the frontier and if you aren’t helping make us safer, or get fed, you’re a waste of oxygen.”
Leth cheered. Ajay still glowered at Allison. Most of the students who were born here clapped. The new girl sat down and looked firmly at her desk. The tip of Sister Silra’s tail twitched when she spoke.
“Allison, we do not mock or make fun of people’s beliefs at this school, whether political, social or religious. Please apologize.”
Allison smiled very sweetly as she looked at the new girl.
“I am sorry you’re a sheltered, arrogant, sanctimonious bitch and I called you out on it.”
The class erupted into cheers and Leth looked like he was even more into Allison after that. Tyler edged away from Allison as if his life depended on it. Sister Silra pointed to the classroom door, the end of her tail was twitching violently.
“Office, now, seriously Allison, you’ve been here for fifteen minutes, this has to be a new record!”
Allison grabbed her tablet and stormed out of the classroom she would have slammed the door but it was a door that slid into the wall as she approached.