all her life, madeline kane was told that she was wrong.
she longed to float, to venture outside the constrictive walls of the ark, a space station that had forever been the only home she ever knew.
since the age of nine, death followed madeline do...
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THE ARK, 11:00P𝐌 ABBY's POV: "talk to me, jackson," i said to my assistant, who was working on a system connected to the main control panel of the ark's communication room.
he looked up, paused what he had been doing, and frowned my way. "rumors are spreading. witnesses saw a drop ship launch. it's only a matter of time before people figure out we sent the 101 to the ground."
"let the council worry about the people," i sighed. "i need you focused on reestablishing communication with those kids."
i turned to face the large screen mounted to the wall, as to get a better look at the prisoner's profiles. "how many dark tiles?"
jackson seemed to tense at my side. "23. we've been losing them at a steady rate all day." he glanced at me sideways. "abby, these are different. vital signs spike for a longer duration before flatline. it looks like a pain response! this is what we'd expect to see in exposure to radiation."
"i know what it looks like, jackson. but there's another explanation. we just haven't found it yet."
in my heart i knew that those kids couldn't be dead.
not yet.
he had seemed to have given up, for the moment, just as the automatic doors to the room opened and hushed conversations filled the small space.
the chancellor, as well as marcus kane, walking side by side. thelonious still had a hand covering his bullet wound, and seemed to be limping, but would most likely end up being okay. thanks to the extensive amount of o-negative blood preserved in our rations.
two alarms immediately began to sound, as if they had been waiting for the men to enter. panels, going dark.
madeline kane's picture blinked out, along with wells jaha's , almost instantaneously one after the other.
my heart dropped into my stomach.
the chancellor rushed to move closer, blue light illuminating across his face, a hand now covering his mouth. "my son."
i glanced over my shoulder to see if kane was alright, but his face only remained stoic and cold. "we sent them down to die."
"no," i protested, moving to stand before him. "we sent them down to live. to go to earth to see if it was survivable so that all of us could join them one day."
kane swallowed, doing everything he could to avoid looking at the still-flashing screen picturing his daughter's face. "i know this is hard. but we don't have time for false hope. this space station is dying, and earth is not survivable. that is what the wrist bands are telling us—"
the chancellor turned, tears pooling in the ducts of his eyes. "you have just lost your daughter, and i, my son. how can you be so cruel?" jaha sounded a million miles away.
