The Space of Hope

Part 1: Chapter 4 (Part 1 Finale)

Day 15

My eyes flash open and I sit up straight in a bed that's not mine. "Where am I?"

Detective Zayn is sitting in a chair reading when he looks up surprised. "In the princess' quarters. Welcome back, Eirini." I look to my left and see there is another bed with the princess smiling at me. She looks tired but I'm happy to see that her wound is wrapped and taken care of.

Princess Sena simply says, "I wanted to be next to you. We've been asleep for a week, but at one point I woke up and asked for you. Crazy things the subconscious says and does."

"Yeah." I look at her in awe. "How are you still cheerful? You killed someone! That's sure to take a toll on anyone."

Princess Sena smiles sadly to herself. "I don't know what to think. Lord Orionis was like a father to me. But then my father discovered that he was stealing money and extorting helpless people in the Colony. My father was horrified and felt betrayed. He banished Lord Orionis from the Colony, but he begged to stay on, and my father, being lenient to those whom he still cared about, let him remain on the Colony - but he was no longer a part of my father's council and demoted from his station as an advisor. Once he discovered these things about his father, Detective Zayn was devastated. He and his mom left Lord Orionis.

Princess Sena began to sob."He said that if he killed me that he could have the chance to lead this Colony and get revenge on my family." My dad's last words to me before we left Earth were, 'Do better than your ancestors, Sena.' I know that my father wasn't perfect, that he can be cold and ruthless. I didn't want to kill Lord Orionis. "Zayn, you're like a brother to me, and I am so sorry for my part in all of this. I cannot imagine how hard it must be to lose your father in this way. I plan to honor Lord Orionis in some way. I feel like that would bring some closure."

"Do you believe that this Colony can survive?" I ask, hoping that someone else believes in this seemingly impossible endeavor. Colony 135 had left a world in ruins, the last hope for humankind. Now the weight of this task lay on the shoulders of a young girl with brown eyes and blood on her hands.

With a trembling smile, Princess Sena gives an answer that foreshadows her success as a leader of Colony 135. "I believe that we can do anything that we work hard for and bring people together. This is the whole goal of Colony 135 - to allow humans to continue to exist, for better or worse, but always working together. And I want to make sure that this Colony succeeds. I will not give up on us." She looks up directly at me at that moment, and the world seems a bit lighter.