Blink: 3003 (Book 1)

01

Life on Illuvari was good. An early colony world, it glistened with the polish of two centuries of development. Spires the size of small mountains reached into the sky, their exteriors sheathed in shining metal and sparkling arcs of glass. The old roughshod prefabricated buildings now existed in museums as the world developed its own culture, its own identity, separated and removed from the distant steel stud of Earth.

Amber was part of that good life. She slotted into the flow of humming cars and babbling people, a perfect piece of a perfect puzzle. Her oaken eyes shone with youthful energy; her waterfall of onyx hair flowed and rippled as she walked. A satchel made of impossibly soft synthetic silk rested on her hip.

Sixteen, happy to be alive and on course to carve out a perfect life.

Amber slipped onto the school transit tube, slotting into place among thirty other students in the carriage. The chairs filled the interior in a pair of long columns three by ten. She moved with the ease of an expert, gliding in and around the other students till she found her seat with her friends. The last to arrive out of the trio she had earned the aisle seat. Sitting down, she placed her satchel between her legs.

It was just like every other day – almost. She noticed a boy a few seats up dozing in his chair despite the morning babble, and she didn't recognise him. Amber had a very reliable memory. Some described it as photographic and in doing so understated the situation. She could name every person in her class and describe their features well enough for an artist to paint a portrait. This boy, however, was new and that intrigued her. He looked younger than the others, sporting a close crop of pale brown hair and a long, sharp-angled face. His eyes were closed.

"Who's that?" she asked. No reply came and she looked to her left to see that Halley had her headphones jammed firmly in her ears. She nudged the other girl.

Halley frowned, tugging the phones out. "What?"

"Who's the new guy – row E?"

"Huh..." Halley leaned sideways to get a better look, brushing a loop of crimson hair out of her eyes. "Never seen him before. He's cute though."

"Y'think so?" Amber gave her friend a sceptical look. Halley shrugged, a mischievous smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"D'you not?"

"He's just another guy." She smirked. Despite herself, she was interested in this stranger – not because of his looks – because he was different. He may have looked like he was dozing, but during the short transit to the school grounds she spotted him look in her direction three times, revealing the deep ocean blue of his eyes. Only the last time did he realise she was looking back and he quickly returned to his simulated sleep.

The school sprawled out over a huge fabricated metal platform, several hundred feet above the planet's surface. Sheathed in glass, it glimmered and shone in the morning sunlight. Five floors of classrooms accommodated four thousand pupils from the local district and to Amber it was just another stud in the crown of living on Illuvari. The dizzying height didn't bother her – most people on the colony learned to live with that fear from an early age. Cities no longer just spread outwards. These days they climbed to the heavens too.

She half listened to Halley's chattering while she kept a sharp eye out for their mysterious new classmate. He didn't look at her when he got off the transit tube, his black rucksack bouncing along on one shoulder as he strode towards the school's inviting crystal doors. Amber followed with the surge of other pupils that flooded into the halls of education but still he did not look back. Either she was simply getting worked up over nothing, or this boy had learned from his mistake on the tube to think she wouldn't notice him.