Starbound

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I am already awake when my alarm clock blares out. It reads 0600, all of our clocks are military time.

Last night I was awake and restless, unable to sleep for more than an hour at a time. Tomorrow is my 16th birthday, meaning that I will be considered an adult in the colony. My formal schooling will end and I will begin my apprenticeship under my parents, learning how to care for the fields in the greenhouses.

I go to my closet and get on my silvery-grey jumpsuit that signifies me as a minor. Tomorrow I will be issued a new bright green one, the color of the Agricultural department. I am filled equally with excitement and dread at the thought. I'm happy to be moving on, but is this the future I really want? Well, it's not like I have a choice.

I enter the main room of my family's quad, the four-roomed living area that each family shares. My brother Carter exits his room at the same time as I do, wearing his bright green jumpsuit. His features are strikingly similar to mine although he is a few years older.  We have the same dark brown hair and golden eyes. We are both rather tall for our age, thanks to our dad who stands a startling 6' 4".

"Want to walk to breakfast with me Carter?" I ask him in a cheery tone. Carter is definitely not a morning person, so I pair my greeting with a charming smile to get on his nerves.

Carter grumbles some inaudible response, which I take as a yes.

The colony is set up as a circle with the main hall and dining room at the center, and all the quads bordering the edges. Hallways connect all the rooms together, creating a large indoor space. We walk down the hall to the dining room on auto pilot. Having walked this path practically every morning of our lives, we have become quite familiar with it.

"So, today's your last day as a mini, huh?" Carter teases me as we get in line at the dining room.

"Yeah" I sigh. It's also the last day he will be able to use that dreaded nickname on me.

"Are you prepared for your test?" Carter asks me with a parent-like quality in his voice.

"Right, like I could study." I scoff. The Graduation Test is unlike any of the other tests in school. It is a test of pure wits and general knowledge, so trying to prepare for it is useless.

We reach the front of the line and Carter places his hand on the sensor. It reads his hand and

'CARTER PACIFIC- 12  (adult)'

shows up on the screen. His breakfast comes out of the chute next to the screen and he heads to a table where a few boys his age are sitting. I place my hand on the sensor.

'RAINA PACIFIC-12 (minor)'

12 is our family number, which is basically ID, class distinction, and job description all in one. The lower numbers are all of the leading families, 1 being the Governor's family and 2-6 being his advisors. The higher numbers... Well, they aren't as lucky. Builders, fixers, and sanitation workers have the hardest jobs in the colony.

I grab my breakfast and head to the minor dining room. I immediately see my friend Liz with firey red hair eagerly waving me over. She is at the furthest table at the end. All of the soon-to-be graduates seemed to have migrated towards this side of the room.

"Wowie, breakfast today is HUGE!" Liz exclaims. I look down at my breakfast- a vitamin pill and a bottle of water. Lately they have been going with pills for breakfast because they save time and create less work for the food production staff. It seems that they are always improving or streamlining something around here.

"They really outdid themselves this time." I joke back.

"Raina, are you excited to finally be done with this place?" Liz asks. "I am like SO DONE with these silver jumpsuits. At first I was ok with them but now I think they are a bit much."

"Yeah, like bright green is any better." I scowl, letting my inner pessimist get ahold of me.

"Oh cheer up," Liz rolls her eyes at me, "At least you aren't a sanitation worker!"

"Look who's talking Miss Advisor-To-Be."

Liz Aldon is family number 5. That means that pretty soon she will swap out her silver jumpsuit for the dignified white of the Advisors.

A dinging sound rings out over the intercom, meaning that breakfast is over. I quickly gulp down my pill and follow the crowd of minors that had begun to walk to our classrooms.

We pass the main entrance hall and I see Carter and my parents leaving through the sliding glass doors, heading toward the greenhouses. Tomorrow that's where I will be, I think to myself.

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Silver jumpsuits crowd the entrance to the classroom. As the students continue to shuffle towards their desks, a teacher pulls me and a few other students aside.

"You are the students scheduled for your Graduation Tests, correct?" the teacher asks us. We nod in sync. There are three of us; me, a bored-looking girl, and a tall boy with sandy blonde hair. I recognise him, his father is a Fixer. Sometimes when I used to spend time in the greenhouses his father would be there, working on the irrigation system. Sometimes he would come too.

"The simulators are in the next room down the hall." the teacher instructs us, "I assume you all remember how to use them. Oh, and good luck."

With that, she ushers us out the door and closes it. No turning back from here.

"Shall we?" the boy motions his hand toward the next door and we all begin a slow, unenthusiastic walk.

"Aren't you the Fixer's son?" I ask him.

"Aren't you the Farmer's daughter?" he smirks. I don't know why, but I tense up at the word 'farmer'. Nobody has called one of the Agricultural Officials a farmer pretty much since we arrived on Hena.

"I'm Raina." I sttuter, avoiding his question. Leave it up to me to make a memorable introduction.

I avoid the gaze of his deep blue eyes as he replies, "I'm Marcus Jones, family number 26, minor." He is being over-dramatic and sarcastic, standing out from the usual serious colony demeanor. The confidence in his voice is unnerving. Marcus is definately different from the rest of the colony, in a good way I think.

Inside the testing room there are six helmets along the walls, each attatched to various cables and wires. I place one over my head and read the default screen.

'State your name'

"Raina Pacific." I speak clearly.

'Initiating file: Graduation Test'

And so it begins.

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HEY GUYS!

So, first chapter... exciting!

I really look forward to writing more, and I haven't yet decided on a definite upload time.

Thank you so so so so much for reading, and I would love any advice or feedback for the future.

~Ellie