Zero Hour, Nine A.M.

Five

"Why wouldn't they have come to Earth and told us about all this? If they're doing it to help, why not give us the option, let us know that there's a whole planet waiting just a day's travel away?"

Brandon's voice is low and he's speaking fast, his head close to mine and his eyes darting everywhere.

"I'm not sure," I answer quietly. "Maybe because they didn't want us to have any other choice. Or because they didn't want us to look too closely. Because they wanted our ships and supplies. No reason that's good."

We're being herded toward the far end of the platform, where the oval transport ship is approaching. It's smooth and gray and antiseptic, and I can't help wondering how many others have been through this same type of nondescript space, how I can feel so unease at something that should be so simple.

There's a planet, a chance to live with other people. I should want to go.

But all I want to do is run.

However; Ken and Theresa seem to be eating up the alien propaganda with a spoon, chattering away to each other about the charity of the galaxy and how fortunate we are to have a new home so quickly. Brandon's hand on my wrist is an iron vise - I'm certain he's as uncomfortable with this as I am.

We separate from his family a bit as the line shuffles closer to the transport shift, drifting to the edge of the platform.

"You don't like this," he says.

I squeeze his hand. "You always could read my mind. Although I don't find that as charming as I did before we met the possibly-telepathic steampunk alien bug things holding us captive."

"They're super creepy, right? Why is everyone just going along with this?"

I shrug. "Same reason we are. What choice do we have? We've got no planet, and they've stolen our ship. We can't survive without one or the other, so here we are."

I look down at the planet and can hear the echo of those screeching voices saying that we will now spend our lives working for them. And something like panic, or like euphoria, floods my veins. My synapses are popping like fireworks, lightning and flame and electricity. "But we can run. Brandon, we can't go to the surface; we have to run. Right now."

"Why? Best case scenario, we wind up back on our ship with nowhere to go and no idea what lies ahead of us."

The line shuffles forward another few feet, and I'm wild with panic.

"Wouldn't you rather take our chances with the unknown than face a life like this? Small and stuck, serving these things? You heard them say we would essentially be their slaves."

"I can live with that if we have each other. No life with you could be small."

"This would be. This is no life at all. Nothing of our own, not a place or our time or even ourselves."

Conflicted, his gaze lingers on his sister and parents before flicking back to the ship.

"So how would we do it?"

I shake my head; the aliens are drawing closer to us.

"We don't have time to think or plan. So we just get your family, duck behind the nearest ship when we pass by, and run as fast as we can."

"That's a terrible idea."

"Can you come up with anything better?"

He chews his bottom lip for a minute, then shakes his head resignedly. "Okay. Let's try."

*******

"Mom, Dad - we have to go."

Brandon is standing close to his parents, who are craning their necks to get a better view of the transport ship and planet beyond.

"Well, of course we're going to go, sweetie," Theresa says. "It's everything I dreamed we'd find - civilization and a living planet-"

"No," Brandon says, his voice growing tight with urgency. "I mean we have to get back to our ship and we have to run."

"Now what kind of nonsense are you talking, son?" Ken asks, suddenly seeming very tall.

"He's talking about freedom," I hiss. "Don't you see, these things want to make us their indentured servants." I'm bouncing on the balls of my feet, my thighs itching to run.

Ken bristles. "What else would we do - go back to the unknown? What kind of life is that?"

"One with possibility. Please, don't you understand? This can't be the end of the road. What about our great adventure? What about sticking together and relying on one another?" Brandon is pleading, desperate; he can see that he's losing.

"Certainly not. We will be safe and cared for here." Ken is bowing up and Theresa is beginning to tremble, her eyes growing watery.

"Why can't you just be happy? Stop listening to Gretchen so much," she spits, glaring at us with more fear and anger than I thought she was capable of. "We have a new home, even if she can't appreciate it."

Beside me, Brandon is drawing back, slumping. I'm not sure if I'm losing him or they are.

"You're right," he says carefully, while squeezing my hand so tightly that the tips of my fingers turn white. "It will be great here."

His face softens with sadness for a long moment. "I love you all, very much."

And that's when I know - we're going to run, just the two of us.

This is what his home is, he said to me with such conviction, just a couple of days ago. His family and me.

And now we're losing even that.

His parents seem to relax, believing that they've won what they saw as a tiny battle against simple teenage rebellion, but I can feel the energy thrumming through Brandon's lithe body.

He bends down and whispers in Brianna's ear, and she stares at him with wide eyes before solemnly nodding.

And the second the transport ship's door opens and the aliens begin shoving us toward it, he yanks me across the platform and back toward our ship.

The people nearby don't seem to notice - like Ken and Theresa, they're completely fixated on the ship and glowing green planet beyond.

They want to believe they've been saved.