Little One | Bellamy Blake

| 00

'Til Prison Do Us Part

"The stars are out tonight, one million fires burning, out there on the high dive"

High Dive
by
Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness

____________

"You'll always be the brightest star in my galaxy. You were born to be a leader, Holland. Make me proud, little one."

Her father's dying words raced around her head like some sadistic track and field event. She hoped to find strength in them, even though it was useless. She was always afraid, and she knew she always would be.

Holland grew up in outer space, slowly circling Earth along with the other apocalypse survivors. Almost 100 years ago, a nuclear war destroyed Earth. Few humans from different nations boarded space stations to escape the destruction. The stations became one conglomerate, known as the Ark.

She grew up on Phoenix, the section for the privileged. Her mother was a higher-up in the Guards ranks. Her father used to be a doctor before he used too much morphine on a patient and was floated.

Her best friend was Wells Jaha, the Chancellor's son and fellow Phoenician. Together, they topped class ranks and were the definition of model citizens aboard the Ark. Wells was primed to be a guard, and expected to be direct advisor to the Chancellor. Meanwhile, Holland was raised to be the next Chancellor. They were a duo unlike any other, and that's why it was dangerous to threaten their relationship.

Especially when Holland was the threat.

She was irrevocably in love with Wells, and that was a major problem. Not only was he already in love with someone else, a Phoenix girl named Clarke Griffin, she could sever the bond they shared if she told him. Her mother frequently reminded her that nothing was more important than the People, even if it meant pushing her own desires aside for their sake. She wasn't allowed to love Wells, and she would come to terms with it eventually. The key word being "eventually". For now, she'd follow him until the end.

The end being the SkyBox, the youth prison. Clarke knew the secret of the Ark's oxygen deprivation and got herself arrested. Wells and Holland discovered the Council's plan to send the 98 kids in the SkyBox to the ground. Wells decided he needed to protect Clarke, so he committed a crime to get sent to Earth with her. It became 99 criminals, and Holland knew her time was limited. She could stay aboard the Ark, completing her training for Chancellor and leading her People, or... She could ruin everything she worked for and get sent to Earth. Or at least die trying.

She walked across the SkyBridge, hoping the guards would ignore the out-of-place Phoenix girl in the Walden sector. She found her way toward Main Engineering, keeping her head bowed and her footsteps quiet. The hum of life support and faux gravity generators kept her company. She paused, staring at Earth through the reinforced glass panel.

She needed to remember why she was doing this. She wasn't going to be able to live with herself if Wells died on the drop ship. She'd rather betray her People and die along side him than live alone on the stuffy, deteriorating space station. This was her way out, and she needed to follow through.

She took in a breath, held it, and exhaled again. "Breathe in strength and confidence, breathe out anxiety and fear. Think calmly and rationally. Harden your resolve, and keep moving forward," she whispered to herself. That was her mantra all through her Chancellor preparations, and she intended to stick with it. Even when she was abandoning her own People for a selfish desire.

Holland slipped further into Walden, finding herself in Engineering much earlier than she expected. It was time to change shifts, so the room should be empty. She just needed to hang around until the guards came to arrest her.

She walked over to the far wall, her fingers finding a faulty air lock. It had been barely leaking air for the past week or so, but she was here to make it a whole lot worse.

"I'm sorry," she said, her words unheard. "I've failed you all." She twisted the seal, the hissing of air growing in volume. Seconds later, an alarm began to sound throughout engineering, alerting workers to the breach. Tears flooded Holland's eyes, dripping down her cheeks as she tightened the air lock once again. She just released a month of precious oxygen into the vacuum of space. It was forever lost to the Ark. She just sentenced 200 people to death.

She heard yelling in the halls, the stomping of the guards thundering toward her. She had second of freedom left, and she had no idea what to do. Panic rooted itself in her chest even though she had already resigned herself to the SkyBox.

"I'm sorry," she wept, her knees folding under her as she sank to the ground, her guilty fingers still gripping the lever. "I'M SORRY!"

Guards burst into engineering, pointing their stun batons at her. The Lieutenant stepped out of line and addressed her.

"Citizen Holland Xavier. You have committed a capital crime against the Ark, punishable by death. As a minor, the Gaia Doctrine protects you until you turn eighteen years of age. Until your trial on your eighteenth birthday, you shall be confined in the SkyBox. Step away from the air lock with your hands up in surrender." While his voice held authority, it didn't seem like the words were sincere. After all, this was the main candidate for the next Chancellor. Her whole life was learning the rules, and to act so outright selfishly? It was incomprehensible.

Holland forced herself to stand, holding her hands above her head. A guard stepped forward, harshly pulling her arms behind her and linked her wrists together with cuffs. Another guard approached her, each seizing an arm to roughly propel her out of engineering, and to her new home in the SkyBox.

--------------

Here we go!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters created by Kass Morgan and Jason Rothenberg. The plot and most of the dialogue also belongs to them. No Copyright Infringement is intended by this work.