Universe University

Chapter 1

Despite the fact that she and her father were the only humans on Earth at the moment, Bailee was having quite a normal day. At her cozy beach house (considering the only land left was beach) Bailee would go through artifacts from peoples of long past while her father would tend to the small crops he could grow in the sand. This was the only food supply the family had, since the other humans that had escaped hadn't donated any supplies. No macaroni from Mars, no juice from Jupiter, and not even a salad from the sun. But Bailee was perfectly happy with the current state of events. Besides, that salad would be incredibly burnt. As long as the sea levels rose slowly and the little amount of oxygen stayed in the air, she could live for... ten more years?

Anyway, while her father shook coconuts out from the only trees left on their small area of land, Bailee thumbed through this primitive invention called a script. This script was created by a man named Shakespeare, and she had read through it countless times. From her extensive knowledge on the culture of humans, Bailee knew that this script was supposed to be read aloud and performed. Every time she was swept into the world of Hamlet, Bailee longed to be on stage, although none existed anymore. The treasured script was found in a museum that was once owned by Family 39 (the custom of last names was dropped quite a while ago), which was left behind after the Great Removal. 

The Great Removal happened when Bailee was just a toddler. Scientists had developed a great machine to transport all of the humans left on Earth to other faraway planets, where there would be enough oxygen for everyone. The 7,000 strong population of people left on Earth were all able to fit on this device, and you would think nobody would refuse the offer. But Bailee's father did. He thought that "technology was sweeping the human race away from the real world", but he hadn't realized that this technology was the real world. After a lengthy argument between her parents, Bailee's mother had left with the 6,997 other citizens of Trinda, and Bailee had been left behind with her dad as tears streamed down her face.

Bailee had no memory of this, however. Although she had made frequent visits to Trinda after that day, it was only to the museum to learn more about the past, and at the age of 9 the entire city was submerged in one big rush of ocean. Bailee didn't let it get her down, and soon she completely forgot about the incident (the low oxygen wasn't doing her memory any favors). Now, as she gazed out of the window of her home, letting the overwhelming salty air consume her, she saw an odd metallic contraption flash through the sky. Miles away from the mysterious device, the breeze created by the speed of this... thing had still hit Bailee.  The extreme breeze fluttered the script out of her hands and almost toppled over her comfortable wicker chair.

What was that going through the sky? Bailee wondered. Could that be... other creatures? Maybe even people! In a rush to learn about this new incredible object, Bailee ran to the door and flung it open.

"Dad!" she cried out as a sudden warmness enveloped her. Bailee could never get used to the feeling of nature, so she avoided it when possible, but this was an emergency. "Dad!" she called once more. "Did you see that in the sky? It was shiny, and speedy, and..."

"Yes, yes, I saw it! Nothing to get excited about, my dear!" a bold voice called out. "Probably just some hooligans testing out their newest toy. The arrogance of our neighbors, I say." Of course, their neighbors were on different planets, but that didn't stop him from complaining about them. "Bailee, come help your old man up. The winds from that annoyance swept me off my feet!" 

After all of her excitement, Bailee was quite disappointed to hear that it was only neighbors. Why fly that close to our atmosphere anyway? she asked herself. Are they trying to show off?  As Bailee walked over to her father's gardening area (which consisted of six measly palm trees), she desperately tried to think of a reason why someone would fly near Earth of all places. Maybe they wanted to visit us! she realized. With higher spirits, Bailee turned behind the house to see her father trapped between two palm trees, helpless on his back like a turtle (which has been extinct for quite some time now). He was wearing a special helmet designed to protect his head from falling coconuts,and his overalls were covered in sand. Bailee knelt down to help him stand, when suddenly her father pointed to the sky.

"Look! Up there!" he shouted. Bailee turned around just in time to see a gargantuan spacecraft heading straight towards their home.