Beyond Our Stars (Excerpt)

Chapter Four

8 HOURS BEFORE T.D.

When we’d realized the planet was inhabited many of the survivors wanted to stay up where we were. Especially because after we’d gotten the first pictures back, the sensory capabilities on each ship stopped working. All our other systems were fine but no one, including Chief, could fix the sensors. It was up to him to make the final decision.

You wouldn’t think a seventeen-year-old would be brought in to discuss matters as weighty as these, and you’d be right. It was all adults and lots of the old-erly that the Chief brought in as consults. But after two days of this, Chief had quietly asked myself and a few others my age to come and talk to him.

“I want the people, all of them, to feel like they have a voice. That includes our youth. While I don’t plan on turning control of the ship over to you,” he gave a boy named Weeks who I didn’t know that well a long look, eyeing his messy hair and inappropriate grin, “I want to hear what you have to say.”

This was why Chief was better than the rest. Everyone mattered. And they mattered more than him.

People looked at me first. Everyone assumed I was a leader so I went with it. I think it was the story of me walking alone through a hundred and fifty miles of destruction that created this myth.

“I think we land,” I said. Chief’s head moved up almost imperceptibly.

“Why?”

“Because they know we’re here. Other than the sensors, there’s been no aggressive action. To me, that means either we have the better tech or they’re peaceful.”

Legacy was here, too. It was strange to see him after our awkward moment a few days ago. He said his dad was one of the advisors Chief had called on.

“Oh my fuck,” he said. Chief put his hand up to Legacy in warning. “Whatever. You think we have the better tech? Please, our hunks of junk are practically falling out of the sky!” He rolled his eyes.

“Exactly!” I retorted. “If they have the better tech, then we stand no chance in a fight in the sky.” I turned to Chief, “You know better than anyone. We should land, now, before we all die a fiery death because these ships finally implode on us. Up here we can’t fight back! The only chance we’d have is on the ground.”

Chief kept his face neutral so I could only hope I was swaying him.

Legacy seemed ready to crawl right up my butt. He was looking for a fight, and he’d picked me. “So you think they will attack, then? Two seconds ago you said they were peaceful.”

“I think they could be peaceful. I will, until I see otherwise.”

“Hence the name,” Legacy laughed with a smirk.

I groaned. “Oh, yes, hence the name. Never heard that. And you? Are you the legacy your dad dreamed of?” I didn’t know him, knew nothing about him other than our weird interaction, but he looked at me like he wanted me dead.

“What if we land and they can outman and outgun us?” Chief asked. He directed it to no one in particular, but people looked at me.

“Then they probably can up here, too,” I answered.

“Why haven’t they made contact of some kind?” Chief asked.

“Maybe they don’t know how. But they haven’t blown us out of the sky either. I’m reading more into that than anything else.”

Chief took a long, weighted sigh. “They must outnumber us, regardless.”

It wasn’t a question, but I answered it anyway. “We take our chances. There’s nowhere else to go.”