Terranovus

Chapter IX - Welcome to Terranovus

The night flew by quickly and before I knew it, Tommy and I were kissing goodbye and my family was whisked off to the military airport and shoved onto a jet plane. All that we carried was one small backpack each. Apparently, everything we would ever need was going to be provided for us free of charge in Terranovus - new clothes, new furniture ... everything.

My dad was in awe of the jet plane. He had spent years working as an engineer and developing designs for these aircrafts but had never stepped foot inside a finished working model. After we were buckled in and the air sergeant explained the flight was going to take approximately two hours, I watched my dad excitedly converse with the pilots and discuss flight paths. My mum, however, was taking everything in her stride and that was a trait of hers I deeply admired. She always placed other's needs before hers and when she asked me if I was comfortable I knew she was just trying to distract herself from her fear of flying.

Since the Army stepped in and took control of the Sectors, all commercial and private aircrafts were banned as a population control method. Only the Army was allowed to fly so just stepping into this aircraft was a special once in a lifetime treat.

However, much to my dismay, I soon discovered I hated everything there was about flying. I hated the feeling of my intestines flipping backwards in my stomach upon take off and my ears popping in high altitude. Luckily the Officer who was escorting us to Terranovus noticed my grimacing and said if I sporadically swallowed saliva it would unpop my ears. Surprisingly the disgusting technique worked.

The only thing I loved throughout the entire plane ride was the view outside the small window I was seated next to. The view was incredible. I was able to see everything up there. At first saw the tops of skyscrapers, then the land border and sea filled with miles and miles of plastic and garbage. I hugged Tommy's jumper he had gifted me and wished he was here to experience this journey with me. Quickly the plane flew straight into the pollution smog and for a moment all I could see was grey until we burst out into a dazzling blue sky. I gasped and turned to my parents excitedly.

"Look!" I told them. They look just as excited as I was and my mum had tears of happiness glistening in her eyes. This was the blue sky my grandmother used to talk about.

"Grandmother was right," I whispered.

"She sure was," replied mum. She clasped my hand and together we continued to gaze out of the window in wonderment. It was only an hour and a half later, I realised I could see something green in the distance.

"Terranovus," I whispered to myself and pressed my nose up to the glass window.

It was even more beautiful thanas the holograms. Stunning and picturesque sitting upon the glimmering blue water that was now completely clear of all plastic, not a bottle in sight. Golden sands lined the outskirts of the land and trickled out to sea. Mountains and trees spread across the majority of land, and as began our descent I spotted the first and only city of Terranovus, Primus, twinkling in the sunlight and situated on the edge of the island. The glass and modern buildings, fitted with near invisible solar panels sparkled at me in a tease. Already I could feel myself at home here, it was my architecture dream!

The jet plane turned and as it did so I saw a side to the island that surprised me. A blackened, soot filled land that wreaked of darkness and misery.

"What's that?" I asked the Officer sitting in front of me.

"That's the other part of Terranovus we've not revived yet. Don't worry, we have our best employees working their wonders on it just as they did with this land here," he responded. I nodded and went to look at it again but found it had disappeared from view as the plane turned again. "Are you ready for landing?" grinned the Officer, "you'll need to start swallowing your saliva again."