And the Stars Answered

Restless Blue

Of course, Elise had never seen the ocean.

She had never heard the sound of whitecapped waves breaking against sandy beaches, or held a sand dollar—whatever those were. No person she knew had seen the sea. All water reservoirs on her home planet—a desolate outpost, designated ARDE-189, located in the ninth sector of the Arcadia Galaxy—were found miles beneath the ground. A series of massive, archaic hydraulic structures brought the valuable resource to the surface.

She'd heard stories, of course. The older mechanics she worked with were quite fond of telling them. "A never-ending panorama of restless blue that stretches beyond the horizon," they would say. They would continue to wax poetic about ships that traveled the seas instead of interstellar space, and wondrous, yet deadly, creatures that lived in the watery depths.

There were beautiful, unbroken worlds out there that were far better than her own. "One day, you'll get out of this place," they would tell her. "One day, you'll be free."

Except they all knew one day would never come. A shuttle ticket to the closest planet cost 800 credits—more than she would ever earn in a lifetime. It wasn't fair, but then life never was.

Elise had never seen the ocean, and most likely never would—but that didn't stop her from dreaming.