Poignant Skies

Another

Selena woke up with a terrible headache. Her head felt like it was going to split into two.

"Here, take this." It was an unfamiliar voice.

Selena couldn't open her eyes. Shefelt like the pain was paralyzing her.

"It's a pain reliever." the man said as he gave her the medicine and a glass of water.

Selena took the pill. She tried to open her eyes as she drank some water but the pain was unbearable. She's never felt such a headache before.

"Where am I?" she muttered.

"Rest for now." the man said.

Selena was still uneasy. She tossed and turned in bed until the medicine finally kicked. The pain slowly faded and she was able to fall asleep again.

Selena slept for a few hours. When she finally woke up, the pain was gone. She turned around in her bed and she realized what had happened earlier. She immediately jumped out of bed and looked around to see what could aid her escape. She saw a pen and grabbed it.

"I would think twice of using that against well trained soldiers."

Selena was startled. She turned around and saw a tall and pale woman. Although Selena recognized that she wasn't a full human, not anymore at least, she was very much like one. Despite her paleness that seemed like the sunlight had never touched her skin, Selena could tell the woman was already in her fifties.

"Where have you taken me?"

"You're outside Novus' habitable zone." Another man appeared by the door. It was the same voice who gave her medicine. He was just as tall and had the same eerie pale skin, with eyes as blue as the Earth sky that Selena had remembered.

She held on to her pen firmly. "You're not from Novus. Who are you?"

"Yes, we are not Novans. We are called Celestians. We come from another secondary planet that is very blue and has less sunlight than Earth and Novus. It is called..."

"Celeste." Selena continued his sentence. It was as if she remembered some knowledge she had long forgotten.

"Yes." the man said. "That's the name of our planet."

"Also the name of the captain who discovered your planet." Selena added.

"Is that new knowledge or you've been activated?" the man asked.

"What do you mean I've been activated?"

They both stared at each other and did not respond.

"My name is Kael and this is Lina. I am a Celestian soldier and she is the captain of this ship. And you are Selena Marie, are you not?"

Selena hesitated for a moment. "Yes."

"Selena, we were supposed to collect your pod when a group of Lesians spotted and attacked us. We catapulted your pod to Novus for safety. We are here to collect you and bring you back to the confederation."

Selena was confused. She thought she heard them wrong. "But the confederation is dead."

"It was almost destroyed." Lina said. "But it was never dead."

Selena shook her head. "But I was told that the confederation died because of Earth's destruction. When the mother planet was killed by a massive solar flare, the primary leaders were killed and the confederation scattered along with it."

Lina let out a loud gasp of disbelief. "I can't believe Novus has been feeding its population with lies." Lina took a holographic projector and opened a file. It was a video documentary of what had happened a long time ago. "Earth's inhabitants were destroyed by three secondary planets who plotted to take over the Intergallactic Confederation. These were the barbaric planets of Bellum, Lesus and Xin. When it launched multiple nuclear attacks and killed all life on earth, the remaining inhabitants sought refuge in other planets such as Celeste and Mira. We and many other planets have opened our doors to refugees. But Novus' exclusivity and eutopic mentality will let other planets die as long as it continues to prosper."

Selena was silent in disbelief. It's as if all the time she spent on Novan education from Dr. Kurt had been a lie. Has he been lying to her? Or has he been given the same lies?

"And why do you need me? Who am I to the Confederation?"

"You can be the key to save what's left of humanity." Another person responded.

Behind Kael appeared another woman. But it was not a Celestian. It was another human. As she showed herself into the light, Selena gasped in disbelief.

"That's impossible."

"Hello." she greeted with a smile.

The woman was Selena's exact replica.