Page 10 of A Million Stars and Shadows

“I don’t know,” Dr. Herbert said. “It’s up to the Captain.”

“Captain Nelson?” I asked.

“No,” Dr. Herbert said. “Unfortunately, he was one of our teammates who didn’t make it here.”

My eyes shot wide open. “Who’s going to captain the ship?” I asked.

Suddenly as if the universe had heard me, a familiar voice answered me in a loud boom over the entire ship. “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. Welcome to the Red Genesis, which will be our home for the next three years until we reach New Earth. Please get settled in and make yourself comfortable. If you will proceed in an orderly manner to the reception area, our staff will get you on your way to your quarters. As you can see, it is a city where we have blocks, shopping areas, recreation, entertainment, and everything to resemble home. Red Genesis is essentially our home, an entire floating and traveling city for the next couple of years. Please take care of it, and please help us maintain it with pride as you would your own home.”

“Entertainment,” I said to Dr. Herbert. “That explains the Pop Idol being onboard.”

“Officers, please meet with me on the deck, um, in 5 minutes. Crew, please shut all doors and get ready to launch. For the rest of you, let us pray for a safe and speedy take-off. This is your captain signing off for now.”

Dr. Herbert turned to me and said, “Come on, let’s meet the new captain.”

I walked with him, towing my rolling suitcase with me to the closest elevator, which was a circular glass elevator that would light up in blue when it was working. While the passengers onboard lined up at the reception area, Dr. Herbert and I quickly made our way into the elevator, which took us to the top floor in less than 2 seconds. “Wow,” I said, “We went from level zero all the way to the 15th floor before I could even take a breath.”

Dr. Herbert smiled. “Yes, that was Dr. Patricia Beard’s idea. No time to waste, she used to say.” He sighed.

I nodded, noting the brilliance of my predecessor, who had helped build the Red Genesis, but didn’t get to live to see it take off today.

We walked out of the elevator and unto a rolling walkway down a series of hallway. “Dr. Beard’s idea, too?” I asked.

Dr. Herbert smiled again. “No time to waste.”

In about a minute and a half, we stepped off and walked towards the Deck where the new captain was standing, facing forward, looking out of the large window in front of him, while his back was towards us.

Surrounding him was a row of beeping lights like switches and buttons in a control room or an engineering sound room similar to a recording studio, only it was the controls for the Red Genesis. Flat screens of places all over the ship were place into the walls. Flat screens showing the exterior of the ship were also shown.

There was where my eyes immediately focused on. The exterior of the ship. The doors and all entrance way had been shut tight, but outside, there was something sinister going around. The same dark cloud that had become a living nightmare for the last week had formed close to the ship.

“Officers!” the new captain said, still staring at the cameras pointing to outside the ship. “We must leave now. The ship is already feeling their presence. If we stay on the ground any longer, they will seep inside and infiltrate us.” He turned around to face us.

Dr. Herbert, me, and a few other officers joined us now as we faced our new captain.

My mouth opened as I stared into the very same warm golden green eyes I had just nearly melted under.

Our new captain was none other than the arrogant and infuriating Pop Idol who already seemed to hate me.

EVIE

“Wow,” I said to Sally. “Mom sounded so young here. I always thought Mom was Mom, but here, she’s like me. Just a girl.”

“Read on,” Sally said. “The young woman you’re just reading about must have gone through quite a lot in order to be transformed into the Jana I know who built the Shelter and who made me.”

“Who became my mother,” I said.

FOUR

JANA

“My name is Thomas,” the new captain said. “And up to a few minutes ago, when I boarded Red Genesis, I was Second in Command. Unfortunately, Captain Nelson didn’t make it onboard so I will now be resuming his role. I was his apprentice, and he was like a father to me so I will still refer to him as the Captain, while you can just call me Thomas.”

He shook his head, his eyes had filled with tears. “Unfortunately there is no time to mourn everyone we’ve already lost. The Monsters, you can see is at our doors. We need to take our position now to get this ship in the air. If not, we will not be able to take off, and we will all die.”

“Yes, Captain Thomas,” the group behind me said.

“Thomas,” I corrected softly. Isn’t that what he said to call him?

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