Page 18 of A Million Stars and Shadows

I stared at Thomas, trying to remember what I had just awoken from and where was I. The dreams…or nightmares. Did it mean something? “I was on a barren desert-like place. There was so much red. But there was something else too. A darkness. It was trying to penetrate through me, trying to poison me from within.”

Thomas and Dr. Herbert exchanged glances.

I continued on, “I had a hard time breathing. I had a mask on that felt suffocating. The air outside was toxic, and if I breathed it in, I would choke and die.”

“Jana,” Thomas said, looking over at Dr. Herbert. “What you’re describing…it sounds a lot like New Earth.”

“How would I know what it is like on New Earth?” I asked. “I mean I know what it is like through facts that we’ve gathered, but I have no idea what it would feel like to be there.”

“You could be putting the facts together from everything you know about New Earth and imagining what it would be like,” Dr. Herbert said.

“Or,” Thomas said, “Jana may have something special that we didn’t know about her. That she didn’t even know herself about.”

“Like what?” I asked.

“You saw the darkness in your dream,” Thomas said. “You could sense it. That’s how it starts. The Monsters. They live in the dark, but then attack humans when they least expect it. Jana’s different. She can sense them. She can see them arriving. No other humans could before.”

“No other human had survived being attacked, being stabbed through, like Jana has and had lived,” Dr. Herbert said. “Didn’t you say the Monster said that Jana and her future human must be destroyed?”

“That’s it!” I said. “I must have received some of the creature’s abilities. I can sense when another one of them is near so I can’t be surprised or snuck up on by them.”

Thomas’ eyes lit up. “And you have a sight of the future…on the New Earth. You could see into the future like the creature could see into the future.”

“Somehow,” I said, “I’ve absorbed a part of the creature’s essence when I was attacked but survived.”

Thomas and Dr. Herbert looked at each other with excitement. “This means we have hope, Jana!” Thomas said.

“Yes,” Dr. Herbert echoed. “Hope!”

“Because if we can see those invisible stealthy Monsters coming ahead of time, and we can foresee the future of them, too,” Thomas said.

“We have a chance to fight back,” I said.

EIGHT

JANA

2 years Later

Dear Journal,

I was beginning to show. The bump I was showing was barely a bump, but on me, it showed. My uniform on the Red Genesis was unforgiving on me. Designed to withstand certain extreme temperatures, the sleek lightweight slacks made of skin-hugging breathable dri-weave fabric that would be as cool as possible on New Earth’s scorching temperature but can warm up with layers when the temperature was freezing; was also close to skin tight.

“Bunny,” Thomas said, looking at me as I walked out onto the Captain’s Deck, “you’re glowing.” He came over to me, his face beaming. “You’re finally showing, Bunny.”

It had taken us a couple of years for me to get pregnant. In the meantime, it had been a suspenseful two years for Thomas and I, running Red Genesis while also working as a team trying to protect it from the creatures that would emerge out of nowhere as Monsters. It was a lot to handle, especially since it was just the two of us fighting off the Monsters.

We could not allow anyone to know there were Monsters onboard the Red Genesis. Fear was what fueled them. If anyone knew about them, their collective fear would overrun the ship with Monsters.

So, it had been an exhausting two years fighting off each Monster that I would first sense, see, and then alert Thomas to, while I ran ahead to fight it off. With a few appearing here and there throughout the two years, fighting off the Monsters were manageable at first. Then after I became pregnant, they began appearing more frequently.

Although I was pregnant, I could still fight. But now, I couldn’t hide my pregnancy amongst the crew and the passengers. Thomas and I would have to make a decision.

“Bunny,” Thomas said, “I know we want to minimize the spread of panic, but I think the passengers and crew would be happy to find out we’re expecting.” He took my hands while I looked nervously around at the Officers busy working on the Captain’s Deck. “We’re about a month away from landing on New Earth, Jana,” he said, smiling happily. “It’s time we share our good news with the rest of the Red Genesis family.”

I looked down at my growing bump while Thomas pulled me to his chest in a hug. He turned me around and said, “Bunny, having an expectant mother onboard Red Genesis is going to make everyone help protect you and the baby. We can’t keep fighting the Monsters on our own.”

“It’s time,” I smiled, agreeing with Thomas. “I want to be careful with my pregnancy. I don’t want to lose our baby…”

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