Chapter 1

The journey begins

Chapter One

Ime knew she had been lucky to get a place on this ship. But looking up at the ship, towering over her, all she felt was nervousness. The chrome monolith took up half the space in the aircraft hangar. Walking toward it was like walking toward a beast about to swallow her whole. Ime squared her shoulders and crossed the crowded floor to the ship.

She was about to walk up the stairs when a girl with spiky blonde hair pushed past and sprinted up the stairs in front of her. “Sorry!” the girl called back, waving apologetically to Ime. Ime waved back and climbed  the steps into the belly of the ship.

The corridors inside the ship were just wide enough for two people to pass each other. Ime tiptoed through the passage Her black duffel bag bouncing off the walls. She reached a six way split and stopped, unsure of which route to take.

“The bridge is that way,” a disembodied voice informed her. Before Ime could reactreact, the blonde girl from the stairs from the stairs stepped out of one of the halls. She grinned wickedly and pointed down a path to Ime’s left. “Just head down that hall and there’sthere’sa door to the bridge.” She smiled again before squeezingsqueezing past Ime and trotting down the hall Ime had come from. “You can’t miss it!” she called as a final remark.

Ime walked down the corridor indicated. JJust like the girl had said there was a very obvious door, there was a very obvious door. She reached out to open it , but before she could touch ittouched it the door slid into the wallslidinto the wall. Ime shook her head and stepped onto the bridge.

The room was full of people. Some were performing final checks of equipment and some, like Ime, were looking for the captain. Ime lingered in the doorway for a moment until a man in a tan jumpsuit nudged her. She jumped out of his way when she noticed a flash of scales at his collar .

A gangly girl appeared at her side. “Hello,” the girl gasped. “I’m Elliot. Call me El.” Elliot swiped a handful of pumpkin orange curls away from her face. “What’s your name?”

“Uh, Ime Marija Tlesi.” Ime shuddered as the man with the scales brushed against her while he left the bridge.

Elliot pawed at her tablet, a piece of glass with a long list of names scrolling by. “Tlesi, Tlesi,” she mumbled. “Ah! Here we are.” She grasped Ime’s elbow and tugged her out a different door. “You’re gonna go straight down this hallway, and the third door on your left is your and your roommate’s room. Once you’ve put your stuff down, come straight back; we have an orientation thing in fifteen minutes or so.”

“Thank you! I’ll be back quicker than you can think.” Elliot nodded before plunging into the fray of the bridge. Ime strode down the hall, counting the doors until she reached the third one. The door whirred open, accompanied by a soft robotic voice informing Ime that she had only two unauthorized entries left.

Ime took stock of her surroundings. Two beds of cool grey metal topped with thin mattresses. Four drawers under each of the beds. A small closet standing open across the room. Two tall cubesat the end of each bed. As Ime circled to the bed, she saw that the cubes had shelves. A pale blue bag rested on one of the beds. “Guess my roommate’s already claimed her side,” Ime muttered.

She slung her bag onto the bed and began pulling things out. Five identical versions of her uniform went in the drawers under her bed. Two civilian outfits and  pajamas followed suit. Ime laid one uniform out on the bed and dumped the rest of her bag onto the hard bed. She placed a framed picture on top of her cube, but when she tried to place the other things in the cube, another automated voice beeped at her. “Unauthorized being registered. Please desist immediately.”

Ime packed her items back into her bag indigantly and zipped it shut. She crossed to the door and searched for a lock. A small button clicked the door into its slot but a moment later it sprang back, with the familiar “unauthorized being registered.” Ime sighed, then turned away from the door and quickly shimmied out of her civilian clothes into her uniform.

Ime stowed her discarded clothes in a drawer and adjusted her uniform as she walked back to the bridge. When she reentered the room, it was much less busy than it wasbefore. A handsome black woman climbed up to a raised platform and clapped her hands to command everyone’s attention.

Everyone turned to look at her. “Hello, everybody!” The crowd roared a quiet greeting. “Welcome aboard the Starlike! She's the very newest model - they decided we should have the very best for our first mission to a new planet. My name is Amaeri Pugh and I am the captain of this ship.” She looked around for a brief second. “Elliot?”

Elliot rushed to her side, out of breath and sweaty. “Here,” she panted, shoving a glass tablet into Amaeri’s hands. Amaeri took it and Elliot subsided into a watchful stance at her side.

“Right.. I’m gonna take a brief rolecall, then you’re gonna all register yourselves, okay?” A whisper of consensus swept through the room. “Alright. When I call your full name, raise your hand. Violet Trin.” A girl with an upturned nose and a high ponytail raised her hand. “Frank Andrew Troh.” A short man who was still out of uniform lazily flicked his fingers. Ime began to tune out the monotonous list.

“Ime Marija Tlesi.” Ime startled back to the room and overcompensated for her distraction by thrusting her hand as high in the air as she could. “Azra Tansy Ruiz,” Captain Pugh called. Ime’s eyes snapped to the girl gracefully raising her hand. Her violet eyes flashed as she turned her head toward the light.

Ime tried to catch the girl’s eye, but Azra stared primly ahead. Miffed, Ime turned her focus on the same direction. “Alright, I think that’s it!” Amaeri exclaimed. “You all need to come get registered - line up, single file, no shoving.” Even as Ime jostled for position, she watched as Azra slipped out a door.

“Name, please,” Elliot said pleasantly.

“Ime Marija Tlesi,” Ime replied.

“Alright, Ime, please present your eye to this scanner.” Ime stared into a glowing sensor as it shined green light across her face. “And press your fingerprints onto here.” Ime obediently rolled her fingers across a warm metal pad. “You should be registered. This means you can get into your room, lock your room from the inside and the outside, access your cabinets, and get food. For now, we have time for people to unpack and meet their roommates.”

“Do you remember who my roommate is?”

“Um… I don’t. Sorry.” Elliot cast a glance toward the people waiting behind Ime. “She’s probably already in your room. I’d just go see if she’s there.”

“Okay. Thanks, Elliot. Hey, when’s lunch?”

“Usually people will just eat whenever they have time, but we probably have communal lunch because it’s the first day. I’ll find out when I’m done here and message you when I know?” Elliot tugged her hand through her curls again, wrenching several strands from her scalp. “Did you see the message screen in your room?”

“No, but I’m sure I’ll find it. I’m very resourceful.” Ime grinned at the other girl, who managed a pained grimace.

“Right. Well, I’ll message you.”

Ime said goodbye to Elliot and meandered down the hallway to her room. The door slid open without a voice this time. Ime began to unpack the rest of her bag. As she placed her belongings on the bed, she glanced around the room. She was alone; her roommate had yet to arrive.

Ime stuffed three tattered paper books in her cupboard before coiling an iridescent cord and placing it next to the books. The only other things in her bag were a small pair of scissors, a miniature fan, and four tarnished silver coins. Ime carefully arranged all of her belongings in the cube. She hung the empty bag on a hook in the empty closet.

Satisfied with her situation, she straightened and decided to venture out of her room to explore the ship.