Ascension

Lorelei

We finished our meeting and Indiana and I were left in the room.

"When are we leaving?" He asks me.

"We have to be on the hills near Darkness in three days." I sigh.

"Why did you give us such a short amount of time." Indiana groans.

"I don't know." I argue.

"Well we need to figure out how far we are from the Darkness."

"Agreed."

We sit there for a while thinking.

"So how do we go about doing that?" Indiana asks.

"I have no idea." I sigh.

We decided we needed to sleep on it. I went back to my bed quarters but couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned but nothing was helping me fall asleep. Then it hit me. The navigation room! It was bound to have a map or surrounding or something. I jumped out of bed and raced down the hallways trying to relocate the Navigation room I had found earlier.

I'll admit I got lost a few times but you have to remember that the hallways look exactly the same.

"Oh Lorelei where are you going?" Laine asks me.

Laine was one of my Bright friends. She is part of the Extorian rebellion, in fact she was the first one I recruited.

"I found a Navigation room and inside it I found a transmitter and sent the Colony a message. It said that we were going to be there in three days but I have to figure out how far the Darkness is from here." I explain.

"Oh I think I know where it is." Laine told me.

"Wonderful!" I exclaim.

As we walk down the hallways Laine was telling me about how her dad used to work in the Navigation room but they had since then retired the room. I always find it very interesting to hear stories from the Brights. They have grown up with such a different lifestyle than ours. Especially Laine. She grew up on the rougher end of the stick. Her parents had to constantly find jobs so that they could eat. Her family wasn't respected because her dad wasn't a doctor/nurse or in the Military. I felt really bad for her.

She also enjoys hearing stories of my life on board the Darkness. Elijah does too. I guess they enjoy hearing about how different my life was compared to theirs. I guess I enjoy it too.

"Did you ever get claustrophobic?" Laine asks me.

"When we lived on the Darkness we had this mental disease we liked to call just the 'Crisis'. The 'Crisis' usually came as we hit adolescence. Basically what the 'Crisis' was was that we would be hit by the realization that we had no control over our lives. That our ancestors had decided our fates as soon as they set foot onto the Gen ship. Anyway the 'Crisis' hit me a lot sooner than most people. I was about 7 when I started feeling how small the Darkness actually was. It felt like the walls of the ship was closing in on me for a good solid 5 years." I told Laine.

"Wow." Laine exclaimed.

"I know. I just remember thinking about how the adults could stand it. They had been on the ship their entire lives and they didn't show any signs of realizing just how pointless our lives are. Because history would remember the people who got onto the ships and the people who got off the ships. Anyway the Shippers and the Commander stopped telling people how long we would have until we landed because just knowing how long we had made the 'Crisis' so much worse." I explained.

Laine stood awestruck.

"How did you bear it?" She asks.

"I met my best friend. She distracted me from my worries and how meaningless my life was and eventually I just didn't feel the same way anymore."

Laine and I stood in front of a door that was labeled Navigation.

"Here we are." Laine tells me.

We walk into the room and it looks exactly as I had left it. Dust everywhere and ancient equipment. I glance around the room and notice a chalkboard against the wall. I move it and see a map. I start to smile as I read the name of the map.

Charted lands of Teria

"You Brights call the planet Teria?" I ask.

Laine nods. I squint at the map trying to make it out. The map is hard to read since it is dark in the room and Laine's blue glow isn't really helping.

"Is there a light in here or something?" I ask.

Laine goes searching for the light and I try and make out more of the map. Laine find the light and flips it on. Fluorescent lights flood my eyes. At least now I can see the map easier.

"Hey Laine when was this map retired from use?" I ask.

"Right before we went to sleep again."

Strange. It doesn't really show to much land.

"Are you Extorians not big explorers?" I ask.

"No. In fact if you and the others had landed on the other side of the planet this whole issue wouldn't have even happened." Laine tells me.

"Wow."

I look at the map for a few minutes and determine where the ship Darkness was and where we are. I do the math and we are only about 20 miles away from the Ship.

"Hey Laine?"

"Yea."

"Have the Extorians ever explored outer space?" I ask.

She thinks for a moment.

"No I don't believe we have. Why?" She asks.

"Because the Oasis Sun Colony and the Ursus Minor Colony weren't the only Colonies to be sent by Earth. Remember. They sent the Ursus Minor colony out of necessity. I just think it would be cool to just randomly be exploring space and run across another Colony from Earth." I explain.

"Hmm. I guess that would be pretty cool." Laine smiles.

We start walking back to the Hospital area.

"Hey Laine, can I ask one favor of you?"

"Sure, what do you need?"

"Can you get us a Compus. I would do it myself but I am being put under Extorian supervision." I sigh.

"Sure."