Planet Z

Chapter 2

I must confess. I’m thrilled Beale is eligible for the Ship Date, even if we’re both potentially doomed because of it. Even if Beale feels the exact opposite and would give anything to stay here. I know it’s selfish thinking, I chastise myself.

Beale’s been terrified since the day he arrived at The Facility. I remember the way his brown eyes stretched wide as he took in the Training Center. The way he came out of Ship Date Orientation ten shades paler. His blonde hair was spiked in every direction, soaked with sweat.

I’ve watched many people go through Ship Date Orientation and come out in shock. No one’s reaction made my stomach churn like Beale’s. That was the first thing that made me notice him. The only thing I suppose, since I never took much notice of anyone else. I made a point to meet Beale before the other inmates warned him about me.

Beale was generally friendly with everyone when he first arrived, and never has quite caught on to why the other inmates stopped socializing with him. Not that we have many opportunities to socialize in The Facility, but I do fill those spaces with solely Beale.

Now, the others assume we’re either in love or that I’m just a lunatic who managed to brainwash him. More often the latter is running through the rumor mill. Sometimes I wonder if both rumors are actually true. At least one of them has to be.

“Zara,” I snap back to reality. Beale has found me in the chaos. I had been moving in his direction. I grab his hand and tug in the direction of the Training Center. He nods in reluctance.

We don’t speak the entire way there. I can see in Beale’s eyes that his thoughts are all over the place. I idly wonder if I’m part of his thoughts, but I doubt it. Surely he’s focused on the family he’s leaving behind here. His home, his whole life.

Beale spent eighteen years living on the outside. He won’t talk about before with me much, but I know he went to a college because he compared his cell to his old dorm room once. I know he has a sister and mother who still care about him. I know he loves the ocean, he’s mentioned missing it a few times. I suddenly regret that I never asked him why.

We’re reaching the entryway to the Training Center, and I’m considering asking Beale just what made the ocean so special, when a tiny blonde girl gets caught in our intertwined arms. “I’m so-”, Beale instinctively starts to apologize to the girl, but I shove past her and drag Beale through the Training Center doors.

✰✰✰

Guards cover every square foot of the Training Center. They’re grabbing us as we enter, shuffling us into some order. Most inmates are silent, in shock probably. Some are crying quiet tears. A few are wailing at the top of their lungs. I squeeze Beale’s hand as hard as I can, pleading for him to stay silent, just as a guard rips him out of my view. I’m surprised by my urge to scream when his hand slips from mine, but I keep my lips locked in a hard line.

Marching in crowded lines, inmates strung together by guards, we’re being led to the back of the Training Center, one of the few areas I’ve never accessed. I’m at the very back of the line, so I hear the gasps of the inmates ahead of me before I gasp for myself.

A massive white spacecraft sits in the center of the largest room I’ve ever been in. Does this count as a room? The spacecraft fills practically every inch of what seems to be an arena. Long ramps stick out of the sides, spaced every hundred yards, indicating the entrances to the ship. I can see ahead of me that Beale’s line is already heading up a ramp, boarding the ship.

The X-2155-S7. It’s printed across the side in thick red letters. The Seven, I hear guards referring to it as.

By the time I set foot on a ramp, Beale has long disappeared into The Seven. I try to bury the voice in the back of my head wondering if I will get to see him again. I glance around the large arena quickly, taking it in as I realize these are my last moments on this planet.

Goodbye at last, I close my eyes for one moment and take a deep breath. I exhale as my foot crosses the threshold to The Seven.