The Calling

We stood in the main hall like a constellation of stars as we listened to the chancellor call out people's names. We must have been standing for longer than an hour. Every time the chancellor opened his lips I fear he will say my name or one that I recognise. I could feel my heart beating. I feel paranoid. I look to my side and see my sister, Cassie. She is a few years younger than me and barely reaches my shoulder. She's pretty. Her face is covered in freckles. Her hair is long and falls down her back. Her hair is tawny like a lion's fur or a least what I think a lion's fur looks like. I've never seen one in the flesh. I've only ever seen them in pictures hung up on her wall. Cassie bites her lip as her leg trembles. Everyone else hides their emotions. I gently squeeze Cassie's hand. For a moment she looks at me and I crack a comforting smile. She smiles back and also squeezes my hand just as tight.

"Dawn Luxs" says are leader, Pegasus. He approaches a machine and picks up a freshly printed piece of card then reads the name out loud. An old lady stands and joins the other people who have also had their names called out.

We have lived on the ship known as Triton for the past three generations since the destruction of planet earth. The hope was to find a new planet to inhabit but space is a very empty place. Me and my sister where born on the ship. It's all we've ever known. Over the decades we have slowly been running out of supplies and air. It's very chrostophobic. Triton can only hold a population of five thousand but the current population is around six thousand. It takes sixteen years for are population to reach a thousand so every sixteen years a thousand names are called out. It's called the Calling. The people can be anyone. There picked at random by a machine. The next morning those who have had their names called out are floated into space to die.

"Electra Robinson" A person who I recognised stands and joins the others.

They say it's an honour if your name is called and that it's destiny but I can't see how. I don't believe in destiny. Things happen just because. Some people think that it's rigged so member of the government can't be chosen. Member of the government have been chosen in the past. The death of the last member of government caused chaos. She was going to be our next leader. There were rumours that she had found an inhabited planet but she was floated before the information could be confirmed. Her name was Talitha Smith and she was my mother. Some people believe the machine choose her because she broke the one child policy. It's strange to think that Cassie should have never been born.

One more name left then I can go back to my normal routine. One more freaking name. I feel like a grenade and I'm going to explode into nothingness. The machine prints out the final card. The chancellor picks it up and reads the name out loud. It's not my name. It's Cassie Smith. Her hand is ripped from me as a guard guides her towards the others. I can't let her die but a thousand souls must die tomorrow.

"I volunteer to take my sister's place. My name is Rae Smith" I say without thinking of the consequences. I reach Cassi and push her behind me like a wolf defending her cub before she can go any further. This isn't the first time someone has swapped places to safe someone they love. A guards leads me to the others where I stand with them for a few moments as are leader ends the ceremony with a final speech.

The moment It's all over the people began to carry on with their usual routine, as if nothing ever happened whilst I'm lead into a room. It feels like I've been alone for hours but it's only been fifteen minutes. Crying is not an option. I couldn't believe what had happened. It gave me a few minutes to process it all. I was at the Calling. My sister's name was called. I took her place. Tomorrow I will die. As I sat on the chair provided I couldn't help but think about Cassi. Was she ok? What was she doing? Was she safe? Triton is to dangerous. Cassie has to leave but where could she possibly go? Maybe I could escape with her then I wouldn't have to die tomorrow. I think of mission X. It was a mission which required me and my father to go to mars and retrieve an item. I was kept in the dark during most of the mission but I trusted my parents. During the mission my father was shot. The government says it was friendly fire but they weren't there. He gave me the item and told me to take it back to Triton. It was a map. The government confiscated it from me the moment I was on board the ship. I think the map leads to an inhabited land and for some reason the government is keeping it from us. I also think that there are other humans out there and they are the ounces who shot my father. It sounds crazy. I need that map. My thoughts where interrupted as the door began to open and a man entered.

"Hello Rea." Says a man. His name is Arnie and he worked with my mother and father. We just had to clarify on the computer that it was you being floated tomorrow and not your sister.

"Is Cassi ok?" I ask. He finds a seat opposite me and sits down.

"Yeah. Sol took her home. Said he was going to make her a mean rat bolognaise" He jokes.

"That want cheer her up. She's a vegetarian" I chuckle.

"What you did for your sister was so brave. Your parents would be proud. How you holding up?" He says but I just shrug. I don't think the fact that I'm going to die tomorrow has hit me yet.

"Can I ask you something? What happened to the item I retrieved from mars during Mission X with my father?"

"All I know is that Pegasus keeps it locked away in his office. If you haven't got any more questions then you can go but you need to report back at the main hall tomorrow at 11am for the final ceremony" He says as he stands and guides me to the door then I open it and leave.

I have to get the map. I head to the garage and find my crowbar. I slip it into a rucksack and head to Pegasus offices. I keep my head down as I walk past cameras. I check for security but there is none which means he isn't there. I wait for a large group of people to move along then once the corridor is empty I pop the doors open like a soda can. I haven't got long. I need to find the map and go. I force draws open with the crow bar and scavenge through the papers but nothing. I hear voices outside and as I look through the final draw I see it and stuff it in my rucksack with my crow bar. I need to go before I'm caught. I check the close is clear outside then head down the corridor. I blended into the crowd like a ninja disgusting themselves.

A patrol passes my house and for a moment I think they're going to arrest me but they don't. I walk into my apartment and I immediately see Cassie. She has her death metal music on and she is repairing a small devise. Before she can say anything I march towards her and give her a hug. I can feel her heart beat. Slowly my eyes drift to her and I tell her everything. About mission X. About the map. And about our parents.

"Tomorrow during the ceremony I want you to find Sol and steal a ship out of here. He will be able to piolet the ship and everyone will be distracted by the ceremony so you'll be able to sneak away undetected. Take the map with you and find the inhabited planet. If the government was going to use it then they would have done it by know" I say. I reach into my rucksack and hand her the map.

"What about you?" She says.

"I can't come with you" I say. I watch as a tear falls down her cheek then I brush it away with my thumb. The guards will know if I'm missing at the ceremony tomorrow. After all I am one of the guest of honour."

"Why did you do it? Take my place?" She says. She gives me one last hug as tears stream down her face.

"Because you're my sister and I promised mum and dad I would look after you" I say as I hold her in my arms. I have to do this. I have to die for her. I've seen a little of the universe during my missions but she's seen nothing. She's been locked up in this tin can all her life. I'm scared but I don't regret my decision to take her place. That night I helped her pack and gathered supplies then Cassie drift off to sleep on my bed but I couldn't sleep. I couldn't get the images of the day out of my head.

"Where do you think you're going without saying goodbye?" Cassie says as I creep out of bed whilst trying not to wake her up.

"I've got to go. You need to get up and go find Sol" I say as she jumps out of bed and rubs her eyes.

"I love you" I gently say. I don't want to drag this out. I hug her and kiss her forehead and go before I burst into tears.

I head to the main hall whilst taking a few deep breaths and sit with the group of people I will die with. The thousand are splitter into ten groups and floated in groups of a hundred. As I was last to have my name called my group is the last to be floated. Pegasus gives a final speech and then it begins. We are lead into an empty room and I see the large doors that lead into space. Through the window I see what looks like a piece of debris but then I realise it's a body. As the body guards leave the room I hope Cassie found Sol and convinced him to leave. I stand on my knees and then as the doors opens my body is sucked into the void. I have fifteen seconds until my body will lose consciousness and drift into a deep sleep which I will never awake from. My body is weightless. I can't breath as my body drifts away from the ship. The area is littered with bodies. I look around to see Cassie flying off in the ship but I don't see her. For a moment I heard a loud beeping noise coming from the ship then I look to see Triton burst into flames. The ship exploded. The force of the explosion pushes me even further from the ship and deeper into space. A million questions are floating in my mind and I have eight seconds left. What happened? Is Cassie alive? Where are they? Where they caught? As my eyes began to close I began to see a ship. They made it. Cassie has a choice know. She can find the inhabitable planet and have began a fresh start or find out the truth. I see a hand reaching out towards me and I take it.