Paige learned everything she could from that place anyway, but still... She didn't like being pushed around. It made her blood boil. After everything she’d just heard and seen, she wanted to let loose.
Don't make a scene. Your mom needs you, she reminded herself.
“Green! Move it! You need to go to the Green Level now!” the woman shouted, practically making Paige’s eardrums bleed.
That's it! I am so over this Red bitch!
Paige pulled her arm out of the woman’s grasp with such force that she stood stunned. She hadn’t expected a young girl like Paige to be that strong.
Well, surprise. Paige felt like grinning to her face.
“I can walk,” she snapped back, already feeling frustrated, angry, and scared because of what happened to her mother. She didn’t need some wicked bitch from the west to harass her on top of that.
“And as I said before, my name is Paige. Paige! Not Green. What is wrong with you people? The aliens already took our home. When did we lose our humanity as well?” She concluded her tantrum, shaking her head.
Feeling slightly calmer, Paige took one last glance at the big screen, trying to remember as many details as possible. There were lots of other people in the cells, and one of them looked familiar.
Holy shit! It’s Kwan! He was in a cell beside her mom.
It surprised Paige to see him there. Why is he in a holding cell? Her mind spiraled. The last time she saw him, he’d defended them on the Genesis in front of Captain Zoya. She had to order guards to take him away.
Paige would forever be grateful that he stood up for them, even though it obviously landed him in hot water.
Is he in a cell because of us? No, the captain wouldn't do that to him. Would she? Paige’s mind swam with questions. After thinking back to everything else the lovely captain had done, Paige realized Zoya absolutely would have locked him up. She had no problems kicking them out of the ship. Locking up an insubordinate soldier was right up her alley as well.
What a total witch. Paige fumed.
The Red Coat woman was briefly rendered speechless, but Paige knew that wouldn’t last. Not wanting to test her luck, she turned and marched straight back to the elevator.
To her relief, it was empty. She didn't want to have to deal with other people for a while. She needed time to think and process everything.
Paige pushed the green button with a little more force than was necessary and watched the doors close.
Kwan is in a cell next to my mom. She still couldn’t believe it, but that made her think maybe she could use that to her advantage.
She was so caught up inside her head that she almost missed that the elevator didn't just go up, but it went sideways, too.
Cool! That fascinated her, hoping she didn't imagine the whole thing.
When the doors opened again, Paige stepped out and found herself in a small room with green walls. There were a couple of doors on either side of the room which she guessed led to sleeping quarters.
Paige didn’t have a clock on her, but it was easy to see that AJ still hadn’t arrived. Remembering she had her phone, she tried to check the time, but her battery was dead.
Typical...
There was a long, gray sofa pushed against one of the walls in the room.
This must be a common room for the Greens, she mused.
Tentatively, she sat on the sofa and waited for AJ. What else could she do?
* * *
Dave fumed. How could they lose a small boy? Even though it was clear they didn't give a rat’s ass about him, he was still a small boy all alone there. Didn’t that mean anything to those people?
Apparently not.
From the first moment stepping onto the mothership, Dave felt like a king. Everyone was so nice to him. They welcomed him, like he found a home away from home. Now he knew better. It was all about the money.
Luckily for him, Brooke had enough foresight to set this great new identity for him. God only knew what would have happened to him if she hadn’t, although he had an inkling.
His poor brother probably got a much different experience. Just thinking about it made his blood boil.
However, knowing Peter, it was completely possible he got bored and wandered off on his own.
But that doesn't help me! Where am I supposed to look for him?
When Gretchen offered to give him a tour, he’d blown her off. So now, Dave didn't have the faintest idea where he was or where to look for his brother which was perfect. Just freaking perfect!
“Mr. Davis?” He heard Gretchen's voice call out to him, but he ignored her.
He doubled his speed, but she caught up to him, panting. He was disappointed in all of them, even though Gretchen hadn't done anything to him personally except be a wonderful guide. Still, he doubted it was from the kindness of her heart.
“Mr. Davis, I...”
“I want to be left alone,” he interrupted.
“I promise we will find your brother. I will immediately send his picture to the guards. Everyone will be on high alert.”
“No,” Dave snapped back. “I don't want anyone spooking him.”
He was probably traumatized enough. He assumed those kids were sad they were in a classroom, but now he wondered. What if that’s not the case? What if they were intentionally singled out, locked out? He shuddered from his thought. “I will look for him myself.”
“But, Mr. Davis....”
Dave abruptly stopped and turned to look at her. Gretchen stopped in her tracks, almost colliding with him.
“I said, my brother is my problem. So back off,” he threatened, barely containing his anger.
He’d traveled from so far away only to encounter a problem like this. It was unbelievable.
“As you wish,” she replied softly.
He really frightened her, which was a shitty thing to do. In his defense, he was mad and worried for Peter, and that wasn't such a great mindset.
Dave nodded before walking away, hoping like hell he chose the right direction.
He was still in the same freaking hallway and ahead was the only way to go.
“Show me the way back to my room and provide me with a map of this place,” he said eventually.
“Certainly,” Gretchen replied, returning to her professional mode.
Dave had an idea, but he needed to check the list of passengers again. He was so excited to find Peter's name earlier, he forgot about everything and everyone else.
Chances were good that some, if not all, his friends were also on the ship. If Peter was, they likely were, too.
“Yes,” Dave exclaimed upon returning to his suite. Once he thoroughly checked the list, he discovered that Paige, AJ, Mrs. Moon, and Tilley were also on board. That filled him with hope.
Looking for five people was easier than looking for just one.
I will get to see Paige again. That realization made his heart beat a little faster.
He just had to have some faith Peter was with them and not alone and wandering about. One thing still presented itself as an obstacle.
Where should I start with my search?
Chapter Eleven
After what felt like forever, Paige was sure the hour they’d given one another to meet up had passed, and AJ still wasn’t there.
What’s taking him so long? Did something happen to him, too? Paige worried. Should I go look for him? She knew what floor he was on, but she quickly ruled against it. He’ll come.
Absentmindedly, Paige looked up at the camera in the corner of the common room. She knew there had to be cameras in the sleeping quarters as well. While she was in the Operations Room, she noticed the sleeping quarters weren’t displayed on the large screen.
Still, that didn’t make her feel any better. It would be safer for them if she got rid of all the cameras on the Green Level.
Let's see what I can do with you, Paige mused.
She calculated her movements slowly, and using an obvious surveillance blind spot, sh
e snuck under the camera and turned it off.
There, I fixed it, she joked.
With some luck, they wouldn’t notice immediately and would later assume it was only a malfunction.
That shit happens all the time, right?
She moved back to the sofa and sat, feeling a little knowing the camera didn’t show her.
A sleeping room door opened suddenly, and a few people walked out. They saw Paige on the couch and stopped in their tracks.
Great, she thought sarcastically. She wasn’t in the mood to socialize.
Better get up and make some friends.
“Hello,” Paige said with a forced smile as they came closer.
“Hello,” a gloomy-looking woman with lavish red hair replied. She came over to the sofa and sat next to Paige. The others took a seat around the room as well.
“This is my first day on this spaceship,” Paige confided in the woman, filling the silence. The woman nodded in return, seeming unhappy.
“Ours as well,” someone replied.
Two girls stepped out of the room last, and Paige recognized them immediately. They were with her on the Genesis. Obviously, both were stowaways.
Sofia and... Paige couldn't remember the other girl's name, and it was a pretty one.
Jasmine.
“Hey, girls,” Paige said, honestly pleased to see them.
They embraced like they were long-lost friends. While they may not have known one another long, certain situations brought people closer together. That was just the way human nature worked during a crisis—or when you shared Kindles and your love for fantasy.
“I can't believe you’re here and alive,” Jasmine said.
Sometimes Paige couldn't believe that either. “Alive and well,” Paige replied cryptically. She really didn't want to get into details, especially among unfamiliar people.
“What happened? Who was that guy?” Sofia prompted.
“Just some crazy person who worked for the aliens, but we got away.” Well, sort of. Paige rushed over her words, wanting to get this over with.
“Scary,” Sofia replied with wide eyes.
A slight pause followed, and Paige wanted to move past this particular subject. She returned to her seat on the couch. “So, we’re all new here,” she gestured between herself and the girls. “How about you? Do you like it here?” Paige asked, trying to keep the conversation active.
Paige wasn’t overly social, but no matter what her mother said, they needed to socialize.
Because no man is an island, she thought of the famous quote.
The woman looked at Paige like she was crazy. At first, she shook her head, and then she sat and stared, studying Paige’s face.
“I’ve heard we’re heading to Mars, did you?” Paige asked instead of asking what the woman’s issue was. “I wonder what it’s like there.”
“Well,” the woman finally answered, “obviously, you don’t know much about this place.” The other people in the room nodded while looking at Paige.
“What? What don’t I know?” Paige urged.
“Going to Mars is a fairy tale,” the woman said sadly. “They’re not taking us to Mars.”
“What? Why? What do you mean?” Paige prompted, frowning.
Her father explicitly said the mothership was just a halfway stop on their way to Mars. Of course, Paige and her little gang had other plans, but the rest of the human survivors needed to settle somewhere.
“The people in green uniforms will stay on this spaceship and work. We’re here until we die,” the woman informed her.
That’s horrible!
“But … why?” Paige choked out.
“We’re stowaways,” the woman continued, shrugging. She was clearly at peace with spending the rest of her life there. It was obvious she hated it, but she’d given up any hope for change.
Every fiber of Paige’s being rebelled against the idea. That’s just unacceptable!
“They treat us like shit, and they never miss an opportunity to remind us of that fact—of how we’re only here to work. If we don’t work, we’re useless and will be floated out.”
Paige was rendered speechless. She couldn’t believe her ears.
“So, now you know what’s waiting for you, too,” she concluded.
Like hell it is! Paige rebelled, but she kept that to herself.
On the other hand, she did have a momentary taste of what it felt like to work for the Reds until they kicked her out. She couldn't imagine going back to that every single day for the rest of life with no hope for something better.
Like we’re slaves. Paige shuddered.
The woman beside her nodded, clearly guessing her trail of thoughts by the horrified expression on her face.
“We just arrived as well,” Sofia said. “We had no clue what was happening here.”
Jasmine nodded. “We thought we would finally be safe and free after the mistreatment we endured on the Genesis.”
“As it turns out, this place is even worse,” Sofia concluded. “They immediately assigned us jobs with no explanations.”
“And crappy ones at that,” Jasmine chimed in. “I refused to do it once, and some nasty woman in a Blue Coat threatened to report me. She said I would be floated out if she did.” She sniffled at the end of her short story, clearly scared for her life.
Paige pondered about that before replying. “I knew everyone had to work. I knew the job assigned to you was based on your test score. Still, I thought it was a temporary thing until the spaceship reached Mars.”
All the other Greens in the room shook their heads. Paige noticed some of them glanced at the elevator nervously and often.
“We’re so scared that they may come any minute and take us out for floating,” Jasmine said, shuddering. That explained why they looked at the doors so often.
“Oh, I … I don’t think they’ll actually do it.” Paige tried to reassure her though she fully believed the opposite. “Maybe they said it just to frighten you.”
Her words were met with silence, and it was clear to Paige that no one agreed with her. They’d be correct.
Suddenly, the elevator doors opened, and AJ walked out. Paige silently cheered, even though he was more than late.
The people who had been on the sofa stood and dispersed in different directions after greeting him. Once everyone was gone, they used that opportunity to sit alone and chat.
“AJ, you’re so late!” Paige whispered in a harsh tone. “I was getting worried.”
He sighed, looking exhausted. “I had no other choice, Paige,” he said. “They kept me for extra work, so I didn’t get a chance to look for the pilot’s cabin.”
“Yeah, well, Mom found it for us,” she informed him, raising her brows.
He stared at her. “What? Tell me everything!”
Paige cut right to the chase. “She broke into the pilot’s cabin and spoke with Brooke over the radio,” Paige rushed before telling him the exact exchange. “Then the guards came and took her away. I saw it on the big screen in the computer room where I was supposed to work. They took her and locked her up in a cell.”
“Oh, no!” he replied, realizing instantly the gravity of the situation.
“Exactly.”
AJ frowned, holding his hand up. “Wait, what do you mean supposed to work?” he asked.
Paige shrugged. “My ‘boss’ kicked me out and said I wasn’t old enough for the post.”
It was clear AJ wanted to know more about that, but Paige shook her head. “That's not the important part. You won’t believe who else I saw in there, down in the cells, I mean,” Paige continued, lowering her voice.
AJ mimicked her posture, waiting to hear about her discovery.
“Kwan!” she delivered dramatically.
“Kwan!” he exclaimed. He seemed just as shocked as she was when she saw him. “But … why is he in a cell?” he wondered out loud.
Paige shrugged in return. “I have no idea. I have a feeling it's because of us.”
“You think Captain Zoya took revenge against him for being on our side?” he guessed.
Paige nodded. There was no other explanation. Kwan appeared to be a model employee, so she didn't believe he would have done something else to piss the captain off.
“That sucks!”
Her sentiment exactly.
“Do you have a plan?” He changed the subject after a small pause.
Paige took a deep breath before replying. “Yes. It’s a very simple one,” she said and looked him straight in the eyes before continuing. “We have to go to the Zero level and break my mom out. That’s my plan.”
“Oh? Well, that’s a wonderful plan,” AJ said sarcastically, but Paige wasn’t angry at him for it. She knew her plan sucked.
“That’s the only thing I can think of. It’s what I know we need to do,” she defended, and he simply nodded in return, sighing.
“I think we need to work on it a bit more. We don't want to end up in a cell next to her,” AJ replied rationally.
Of course, he’s right. Paige knew that, but she hated sitting around doing nothing as they brainstormed. She was more of a girl of action, but in this case, some crazy, fast, Suicide Squad type of stunt would be unsuccessful.
Or would it?
People pouring into the common area pulled Paige from her thoughts.
She recognized the same woman from before. “Lunch break,” she announced.
The prospect of finally eating something cheered Paige up. Their fellow Green Coats filled the space, sitting wherever was available, and in that regard, Paige was reminded of Genesis and the way stowaways on that ship had to huddle together in the cargo area.
“I’m Rosalie, by the way,” the woman introduced herself, offering Paige an apple.
“Paige,” she replied. “And this is AJ.” She accepted the fruit and looked at it in amazement.
So many things she used to take for granted, and now everything was precious.
Greens pulled various foods from their pockets, piling it in the center of the room before each took something back to eat.
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