“Hello, welcome to Fried Tuzan and Co, the birthplace of Rean’s famous triple dipped bane squid.” The woman’s bubbly demeanor took Ester by surprise. “Can I offer you a combo with a large flavored water or wheat juice?”
“Um…” Ester was a little intimidated by the options. She only recognized a few items from the advertisements.
“Would you like to try our sampler?” The bubbly woman pointed to item number four on the display screen.
Ester looked up, still completely clueless what anything was. “Sure.”
“Excellent!” The woman clasped her hands together.
The woman smiled and rang Ester up, and by the time Ester paid for her food, it was already done. She couldn’t believe the speed. She took her meal and thanked the woman, heading towards a small table facing a large tented window. On the horizon, she could see the city of Tel-Sa, a jungle of buildings and trees. It was beautiful. She unboxed her food and the aroma hit her like a pail of fresh water. How in all of Rean could something smell so good? She eagerly took her first bite and was instantly attacked by a mouthful of flavors and spices.
Wow, just wow, she said to herself. It was every bit as good as the advertisements suggested. She really wished Jermane was here to enjoy this. Ester took her time enjoying her dinner and felt nothing but joy as she wondered what other tasty foods she could try.
When she was done, she boarded the bus to grand station; the trip from the east to the west part of the state took over three hours. She was tired but still excited. From the grand station, she would take a train across the Who-da plains and then she’d be in Ans-on. With sleep tugging at her eyes, Ester sat and looked out the window. It was dark, but she could still make out the small villages in the distance by their flickering lights. The nation state of Who-da was nothing but miles of grassy fields. It was the only state to still consist of free roaming tribes. As a child, Ester’s mother told her that the beasts of Who-da were the fallen gods from the motherland and served as the protectors of the people and their resources. Who-da is said to be the birthplace of all Reanian people, the heart of her planet. She fell asleep thinking of her family as she reached up and touched her amber colored necklace. She would make her tribe proud, and one day, become a protector of the people just like her idol, Captain Inspread.
Daylight broke and woke Ester from her sleep. She was only miles from Ans-on, but the metropolis was starting coming into view. She didn’t think it was possible, but the nation state of Ans-on was more technologically advanced than Tel-sa. Free from any signs of agriculture, the metropolis looked shiny and sleek. The train crossed the city lines and was thrust into a futuristic world with high flying hover cars and tall blue and silver tinted buildings that touched the sky. As the train slowed, giant hover screens bombarded Ester with advertisements and news broadcasts just before they entered the station. In the train station, there were holograms that displayed the weather all over Rean and fully digital walls with tele-shows and news broadcasting. This was something kids in Adum-la only joked about, but the people who lived in Ans-on really did live in a different world.
The train came to a stop and the conductor announced that they had arrived in east station. Everyone got up and walked to the doors. Ester followed, but she wasn’t sure where to go next. She’d never been this far west before. The doors opened and Ester, along with the crowd, flooded out. It was loud and people pushed by her to catch their next train. No one remotely looked like her, with her torn clothes and messy hair. Everyone wore brightly colored ride suits with gadgets snapped and pinned to their bodies. They looked like tele-show models in their vibrate green, blue, and pink ride suits, even their hair was colorful and bright. Ester got carried away with the crowd and was dumped off in the atrium, the main transportation center. She looked up and around, even the clear blue windows where 100 percent digital. She recognized one of the tele-shows: Dr. Blaze. She stared at it for too long and was nearly knocked over by an uncaring businessman.
She jerked around to snap at him, but he carried on as if Ester wasn’t even there. She figured rudeness was a trait found all over Rean. The time was zero seven hundred hours. Her next train left at zero eight hundred hours, but she needed to make it to Core Station. She pulled her out hologram map from the welcome package she received from the academy, which gave step by step directions to get from her home to ranger academy. The only problem was that the directions were meant for someone who frequently traveled around the city. If it wasn’t for Brother Isa, who had been a missionary in Tel-sa and Cha-la, she would have never made it this far. Now she was in Ans-on, and this place was a whole other confusing mess.
She looked around as she walked, trying not to seem lost. She found the exit to the outside in hopes of finding some landmarks and the outside was even worse. Hover cars zipped by, at speeds that insects would envy. People cruised on hover boards and jetters through the crowds, much too close for her comfort. Nothing looked familiar to her. She couldn’t even tell what was a restaurant or a shop. Sweat formed on her brow as she walked back into the station; there was no way she was going to find her way to Core Station out there.
“Are you lost?” A neon-blue haired man with matching blue lipstick stopped and asked her.
She blinked a few times, trying to process what she was staring at. Folks back in Adum-la were not this eccentric, mainly because make-up and dirt didn’t work well together. She nodded and watched the blue haired man pluck a candy pop from his lips.
“Oh, you poor thing, where are you headed?” The man asked.
“Um,” Ester peered at her map. “Core Station?”
A smile formed on his lips, making Ester cringe at his blue tinted teeth. “Oh hun, you’re in the right place.” He pointed to a hallway on the left. “Take the underway. It goes right to Core Station.”
“Uh, thanks.”
“Anytime!” The man waved goodbye.
She was grateful for his help; now she knew at least what direction to head in. Back in the atrium, she took the left tunnel. On the walls flashed arrival and departure times for the underway trains. She did a double take at the speeds; it would only take thirty minutes to get to Core Station from the east station. That seemed impossible, but she continued forward anyways. She reached the turnstiles and watched people scan their cards. She nearly forgot that she received something similar in her welcome package. She slid her backpack off her shoulders and dug around for her card. It was paper thin but hard as a rock—thank goodness for financial assistance. The school had covered most of the cost in transportation, as long as she didn’t miss any of her rides. It was getting close to zero seven thirty hundred hours, and she didn’t want to find out what happened if she had to pay for a train ticket. She walked up to the turnstile and watched a gentlemen scan his card and enter. It seemed easy enough. Ester lifted her card and scanned it, but the light blared red and did not let her through. She tried again, but it was still red. She turned and looked around, everyone was doing the same thing. She watched a child wave their card on the scanner and the light turned green. Was her card deactivated? She tried again and again.
“It’s backwards and down, you twill!” A man shouted from behind, and it was then that Ester noticed the line forming behind her.
Ester jumped and turned her card around and the light turned green. Surprised, she didn’t waste any time and hurried through. From there, she headed to a large display with the names of places she’d never heard of. There were no listings for Core Station. Her heart sunk; she hoped the blue haired man hadn’t lied to her. She looked all over, when she noticed that this was a listing for trains arriving and departing from the west station—the station she had just came from. She rolled her eyes in frustration. These stations were so confusing. She walked down the corridor until she found the listing for east station, the one she was currently at. There it was, Core Station, the train was leaving in fifteen minutes. She glanced at her watch.
“Crap!” She raced down the corri
dor.
There were dozens of gates and stops; this place was a lot bigger than she thought. She looked up at the gate numbers. The train from east station to Core Station was 102 and she was only at gate thirty-five, so she ran like the floor was on fire.
Out of breath and sweaty, Ester had made it to gate 102. People eyed her behind their phones and tablets. She smiled and played it cool as she recomposed herself. The train arrived promptly at zero eight hundred hours. She boarded and was on her way.
“Please buckle your seat restraints and remain seated until we stop at the next station,” the woman on the speakers chimed as Ester settled in her seat.
Ester did as instructed when she noticed a child flailing about and shrieking in the row next to her. His mother was trying everything to calm him, but he continued to fuss. Ester sighed and smiled, the cries of children were all too familiar to her. Normally a sweet treat or a tickle was enough to subdue even the crankiness child. Ester was sure the child would settle when she noticed a small stuffed toy on the floor in the aisle next to the mother. She looked up at the boy, he wasn’t flailing randomly, he was trying to reach his toy. Ester got up and handed the toy to the mother, who thanked her repeatedly. Just as Ester was about to say no problem, the train took off, knocking her off balance. Ester stumbled into her seat and watched the happy pair. It was something about the smiles of children that made Ester happy. She turned and glanced out the window. The scenery passed by in a colorful blur. She couldn’t take her eyes off all the things zipping by. It didn’t feel like they were going that fast, and yet she thought if they didn’t slow down she would be hurled into the future.
From Core Station, she boarded her final train to ranger academy on Juw-ja island. Most of the islands on Rean were uninhabitable, but it was agreed that moving the global military to an isolated island was the best place to set up headquarters and Juw-ja did not disappoint. The rocky temperate island offered great protection from invaders and was isolated and small enough to run and manage. Northwest of Adum-la it was colder, but not too cold that the island was ravished by snow. It was just perfect for what the United Nations of Rean needed.
Aboard the train to Juw-ja, Ester noticed more faces close to the same age she was. This was her first look at the prospective students who would be attending ranger academy. These young adults would be her peers. No one on the train looked like they were from Adum-la. Though she would happily take the title of the first person from Adum to get into the academy, she hoped that wasn’t the case. Everyone sat down and got settled as the train began to take off. Ester was excited and a little nervous about crossing the ocean for the first time. The train sped through the tunnel, then out into the city where it cruised between the skyscrapers high above the streets. Ester’s eyes were plastered to the window. There were so many new model hover cars in the sky. Some entered buildings while others exited, as if one could just fly up to a building and enter it. Hugged close to the sleek shinny buildings were platforms that people were dining at. The platform floated around the building as visitors ate like it was normal. Ester couldn’t believe her eyes. Then they hit the coast. She looked down at the ports and the ships then gasped when she saw the ocean. It was huge, wider than any plantation or field she had ever seen. It looked like one big blanket of moving dark bluish green. It sparkled from the sunlight as large sea serpents breached the surface. Ester leaned so close to the window that her breath fogged up the glass. She had never seen a sea serpent in the wild before.
Juw-ja island appeared on the horizon, and Ester’s mouth dropped as she watched it get closer. It was rocky and flat and from the skies hover crafts lifted and took off. She watched the sky as a Rean forty-seven pointed its thrusters downward for landing. She had only seen forty-sevens on the tele-shows in school. The forty class was the only class of star ship that could travel to other planets within their galaxy. It could make the trip from Ceapeaya to Fandour and back to Rean without burning out its solar engines. As the train veered around to the east part of the island, Ester could see other cadets. Some were in marching formation, while others were practicing with CuCores, specialty designed weapons that harnessed her people’s natural electric abilities and amplified them. The train pulled into the ranger academy station, and all the cadets on the train drew quiet as they looked out the windows. There were hundreds of cadets and rangers walking on the platform. The trained slowed to a stop.
“Attention all new cadets, please exit and report to the check-in station for processing. Attention all new cadets, please exit and report to the check-in station for processing.”
The message repeated. Ester filed out with the rest of her peers but couldn’t ignore the stares she was getting from the other kids around her. She did look a little out of place compared to the other kids, but she’d earned her right to be here just like the rest of them. Once off the train, she was one in a crowd of hundreds. The new cadets weren’t the only ones arriving back to school; senior cadets, instructors, and active duty rangers all walked about.
“Attention all new cadets, please exit and report to the check-in station for processing.”
She looked around for the check-in station and caught eyes with a pale skinny blond boy. His icy blue eyes stared at her, as if it wanted to ask a question, but nothing was exchanged but a smile. Ester blinked twice before the intercom cut off her thoughts.
“Attention all new cadets, please exit and report to the check-in station for processing.”
Ester looked back at the place the boy was standing at before, but he was gone. She looked around for him then shrugged. Looking for the check-in station was hard. It was impossible to see over the immense crowd and even harder to focus over the chatter and intercom blaring in her ears. She wished there were some kind of sign or arrow that pointed her in the right direction. She saw some of the students from the train and decided to follow them. They weren’t wearing ranger suits so they must be new students. As she followed them her decision proved to be the right one. She saw a large hover screen that read “Check-In.” She smiled and headed right over.
The check-in post was a long hall with many rooms. It was where cadets went for their physical exams and paperwork check. Cadets stood in line and waited to be sent to a different room. Ester looked around at people entering and exiting the rooms. It was so clean and orderly. The walls were a dull chrome gray, and the doors a soft cream. Each slide open on their own as students shuffled in and out. Ester presented her academy card, one she received in her welcome package, to the coordinator for verification. The coordinator took one glance at Ester then scanned her card. There was a nod, which helped calm her nerves. She was meant to be here, and it wasn’t a mistake. The coordinator sent her to room 45-6. Ester took her card and hurried over to the line that corresponded to her room number. Ester lined up behind another girl with dark brown skin and a head full of thick curly hair who wore a loose tan dress buckled around the waist with a black belt.
“Oh my goodness I’m so nervous.” The girl said once she saw Ester.
“Yeah, me too,” Ester said, as she looked around.
“I’ve come a long way, and I’m just racked with emotions right now,” the girl said as she ran her fingers through her thick dark brown hair.
“Same,” Ester laughed a little.
“I’m Samay by the way, Samay As-Sulard.” Samay extended her hand.
“I’m Ester, Ester DuTain.” Ester reached out and shook it.
“It’s nice to meet you.” Samay smiled.
The door opened, and a cadet walked out. Samay looked in front of her then back at Ester.
“Oh, gotta go! Hope we meet again.” She waved and entered the room.
Ester waved. Samay seemed nice. Ahe hoped they would be in the same class together. As Ester waited, she got a good look around. Cadets were flying in and out of the rooms and there seemed to be a good mix of cadets here. While most wore ride suits, some wore beautiful dresses and wraps similar to what Samay was wearing
. There were even cadets wearing tattered pants and shirts like Ester, but the one thing that got Ester’s attention were the different hair styles. She admired those who dyed their hair vibrant colors like red and purple, but personally she wouldn’t mind getting hers cut. She looked around for the blond boy she saw earlier, but the examiner interrupted her thoughts by calling the next cadet. Ester hurried into the room and took a seat. It looked like a fancier version of a doctor’s office. Everything was completely digital, even the scales. Ester was amazed.
“Good morning,” a man with long dark brown hair said with a smile. “Can I get your name?
“Yes, it’s Ester DuTain,” Ester said as she straightened up.
“Thank you,” The examiner said as he brought up her information, pushing his hair from his face. “You’re from Adum-la? I haven’t seen anyone from there all day. I was beginning to think we weren’t getting any this year.”
The Distance Between Page 6