The engines roared louder.
The vibration intensified, rattling metal and bone alike as the shuttle tore itself free from the ARK. Screams broke out as the teenagers sat frozen in their seats, gripping their restraints as if that alone might keep them alive.
Kael felt the same panic claw at his chest but he didn't show it on the outside, keeping his face calm. He simply closed his eyes for a moment, forcing his breathing to steady.
Then, just as sudden as it had come, the turbulence eased and the shuttle stabilized. Gravity, however, seemed to develop a mind of its own. The restraints the only reason they remained seated.
Just as they began to recover a screen at the end of the shuttle flickered to life. And with it came a voice.
"My people."
The voice was unmistakable. After all it was the same voice that once condemned most of them. The one that sentenced their loved ones and themselves to certain death.
Chancellor Jaha stood tall on the display, framed by cold white light and the insignia of the ARK.
"For nearly a millennium, the ARK has endured," he continued. "We were born of catastrophe. Born to a world that once destroyed itself. Against all odds, we survived. Not by chance, but by discipline. By unity. By sacrifice."
No one said a word. All eyes fixed on the screen. All hoping for an explanation. To clear that uncertainty, that fear, that gripped each of them.
"We preserved humanity when Earth could not. As the last bastion of humanity, we endured in space to ensure our species survival."
The shuttle shuddered again. But no panic came this time, all too focused on the screen.
"But enduring in space is no longer enough. It can no longer preserve humanity."
Jaha's expression hardened.
"The ARK is dying. Our resources are nearly depleted. Our technology has reached its limit. The laws that kept us alive are no longer enough."
Most eyes widened in disbelief, some scoffed.
"And so," Jaha went on, "we stand at the greatest turning point in the history of the ARK."
"For generations, we watched Earth from above. We studied. We waited. We trained."
"But we feared as well."
Jaha's voice became even firmer.
"No longer."
"The Earth is our birthplace. It is not a promise. It is not a dream."
"It is our right."
Kael felt something stir in his chest at those words and he was not alone. Maybe it was hope. Maybe rage or awe or everything mixed together. After all there it was again. That small spark. The spark each of them carried. The hope to once again walk the earth. To be truly free.
"And you," Jaha said, his gaze piercing even through the screen, "are chosen for this glorious purpose."
"You go not as prisoners," he declared, "but as pioneers."
At that most of them scoffed. Their hands clenched together.
"You go as the first of many," Jaha continued. "To test the ground. To reclaim what was lost. To prove that humanity once again belongs on the home of our ancestors."
"You may face hardship," he said. "You may succumb to fear."
"But every step you take brings us closer to salvation. Brings your friends and family, those you left behind on the ARK, a better future."
"No," he corrected himself. "Ensures that there is a future."
The shuttle shook harder now.
"You are no longer convicts," Jaha finished. "You are the foundation of humanity's future."
"So go now. Go forth and prove the indomitable human spirit."
And with that the screen went dark once again.
For a heartbeat there was silence. For a moment the words hung in the air.
Then someone laughed. Murphy.
"You know Wells, your father can spout the biggest bullshit with a straight face"
"Survival isn't enough" he mocked "Hear that? Guess we're heroes now"
More began to snicker some laughing openly now as well
Wells Jaha, the son of the chancellor, kept silent, jaw tight, staring straight ahead.
Murphy, seeing no reaction, clicked his tongue. For a moment silence returned to the shuttle. Each lost in their own thoughts. Some thought about the greater implications. Others not so much.
A click, especially loud in the silence, brought everyone out of their thoughts. Everyone turned in the direction just in time to see a figure taking off into the air.
A boy drifted upward, laughter spilling from his lips. Spinning a few times mid air before pushing himself a little from the backrest of his seat. He floated between the rows of the seats mimicking the motions of a swimmer. Laughter erupted wherever he passed.
More began to cheer. Two other boys encouraged by the boy and the crowd opened their restraints as well and began to float. For a moment the earlier tension was forgotten and replaced by a joyous atmosphere.
But another shudder from the shuttle, now even harder, broke it just as fast as it came.
"Hey, stop!" A girl from a different row of seats shouted, her voice sharp with urgency"Sit back down. This isn't the time to…"
"Relax" The first boy interrupted her before she could finish, still spinning mid air and continuing with barely contained arrogance"I've done this before"
"Yeah!"
"Spacewalker!"
Cheers and laughter came from the crowd.
"This isn't the same. We are falling okay. Just sit down. Please."
The girl continued and tried to persuade them. But it seemed no one was willing to listen to her. Still some caught on to how dangerous the situation could get.
"Finn" Suddenly it was another voice that cut through the air. Kael, calm and serious. He looked at Finn and the other boys "Jack and you over there as well. Sit down, it's dangerous."
And that did it.
Finn and Jack stopped in the air and looked at him. They knew Kael, like most of the others on board. Grew up with him in the lower decks of the ARK. Trusted him. They both saw the seriousness in his gaze. The silent warning. He was never that serious unless it mattered.
"Ay, ay Boss!" Finn reacted and gave Kael a mock salute. Still he and Jack returned to their seats and strapped themselves once again.
But the same could not be said for the last boy. He didn't know Kael just like Kael didn't know him. Feeling the eyes of nearly everyone on him he felt even more encouraged. What he hoped to prove was only something a vain teenager could understand.
"What's it to you?" the boy tried to mock Kael"Who even are you?"
"Sit down there is no time left" the voice of the girl from earlier came once again
"Or what?" The boy scoffed. Once again he tried to open his mouth, probably another mock, but it would never leave his mouth.
The shuttle jolted violently.
Gravity slammed back into place without warning.
The boy was thrown upward, his body striking the ceiling with a brutal crack before his body lifelessly fell onto the floor.
And once more, for a moment only silence followed.