The New Frontier Page 22
This afternoon, the family was finally able to move back into their apartment. They walked up to the building for the first time since construction finished. The hall walls were new, and the decorations were new, too.
“Wow! They really spruced this up!” their mom said as she walked through the halls. She sniffed the air. “It even smells new!”
They approached their apartment door.
“And I’ve got a surprise for you!” their dad said, smiling when the door opened. He was still limping from the accident and hobbled into the apartment, waving his arms like it was a drum roll.
“Oh, wow, it’s bigger!” their mom said as she charged in.
Evan ran in to see that he had his own room now. “Look! LOOK! I don’t have to share a room with Maia!”
“How’d they do that?” their mother asked, walking to the window that was about 25 feet further out than it used to be.
“They cantilevered the room, extending it out the side of the building. They did that with several of the apartments,” their dad said.
The girls’ room was slightly larger, but relatively intact. Their dressers were still in the same place and their beds were, too. They just had a little more space.
Lauren walked into their room. “Finally! We get our room back!” she said walking to a dresser.
“I know what you mean,” Julia said, observing their new room.
The two walked out to the living room and smiled at their mom and dad, who were sitting at the table. They now had a real living room, a dining area, and a larger playroom.
“Wow, this is nice!” Lauren said as she sat down at the table.
Both Lauren and Julia appreciated their family now more than ever. They had never really thought about it much until the recent events forced them to.
Julia grabbed a snack from the kitchen and plopped down on the living room couch. Their mother got up and walked over to join Julia. Evan and Maia were back in their new rooms looking around.
“What do you say we hang out here for a little longer, then we go up to the plaza and get pizza?” she asked.
“Yeah! That sounds great!” Julia said.
“It’ll be just like old times,” their mother said.
The girls got up to inspect the new game room and Maia and Evan’s rooms. Evan was so happy he finally had a room of his own. His stuff was in a box on the side of his bed, and he had already started unpacking and carefully arranging his possessions on his desk.
They went over to Maia’s room, where she lay on her bed whimpering. “I liked sharing a room with Evan.”
After helping Maia get adjusted some, their mother called, “Come on, you all. Let’s go.”
They all marched out of the room through the new living room, then out the door. They decided to walk to the plaza, since it had been a while since they walked their neighborhood. They strolled along, taking it all in. A Zeb passed them on the path and waved and smiled at the girls as if to say “Thank you.” The family waved back.
At the plaza, they did the usual. Their dad ordered pizza and the rest of them sat down at a table. There were several people sitting at other tables. A single Zeb was engaged in conversation with a human at one of the tables.
Their mother looked at the girls. “You know, that wouldn’t have been possible without the two of you.”
“We know!” Julia said, shaking her head, feigning exasperation, but deep down feeling proud.
Their dad came back to sit down with them.
The girls looked around at the plaza. Everything was in its place. Life had gotten back to normal … at least they thought it had!
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 A New Beginning
Chapter 2 Welcome to Cielo Prime
Chapter 3 Life on the Station
Chapter 4 Exploring the Station
Chapter 5 Getting Really, Really Sick
Chapter 6 Strange Things Are Starting to Happen
Chapter 7 A New Species
Chapter 8 Escaping from Aliens
Chapter 9 A Spoiled Plan
Chapter 10 The Experiment
Chapter 11 A New Ally
Chapter 12 Making the Treatment
Chapter 13 New Cielo
Chapter 14 Spacewalk
Chapter 15 Discovered
Chapter 16 The Trip Home
Chapter 17 Our New Allies
Chapter 18 More of the Treatment
Chapter 19 Flying out to Jupiter
Chapter 20 Space Ship Pilots
Chapter 21 A New Plan
Chapter 22 Going into the Belly of the Beast
Chapter 23 Attack of the Killer Monster
Chapter 24 Unlikely Heroes