The New Frontier Page 3

  The waterfall was on the other side of the mall. It flowed into a giant hole surrounded by a railing. The girls walked over to the railing to see where the water went. The hole opened to the floor below, where there were more shops and restaurants.

  Evan ran up to the railing and climbed halfway up it, looking down.

  “Evan!” their mom cried. Lauren grabbed Evan by the back of his pants and slung him to the ground.

  “What?” he asked, and wandered back to his dad.

  “Evan, don’t do that. You scared the daylights out of me,” his mom said.

  “All right, let’s go find our apartment!” their dad blurted out, completely oblivious to what had happened.

  He had most of the luggage stacked on his back like a pack mule, and their mom carried one bag and held Evan’s hand. Their dad grabbed Maia’s hand and all four of them started walking toward a different set of escalators on the edge of the courtyard. The sign above the escalators read “Central Station.”

  Lauren and Julia followed, stumbling as they both glanced back at the mall to see what else they could see before they went down the escalator.

  In the train station at the bottom of the escalator, doors opened and closed, and people got on and off. Rectangular white tiles lined the walls, and blue square tiles formed the station sign, which read “Central Station,” recreating a nostalgic scene from Earth’s ancient New York subways.

  On the side of a wall, an electronic map showed the network of rail lines. The rail lines went up and down the length of the space station and around the circumference as well. They were positioned about a quarter of a mile apart, forming a nice uniform grid. The rail lines were color coded, with the express lines labeled in green and local lines in blue.

  “We’re at the Alpha Centauri Landing. It’s a ways away from here,” their dad said.

  The family dropped their luggage and huddled together while their dad tried to figure out where to go.

  He started toward the map and was cut off by a worker bot darting around sweeping the floor. As he stepped forward, the bot swerved around him, catching him off guard.

  When he reached the map, he said, “Grid 21, Alpha Centauri Landing.”

  The map highlighted the rail lines that would take them where they wanted to go, showing the moving trains outlined in a slightly darker color. Their dad pointed up at the map with one hand on his chin. “OK, we take this express line to here, then the local line here, then … Looks easy enough!”

  As he spoke, the outlined green dot on the map blinked. Overhead they heard “Express line approaching.”

  “This is it,” their dad said, picking up some of the bags and slinging them over his shoulder. “Let’s go,” he said as he headed toward the train. The family followed him to the platform. Lauren and Julia helped their mom with the remaining bags.

  The express train pulled up and the doors opened. A sea of people got off pushing and shoving. The family forced their way onto the train, slipping in just as the doors closed.

  Lauren noticed the Cielo seal on the side of train as she boarded. They symbol seemed to be on anything municipal.

  The express train darted out of the train station and plummeted down a few floors. The train moved so fast that the walls and buildings outside were indistinguishable.

  Evan, who didn’t heed the warnings about standing without holding the railing, fell into his mom. The force of his falling knocked his mom down, and she slammed into his dad, who lost his footing and fell with the bags he carried, bumping another passenger down and another like dominos.

  “Oh, sorry,” their dad said, standing up.

  “Evan, pay attention,” their mom grumbled as she righted him and then herself.

  Lauren watched in horror, turning to the side and pretending not to know them.

  Maia jumped up and down laughing.

  Julia didn’t notice a thing, as she was looking out the window.

  The train cleared the inner tunnels where it was surrounded by buildings and shot out into a clear tube that was suspended below the buildings. The clear tube allowed them to see the bottoms of buildings fly by above them. A few minutes into the journey, the train approached a mini skyline. As they got closer, the train dove down into the heart of the buildings into another tunnel. Above, the speaker rang out, “Approaching Grid 45.” Then all of a sudden the train slowed down and came to a stop.

  After two more trains and another 15 minutes, they hopped off at a fairly small station and the train zipped away out of view. A couple other passengers exited the train and a handful of passengers got on the train. Three halls – left, right, and center – and a set of stairs stood before them. Electronic signs adorned the walls describing where each hall led. The sign on the stairs was labeled “To Surface.” There was a hanging sign in the center of the station that read “Grid 21”.

  “Here, this way,” their dad said, and walked to the hall on the left, which flashed “Alpha Centauri Landing.” They went through the corridor and walked for about a minute before reaching an elevator. The elevator whisked them down to level 4. A short walk from the elevator, their dad stopped.

  “This is it!” he said. They were standing in front of their new apartment.

  The door opened. “Welcome, Michaels’ family,” a calm voice said overhead. Inside, their belongings had been delivered in big metal boxes that sat in the middle of the living room. All the walls were bare. The girls excitedly rushed in to take a look, dashing into each room, laughing. After a cursory glance at each room, Lauren came out with her hands out to either side, her elbows tight into her hips.

  “That’s it? Where’s the rest of it?” she asked.

  Evan came out. “There are only three bedrooms! I have to share a room with Maia?!” Maia giggled and went to hug her brother as he tried to push her away.

  Their mom was looking around, peering into each room. She came out with a smirk, “It’s definitely cozy …”

  Their dad defended the apartment. “Now, it’s just for a little while, until we can find a permanent place. I know it’s smaller than what we’re used to. It’s not that bad.” He showed them each of the rooms. “Look—Lauren, you and Julia share this room. Evan and Maia share this other room. Your mom and I share that room, and there’s a small playroom over here.”

  He circled the kitchen, waving his arms. “And the living area and kitchen are right here.”

  Julia came up to her dad and wrapped her arms around his waist, “I LIKE it!” She looked up with a smile.

  “Thank you, Julia. That was nice.” Julia seemed genuinely appreciative.

  Lauren frowned, muttering under her breath, “You think you’re SOOO smart, Julia,” and stomped off to their new room.

  “OK, let’s get started …” their mother said, as she opened one of the boxes.

  Chapter 3

  Life on the Station

  It had been four weeks since they moved to the station and the new apartment. Things were settling into a routine. The kids started school which was a short train ride away. In fact, they could ride their bikes if they wanted, as the surface had well-maintained bike paths, but they elected to ride the train most days since they were usually running late.

  The older sisters were enrolled in a couple of after-school activities, as were the younger ones, making their mother’s life frenzied. Lauren had tennis Tuesdays and Thursdays. Julia had tennis on Monday and music on Thursday. Evan and Maia were both in swimming once a week and in swim meets on the weekends.

  Complicating life further, their father started his regular trips out to the asteroid belt. He was gone Tuesday through Thursday each week. It was rough on the family, but they had known that would be the case. On Earth, their dad traveled, but not quite this much. He promised that when things settled down, he wouldn’t have to be gone as much, but their mom was skeptical.

  After four weeks, the apartment began to look more like home. Their mom painted the girls’ room a soft green and arrange
d their furniture along the walls. She situated their beds parallel to each other, just like in their room on Earth. The room was a little smaller, but it was at least comforting that it resembled their room back home.

  Evan and Maia had separate rooms on Earth, but here they had to share a room. They couldn’t agree on a color, and their mom got so frustrated that she split the room down the middle and painted one side pink and the other side blue. Each time Evan walked into the room, he put his hand to the side of his face, hiding the pink walls from view.

  The girls’ room reflected their personalities, with Lauren’s side neat and tidy and Julia’s side a little disheveled. Julia was a budding scientist and her experiments sprawled all over her desk. She had a rock collection on the shelf above the desk, a few terrariums, and a number of experiments in progress.

  The terrariums were clear boxes where she grew various things. One terrarium housed some exotic plants she brought from Earth and a few insects. Others just had strange substances growing. Julia regularly studied her rocks and plants, periodically looking up information about them on the Internet.

  She had a makeshift laboratory at her desk with her prized possession—her new microscope. It was the last thing she bought on Earth before the move. The microscope was about the size of her hand, and it was circular with a black rim around the outside and a screen in the middle. When she held it over something, she could twist the bottom of it to zoom back and forth, then the image would show on the screen. A detached stand allowed her to hold the microscope steady over whatever she was looking at, but she could also take it off the stand and carry it with her wherever she went.

  Lauren’s side was covered with artwork she had created over the years. She loved to paint, use pastels, and sculpt clay when she had the chance. She swapped out the pictures on her wall periodically and would put the rest in an overstuffed drawer. She only kept the ones she liked best, and the others she would take pictures of and either give them away or recycle them. Some of her pictures were angry, others happy, some pencil drawings, and some still lifes. She tried it all.

  She also tinkered with computers, but there was nothing visible to show for it except that she had two screens on her desk instead of one, like Julia. She also had a visor she often used when working on the computer.

  This Thursday morning, Julia woke up early, as she usually did, and was checking her experiments. She shuffled through some of the rocks on her desk, clanking them together.

  “Ugh!” Lauren grunted. “Why are you making all that racket?”

  Lauren rolled out of bed, hair tangled. She struggled to open an eye while the other stayed closed. She stumbled into the bathroom to brush her teeth, mumbling something to Julia, who wasn’t paying attention to her.

  From the bathroom, Lauren yelled, “I said, why do you have to wake up so early?”

  Julia turned her body, kept reading, and then slightly turned her head to acknowledge Lauren. “What? Did you say something?”

  Yelling from the bathroom while she was brushing her teeth, Lauren repeated, “I said, why do you have to wake up so early?”

  Julia absently responded, “Oh, I don’t know. I’m just reading stuff,” and then went back to reading. She read something on the screen, then looked at one of her experiments, read again, then back to the experiment.

  Lauren frowned as she came out of the bathroom and sat down at her desk. Her monitor automatically turned on. It displayed her schedule for the day, which started with school at 8 AM and ended with tennis after school at 4 PM. Her homework assignments due that day flashed on the screen, as well as messages from her friends. She had tried to keep up with her friends since the move, but it was a little awkward because messages took so long to get back and forth. With a several minute delay she couldn’t chat with them real-time and none of her friends had the patience to wait.

  This morning she had five messages from friends back on Earth. Each week she got fewer and fewer messages. Here on the station, she tried to make new friends, but it was hard after living in the same place all her life. She never had to make new friends before. They were just always there growing up.

  Their mom stuck her head in the room. “Girls, time for breakfast.” The girls hopped up from their desks and wandered out to breakfast.

  “Wow!” Their mom looked astonished. “I only asked once! What would you all like for breakfast?”

  “Waffles,” they glumly said in unison. Neither was excited about going to school that morning.

  As their mom toasted some frozen waffles and brought them to the table, Evan and Maia ran into the kitchen like a whirlwind. Evan was screaming, “Stop touching me!” Maia chased after him.

  “Maia, stop,” their mom ordered.

  Maia stopped, but kept smiling. Evan sat down with his arms crossed and mouth pursed.

  “You know, your dad comes home today,” their mom said as she sat down at the table with a cup of coffee.

  “We know,” Lauren responded in a monotone.

  “Where’s my breakfast?” Evan said sternly, still scrunching his lips together.

  “Excuse me?” their mom asked.

  “I want my breakfast!” Evan said again.

  “You can go get it yourself. And make some waffles for your sister, too!”

  Evan looked astonished, but then grabbed two waffles out of the box his mom had left on the counter, stuffed them into the toaster, and frowned over the counter at his sister. When they were ready he walked the plates over and slid one out of her reach.

  Lauren shoved Maia’s plate back to her.

  Maia grinned at Evan, rubbing it in, then gobbled her waffle down.

  Evan bumped her and Maia screeched.

  “You two stop it!” Lauren screamed at them before her mother could react. “I’m tired of listening to you!”

  Evan and Maia froze, and their mom stared at Lauren. Then she laid her hand on the Lauren’s arm. “Lauren, are you OK?”

  “OK? I don’t like it here, Mom. I’m not meeting anyone, and since we didn’t grow up here, we’re different.”

  “What do you mean?” their mother asked.

  “I mean exactly what I said! I don’t like it here,” she said, sitting back in her chair.

  “Do you like it, Julia?” their mother asked.

  Julia shrugged, chewing a mouthful of waffle and looking unaffected by the drama around her. “Sure.”

  “I’m not sure what to say, Lauren. We’re out here already.”

  “I like it!” Evan said.

  Lauren rolled her eyes at her brother.

  “OK, clear your dishes and finish getting ready. Time to go.” Lauren’s mother looked at her with concern. “Please keep trying, Lauren. I’m sure it will get better. Something interesting will happen. I’m sure of it.”

  She reached down to wipe Maia’s mouth as the girl squirmed away from her.

  They walked to the train station together. School was one train stop up the station, so it wasn’t too far. The local trains came every few minutes, and Lauren and Julia both had their phones out, staring at them while they waited.

  Evan had gotten over Maia bugging him and chased her around a post as the train tore into the station.

  When the doors opened, the kids hopped on and found seats, waiting for the other passengers to board.

  Their mom sat down with Lauren on one side and Julia on the other. Lauren looked up at the advertisements that lined the top of the car. The ads weren’t allowed to have sound, but they were definitely flashy.

  “Looking for a change?” one read, and then flashed a photo of a woman with cat-like eyes. “Come visit us for the best mod of your life.”

  “Mom, what’s a mod?” Julia asked.

  “What?” Her mother looked up, catching the last part of the ad. “Nothing you’ll ever need! And if you try to get one, I’ll kill you!” she said to Julia.

  Julia raised her eyebrows, staring at her mother. Just then, the train came to their stop. The kids jump
ed off the train, running through the maze of hallways to get to school with dozens of other kids.

  Their mother stopped short of going in at the doors to the school, as did many of the other parents.

  “Bye kids, have fun at school!” She waved at their retreating backs.

  The kids turned the corner out of sight of their mom and walked to their respective classrooms.

  School was computerized on the station. They had a teacher, but all the lessons were done electronically. Each child had his or her own tablet computer to work on and all the rooms had large blackboards that were actually screens the teacher could write to from his or her desk. Then, when the kids were called on, they could write on their own tablets and have it show up on the blackboard.

  Lauren sat in Geometry class trying to pay attention. Most of the time it was interesting to her, but today she just didn’t care. She slumped down, staring at the board in the front.

  The bell rang for lunch. She sprang up, stretching to shake off her sleepiness.

  She brought her lunch most days, but today she was eating in the cafeteria. She stood in line with the rest of kids, waiting to get her food.

  “Hey.” The girl behind her poked her in the back.

  Lauren turned to see the girl. “Yes?”

  “You’re new here, aren’t you?” The girl said it more than asked it, since she already knew the answer.

  “Yes.”

  “You’re in my History class, aren’t you?” the girl asked.

  “I think so.” Lauren shuffled further in the line.

  “You’re in my tennis class, too, after school.”

  “Yes,” Lauren answered, moving again.

  “How long have you been here?” the girl asked.

  “About a month, I guess.”

  “That’s not very long.”

  “No, it’s not.”

  The girl shuffled along with Lauren, drumming her fingers on her tray.

  “Have you heard the stories on the station?” the girl asked.

  “What stories?” Lauren looked at her.