Chapter One
Nina
Earth, 2465
Aberrant.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the screen. The image of the letters blinking in bright red seared into my mind, burning into me like a brand. I wanted to cry. I couldn’t focus on any of the graphs monitoring my vitals or even what I’d been forced to endure during the whole ordeal. The only thing that mattered was my result. I failed the only test that counted for anything.
I’ve been afraid of turning twenty-one my entire life, of the day I’d have to take the test that would tell me where I’d spend the rest of my life. My mother always reassured me, telling me that she was certain I’d be sent to sector two with every other intellectual because I’d done so well in school. I didn’t feel like I’d fit in there though. Parts of me did, but that wasn’t enough. It felt wrong. I felt like a fraud.
I didn’t know if I would fit in anywhere, to be honest. I was terrified that I was different too, but most of all, I was petrified that I was an Aberrant.
Earth doesn’t like those who are different. They get rid of them. I was terrified that they would get rid of me.
Turns out I was right to be scared.
The two doctors administering the test stood rigid as they took in the result by my side. The woman shook her head and peered back at me with a sorrowful glance. The man typed in a series of commands into the projected keyboard, like this was all a routine procedure that he’d done time and time again. He probably had. I wasn’t the first Aberrant to be identified and systematically exiled from the planet.
There was a very heavy silence in the room.
In less than a minute, there was a knock on the door. The male doctor opened it and six men entered the room. All of them were large and very heavily muscled. They all wore hefty black combat gear.
They were here for me. To make sure that I didn’t cause a scene.
The female doctor turned to me, her expression stern now, one of duty. She’d probably dealt with a countless number of women and men like me.
The ones who were different. The ones who didn’t deserve to spend the rest of their lives on Earth. This was normal for her. I wondered how many people like me she’d seen. How many people she’d watched have their very futures ripped away from them because of those terrible red blinking letters.
“Nina, your test has identified you as an Aberrant and because of this, you cannot be placed in any of the sectors. You can no longer remain on Earth. You have the following choices. You could spend the rest of your days on Eos or you will be sold to an alien mate from the planet Kryoan. You must make your decision now,” she said, her tone completely absent of any emotion. The male doctor didn’t say anything at all. I hated that he didn’t.
It wasn’t a choice. Not really. Eos was a terrible place. It was the stuff of nightmares parents used to get their children to obey and go to bed when they were told. The stories said that it was a radioactive planet, ruined by a long drawn-out war between two alien species, and Eos had been abandoned ever since, at least until recent years. Life there would be short. The radiation would quickly ruin a person and eventually it would kill them. The rumors also mentioned a growing race of barbarian aliens on Eos, beasts that ruled with an iron fist. If you accidentally wandered into their territory, it would be certain death.
I didn’t want to die.
I’d heard nothing of the planet Kryoan before. I didn’t know if it was dangerous or what kind of aliens inhabited it.
“Choose,” she pressed.
I sighed. There really was only one answer.
“I choose Kryoan,” I said softly, my voice dejected.
“You’ll come with us now,” one of the six security escorts said. His voice seemed loud and forceful, leaving me with no question that I was to follow and if I didn’t, they’d make me. I finally turned my eyes away from my result and looked back to the enforcement officers.
Around their waists were thick belts, complete with stun guns, particle emitters, and laser guns. They all held police batons in their hands, thick black rods that looked like they would hurt should they swing them at me. It was clear they were here to control me should I show them any resistance. To ensure that I went where I was supposed to go.
I wanted to cry.
But I didn’t.
The doctors lifted the brain monitor off of my head. The test was over now, and it no longer needed to read my thoughts. It had done its job and ferreted me out. They disconnected me from a number of other wires and monitors and when I was finally free of them all, I was able to push myself up out of the chair into a standing position. The six enforcers quickly surrounded me, ensuring their complete control of me.
There would be no escape for me. My time on Earth had come to an end.
They escorted me out of the testing office and into the cold stark hallway. On the walls were posters depicting each of the sectors. I couldn’t focus on any one of them except for sector two. The one with a picture of a science lab and a researcher wearing a pair of safety goggles examining a glass slide, surrounded by beakers of colorful liquid. She looked happy in her lab coat, thrilled to be giving back to the community in the way she was meant to.
I’d never be able to go there.