“No.” She pulls out her tangs. “We should be planning Jarren’s surprise sixteenth birthday party.”
I groan. “That’s not for another hundred and eighty days.”
“Planning,” she says with authority, “will be the key to success.”
I disentangle from the Q-net and we brainstorm a few ideas. “I think we should have it in a spot he’d never suspect,” I say. “Like the middle of a hallway. Or outside the base!”
Just then, Dr. Maddrey pokes her head into Lan’s room. “Have you finished your school work?” she presumably asks Lan, but she gives me a pointed look when Lan shakes her head no. Dr. Maddrey leaves the door ajar when she retreats.
My cue to leave. “Better get going, I’ve a physics test tomorrow that I need to ace now that I’m applying to Brighton University.”
“It’s two years until the next Interstellar Class ship, what are you going to do for that extra year?” Lan asks.
“I think I’ll intern in a bunch of the labs and see if anything catches my interest. Chemistry and biology might be fun. Dr. Nese says he always needs help with keeping the weather instruments clean.” And any chance to go outside is always taken. “I’m sure I’ll find plenty to do.” Even if I have to spend the year reconstructing damaged Warriors. It’ll be worth it. And once I get my degree, I could be assigned to a colony planet and interact with normal people.
Lan bounces on her bed. “And my parents already agreed that we can attend the university together even though I won’t be eighteen yet!”
The best part. We share a grin. Then I wave a goodbye to the Maddreys and return to my housing unit. The place is empty. Not a surprise, my parents have been busy with the new find.
I settle next to the terminal and access the physics lectures. After two hours, I’m doing head bobs and my stomach growls. However, my parents are still not back. I check their work schedules—yes, they’ve given me permission—to see if I should wait to have dinner with them or just go to the canteen. Scientists tend to get engrossed in their work so the base has a cafeteria for those too busy to cook a meal. I’ve seen techs carrying trays back to labs for their bosses.
They both have late meetings and a few “evening” appointments. It doesn’t matter that Xinji’s sun is still high in the sky, every single colony planet and Warrior planet, as well as the people traveling in space ships, all follow Earth’s clock. Days have twenty-four hours. Years have three hundred and sixty-five days (yes, we do the leap years as well). The base’s lights and window shutters are programmed to keep Earth time. However, we stopped using the names of the months and days— that would be silly. Instead, we track the year and day. Today is the three hundredth and fortieth day of the year 2471, otherwise referred to as 2471:340.
I was born on 2337:314, and I’m seventeen Actual years old, which means I’ve lived seventeen of Earth’s years. But since I’ve traveled to two different planets and made two time jumps, one hundred and thirty-four E-years have passed during those seventeen years I’ve been alive. Boggles the mind, doesn’t it?
I scan my parents’ agendas idly, noting it’ll be a couple days before we have another family meal. Odd that they should be that busy. And why are they meeting with Dr. Gage and Dr. Jeffries tomorrow, they don’t normally interact. I straighten as my heart sinks. My guts churn as I study their itineraries, trying to dismiss my suspicions. When I reach 2471:360, I’m on my feet. I yank my tangs out and sprint from my room.
* * *
I’m breathless by the time I reach the archaeology lab. My mother is in her office with Dr. Bernstein. He’s a meteorologist. What the heck? I interrupt them. Manners are the least of my worries.
Mom’s annoyance changes to concern when she sees my face. “I’m sorry, Ben. Can we finish this later?”
“No need, Ming. You’ve already convinced me.”
My mother shakes his hand. “I’ll send you the contract.”
“Great.” He gives us a jaunty wave.
Mom’s polite demeanor drops as soon as he’s out the door. She shuts it and turns to me. “Lyra, what—”
“Tell me we’re not still going to Yulin,” I practically shout.
“Of course we are, why did you think we weren’t?”
“Because of the find. I thought you and Dad would want to study it.”
“It’s exciting, but other than authenticating and dating it, it’s not our area of expertise.”
“But…” A tight knot forms in my throat, cutting off the rest of my protest.
“That’s why we have linguists and cryptologists, Lyra. And I’m hoping the find will allow the Warrior Project to hire more. Besides, Dr. Natalia can handle directing the techs with the reconstruction of the damaged statues on Xinji and searching for more octagons. We’ve uncovered all sixty-four Warrior pits and found no other artifacts alien or otherwise on Xinji. But on Yulin…” Her eyes shine.
I stop listening as despair claws at my heart with its sharp talons. The pain is making it difficult to breathe.
We’re leaving.
We’re really leaving.
And there’s not a damn thing I can do about it.
I’ve no memory of the trip back to my room. It took every bit of effort not to burst into tears. But once alone, I dive onto my bed and cry into my pillow. Lan and I will never attend university together. She’ll have to plan Jarren’s party without me. I’ll never see her again.
When I gain control of my emotions, I message Lan.
She takes one look at me. “What happened?”
By the time I spit out the news, we’re both crying.
“This is worse than before,” she sniffs. “It’s just cruel
to give us hope and then yank it away.”
I agree. “To be fair—I know, not helping—but my
parents never said we were staying. I just assumed we would.”
“So did I.” She wipes her face. “I’ll let our friends know it’s back on.”
“Thanks.”
* * *
Why is it when you’re dreading something, the time just flies right on by? I swear I blinked and my last twenty-one days on Xinji disappeared. The Interstellar Class space ship entered Xinji’s orbit today—the dreaded 2471:360. I’ve a day left before I board the shuttle. It only takes me an hour to pack my stuff.
Now all I have left to do is attend my funeral.
CHAPTER
2
2471:360
The children of planet-hopping parents have figured out long ago that, despite being able to communicate with our friends left behind via the Q-net, the time dilation is too hard to overcome.
The math just isn’t in our favor. It will take me ninety days to reach Yulin, which is fifty E-years away. That means Lan will be sixty-six A-years old (that is, if she remains on Xinji) when I arrive, while I will only be ninety days older. Yeah, it sucks. Which is why we hold funerals for the person leaving and cut all ties. It’s easier for all of us.
The adults don’t know about the funerals and every effort is made to keep it that way. Otherwise the psychologists would descend on us en masse.