Under the Attacking Sky

Chapter 3

I woke up a few hours later and learned that we were headed back to base for the week. The electronic female voice that always sounded a little too perfect had made a formal announcement over the speaker, successfully waking me up. The news both relieved and frustrated me. I was happy to return and relax for the first time in weeks, but I also knew this meant there wasn't anything else we could do at this point to fight the Elector. Although no one wanted to admit it, we were slowly losing the war.

I continued to stare at the ceiling above my head in thought. It was riddled with different constellations and charts that I had memorized over the years. Stargazing was a popular pastime among the space sailors. Not only was it practical, for no one wanted to be lost without a map, but it also kept boredom at bay during the long flights. My gaze shifted to a small, blue dot placed among the stars. A smile teased at my lips as I reached up to it, knowing that my arm wasn't that long, but somehow it made it feel closer.

"Home." The word entered my mind and I closed my hand over the blue dot.

I hadn't been back to earth since the day Aaron and I were shipped off to boot camp. Messages from my family were few and far inbetween. Communication with other units and the Council held higher priority over simple conversations between soldiers and family members, especially for a low-ranking lieutenant like me. I didn't even know if my younger sister had been recruited yet. She would be thirteen this year, the same age that I was when we left.

I dropped my hand and rolled over to face the wall, tracing what little I could remember of their faces with my finger. Some things I would never forget. My dad's brown eyes. My sister's dirty bare feet. I used to remember exactly how many freckles my mom had dotted across her nose, a feature that both Aaron and I lacked.

But Andrea had freckles. I traced my little sister's name across the wall and smiled.

A loud snore shattered my train of thought and I rolled my eyes. I shifted onto my other shoulder and stared at Tira passed out on her own bed across the room. Her arm hung off the frame limply by her crumpled blanket and her hair was plastered against the drool on her cheek. A chuckle escaped my lips and I stood up softly. I picked her thin blanket off the ground and pulled it over her shoulders.

My stomach growled in protest of the meal I had skipped early in favor of sleep. I sighed and braided my hair quickly before opening the door. After tossing one last glance at Tira's snoring form, I stepped out into the hallway. The door shut quietly behind me and I rubbed my face as I walked down the hall.

The lights were dimmed in the empty white hallway, proving that it was sleeping hours. The ships automated lights were one of the only things that kept my sense of time in perspective. When you're flying through space, you don't exactly get a specific day or night. Those were simply human inventions used to keep track of the earth's rotations. A luxury of the past. Space knew no such concepts.

I made my way to the cafeteria almost subconsciously. If there was one path my feet never forgot, it was the path that led to food. The mesh-like shoes I wore muted my steps and caused a soft echo to ring through the otherwise silent halls every time my foot hit the ground. Although there was a night watch, they often didn't bother patrolling the dark residential cordials, leaving hungry night owls like me by myself. If I hadn't spent the last few years of my life on ships like these, I would have found the short walk frightening.

The bright orange doors came into view, immediately making my stomach growl louder as if it knew it would soon be satisfied. I patted it lightly.

"Shhh, you'll wake up the whole ship," I mumbled softly.