Page 3 of Bound by Stars

“Of course.” She presses a panel on the wall behind her. Another closet. How many compartments does this one room have? The door pops open.

“In here is your emergency cryo-pod. Its operation is basic, but they’ll go over the training at passenger orientation.

” She presses a button, and the front pops open.

The interior padding doesn’t make it look any more appealing.

She points out the activation pad on the inside and steps back as it closes, sealing shut. Air locked.

My reflection in the small window of the coffin-like tube says everything. The only way I’ll be using it is if my lifeless body is shoved inside.

“A formal dinner is served promptly at seven every evening. Lunch is available from eleven to three p.m. Breakfast is served from six to eight every morning. Class begins tomorrow for all passengers of basic level age.”

“I have to go to school on the ship? In space?”

“Space travel is taxing on the human psyche. Best to keep your mind engaged. Intellectual and physical activity is required of all passengers on the Boundless . The fitness facility will be open daily, but you’ll be assigned gym time with your classmates.

Feel free to explore the ship in the meantime.

You’ll find we have an extensive library, several game rooms, and ample sensory spaces, such as our award-winning arboretum at the heart of the ship. ”

“This place is unreal,” I say to myself, petting the silky silver bedding and lowering to sit on the pillowy mattress. It’s almost too much to process. Hours ago, I was stuck on Earth, out of chances. Now I’m here. In a different world. A shiny, perfect, new world.

“In five days, we’ll enter the communication dead zone between planets, and we won’t have contact again until we’re within five days of Mars.”

Twenty-six days without contact with anyone on solid ground.

I swallow back the hollow fear rising in my throat.

Space travel has never scared me, but floating in space without contact with Earth?

If something happened to the ship, would anyone ever know about it?

Or would we just blink out of existence without explanation?

Our route between planets is only a blip in the vastness of space.

“If you don’t have any questions, I’ll leave you to settle in.

If you need assistance at any time, the call button is on the wall here with the other room controls.

” She touches one of the brass buttons and the emerald fabric next to the bed parts to reveal a huge circular window at least as tall as I am, displaying a swirl of clouds, continents, and oceans.

So far away, but closer than I’ll be for a long time.

My mom’s expression flashes across my memory, so full of concern as she’d stopped working and pushed back her face shield. I didn’t understand until I noticed the broken seal. She’d intercepted the letter. She’d hidden it from me.

“Congratulations, Ms. Fleet.” The porter smiles, inclining her head. The door closes behind her with the soft sound of compressed air before I can thank her.

I turn back to the window. Heat expands in my chest, up my neck, prickling at my eyes. Has Mom realized I’m gone? How angry is she going to be?

When I’d uncovered the ivory envelope with my name in elegant script under the mess on her worktable, her tone had been cautious, like she’d done something wrong. And she knew it. “It’s too dangerous up there.”

“Are you kidding me? Have you seen the Elysians? They have it made on Mars!”

“It only seems that way because you’ve only ever lived here.”

“So have you!” My voice had grown louder, angrier with every word, as the weight of her betrayal settled on my shoulders. “They have everything! They live in a protected atmosphere where they don’t have to scrape by and work in shitty factories and get dust lung and—”

She snatched the paper out of my hand. “You aren’t going.”

“Like hell, I’m not!” I grabbed for the letter, but she held it out of reach.

She sucked in a shaky breath. “I wish I didn’t have to say no, but it’s too big a risk.”

“It’s not your choice!”

“You don’t… If they… Weslie, it’s my job to protect you. I’m not changing my mind.” She petted my hair with her free hand, staring straight into my face.

“I’m not like him, you know. Dad. I wouldn’t leave you here.”

Pinching her eyes closed, she took a slow step back toward her worktable.

I pushed away the guilt. She couldn’t hold me captive because he abandoned her.

“Can you please trust me on this one?”

“Trust you?” I narrowed my eyes to slits, pointedly trained on the stolen letter in her hand.

“I’m sorry, Wes.” She clicked on the torch.

The edge of the paper curled and disintegrated in the flames licking over the pristine lettering.

“ Attention, Boundless passengers .” The gentle, robotic voice cuts through the memory.

“ Welcome aboard. All passengers have been accounted for, and we have officially departed on our journey to Mars station. Estimated arrival in thirty-six days, six hours, thirty-five minutes. Thank you for traveling with White Star Line .”

I take a steadying breath and blink away hot, stinging tears, still staring down at Earth. Home. Outside the atmosphere, my fresh anger feels weakened. I already made it. I’m on the ship. On my way. There’s nothing Mom can do now. And she’s alone down there. A microscopic speck on a blue planet.

She’ll understand after I present ILSA to the company heads on Mars.

When they give me the internship, ask me to stay.

Unlike my dad, I’ll send for her to join me.

And she won’t have to work in a factory anymore.

She won’t start coughing one day and never stop.

She won’t have to waste her talent on minor repairs.

And we won’t have to worry about surviving all the time.

“ILSA, end silent mode.”

She comes back to life. “Yes, Weslie.”

“I’m ready to send that message to Mom now.”