Page 18 of Shades of Earth (Across the Universe 3)

“Good, good, glad to see you agree,” he says before heading to the armory.

I can’t help but think I’ve just become the pawn Orion feared I was all along.

9: AMY

I slam into Emma as I round the hallway. “What happened?” I gasp. When I heard the gunshots and the cry of another one of those pterodactyl things, I broke away from my mother and raced to the bridge.

She looks surprised. “Nothing,” she says. She walks past me and starts barking orders at the military men and women gathered by the cryo chambers.

I don’t think my heart starts beating again until I see Elder and Dad in the armory, safe. Dad is focused entirely on selecting weapons. Elder looks resigned, almost petulant, but he shoots me a smile that makes my heart stutter all over again.

“What’s going on?” I ask, still breathless. I notice that the door to the bridge is locked.

“Amy, everything’s fine. Go back to your mother,” Dad says.

I ignore him and turn to Elder.

“We saw one of the m—” Elder starts to say “monsters,” but cuts himself off. “We saw another creature. But it didn’t come close to us. ”

I eye the . 44 in Dad’s hand. “Are you going to hunt it?”

Dad looks surprised. “We’re just protecting ourselves. Ten of us are going to find the probe and attempt to re-establish communication with Earth. ”

“Wait, re-establish?” I whip around to Elder. His eyes tell me everything I need to know. “You talked with Earth?!” I squeal. “That’s—whoa! That’s amazing! What did they say? What’s Earth like now? What are they going to do?”

“The com link died,” Elder says. “But they’re going to send help. They think . . . ” He frowns. “They think they can get help to us. ”

My mouth drops open. “Really?!”

Elder nods, but he’s nowhere near as excited as I am. Earth! After all this time, Earth is talking to us again!

“Amy, I need to work. Go back to your mother. ” Dad holsters the . 44 and starts going through the supply of grenades and bombs on another shelf.

“I’m coming with you!” I say, stepping farther into the armory. Elder shoots me a dark look, but I ignore him. “Dad, let me come too! I need to go outside. The planet is right there and I haven’t even seen it yet, not really!”

“No,” Dad says without looking up.

I flinch as if his single word was a slap across my face. “Dad,” I say urgently. “Let me come with you. I won’t be in the way. I’ll take a gun—I can help. Just let me come. ”

Dad looks up at me, and for a moment all he does is stare into my pleading eyes. “No,” he says finally.

“But—!”

“No. Go back to your mother. ”

“Dad!”

Elder gives a tiny shake of his head, telling me to drop it. My eyes narrow. I can tell Dad’s forbidden him from going too—but he just went out. He’s seen the world. He didn’t even want it, but he’s seen it.

I spin on my heel and leave the armory. I know I’m being childish. I know I’m being unreasonable and immature and ridiculous. But I can’t help it. Before I was just focused on saving Elder, but now I want to see Centauri-Earth for mys

elf.

I need to.

I pause at the doorway to the cryo room and take a deep breath. I force myself to really see what’s going on. The cryo room is crowded, but unevenly divided. The nearly fifteen hundred people from the ship gather against one wall, as far away from the cryo chambers as possible. The people from Earth are occupying themselves with menial tasks—unpacking their storage crates, setting up scientific equipment on tables made from their cryo trays, talking with each other. There is nervous energy from both sides of the room, but fear too. There is always fear for the unknown.

Emma strides past me with eight other members of the military, each with a serious expression on his or her face. The soldiers are fully uniformed now and armed to the teeth. I remember the screeching cry of the flying creatures, and an unbidden shiver races up my spine. Centauri-Earth isn’t there for my amusement. I know my father was right to forbid me going with him, no matter how much I dislike it.