Chapter 1
June 1, 4056
Campus of IGCC University
North American Location
Graduation day was always one of the most chaotic on the university's campus. Only surpassed by move in day for freshman. Drop ships were coming and going throughout the day, they were either picking up student's belongings or the students themselves.
If you were one of those lucky enough to attend the IGCC University then you were guaranteed a position with the IGCC upon graduation. Even if your grades were not the best. In those instances you either came from a family with money and were able to pay your way through to a cushy desk job somewhere. Or you were one of those on scholarship and just couldn't hack it they would put you to work doing some menial, but essential job.
One way or the other the IGCC would get their money's worth out of you. They always did.
Lasila sat in the window seat of her dorm and sighed as she watched the drop ships. She had chosen to skip the graduation ceremony and just picked her diploma up from the administrative office. She wasn't really one for all the pomp and ceremony.
Having to walk in front of hundreds of people made her extremely uncomfortable. Even for the reception afterwards there wasn't any reason for her to go. She didn't have any friends, and she hadn't had the time to make any.
She had been one of the students on scholarship, and had not had the luxury of extra time. Lasila looked down at the picture of her mom. It was taken before she had gotten sick, and still looked so full of life.
It was hard for Lasila to think of her mom in the hospital. She had withered down to just skin and bones, but had still encouraged Lasila to apply for the scholarship. Even knowing that if Lasila was accepted she would never see her daughter again.
"Sil you have to do this! You have to go out there and do something with your life." Tears welled up in Lasila's eyes as she thought back on her mother's words. "I have lived my life my darling girl, and now it is your turn. I have been given the greatest of gifts. I have watched you grow into an amazing young woman."
Lasila wiped a tear from her cheek and put her mother's picture in her carry on bag next to her diploma. She hadn't even started classes in her freshman year when she received the news that her mother had passed away. And of course they had not had the money for Lasila to return home for the funeral.
Life on Earth had become quite harsh for those who did not have wealth. Even the most basic of living essentials were sky high, and although cancer had been cured ages ago one thing remained the same throughout the years. If you didn't have money you didn't matter.
So Lasila had made good on her promise to her mother. She had studied hard and graduated with honors, and she was now heading to start her life with the IGCC.
A jolt of excitement ran through her body as she thought about all the possibilities her field of study could bring her. As a doctor of anthropology she could be sent almost anywhere.
Beeping from her wrist alerted her to the arrival of her drop ship. Well it was now or never. Without a backwards glance for the room she had spent the last six years of her life Lasila headed out to meet her future head on.
June 3, 4056
IGCC Center for Intake
Docking Station
Milky Way Galaxy
Inter-Galactic Colonial Council. Even as she read the words on the side of the space station as they docked Lasila could hardly believe she was here. Often during the time she spent at the university she had looked up at the skies and wondered how everything must look from where she was now.
She was not disappointed. The Earth had looked absolutely stunning from space. From up there you wouldn't know that it was a planet filled with pollution, overcrowding, and poverty.
Lasila looked at the people around her and wondered who they were, and where they were going. The anthropologist in her couldn't help but to sit there and analyze them, but she refrained from speaking to any of them. Largely due to the fact that she did not recognize any of them, so that meant they would most likely not be working with her department.
As such there wasn't much need to try and kindle a friendship with them. The likelihood of her seeing them again was slim to none.
"Everyone please stay seated until we have fully docked with the space station. Do not attempt to open the doors; an authorized crew member will do so when it is safe."
This was it. She was finally here.
After what seemed like forever, but was actually only about fifteen minutes, the cockpit doors slid open and the copilot stepped into the passenger bay. "As you exit the drop ship please make your way to the right. There will be signs and personnel stationed every so often directing you to where you will need to go. Do not get side tracked. You do not want to be a part of the group of stragglers holding everyone up."
The young pilot flashed a charming grin and looked around at everyone. His gaze briefly stopped on Lasila and she could tell from his eyes he was Henl'aon. A race of people from the planet Henl'a whose bodily structure was humanoid, but their eyes held a distinctive trait.
Instead of the white around a human eye it was a solid black. No pupil, no iris. Just black. Lisala was actually fascinated by the Henl'aon race and wished that she had longer so that she could talk with the handsome copilot.
"Every year there are always students who get lost, or go off exploring thinking they have the extra time. Then everyone else is left waiting until they're found so everything can continue. So when I call your name please step forward and begin your journey." He had looked past Lasila and continued with his speech even as she had still been thinking about his planet and its people.
So lost in thought she was that Lasila did not register the first time he had said her name. Looking around she blushed at the smirks and eye rolls she was receiving from her fellow passengers.
She stood and gathered her few belongings she had been allowed to bring on board with her. As she was about to disembark from the drop ship the copilot gently placed his hand on her shoulder. "It says here you are an anthropologist." At her nod he kept talking in a low voice so the others could not hear him.
"Do not let them get to you. You have one of the most important jobs in the IGCC, you will sometimes be the first person to make contact with the native people of new planets. So chin up, be proud, and if you ever need a friend feel free to look me up on Gal-inder" With a wink he turned as he pointed to the name stitched on his uniform.
Again Lasila was blushing, but she held her head a little higher and made her way to the right. What was it the copilot had said? Gal-inder? What was that?
June 3, 4056
IGCC Center for Intake
IGCC Intake Auditorium
So many people. Lasila had never seen so many people in one place before. She could feel her heart rate accelerating wuickly, and her breathing was irregular. No one around her seemed to notice.
She had been fine at first standing towards the back of the room on her own, but as more people had filed in, the extra room around her had quickly been filled with bodies. Holding her hand to her chest Lasila tried to push past the people blocking her in.
Looking ahead she could just make out the exit, the bright light of the hallway beyond beckoning to her like the lights of Heaven. She was almost there. She could make it.
But then someone had started speaking into the microphone on the stage, and the doors slid shut. Even though they made no sound, Lasila could hear her sanity leaving her as they closed.
She almost elbowed someone in the stomach when they reached out and grabbed her. "No! I have to get out of here! I have to get out." She was struggling so hard she hadn't heard the person speaking to her.
Warmth flooded into her body, and a sudden calm fell over her entire being. "There we go little Terran." The term used for humans from Earth confused Lasila for a moment. Even though the IGCC universities were open to all members of the IGCC the Earth campus very rarely hosted students from outside their own planet let alone their solar system.
"Much better now hmm?" Lasila found herself being turned around to gaze up at a very tall Venetian. She was beautiful, and Lasila was very thankful she had been found by the Venetian.
The inhabitants of Venus were well known for their empathic abilities, some even had the talent of influencing others' emotions. Clearly this woman in front of her was one of those.
"I see you, and acknowledge the gift you have given me. I am called Lasila, may I know your name as well?" Lasila smiled softly as she looked up at the other woman and greeted her in a manner from her own home planet.
"You may, I am known as Tanala of the Lythian Tribe. You owe me no thanks, I am merely humbled by the chance to provide you some form of comfort as you seemed most distressed. Would you like to remain here with me as we wait?" Lisala smiled and nodded to Tanala.
It was the first time in longer she could remember that Lisala felt like she may have made a friend, and truly hoped Tanala would be someone she got to work with in the future.
Now that she had calmed, Lisala took a moment to really look around her, but ended up looking back down at her holo tablet. As she had made her trip down the hallways heading towards the auditorium each time she came upon a person they had loaded information onto her device.
She scrolled past the map of the space station, past the gym info,and through quite a few more things that she felt were not very pressing at the time. She was about to scroll by another notification until the word Gal-inder caught her eye.
Wasn't this what that pilot had told her to find him on? Before she could read more about it the Head Councilwoman stepped up to the center of the stage.
"Welcome to the start of your new lives!"