Next day Tommy went to the med bay to find Alice.
-How are they?
He asked when he found her tending to one of the victims.
-Most of them are out of danger and ten of them are already awake.
The three that are in a critical condition are fighting for their lives and I think that the next two or three days will be decisive.
Alice said with a tired voice,she didn't have any rest since the disaster.
-You should get some sleep,I don't want you collapsing from exhaustion.
-Is that an order?
She asked with a smile.
-I can't order you around and you know that.
-Well you did when we were saving those people and not only me but everyone around.
Tommy was dumbstruck.
-Did I really order people around?
-Yes you did and everyone listened to you.
How did you not notice it yet?
Everyone in the blue section looks up to you as a leader and whether you want to or not you have become the de facto leader of this station.
He didn't know what to say to that, there was no way that he knew how to lead people.
-Tell me you're joking.
He finally said, still not believing what she was saying.
-No it's not a joke, we all listen to you as a leader and just the other way you proved to everyone that you're more than capable of doing the job even under pressure.
So it will be better for you and everyone else when you get over it and accept the role.
-But i never wanted to be a leader, it's too much responsibility and if you forgot i'm only 22 years old.
He tried to convince her with panic in his voice.
Seeing him like that made her laugh, she sometimes forgot just how young he was.
-Whatever the case, that's what you are but you have all of us to help you carry that burden.
You can always ask us for advice if you don't know what to do and we will do our best to help.
Tommy was in deep thought.
He knew that she was right and that was terrifying him.
-I need to think about it.
He finally said after a while.
- But seriously you should get some rest,your staff can handle everything here and they can always call you over the radio if something happens.
-Ok i get it, I'll get some sleep but for now we have a problem with the new people.
-What kind of problem?
-They dont look like they are under the influence of the drug.
-Well that shouldn't be a problem since we eliminated the drug from our food.
That was the first thing they did when they took over the food production.
-Yes i know that but if they weren't drugged like us then there is a difference in the treatment between the sections not to mention that the soldiers took the rest of them to the red section,
Why did they do that? Why not just leave them here.
Those were all good questions and the more he thought about it the less he liked the conclusions he got.
-Maybe someone here can shed some light on the situation? But if what I'm thinking about is right then we really need to get out of here as soon as possible.
She also had a bad feeling about this situation.
-Some of them are in good enough condition, so just ask around and see what you can find out.
Tommy did just that and the answers he got confirmed his suspicions.
The people that he spoke to were less than thrilled when they heard that they were left behind in the blue section and they explained to him why that was.
According to the survivors each section represented the severity of the offense committed against the nobles.
The red section was meant for those that had a high chance of being forgiven and they had the best treatment.
The yellow section was meant for the people who had some chance at redemption but they never knew if they would be forgiven or killed. It was a 50/50 chance.
And the blue section was meant for those that will never be forgiven and they're only way out was death.
There were only two things that all the stations had in common: You had to work on all of them and you got sent there for pissing off the nobles.
Now Tommy understood why all of the survivors left on this station were either angry or near panic.
A few hours later they had a meeting and he shared the information he got.
Everyone was terrified when they learned that all the people that were taken died.
Another problem they had to deal with were the new people.
There was no way to hide the fact that they wanted to build a ship and the moment they were healed and came to work on the ships they would know that something wasn't right.
So the only solution was to tell them what's going on and see if they wanted to help out.
The chances of that happening were quite high considering that now they were in the same boat as the rest of the people here.
-When will they be healed?
Simon asked Alice who looked better after some rest.
-The first ones will be ready to leave the mad bay within a week.
As for the rest that depends,some will take at least two weeks and some of them may not even make it so I really don't know.
-Then we should probably talk to the ones that are conscious first and see what they have to say.
Said Tommy.
-And what will we do if they refuse after hearing the plan?
Simon asked with a worried expression.
-We can't lock them up because the soldiers will notice that they're missing the moment they arrive.
And they may try to sell us out if we leave them alone.
-We will think of something if they refuse to help, for now we need to talk to them and hear what they have to say.
After the meeting it was decided that Tommy,Simon,Paul and Alice would be responsible for the talks with the new people.
The talks took place in the med bay.
-Everyone, we have some things to talk about so if i could have your attention please.
Tommy said and waited for a moment before continuing.
-Thanks to some of you we learned that the blue section is basically a death camp and we are all slaves waiting for death.
You all were left here so that means that we are all in the same boat.
Now, what I will tell you is our greatest secret and we were working on this plan even before we learned the truth.
Everyone was now listening with attention.
-We found a way out of here and everyone in the blue section is currently working to make our escape possible.
-And how do you intend to escape if I may ask?
It was a young woman who interrupted his speech.
-I was coming to that part.
Tommy answered.
- We plan to use a spaceship to get out of this place and then to escape from the empire.
Furthermore we already started to work towards that goal.
-So what? you want to repair one of the wrecks outside and then try to escape? that's suicide.
It was the same woman as before.
-Staying here is also a suicide the difference is that if our plan is successful then we have a chance to survive but if we stay here then we will all die sooner or later.
That statement managed to shut her up.
-Listen little girl, we are telling you about it so that you can help us if you want and if you don't then that is also ok just don't get in our way.
Paul has lost his patience but his outburst got the point across.
-We won't force you to help us ,if you want to stay here then that's your choice. All we want from you is that you won't try and stop us or hinder our plans.
-You're basically saying that we can choose to help and have a chance to survive or we can refuse to help , stay here and wait for death.
Asked a woman in her thirties.
To be specific most of the survivors that were left behind were women.
-That's the gist of it.
Said Alice.with a nod.
-Well then can you elaborate a bit on your plan because I really want to know what I'm getting myself into?