Chapter one
Scout was afraid. She had never felt fear like this before. She was huddled in with a bunch of other kids, all between 3 and 19. Her back was pressed up against a rich girl’s dress, who was sitting behind her.
“What’s your name?” the girl had asked her. “I’m Jupiter.”
“Like the planet?” Scout said. Jupiter nodded, and Scout was jealous. Of course the Richies got cool names. “I’m Scout,” Scout had replied.
“Why are you so dirty?” Jupiter asked her.
Scout simply shrugged. She wasn’t going to tell this girl her secrets.
“How old are you?” Jupiter asked. Scout cursed under her breath, she didn’t want to talk to this stuck up rich girl anymore.
“17 winters,” Scout said.
“Cool, I’m 18 winters.”
Scout nodded, licking her lips and turning away. She looked over the many heads and managed to get a glimpse of the planet they were hovering a while from. It was lush and silver, blue-grey lands and emerald waters. It was a small planet, with only four zones - which are what used to be known as continents.
She had never felt safe on Vuharia though, since she was born in the poor zone of Aizuno, where the people were used as slaves and workers for the three other zones.
Everyone was waiting for the second pod to be launched, the one holding the leaders and rich adults.
“Are they coming now?” a boy asked.
“They should be,” someone else said. “We wont move until we do, they steer us with them.”
Everyone was silent again, just waiting for the next pod. They were going to be taken to a safe haven until they could find a planet that would take them.
“Why do we have to leave Vuharia?” a little girl beside Scout asked.
“Our planet is in danger, Wren,” someone said to the little girl. “The core has gone radioactive, we don’t know what that could do.”
Wren looked up at Scout, her young face illuminated only by the glowing sun by the planet. “I’m scared,” she said. Scout was surprised. People didn’t talk to her about those sorts of things, but she realised that Wren thought she was also one of the Richies.
“I am too,” Scout said softly. “But our people will be with us, we’ll be okay.”
Wren nodded slowly, and nuzzled her face into Scout’s side. Scout could feel the little girl shaking. She decided to take Wren’s mind off of what was going on.
“How many winters have you survived?” she asked. Winter was harsh on Vuharia, especially for children. Age was measured in winters, which occurred once a year. It was a great pride to be old; it meant you survived many.
“Only seven,” Wren whispered.
“That’s good,” Scout praised. “I lost my sister on her second.”
“I’m sorry,” Wren said softly. “My mother passed during my sixth. It was her 34th.”
“My condolences,” Scout nodded.
Wren blinked. “I miss her.”
“I miss Vera too.”
The two fell quiet and just stared through the window. What’s taking them so long? Scout wondered, It only takes a few minutes for a pod to launch - it’s been at least 30. She pursed her lips, hoping they hadn’t realised that Scrappers like her had snuck onto the rich ship.
She looked over at her twin brother, Silence, and the two exchanged a worried look, both thinking the same thing. If they were caught, the punishment would surely be worse than death.
“Can’t we just drive the damn pod ourselves?” a boy barked, standing up. He was one of the Scrappers Scout had snuck on with. She recognised him as Bandit.
“Sit down,” Jupiter said. “If it starts moving you could get hurt.”
The boy scoffed, “Damn Princess thinks she can control us too? Your father is bad enough.”
Scout gasped, head snapping to the girl behind her. “You’re Princess Jupiter?” The red-haired girl blushed in the darkness, pulling her hood further over her face. “Why didn’t you go in the leaders ship?” Scout continued.
“Father thought it would be best if I met other Richies my age while we were fleeing the planet.”
The boy scoffed again. “Your father-”
Scout stood up and pulled him down so they were face to face. “Quiet. You’re going to get us killed, Bandit.”
He rolled his eyes as she sat down again, Scout making a point to put on her seatbelt, hoping he would do the same. He did not. “Okay, tell me then, Princess,” he mocked. “How do I drive the ship?”
“That’s not-”
The sky blazed red and the pod shook violently, a few screams echoing around the small space. Scout gripped the seat, fingernails creating slits in the leather. She caught a glimpse out of the window, and saw the planet ripping apart, flames licking through the cracks. She saw the fire spread out in a sphere, encasing their three moons and a star.
Scout let out a warning cry, before the fire touched the pod.
Heat licked up the sides of the ship and Scout felt the metal her feet were resting on burn. All the children screamed, pulling their legs up to their chests, red welts over the soles of their feet and ankles.
Then a cloud of gas hit them, and they were tumbling. The pod was thrown across the sky, spinning round and round. Bandit slammed into the metal wall and everyone was screaming. Wren’s arms clung onto Scout’s waist, and she was shrieking into her ear. Scout was pretty sure she was doing the same.
Lights were flashing, and when Scout’s eyes landed on the window, all she could see was the stars spinning like a washing machine. Her green eyes squeezed shut and she felt them tip around and around, she wasn’t sure which was was up anymore. She felt like she was going to be sick.
The pod was flights through space, away from the destroyed remains of their planet. Those 65 kids were the last living Vuharians in the universe. Lights were flashing in the ship, all children screaming and crying. On the outside, panels were flying off, not made to withstand this much velocity. They entered a new galaxy, still propelled by the speed of the explosion. Scout had long since passed out, along with most of the children. The pod touched the gravity of a planet, and steered towards it. It caught on fire as it pushed through the ozone layer.
The pod continued to flip, nose diving through the air as it soared towards the planet, caught in the intense gravitational pull. More panels ripped out, thrusters dying. Now they were free falling. Jupiter was still conscious, eyes squeezed shut as she prayed to all her gods, to Opherous, Haiti, Juna, Relicante - heck, even Ygritye, the Goddess of death. Please don’t let us die, please keep us safe. Gods of the universe, protect us.
Nothing happened, but she kept praying, not opening her eyes once. Occasionally the body of Bandit would crush her under his weight, and then be gone again once the pod flipped. Jupiter lolled her head back, and her eyes opened, catching a glimpse of the strange blue sky through the roof window before the pod hit the ground.
Dirt flew up, coating the glass windows and the outside of the pod. Everyone who was still conscious screamed, and those who hadn’t been were woken by the crash. Their ship slid along the dirt, creating a deep trench behind them. They came to a stop and the lights hanging from the ceiling burst, spraying glass over the kids.
“Where are we?” someone asked.
Scout forced her eyes open, seeing red. She wiped her fingers across her eye, hand coming away slick with blood from a cut on her forehead. She gritted her teeth and ripped off her seatbelt. She stood up with shaky legs, almost falling over. A few others were standing up as well. Scout reached down and touched the little girl beside her’s shoulder. “Wren,” Scout whispered. “It’s okay now.”
Wren forced her eyes open, shaking. Scout unbuckled the girl’s seatbelt, lifting her onto her hip. Wren buried her face into Scout’s dark hair. Jupiter was over by Bandit, fingers pressed against his neck. After a moment, she shook her head, “He’s dead.”
Scout grimaced, tightening her grip on Wren’s hip.
“Lets get out of here,” a Scrapper named Blaze said. She pulled down a lever on the door and it swung open. It was stupid really, such a slim chance the air wasn’t toxic, but yet they opened it the door anyway. Stupid, Scout thought.
They all threw their hands over their face, eyes squeezing shut as light like they had never seen before burst through the opening. Scout’s eyesight went white and she grimaced, covering Wren’s eyes. She blinked as her vision cleared. Plants - a strange green - curled around the sides of the pod, smouldering slightly from the impact. The children began to walk forward slowly, lips pursed as they craned their heads.
Jupiter reached the ground first, placing her feet on the dirt. “Wow,” Scout whispered, carrying the still shaking Wren out into the fresh air. She took in the oxygen, looking up at the sky with bright blue eyes. Wren let go of Scout, tenderly touching the ground and detaching herself from the other girl’s body.
All of the Vuharians piled out, looking around at their surroundings.
“Where are we?” a Richie asked.
Scout walked forward, crouching and putting her hand on a tree trunk. “This is a strange planet. Nothing like Vuharia.”
“No,” another said. “Look at this dirt.”
Jupiter touched a fern, dragging her smooth fingers across it. She licked her lips and examined it. Then she looked at the sky, eyes narrowing. “We’re on Terra Nullius,” she said finally, hiking up her gold dress.
“Terra… what?” Blaze asked.
“Terra Nullius,” Jupiter repeated. “Nobody’s Land.”
“Everyone knows about it,” Wren said, looking up at Scout. “Didn’t your father and mother teach you about it?”
Scout almost snorted. Her brother said, “No.”
“Huh,” Wren said, as if only realising maybe not everyone had books.
“How can you tell?” Scout asked.
“I saw us going past the planet I was named after,” Jupiter said. She knelt down, hands sifting through the dirt. “Look at this land, its brown, the plants are green, and the sky is blue. This is the only planet in the Milky-Way galaxy that has this terrain.”
“No one lives on Terra Nullius though. How are we supposed to live here?” someone in the crowd called.
“We’re going to have to,” Scout said.
“There used to be a large civilisation here. It was called Earth thousands of years ago,” a Richie said.
“What happened?” Silence asked.
Someone shrugged. “They abandoned it, don’t know why.”
“Maybe there were giant robot spiders!” a little boy screeched, tickling the back of Wren’s neck.
She screamed, smacking him. “Don’t do that, Lion!”
“Okay,” a girl from the back of the crowd said. “So we’re on Terra Nullius. What the hell do we do?”
Scout ripped the sleeves off her dirty dress, wrapping her dark hair up in them like a bandana. “We survive,” she said. God, Richies know nothing. Nothing about hard work or struggling to live.
“No one asked you,” a snobby Richie said. “Princess Jupiter is our ruler now, she gives the orders-”
“Onyx,” Jupiter said, raising her hand. “We are equals now. Terra Nullius is a dangerous place - ever head of wolves, sharks, bears?” Everyone went silent. “If we don’t work together, we wont make it far. There’s no civilisations here; we’re on our own now. Come on, we need to find shelter before dark.”