Chapter 2

Jesse’s elbow to my ribs woke me up in the most non-endearing way possible. The sharp spike shot through me so fast I swore it felt like a blast of lightning from the planet’s namesake the station orbited. Jesse slept on, unaware of the pain he inflicted upon me. For a few seconds I thought about doing the same to him but as the pain faded, so too did my ambitions for revenge. Now awake, I slid out of the bed and made my way to the bathroom, occasionally rubbing my eyes. Once inside, I did what I needed to, splashed some water into my face for a bit of an extra wakeup, and then stepped out back into the room.

Taking some of the stew out for my morning breakfast, my thoughts went back to some of the darker times I had with my family thanks to the remnants of the fading dream I had when Jesse woke me up. It was especially bad just before Mom and Dad received their latest assignment. I shuddered a bit just as I quietly asked the computer to set the reheating device for my stew.

Mom and Dad both were at their wit’s end with the two of us, I could tell. But I didn’t care. Jesse had pushed me into a table and knocked over a vase Mom had just placed out. She had been expecting the chief science officer of the station to stop by and wanted our quarters to look as nice as possible. She heard the shatter just as Jesse and I verbally tore into one another. I blamed him for being such a baby while he swore he hated me. I can’t even really remember what started that fight but it didn’t matter – both our parents were livid.

“Travis! Jesse!” Dad shouted, that one vein on his forehead bulging a little. Each time I saw how upset he got with one or the both of us and that blue tube showed, I swore the next time one of us angered him it’d burst, covering everyone with a guilt-inducing crimson shower. But then I was just so pissed at Jesse for shoving me. “Go to your room! Now!”

“But Travis started it!” Jesse yelled, his six-year-old mentality kicking back in. I scoffed as I tried to lunge for him again. Dad stepped in and intercepted me.

“I did not you lying brat!” I shouted back at him. “All I did was–” Jesse started to shout over me but Mom cut him off.

“It doesn’t matter who did what!” Mom’s thundering voice silenced the both of us. “Your father told you both to go to your room!” Her index finger thrust out wicked fast. “March!” Resignedly, we trudged towards our room, pushing one another as we did. Nothing, surprisingly, came from those pushes. I think mainly for the fact that our parents were as angry as we’d ever saw them. So, even if we hated each other at the moment, the fear of what could happen if we pushed any more buttons banded us together enough to form a tenuous cease-fire.

Most of that was all in my dream, now being able to piece together that nagging feeling in my chest that wasn’t the result of Jesse’s errant elbow. It ate at me as I recalled how the dream morphed the end of that encounter into something far more sinister than it really was. My dream had me leave our shared room to the whines of Jesse saying I’d get us both into more trouble if I got caught but I told him to shut it. I stepped into the hallway tentatively and listened for the sounds of either of our parents or their guest. And when I pushed open the door that led into the living room, instead of our quarters being there, the vastness of space beckoned me. I felt the sudden rush of air as pressure dropped exponentially, the void gobbling up my oxygen supply faster than my brother could get away from me when at his craftiest. And, just before the darkness took me, Jesse’s elbow woke me up.

I’m now glad he did as I didn’t want to see how the dream really ended.

The computer announced that my stew was at the desired temperature and brought me back to the present. Carefully, I pulled the steaming bowl out and walked it to the table. Seasoning it to my tastes as best I could, I sat down. But before I could get comfortable and savor that first bite I heard a whimper. I glanced over at my brother and saw that he was still. Shaking it off, I took my first bite. But then it happened again. This time, Jesse had shifted. And I also noticed the pained look on his sleeping face before his body jerked, turning his head away from me, another whimper escaping.

“Jesse?” I said quietly, shaking him gently at the same time. “Hey Jesse… wake up.”

“…no….no…” he mumbled as he twitched again. His left arm almost hit me once more. I rolled my eyes a bit at being nearly hit twice by him within the span of twenty minutes. Sure, before we were on our own that happened quite frequently. But since then our fighting has gone down drastically.

“Jesse, wake up,” I said a bit louder and jostling him a bit harder. His head rolled on the pillow a few times, mumbling something indecipherable. His body contorted a few more times before I watched as his eyes shot open as big as Io. Jesse sat bolt upright, a look of pure panic and fear on his face.

“No! Travis!” he shouted as he wildly looked around. I saw the drop of water slide down his face as his frantic green eyes finally settled on me. “Travis!” He flung himself into my chest a quivering mess. I gently wrapped my arms around him.

“Jesse… it’s okay. You just had a bad dream. That’s all.”

“B-But…” he hiccupped. Slowly, I felt him ease some as he pulled back, staring into my eyes. “Where are we?”

“In the quarters I found for us, remember?” I asked, raising an eyebrow slightly. Jesse’s face relaxed fully and he sighed. He used the heels of his hands in his eyes to wipe away his unshed tears. Slowly, he reached out and placed a hand on my knee as if he was afraid I was a ghost or not really there. “You okay now, bud?”

“I think so,” he said with a quiet voice. His head lolled back, making his eyes fixate on the ceiling. “It felt so real…”

“Dreams tend to do that to you whether they’re good or bad,” I said with a slight chuckle. “I had one as well that wasn’t that pleasant.” I recounted my dream for him down to every last detail that I could remember about it. The fear I felt then returned, but its hold on me wasn’t as solid. I watched as Jesse looked pensive as I told him about it. His shoulders slumped a bit.

“Mine wasn’t like that,” he said softly. For a moment, I thought I saw him tremble. “I had come home from school and found you, Mom, and Dad all talking like normal. But I knew something was wrong as Mom and Dad weren’t supposed to be back by then – it was too soon for their shifts to end in the lab. But then out of nowhere all three of you changed. Became… scared. I didn’t know what was up until I saw some guys… s-some guys stab Mom and Dad. Before I awoke, I saw the knife heading for you Trav….” His eyes found mine again. “You looked so scared, bro! A-And I couldn’t do a thing to help you!”

“Hey.” I slid over next to him and leaned into the wall. Once I got settled, Jesse leaned into me and hugged me tightly, burying his face into the skin of my chest. I hugged him back and hoping that, even with the shower I took last night, I didn’t offend my brother’s nose. I don’t think he’d have noticed anyway given his state. “Like I said last night, I’m here right?”

“What if one day you aren’t?!”

“That’s possible, sure. But you can’t think like that, Jess. It’ll just lead you into circles and not help you get anywhere.” I leaned down and pecked his unruly mop of light brown hair, hoping it would calm him down. It seemed to as I felt him melt into my side more. “C’mon. We need to get some breakfast. We have a busy day if we want to keep this place.”

Jesse saw my bowl sitting on the table. “Oh did I interrupt your breakfast?” A slightly guilty look flashed across his eyes.

“Yeah, but I can reheat it if I need to. Don’t worry.” I snatched my shirt off the ground as I stood up. Jesse did the same and we both slid them on. “Get yourself some and let’s go over what we need to do.” I sat back in my chair as my brother got himself a bowl and started to heat it. I spooned some into my mouth and sighed a bit.

My brother of twelve years seemed a bit nervous heading down to the forbidden level. Jesse and I rode one of the speed lifts down from C level towards F level. To even punch that option into the nav panel, it involved the use of a special key that Kevin had stolen once F level had been shut down. Most of the station assumed it wasn’t safe due to radiation or a hull breach or some other disaster to make the level uninhabitable. But it really was a bunch of crap – having the need to come down this way on a semi-regular basis to deal with Kevin or someone amongst his crew I never got sick or felt life support failing or anything. Not to mention the others that lived there had nothing wrong with them – and some of them had been on F level for years. Though it was operating on a more minimal level than even D which hardly had anyone occupying it. It served Kevin’s purposes well enough for what he needed.

The best feature of F level was the fact that Kevin’s Krew had managed to reactivate the deck’s replicator somehow. Maybe one of them was proficient in engineering or simply they just jury-rigged the machine somehow back into a working state. In any case, I sometimes came down here and used one of my favors from Kevin to get me and Jesse some food on the harder times. Each time Kevin allowed me but refused to accept my favors as repayment for what I did for him.

The doors opened and the two of us stepped out. Immediately, two of Kevin’s older kids – two big fifteen-year-olds with arms as thick as my head and chips on their shoulders to match – stepped in our way. Each brandished some sort of fiendish laser weapon Kevin and his crew no doubt stole from a munitions locker somewhere else – F level never had them to begin with. They were about half the length of the guards’ heights and about just as bulky as the muscles these mini giants possessed. If they ever lost the laser rifles, they wouldn’t have trouble becoming physical.

“This isn’t an area for the likes of you twerps,” one of them said a bit nastily.

Before the other could loyally agree with him, another boy pushed them aside. “Relax you two. This is a personal friend of Kevin’s.” The teen glared at the one guard who spoke. “You don’t want to refuse entry for one of Kev’s friends, do you?”

“N-No… I forgot.” He looked at me. “Sorry.”

“It’s cool,” I said casually even though Kevin’s two guards always intimidated me some. “Just protecting your turf is all. I get it.” A part of me wanted to just run away from them, knowing they could easily snap me in half and then eat Jesse for a light snack but I made sure none of that irrational fear slipped to the surface. I needed to keep Jesse at ease, given last night and this morning.

The two guards stepped back to their original positions as the other boy put his arm around my shoulder and started guiding me further into F level. “Travis Hartwell, how have you been?”

“Things are okay for now, Jules. How about you?” Julian Cromin had been a good friend of mine from a few months back. About two years prior to my mom and dad vanishing, his father did too. And, like us, not wanting to become a machine, had found refuge with Kevin’s Krew. He had been in my classes most of the time before that and we weren’t the best of friends but we also didn’t hate each other completely. It wasn’t for lack of trying though – each time it seemed that we were about to become each other’s best friend, something his parents did pulled us apart. And when he faded into nothingness, I had almost given up hope of us ever being chummy.

But when my parents vanished, Julian was one of the first kids to come and find me. It wasn’t hard for the news to reach down even here, especially so if the rumors of one of them hacking the communications system were true. He tried to get Kevin to take us in but at the time there wasn’t really any more room – only about ten units were available and all were full.

“Things down here are decent more or less,” he said with a slight dismissive wave of his hands. “It’d be a ton better if a certain someone would accidentally fall into an open airlock for anyone to accidentally vent him into Jupiter’s atmosphere.”

“Zane on the warpath again?” I asked. Julian just nodded once. “Who pissed him off this time?”

“Scooter Townsend. Had the balls to try and question something Zane suggested. Totally tore him a new one before he stormed off.”

“Great…”

“Oh hey!” Julian said as he noticed Jesse for the first time. “This your little bro?”

“Jesse,” my brother said meekly as he nodded a bit.

Julian smiled. “First time down here?” Again Jesse nodded. “Don’t worry about what me and Trav are going on about. Just stick with us and it’ll be–”

“Who the fuck let him in?”

As we rounded a corner and started heading towards Julian’s quarters, an angry sounding voice echoed in the metal halls. All three of us turned around and faced an irate Zane Caufield. Quickly, the fourteen-year-old crossed the distance between us and shoved his face into mine, leaving a scarce few inches between. Given differing circumstances, I’d almost think he tried to kiss me. If he wasn’t such a total ass, I wouldn’t really be wholly unopposed to the idea.

“I did if you must know,” Julian said. Zane either didn’t hear him or chose to ignore him. My eyes locked on to Zane’s.

“It’s nice to see you again as well, Zane. Wake up on the wrong side of the station or something?” I felt Jesse press up against me, Zane’s shouting starting to really make him more nervous. I slid one of my arms around his shoulder, hopefully easing his tension if only a little bit.

He sneered at me as he poked me in the chest. “Aren’t you a funny guy? Well, I’m not laughing asswipe. Why are you here and what do I need to do to get you off my level?” If only I had a couple of years on Zane like Kevin did, I’d make sure to lower that ego of his down a few pegs. Why Kevin made Zane his second in command was beyond me but what was done was done. His bright blond hair reflected the low light softly, almost making it look like it glowed.

“First of all it’s not your level. It’s Kevin’s if there’s a matter of ownership. Secondly,” I said as I took a step back only so I could tap on my chin in wonderment. “Wasn’t it you who ran away from the guards to leave Kevin all on his own that one time? Didn’t that lead to him being captured by station security?”

Zane’s face looked like a tomato in anger. I almost laughed at how comical it made him look but I didn’t want to add to the toxic levels of his anger. “I-I tripped and fell backwards into the lift, you son of a bitch!” I watched as his fists clenched and unclenched as if he wanted to rearrange my face. But knowing him, he’d only do it if it the odds were lopsided in his favor. “It wasn’t my fault that it decided to head to D level!”

“Now why don’t I believe that?” I asked rhetorically.

“Because you’re retarded,” Zane scoffed angrily. “I’m telling you… wait. Why am I bothering to explain myself to you? You’re not worth my time.”

“My brother’s not retarded!” Jesse plucked up some courage to shout at a retreating Zane’s back. The slightly older teen stopped and came back as Jesse continued. “You’re just a spoiled brat that has to get his way all the time! I’m surprised that there isn’t a knife–”

“The pipsqueak speaks!” Zane lowered his face closer to Jesse’s and my brother recoiled a bit. “For a bit there, I never realized that you actually could!” A mirthful laugh slipped from Zane. “Listen, shrimp. What I say goes around here, comprende? So if I say Travis is retarded, then… he is!”

“Shut up Zane. You never were one to stop while you’re behind.”

Zane swiveled on his heels fast to see the only person to keep him in line. Kevin Renault, looking a bit tired with his tousled bed head making his black hair stick out in random directions. A yawn slipped out of his mouth as Zane slowly slinked away and past Kevin, leaving the area completely. The older teen’s body shifted as he stretched his arms and back, doing what he could to wake himself up. “Hey Kev. How are things?” I asked him.

“I’m fine,” he said with a small smile. “So what brings you…?” He trailed off just as he saw Jesse. “Ah, is this the famous Jesse Hartwell I’ve heard so much about from you?”

“Yeah, this is the little bro.” I emphasized my words by gently jostling Jesse. It was enough to snap him back to the present, him stepping out from my arm. He approached Kevin with a tentative hand out. “Jesse, this is Kevin.”

“N-Nice to finally meet you, K-Kevin.” The two shook hands, Kevin even going so far as to place his left hand over the back of Jesse’s right. “Trav tells me all sorts of things about you.”

“All good I hope,” the older teen chuckled. Jesse stepped back towards me once their hands slipped from the other’s grasp. His gaze settled back on me. “So what brings you down to my infamous level?”

“Ah, I was wondering if I could borrow a few minutes of your time,” I said with a small smile. “There are some things I’d like to go over with you.”

“Sure thing. Julian?” My friend, who had been leaning against a bulkhead as everything unfolded around him, snapped back to attention. “Why don’t you take Travis’s brother here to your quarters and keep him out of Zane’s way, okay?”

“Sure thing, boss.” Julian came over and placed his hands on my brother’s shoulders. “Say, did you wanna see the replicating device before we head over to my place?”

“Neat!” Jesse said before the two of them faded away. I felt a bit nervous leaving my brother in someone else’s hands. I didn’t like not knowing what could happen to him, but even leaving him in the quarters we took had apparent risks attached. Still, it just felt… odd to see him head off with Julian.

“Don’t worry about your brother, Travis,” Kevin said as he easily read my face. “You know that he’s safe down here, right?”

“I do, yeah. It’s just… maybe I finally know what my parents felt each time we left their sights or something. It’s… unsettling to say the least.” I clapped my hands together, trying to shake that irrational fear from my body. Kevin extended an arm out, and I stepped in front of him as we headed towards his office. He commandeered the level’s main communications office to use as his personal work and living area – the space was there for him. Once they cleared out most of the dead consoles and patched things up the space was quite large. Somehow he and his crew separated the space some so Kevin could use it for dual purposes just so there’d be that extra space for other kids he’d need to take in.

We arrived at his office and I was surprised when just as we did, Zane came out of the living quarters Kevin made for himself. The boy balked a bit at seeing him with me but said nothing about it. “Zane, could you please excuse us? We have business to talk over. Privately.”

“Um… sure Kev.” For just a moment, Zane actually seemed… human. But only a moment, as the second his eyes landed on me, the expression I just saw faded into contempt. He huffed at me just as the sliding doors opened for him. Once they shut and we both saw him round the corner, Kevin walked over to his desk and indicated I sit down. I did.

“So, what’s all this about, Trav?” Kevin said, getting down to business. “Not really sure how much time I’ve got to give you.” He leaned back into the executive-style chair. “I mean… if I could I’d give you all the time I had, but we both know that’s just not possible.”

“Yeah… I get it. No worries though. See, there’s only a couple of things I need to ask you of. Firstly, in the event that something happens to me…”

“You want me to take care of Jesse so that he doesn’t end up a ward of the station.” I nodded. He grimaced a bit. “Trav, I want to help you out here… really, I do. But I’m not sure we have the space for him to have his own quarters.”

“What about doubling him up with someone?” I suggested. “Doesn’t Julian have his own space? I mean, if he agrees to it, would that work?”

“Jules does like his privacy, you should know that. I’m not saying I’m opposed to the idea, but only if he’d be willing to accommodate him.” Kevin mulled over the idea. “If he agrees to it, consider that space reserved for Jesse.”

A wave of relief washed over me. I hated not knowing what could befall Jesse if I got arrested for any length of time or, worse yet, something tragic happened to me. Any number of things could, from a shopkeeper catching me stealing from them and taking the law into their own hands to other sundry ideas. Now having Kevin willing to take him in pending Julian’s approval of the squirt living with him was a weight off my back I didn’t fully realize I just shrugged off. “Thank you Kevin. I’ll talk with Jules when we’re done here and I’ll let him tell you his answer. The other thing I was hoping you could help me with…”

“Yeah?”

“I know that you guys are busy with your own things, but I was hoping I could get some assistance on a project of my own. I… wanted to hack into the housing database and more or less get the station off our backs. Maybe even forge some fake foster parent papers so the station sends us some monthly creds. Just so it’d help for me to keep a lower profile.”

For the first time in a long while, Kevin’s eyes narrowed at me in disapproval. “Do you know how hard it is to do what you’re asking and not have anyone know about it? The housing database is one of the more protected databases on this entire station! Just for this very reason!”

I held up my hands, trying to placate my friend. I didn’t realize I got luckier than I thought back when I was in lock-up the last time. “Well, what else could we do?! I-I mean… hell, Kevin! You managed to quarantine this whole level for your crew!”

“I didn’t say it was impossible, Trav.” Kevin let a small breath out before his face fell into his hands. “It took me months to make the stars align and all that bullshit to lead up to the ‘radiation leak’ on F level. Not to mention making up a fake decom schedule so the station would think it couldn’t be safe to clean for years. And everything is so jury-rigged down here to make sure our power consumption stays off their radar.” Another sigh escaped him. “It’s tough, Trav. It’s a delicate ballet that I have to stay on top of nearly all the time.” He looked up at me. “Again, maybe Jules can help you with that. He’s the one that got into the database applications the first time. Maybe he could do it again.”

I also slumped a bit; Kevin did as well as stress seemed to catch up with the sixteen year-old. “Again, anything you can help with is awesome. I even… hated asking this of you guys.”

“Sometimes it’s tough to go in alone, even if you’re one of the best mechanics and software engineers for our age group.” He chuckled. “I still can’t believe you hacked into the shower systems and had them pulse out a Morse code message. Or the time we asked for your help in getting the leak all set up. We still owe you for that one at least.”

“I keep trying to cash in when me and my brother need to eat but someone here insists that food can’t be bought with favors.”

“And I’ll still stand by that.” He smiled sympathetically at me. “Travis, I really wish we had the room for both you and Jesse down here with us. I really did. If things happened just a bit differently…”

“I know, bud,” I said slowly. “I… know.” I stood up and Kevin did as well.

“Your brother is a cute little thing, isn’t he?”

I laughed some. “I guess he is, but I don’t see him like that. In fact, we hated each other less than a year ago.”

“I know. Sucks that it took your parents’ disappearance to bring you guys closer. I really miss…” Kevin’s voice quieted down as his face hardened like stone. “I can’t go back, no matter how much I want to.” He relaxed. “Go on. I need to talk with Zane some about maybe breaking through the bulkheads and expanding into the sealed off areas of F level. I don’t who built this rust bucket but they sure used materials in those bulkheads that are practically impervious to anything we’ve thought to throw at them. It was the only oversight to our plans – forgetting to deactivate them from locking and shit.”

“Mind if I take a walk down here before I leave? Our new quarters are a little small and I don’t want to risk being seen up on any of the other levels.” Kevin nodded. I shook Kevin’s hand and almost regretted it. I felt the same things I did now as I did several months ago. I looked into his eyes and saw what could have been there. After a lengthy handshake, I slipped out of his office.

Before I went to go and see my brother and Julian, I needed some time alone to think about things. If Kevin did find a way to break the seal on the other parts of F level, would I want to move down here and join up with Kevin’s little band of misfits? It didn’t seem like a bad idea in all honesty. I’d have to deal with Zane being above me though and that’s the main reason I’d hesitate if the offer was presented to me. Naturally, I’d make sure Jesse was down here regardless. There’s too much danger up on the regular levels for kids with no parents and not attached to the orphanage.

I’d rather die than let them collar me.

I glanced around at all the shiny, metallic walls and ceilings, my shoes making the metal floors vibrate and echo all around me. One thing was certain – this level certainly could use some more color. If the station actually managed to fill up to capacity, I think this level was supposed to be left alone for a specific purpose. I forgot which one between either communications and other essential services or–

I tripped.

I splayed out onto the metal surface and slightly twisted my ankle in my descent. “Ow! Damn it!” I shouted. Even the dull thud of my chest striking the floor didn’t hurt as much as my now throbbing appendage. After my breathing returned from the slight winding I caused myself, I rolled over and checked the damages. I poked my ankle and winced a small amount. It’d probably be fine by tomorrow. Maybe even later today. I stood up and tested my weight on it. Nothing worth seeing the doctor about.

I glanced over at the pile of debris that sat along the wall. Something stuck out from that pile and into the path. Angrily, I kicked the protruding object and nearly broke my toes in the process. Frustrated at what I kicked being made of solid titanium or something, I leaned down and grabbed the leg.

Leg?

I looked to the thing in my hands and saw exactly that – a leg. It appeared to be one of those artificial ones that I’ve seen on occasion lining the doctor’s office’s walls. But given that, this limb seemed far more sophisticated than even the most advanced one up there. By a magnitude of at least ten. Maybe far more than that. My anger faded into intense curiosity. Was it just a leg? Or… was it attached to something?

Like a body?