Island X
It started in an orphanage - my
orphanage, The Sunny Day’s Orphanage, in a small town in
Alaska. I know a weird place for an orphanage. But when the
government wants to lay low on their new discovery, getting two
test subjects from a small town orphanage in the middle of an ice
land is the right way to go. Test subjects from an orphanage?
Strange, I know. But it was the only way.
They arrived
in the night, five men. Two came up to the door. They were dressed
in black formal suits, the kind the secret service would be
imagined to wear. They had badges on their black, leather belts,
dark sunglasses, and an earpiece in. Mrs. Duow the orphanage
director brought us out of our rooms. Just me and Josh. Not the
other kids. We were the oldest there (we were both fourteen), so
that’s why we were chosen.
We were brought
outside, and were told to be silent. The men made us put our hands
behind our backs, and they were tied together. Then a blindfold was
put on. We rode for what seemed like forever in their strange black
car with tinted windows. We came to a stop, our blindfolds were
removed, and our hands untied. Josh and I looked around
frightened.
“Get out of the car.” One of the three men in the back
with us said. We did and found ourselves in a large pure white
room. Everything, including the furniture was white and looked very
expensive. We were left alone for no more than five minutes.
Official music started playing, and two men dressed in the black
suits stepped in seemingly from nowhere. A tall thin man with
graying hair stepped out from a doorway. The lighting behind him
was blinding, so seeing who he was was impossible.
“Ella
Smile and Josh Morey I presume?” The man asked. He had a
slight British accent. He stepped out of the light and I saw who it
was.
“President Schynider?” I blurted out surprised. He was
wearing a white suit with a baby blue tie. He perfectly matched the
room.
“Why yes.” He
said in a smooth tone. It was almost hypnotic. He flashed us a
smile that made the white of the room look cream instead of white.
He waved the men in the black suits away and plopped down on the
couch, signaling for us to take a seat as well.
“Now you must be dying to know why I’ve brought you
here. Ice water?” he waved towards the glasses of water on
the coffee table in front of us. “No? Well then I must
continue. We have brought you here to be a pioneer. Yes, a child
pioneer. Ah what a magnificent idea, I’m just sorry I
didn’t come up with it sooner.” He cleared his throat,
as if reminding himself to talk to us, not to himself.
“You must have heard rumors of a supposed Planet X? Well
those rumors are most definitely true. It’s getting too
crowed here on Earth, so we set up everything growing children like
you will need to survive on Planet X. You two will be the first to
go there. You must create the laws, decide on housing, a form of
government, how education will work, food rationing when supplies
get low, how to keep track of who is currently on Planet X,
everything. It will be totally and completely child
inhabited so it must also be child run.” Josh and I looked at
each other, eyes wide with fear and excitement.
“What about aliens? What happens when the kids aren’t
kids anymore?” Josh asked. He was honestly willing to do
this.
“Smart questions Josh, but there were no life forms except
for harmless bacteria, and you will be staying on only one side of
the planet. Once a child turns eighteen, they will have the option
of leaving and returning to Earth, or staying on Planet X until
they turn twenty. By that point, they must leave and will
be escorted to the opposite side of the planet, where space
shuttles will be waiting to bring them back here, to Earth.
“We have sent robots to the planet, and they have
successfully built two million houses, and about one thousand extra
buildings for storage and one Ellis Island building, by the space
shuttle dock, which resembles an airport quite significantly. Now I
have two questions for you both. Number one, what age will the
workers on Planet X be at a minimum, and are you ready to
disembark?”
“Thirteen?” I asked Josh. He nodded so I turned to
President Schynider and said with confidence “Thirteen
years.” Then before I could even think about being
ready to leave this planet Josh answered for the both of
us.
“We’re ready when the shuttle is Mr.
President.”