Preparations where
on the way for the new woman who had come of age over the past year. A new
influx of 18-year-olds where to be presented to be wed. President Maylynn
Hardthorne had been overseeing all the preparations since the beginning of the
summer. As she walked down the corridor to her office, her assistant was giving
her an update on the official ceremony.
“And your eldest
son Ezra will get first pick this year as he is also of age.”
“Hopefully the
crop of women will be above average this year” Maylynn replied entering her
office. A crowd of men surrounded the desk in the clean metal room. Maylynn sat
at her glass and metal desk.
“Gentleman” the
room fell quiet. Maylynn took a moment to take in the room. Her government
consisted of all men, the only other women in the room was her assistant. All
wore metallic jumpsuit except the women who wore metallic dresses. Maylynn and
her assistant wore different colours, Maylynn gold and her assistant purple and
silver whilst the men, steel grey with trim the colour of the compartment they
lived in. Maylynn’s assistant lived in compartment E so wore a metallic purple
whilst the male counterparts wore metallic steel grey with purple trim.
After her moment Maylynn begun,
“The preparations
for the new influx of brides are complete and this year will mark the 300th
anniversary of the asteroids that unexpectedly hit the earth killing nearly all
of the human population. Those ancestor of ours who were lucky enough to make
the cut to live down here have created a safe and fair society for us to
flourish in. At the end of the debutants week there will be a ceremony to
remember this time and those who were lost during one of the most terrible
times of our history.”
Everyone agreed.
As the meeting
went on the debutant brides were preparing for their big entrances. Elodie who
had turned 18 in June looked out of her window down on to the hall where she
would be presented to the eligible bachelors to marry and start a life of what
her and her friends called old fashioned servitude.
“Hey Elodie”
Nadira came through her bedroom door.
“Hey” she replied.
Nadira turfed the contents of her make up bag on Elodie’s bed.
“Hoping you’ll
become a spinster” Nadira asked.
“What do you
think” she replied “why is President Hardthorne still putting us women through
all this, I though the whole point was to move forwards not move backwards. We
may as well be living in the 16th century.”
“What being
pursued by Henry VIII” Nadira laughed.
“I hope I find someone
from my own compartment I’m that pale I think metallic pink is the only colour
I can pull off.”
The bedroom door
opened again and their two other friends Marisol and Dora walked in.
“Couldn’t help
over hearing but don’t forget that Ezra Hardthorne gets first pick this year”
Dora told them, her red curly hair was up in a messy bun. Marisol’s chocolate
brown hair hung down her back.
“Dame, I forget he
had turned 21” Elodie sighed. Men came of age at 21 whilst woman came of age at
18.
“And on the
subject of President Hardthorne, she is power hungry, anything to keep things
her way” Nadira said.
“Do you think she
killed her husband?” Marisol asked.
“Of course she
did, he was an awful person, not that she’s any better.”
Nadira opened
Elodie’s draw and found a book on the surface world before the asteroid hit.
“Are you still
obsessed with the surface world Elodie; you know there is nothing there now I
don’t even think it habitable”
“Well, I wish we
lived before the asteroids hit, all the fashion, the careers women could have,
falling in love with who you want, not having to wear the same metallic colour
all the time” Elodie took the book and flicked through it and sighed “if the rumours
are true, I’m going to feel so sorry for the woman who ends up with Ezra.”
“I think the
rumours started because of his parents; they have never been nice people
themselves” Dora said as she sifted through Nadira’s make up.
“Can I borrow your
eye shadow for tomorrow?” she asked.
“Sure” Nadira
said.
The day ended
quicky and soon they were up and getting ready for the rest of their lives.
Elodie, Nadira, Marisol and Dora all entered the side room.
“Pandora, you look
beautiful” Dora’s dad said’
“Thank you, but
please don’t call me Pandora.”
“Pandora is your
given name and that is what I will call you” he said.
Dora sighed.
“Come on or we
will be late” Dora’s mother said.
They all walked
through the bright steal spaceship looking corridors. Door opening
automatically as they stepped towards them. Dora’s mother filled into the
massive hall as Dora and her father joined all the other dads and daughters in
a side room whilst the expectant grooms where all in another side room. They would
stand on the balcony looking down into the hall and watching as each woman was
presented to President Hardthorne.
One by one every father, or mother in the
case the father wasn’t around, presented their daughter to the President just
like they use to in the Regency era. Ezra stood next to his mother’s throne
like chair silently inspecting each girl.
Elodie in a lowcut short dress with a slit
up one of her legs her mother had insisted she wear was presented halfway
through, Ezra looked taken aback a little.
“Wait” he said as
Elodie and her father started to move off. They stopped. Nadira in a skin tight
long dress with a train looked stunned. She had been presented earlier and was
now standing in the crowed.
“Thank you” Ezra
said after a few minutes. They moved off and stood with the rest of the crowd.
Elodie and Nadira gave each other a worried look.
After the
presentation was over, Elodie and Nadira found the other two and told them what
happened.
“Wait, Ezra has
taken a liking to you?” Dora asked.
“Yes, what am I
going to do?” Elodie replied panicked.
“Marry him”
Marisol said.
“Marisol” Nadira
said she looked up “here he comes.”
“Elodie” Ezra
said. He was tall and handsome and very well spoken.
“Hello Ezra”
Elodie replied “you look very dashing” she complemented.
“And you look very
beautiful, though I wasn’t expecting to see your in something quit low cut.”
“My mother
insisted” she told him.
“Well, there was
no need for it” he told her. As he spoke Nadira jumped as a man groped her bum.
“What are you
doing?” she snapped.
“Just getting
feel, very plump.”
“Ben that is no
way to treat a woman” Ezra told him.
“Oh, what would
you know fancy boy, you need to know what it is you are getting; you don’t want
a frump do you” he told him.
“You are without a
doubt the worst man I have ever come across” Nadira told him moving away from
him.
“Well, you’re in
my top three love and if I choose you, you can’t say no.”
“Yes, she can”
Ezra told him “There is nothing that says a woman can’t reject a marriage
proposal if she wants to.”
“Well, there
should be and that will be the first thing I am changing when I” he put
emphasis on the I “become president” and he stalked off.
“I really hope no
one votes for him” Dora said.
“I certainly
won’t” Ezra said.
The next week was
filled with many dates and getting to know you sessions, Elodie couldn’t help
but gush about Ezra.
“I can’t help it”
she said to two of her friends one evening “he just seems so different to what
I was expecting. He’s so kind and respectful.”
“If this isn’t an
acted to get you to like him” Dora said.
“I hope not, that
would be such a disappointment.”
“You learned anything
interesting about him?” Marisol asked.
“Nothing that we didn’t
already know, except he loves to read, and can’t stand his mother and the kind
of person he is.”
“So, no deal
breakers yet?” Dora teased
“No Dora not as of
yet if there are any that is”
“Has anyone seen
Nadira?” Marisol asked
“A date with Ben
again” Dora said “her father’s been chaperoning her” she added to stop them
worrying.
Nadira’s father approached
them shorty after this statement.
“Have you seen Nadira?”
he asked frantic.
“No” Elodie
replied
“We thought she
was with you on her date with Ben” Dora said
“She never showed
up, now we can’t find her” he said worryingly
“We’ll help you
look for her” Marisol said.
They spent hours running
round the corridors, weaving in and out of people going about their day. Each friend
checked their own compartment but to no avail. They checked their hang out spots,
they checked the communal canteen and the garden area. Nothing. After 24 hours
there was no sign of Nadira.
“My mother is going
to go mad when she finds out” Ezra told Elodie. He had joined the search when
Elodie told him.
“What do we do
then?”
“No Idea. My
mother has been running a tight ship since my father died, she thinks this system
works even though it doesn’t. All she’s done, all any of our presidents have
done is take the human race backwards and destroy all the human race had evolved
too before the astride strike”
“You like history?”
Elodie asked.
“I love it.”
“Me too.”
“Oh, will you two
stop flirting” a voice said. Elodie and Ezra turned around
“Nadira, there you
are, where have you been?” Elodie grabbed her friend and hugged her.
“Trying to find
the exit out of here”
“Wait what?”
Elodie looked shocked
“I need your book?”
Nadira told Elodie
“What book”
“Your book about
the surface world”
“Nadira that’s just
a history book, it won’t help you up on the surface, and why do you want to
leave anyway?”
“I am not marrying
Ben, no way. He’s the only man who has paid me any attention and I’m not doing
it, I’d rather take my chances on the surface” Nadira told them “Meet me by the
exit with your book in twenty minutes, it’s by the archives” she ran off again through
the crowd.
“Nadira!” Elodie
shouted but she was gone.
“What do we do now?”
Ezra asked
“I need to find
the other two maybe they can help me change her mind.”
“Ok I’ll meet you
at the exit I need to do something first”
Elodie looked at
him worried.
“Don’t worry I’m
not going to tell my mother or anyone else” he kissed her before leaving.
Elodie found
Marisol looking very glum,
“Marisol there you
are, what’s wrong?” she asked
“My date asked the
other woman to marry him” Marisol said
“Oh, Mari I’m so
sorry”
“It’s ok I can be
a lonely spinster with Dora now”
“Don’t say that
you’ll both get another chance” Elodie consoled her “Anyway we need to find
Dora now, I found Nadira and she says she’s leaving for the surface”
“What!” Marisol shrieked.
They ran off and
found Dora and headed for the exit to stop Nadira
“Nadira stop, you can’t
leave” Elodie said
“Why not, I hate
this place and I can’t marry Ben”
“We know, we all hate
this place but we have no idea what the surface is like, it may not even be
habitable” Elodie told her
“I know but I can’t
stay here, I can’t, I’m sorry but I have to go” Nadira was starting to panic
tears ran down her cheeks
“I’m coming with
you” Marisol said. Everyone looked at her
“Really?” Nadira
said with a weak smile
“Yes. I’ve just
been rejected and why not, they system down here is broken and wrong, I’d much
rather be single and taking my chances up there with my friends” she turned to
look at Dora and Elodie.
“I’m in” Dora said.
Elodie hesitated.
“I don’t know” she
said
“But you’ve always
wanted to escape to the surface world” Nadira said
“I know but…Ezra”
“Another thing we have
in common” Ezra said as he approached arms ladened with stuff. He dropped them
on the floor and started handing out coats.
“Put these on” he
told them “And carry these” he handed them boxes with straps on them
“What are these?”
Marisol asked
“Gas masks just in
case”
“You really want
to escape to the surface?” Elodie asked
“Yes, we can live
free of this placed of all it rules and regulation. We can breathe the fresh air
and run in the grass. We will find shelter and take it from there” he told them.
Elodie smiled at
him.
“Are you sure?” she
asked.
“A hundred percent.”
“But your mother”
“What about her, I’ve
tried time and time again to get her to change things down here but to no avail.
I have thought about running away a number a times but always held back for
some unknown reason” he looked at Elodie “Now I do, you. You deserve more than
what is down here”
Elodie looked at
him, then the others.
“Ok. Let’s do it,
let’s get out of here.”
They put on the coats Ezra has given them
and changed their heels for boots. Dora offered to carry one of the rucksacks
Ezra has brought with him. Once they where ready Ezra put a code on to a key
pad.
“We need to move
fast get as far away from the exit as possible, an alarm will go off alerting
everyone that someone is escaping. And stick together” Ezra told them “There
will be no going back. Ready”
They all nodded determined
to be free. Ezra pressed a button and the doors began to open. In an instant
the alarm went off.
“Doors opening” an
automated voice said
“Doors opening” it
kept saying
“Go” Ezra shouted over
the noise. They began to run. Steep steps lead up to another door. They could hear
voices shouting wondering what was going on As the second door opened, they saw
the bright blue sky. Wisps of cloud dotted about.
“What is that”
Dora asked
“It’s the sky”
Elodie told her “It’s blue just like it is in the book” she said surprised.
As they ran thought
he door it closed behind them. They looked up taking in the view.
“It’s beautiful”
Elodie said. Hills and trees starched out before them.
“Come one, we have
to keep moving” Ezra told them. They set off towards the horizon and into the
unknown.
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