Edge of extinction

“Inspection.” There was the familiar rap on the bars of her cell that signalled the space was about to be turned upside down in search of smuggled contraband she no longer even had. Astrid Li, a name she was sure had been her parents attempt at humour, given she, like everyone on board the space station currently in orbit above the Earth had been born here, sighed heavily and rose up off the hard cot that functioned as her bed. She stood with her hands pressed to the wall, legs shoulder width apart. It was a daily occurrence; any excuse to bump her up the list of candidates to be sent back to the planet. Humanity had long ago brought its own planet to the brink of extinction, and given that they weren’t developed enough to travel the stars yet... this was the best they could do. The space stations in orbit at the time of the nuclear Holocaust that snuffed out life on Earth were mostly owned and operated by the Chinese government, which explained the abundance of Chinese surnames amongst its populace. As often happened however, the gene pool quickly became so diluted that it had become difficult to pick one race from the other. They had done their best to maintain cultural heritage, but as generations wore on, even that had become difficult. With each generation the children wanted less and less to do with learning about their ancestors. Astrid was no different. She was quickly approaching her eighteenth birthday, and the under the strict law of their space station ark, would be liable for any crime committed to result in death. Prior to coming of age, crimes were punished by imprisonment, but there was no longer any room for that. Thus far any crime, no matter how petty, had been punished. But now the elders were faced with the difficult choice; either reduce what crimes were considered for punishment, or begin killing minors for their crimes. The station had finite resources, and some were arguing that a child that broke the law would only grow into an adult who broke the law, so why prolong their life at the cost of law abiding people? That was when one elder had offered a third option; use them as guinea pigs to test how viable a return to earth would be for the general population. 
So here she was, locked away because she had dared to steal the key to the zero G training chamber for a little late night fun with her friends. She had taken full blame, thinking the fact her mother was on the council of elders would help her. Not a chance, if anything, her punishment was more severe because of this small fact. A point had to be made.

In the cell next to Astrid, a tiny blonde named Star Lin was still sobbing. The daughter of the president had no real idea as to why she was being imprisoned. Whenever she asked, she was met with silence. She was not to know that in that moment, her father too was fighting this battle. The little blonde was being included in the crimes of the girl next to her. 
It didn't matter how respectable and kind to all Star was. Once a rumour was started on the ship, especially about teenagers, it wasn't likely to die out any time soon.

Astrid had always been a bold child, a risk taker in a culture of always maintaining the status quo. She had grown bored with the way things were done. Her mother was engineer, and her father... Astrid didn’t like to spare too many thoughts on her father. He had been her only advocate during her arrest, and had been ‘spaced’ because of this, he had tried to claim to crime was his, as it had been his key that had been stolen. James Li had been a botanist, and was a wonderful father to Astrid. On the station a child was expected to follow the path of either parent, and while it was meant to be their own choice, Astrid’s mother had taken that one small freedom away from her; she had all but forced her daughter to enroll in the engineering program. This had been the catalyst for Astrid’s rebellion; she had very much wished to follow in her father’s footsteps. 
The seventeen year old had been given too much time alone with these thoughts while in her cell, even the brief time they were given in the exercise room brought little relief, but at least she was able to talk to people then. They constantly searched her cell, as her own mother had told the warden that a guard was smuggling her wayward daughter illicit herbs from the hydroponic lab. It wasn’t a lie, but neither did they ever find anything in her cell.

Star was a model child. She'd been brought up that way. So much so the other teens wanted nothing to do with her. It was more than certain that she was to be the next in line for presidency. But now things didn't look so certain. 
She couldn't help being unable to calm herself down. It didn't help when the guards came into her cell and threw her out, screaming about plants under her mattress. She turned her head toward Astrid, her nose as red as the whites of her eyes. 
She knew of her but didn't know her well. She wasn't going to blame her for this especially when she knew what had just happened to her father.

Astrid stood outside her own cell and waited, seeming almost bored with the whole situation. At one point she even yawned and ran her fingers through dishevelled hair that wasn’t tied back and stopped midway between her slender jaw and shoulder. “Guys, seriously, some of us have places to be.” She mocked. No one knew how Astrid truly felt about her fathers death, as she never spoke of it. But it was quite clear how she felt about her mother, the woman who had pushed the button the opened the airlock and vented her father into space.

One of the guards pushed Star roughly and she stumbled into Astrid. She gave the other girl a strange look. "You two can start heading toward the loading deck with officer Green. Try anything, Astrid and you know what will happen."
Star looked uncertainly at the tall man speaking. "I want to speak to my father first. We have ri..." All the guards began to laugh loudly. 
The guard that spoke grabbed her by the arm and shook her hard. "You screwed up, kid. Daddy isn't going to save you now." He purred. "There's no one coming for you, honey. Either of you." He added, turning his eyes on Astrid.

Astrid snorted and rolled her eyes. One was a hazel hue that leaned more in the green end of the spectrum, the other... that was the wonder. It was a bio mechanical implant her mother had created after an accident Astrid had suffered as a small child. It functioned the same as any other eye, though the mechanical iris was the blue of the power source behind it, surrounded by silver components. Her mother had made no effort to make her creation appear beautiful or even for it to blend in. It served its function, and in the eyes of Veronica Li, that’s all that truly mattered.
“Hey, how about you pick on someone who will actually fight back?” The darker haired teen sneered, daring to kick a slender foot into the back of the man’s knee, causing him to buckle slightly.

The guard reached out and grabbed Astrid by the hair while the others pulled out weapons. 
"Stop." Star was quick to step to the man who had his fingers woven tightly in the strange girl's hair. She rested a hand on his shoulder and smiled warmly at him. "It's okay. We didn't mean any..." Her words were met with another guard slamming her to the ground. Diplomacy was not going to work for her here.

“Go on, do it.” Astrid dared the guard when she saw the rest of them reach for their weapons. “It’s either die now, or get spaces later, right?” She sneered, both her yes watching the guards face steadily. Few people could meet her gaze without turning away in disgust.

"Oh you're not getting spaced, honey. You're going to the planet." The guard hissed. "Both of you."
"What? Why?" Star cried still being held on the floor. "By who's order? I want to talk to my father! This is cruel punishment! For no reason!" Once again her face was slammed into the floor. 
"You two hear that? Nobody is listening." The guard purred. "Now let's go."

Aware their situation was pretty much the worst it could get anyway, Astrid had no issue with slamming an elbow back into the ribs of the guard who was holding her. She didn’t demand to speak to her mother, she knew that was useless. Instead she simply smiled, going to the planet was just another way of killing them. They were all taught from a young age that the planet was toxic, and would remain that way for several more generations.

The next thing Star knew, she and the severely bruised Astrid were lying on the floor of an life pod heading toward the planet. She hadn't even gotten to see her father as they were thrown onboard and ejected into space. Oddly enough she hadn't cried this time. She'd simply stared into the cameras, somehow knowing her father could see her. 

Jason Lin pushed his lenses up the bridge of his nose and stared at the woman who stood next to him. As before she didn't look so much as sorrowful. "This had better work." He hissed. "That is my daughter I just sacrificed."

Astrid flicked her tongue against the bloody split in her lower lip and shook her head with a snort. “This is cold, even for her.” She remarked, like Star she knew they were being watched. “Hope you enjoy your precious fucking space, bitch!” She sneered into the camera.

Veronica smiled slightly as Astrid spay profanity into the camera. The outburst merely cemented her belief that if anyone could survive on that planet, it was her daughter. She had taught her well, even if the girl didn’t even realise it. Veronica had forced Astrid to see the tough choices leaders must make, because when all was said and done... the president wasn’t the leader, not even a little. He was the face the true leaders presented to the public. “Of course it will work, Jason. Do you think any children will dare defy us now, knowing no one is safe? They will push themselves harder to become what the station needs.”

"Must you use that language?" Star snapped, staring at the console in front of her. She was trying to remember the code to shut off the cameras. This was humiliating enough without it being broadcast to the entire station. In the end she turned away and opened a med pack holding out a cooling pad to the other teen. "This will help." She said softly.

"Fuck you and fuck this station." Jason snapped. "It should be me going down there. Not her. Star won't survive a day. She wasn't raised for that!" 
He slammed a fist on the console in front of him and growled again. "You're fucking insane."

Astrid grabbed the pack and roughly shoved it back inside the Med kit. “Look, princess, my choice of words is the least of your worries right now.” Astrid began. “First off, no wasting packs on a split lip. You do realise what’s down there, don’t you?” She asked as she sat against the wall of the small pod and closed her eyes for a brief moment. “The radiation won’t kill us right away, and that’s the cruelest part of it. Radiation poisoning is a wicked sickness, it causes the membranes of each of your cells to weaken. Eventually they collapse completely, causing you to bleed from every orifice, including your pores. Of course, that’s all assuming we’re not killed by mutated wildlife, or simple exposure. You really think they even sent food down with us?” Astrid finally opened her eyes and glanced out the small window of the pod. She could see several other pods drifting nearby. “At least we aren’t alone... hell, at the very least we can eat the others.” She added with a sardonic snort.

Veronica hadn’t paid much attention to Jason’s outburst, instead she was listening to her daughter put the fear into meek little Star. The elder woman couldn’t help the smile that took hold. “None of them were raised for this. It’s a simple matter of survival. The animals have it right; only the strong survive.

Star ran to the window and stared at the pods. Her stomach was churning and the radiation had nothing to do with it. "You can't eat people, Astrid... that's...wrong. Are you insane?" She breathed. "Maybe they're just scaring us and they'll bring us back after a few hours. This could be a show to make everyone know that my father is serious when he says everyone needs to obey..."

“Right, we have to recycle urine for water, but we have the power and resources to blast all the pods, then reclaim them just to prove a point.” Astrid replied with another roll of her eyes. “Look, Princess, if you’re going to remain this annoyingly naive, do me a favour and head in the opposite direction to me when we land.”

Star winced when something thudded against their pod. She wished she'd turned away before the face of a skeletal figure floated past the window. She hoped Astrid hadn't seen. Just in case she put herself in front of the window and frowned at her. "Stop being so nasty. We're in this together. It would probably be in your best interest to make sure I stay close so you can eat me when I die first." She snapped, barely able to contain the quiver to her chin.

Austral had seen the skeleton, but it wasn’t her first. It was something someone like Star no doubt never knew, but the older teens often gathered after curfew to see who could spot the most on the observation deck. For now, however, Astrid made no mention of the skeleton.
“Good, so Princess does have a bite.” She finally commented with a smirk.

Star sat with her back to the window and continued to stare at Astrid. Unlike the other kids she spent her time in the congregational meetings. She knew why the skeletons floated past the observation desk. Even the old ones. Her father had taught her the history of those who were spaced. 
"At least on the planet they can't form a committee to tell us to die." She breathed.

“No, I imagine they expect us to manage that all by ourselves.” Astrid replied before yawning. “Decent through the atmosphere can get pretty bumpy, you should really try to get some rest before we hit it.” She commented. “This may be your last chance to dream before we land, Princess.”

Star couldn't sleep. She'd been torn from her life and thrust into oblivion. She didn't even know what she'd done to deserve it. 
"We're going to be okay." She promised the other girl.

Below them a pair of black eyes watched the ships approaching and saw them as falling stars. The young alien smiled. It was a good night to sleep beneath the stars.

“Define okay.” Astrid replied, though she wasn’t expecting an answer as she simply turned over and at least attempted some kind of rest before they were thrust into hell.

“I can’t break you out of the detention camp a second time, you know.” Another alien had joined the first, a pulse rifle slung over their shoulder as they watched their friend. “It’s past curfew, and you don’t have a pass to be outside the city anyway.”

Star didn't believe her words either. But she kept repeating them in her head, even as the pod began to rocket into the atmosphere. Eventually it crashed onto the planet. She remembered little of this. However, while the new humans were now laying in separate places in the nearby areas, a creature was feasting on the dead...

"Screw their passes." The younger one snapped. Aten stayed where he was, ignoring his brother. "Meteor showers are far more interesting then your coming of age party anyway."

Astrid had a deep gash that started somewhere beyond her hairline and ran an inch down her forehead as she dragged herself from the pod. Even with blood dripping into the clearer of her two eyes she could see the carnage around them. Everything was. Kitty and her ears were ringing. It was how she imagined a battlefield must feel, which brought her to her next thought; find a weapon.

“I see... even when the generals daughter had asked several times when you will be joining us?” The elder brother asked with a wry grin. “You would think you had had your full of those silly rocks by now. This world foolishly lies within range of a meteor belt, showers are nothing new.”

Star was lying on her back with the med kit on her stomach. All around her were the sounds of screaming. For a moment she laid where she was, once again feeling the blood sliding from her nose. But that wasn't all. There was an odd pain in her lower hip and she was honestly afraid to move and find out what it was. 
"There is more here." It wasn't so much a spoken word as a hissed one. It made her even more terrified to open her eyes. "We shall taste this one too."

"Yeah but... there's something different..." Aten sat up the last of the meteors flaming dangerously close as it headed into the atmosphere. "Those aren't...tell mother, I'll be back!" He shouted, grabbing his brother's riffle and taking off at a dead run. "I'll be back for your stupid wedding, shit face!"

Astrid could hear screams, no doubt the survivors of the other pods. She was leaning heavily on the metal tubing she had found in the wreckage. It was hefty enough to cause injury, but light enough that swinging it wouldn’t tire her out too much. Her survival instinct was old Astrid to run into the tree line and never look back, but the realist in her was whispering that she shouldn’t run alone. “Oh for fu...” the rest of her words were drowned out as she made her way back to the post she had been flung from. “Star? Tell me the princess didn’t die.” She hissed, aware that they knew next to nothing about the planet their ancestors once called home.

“You know how mother feels about you using their words!” Aren’t brother hissed at his back. “Oh ancestors safe me...” The elder man muttered, knowing it was easier for all of he hunted Aten himself without involving their matriarch.

Star screamed as a massive blast rocked the remains of her pod. It barely missed her body but left nothing but chunks of the hissing monster that had been leaning towards her. 
When the last chunk hit her on the lips, her stomach rolled. She gagged and began to throw up, forgetting about the pain in her hip. It was when she tried to turn that she remembered and the wretching stopped and an agonized scream began.

Jason's fingers shook as he sat back from the console. Star had been lucky. They were close to the planet's orbit. Otherwise, he'd never have been able to use that beam. Nevermind the ship's power. They'd replace it or they wouldn't. He no longer cared. 

Aten stumbled when he saw the beam from the sky. This confirmed it. This meteor shower was something amazing. His family could go screw off.

Astrid hit the ground, cursing loudly as she did so. Screw it. No one was worth this. She scrambled back to her feet, running blindly to the tree line before another blast of whatever that was hit.

“You must feel so proud of yourself.” Veronica remarked from behind Jason. “You think we have power to spare? Least of all for someone probably already dead?!”

Soma saw the beam and cursed his little brother out for stealing his pulse rifle. This primitive world was no place for a youngling such as Aten.

Astrid was not alone in the woods. Another creature had been lurking there, looking for a tastier meal than its younger kind. It saw the strange female heading towards it and decided to welcome her with open jaws.

Aten crashed into the woods, his pulse rifle raised. His chest was heaving with excitement. This made a thing like coming of age look unimportant.