The Circadia Chronicles: Omnibus: The Complete Colonization Sci-Fi Series by Heather Heckadon (books to read to get smarter .txt) 📗

I sat next to him and put my feet up on the coffee table, then sank back into the soft cushions. I sighed and tried to pay attention to the show, but I couldn't. Instead, I glanced at Smith from the corner of my eye. His red hair and freckles normally made him look extremely young, but now the dark circles under his eyes showed his age. "Are you getting any sleep?" I asked gently. I didn't demand answers, only requested as a concerned friend.

He pressed his lips together. "Enough, I guess."

I nodded once. "Everything has been okay for you here? The brothers are kind of particular sometimes. I could see how that would get under someone's skin," I offered.

He sighed loudly. "Aella, do you want to watch the show, or are you here to hound me?"

I felt my eyes grow wide, but then I talked myself out of giving him a piece of my mind. Everyone needed a friend. "No, I wanna watch the show. Really."

We both faced the TV. When I had first walked into the room, I couldn't understand how he could focus on the show when so much was happening around us, but the more I watched, the more I realized it was a welcome distraction.

We stayed up for most of the night binge-watching the reality TV marathon.

"THERE IT IS!" I EXCLAIMED and pointed at the news. "That's where we need to be!" All the exhaustion from lack of sleep the night before vanished when I saw the riot.

There had been an overnight raid on a local food market near what used to be Kansas. The Divinity had decided they were low on provisions and needed to take all the food from a group of local farmers that had worked hard for it. Now their efforts were for nothing. The Divinity had deemed it taxation and necessary to the peace on a global scale. The farmers didn't want to lie down and take it, so they fought back. This inspired a large number of locals to protest and riot in their honor. However, The Divinity had brought out guns and used deadly force against farmers who had already had their weapons confiscated. The media painted the farmers as criminals, but I knew better.

"The riot is over though. What can we do there?" Philip asked.

I stood incredulous. "Seriously? Those people are mad. They need an organized cause, and that's us! Let's get their story out there and rally the troops!"

He shrugged.

"Can I take the plane or no?"

"Whatever you want to do," he said dismissively.

I took off to pack my bags and grab the editor. How did I not catch his name? While running down the hall, I encountered Jane. "Are you coming? We're going to Kansas to film!"

"When?"

"Now!" I called as I passed her.

"Yes! Let me get my things!"

"Meet me at the hangar!" I yelled over my shoulder.

ONCE IN THE HANGAR, we stood and waited for the pilot. Jane, the editor—whose name I learned was Chris—my bodyguard and myself were all present. It was awkwardly quiet until Jones, the pilot, made his way across the concrete to us. "Who's ready for a trip to Kansas?" he yelled excitedly.

Jane gave a sarcastic "Woohoo!" and everyone followed him onto the plane. Jane and I sat together, and Chris sat across the aisle from us. He stared at his laptop for most of the flight as Jane and I talked about the old days on Earth before Circadia. Since I had gone to school at Kansas University, the memories flooded back.

"Why KU?" she asked.

"It was fairly close to home, and they had a great agricultural program."

"Do or did you have family around there?"

The droning sound of the plane’s engine grew louder in my ears, and I suddenly heard my heartbeat. My breathing was heavy, and tears pulled at my eyes. "My mom lived in Chicago. When the nuclear war happened, I had no idea if she was dead or alive. I’ve done some research since landing on Earth. I found out that she was in D.C. for the weekend visiting an old friend when everything went down so, she's gone now."

Jane's head went down, and I heard sniffling. "I'm sorry. Why didn't you say anything?"

I thought for a moment. It had everything to do with me being private about my life before Circadia and not wanting to show emotions in front of my colleagues, but I offered, "I felt like everyone had lost someone, and I didn't need to bring it up."

"Yours was new," she pointed out. "You just found out, but I understand not wanting to share. When my dad passed away, I wished people would stop talking about it. I loved him dearly, but it hurt to talk about him. Not that I didn't ever want to talk about him again, because I did, but not when it was so fresh."

I nodded. Jane always had a way of getting me, which was strange since we were opposites. "What about you? You ever been to Kansas?" I asked.

"A few times. We drove through a couple of times on road trips. I liked hanging out in Seattle back in the day, and we always had to drive through Kansas on the way. Awful state to drive through!" She laughed. "Nothing but crops and wind turbines."

"That's no joke," I agreed. "Perfect for not having many distractions in school though."

"Yeah. I always forget you were boring before all this."

"What? Boring, really?”

"Oh, don't be like that! We both know you were." She laughed and nudged me with her shoulder.

I chuckled. "Okay, maybe."

"Now look at you. World revolution leader," she proclaimed playfully and dramatically.

"Yeah, yeah."

The pilot's intercom throughout the plane crackled to life, then he announced, "We're on approach to land at our destination. Please make sure you're buckled up and armed. Thank you."

"That's something you don't hear on a commercial flight, that's for sure!" Jane remarked.

I grinned. "This is a little different.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Stepping off the