by J. N. Chaney
“What other kids?” asked Terry.
“You know, the other students. Didn’t you see them?”
Terry sat on his bed directly across the room from John’s. “No, you’re the first kid I’ve seen all day.”
“Really?” asked John. “There’s about twenty of us, I think. Most got here early this morning. You’re kinda late.”
“Am I the last one?” asked Terry. He didn’t like being late.
“Dunno,” said the boy, shrugging. “They stuck me in here hours ago, and sent the rest to their own rooms. Anyway, I’m John.”
“I’m Terry,” he said. “How long do we have to stay here? They told me it was ten years. Is it for real?”
John nodded. “Until you’re seventeen.”
Terry stared at the floor.
“How long did you think it was?”
“I thought I’d be back by the end of the day.”
John didn’t say anything.
“Why didn’t my mother tell me?”
“Maybe she didn’t want to,” John said.
Terry gripped the edge of his bed with his hand, squeezing it. “Well, she should’ve said something. Now my sister thinks I’m coming back, and I’m not. She’s going to think I left her alone.”
“You have a sister?”
“Yeah,” nodded Terry. “Janice. She’s four.”
“I never had a sister,” said John. “Just an older brother. He graduated from the academy last year. When he came home, I got to meet him for the first time, and he told me all about this place.”
“You’re lucky,” muttered Terry.
“Lucky?”
“Yeah, you knew before you got here.”
“I guess,” said John, his voice a little softer. “But I only got to know my brother for a year. I won’t see him again until I’m seventeen. You got to spend four whole years with your sister. That’s lucky.”
“Sorry,” said Terry. Of course John didn’t think he was lucky. He was probably hurting as much as Terry.
“It’s okay,” said John. “And happy birthday, by the way.”
“Thanks,” said Terry. “Is it yours today, too?”
“Sure is. Me, you, and everyone else in our class.”
“Really?” asked Terry. “Seems like a lot of birthdays.”
John paused for a moment. “Actually, yeah, it kind of is.”
“What do you mean?”
“My brother told me before I got here everyone starts school on their birthday. But he also said when you get here, your class is already going on, because different kids are born at different times. The classes are based on what time of the year you’re born in.”
“So?”
“So if all of us have birthdays today, isn’t it kind of weird?”
Terry shrugged. “All my mother said about birthdays was you went to school on them.”
“It’s weird, though,” insisted John. “My brother said kids get here at different times, not all at once. It doesn’t make any sense if we’re all on the same day, does it?”
Terry thought about this for a moment. “Maybe a lot of mothers just had babies all at the same time. Maybe our class is smaller than the other ones.”
“So many maybes.”
Terry sighed and leaned back against the wall. His feet dangled off the side of the bed. “What happens tomorrow?”
“Orientation,” John said. “And we start our classes. That’s what they told me earlier.”
“Nobody told me anything,” said Terry.
“Probably because you were late,” said John. “When we got here, they lined us all up and explained it. Tomorrow’s orientation, then our first class.”
“Anything else?” asked Terry.
“Dinner,” said John, pointing to a clock next to his bed. “Ten more minutes until we eat.”
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Books By J.N. Chaney
The Variant Saga:
The Amber Project
Transient Echoes
Hope Everlasting
The Vernal Memory
Renegade Star Series:
Renegade Star
Renegade Atlas
Renegade Moon
Renegade Lost
Renegade Fleet
Renegade Earth
Renegade Dawn (July 2018)
Standalone Books:
Their Solitary Way
The Other Side of Nowhere
About The Author
J. N. Chaney has a Master’s of Fine Arts in creative writing and fancies himself quite the Super Mario Bros. fan. When he isn’t writing or gaming, you can find him online at www.jnchaney.com.
He migrates often but was last seen in Avon Park, Florida. Any sightings should be reported, as they are rare.
Renegade Earth is his eleventh novel.
