The needle pulls through the fabric of the pillow with little resistance. With a gentle tug, the thread pulls taut, completing the stitch as I had seen it in many of my first aid textbooks. "Elder Serina?"

My brow furrows as I frown, and I turn around to look behind me. "Yes?"

There's a short, slender girl with rich orange hair and an array of freckles, gazing at my pillow. "Your stitches are wonderful, how are you able to do them so well?" I stare down at her with a confused look and she starts to fuss over her hair, fiddling with the ends. "Sorry, my name is Rosemary and I'm set to become a nurse, hopefully, an emergency care nurse. I've just never been able to get my stitches so straight and consistent."

I nod my head slowly and glance between her and the pillow in my hands. "Right..." She meets my eyes with a bright smile, obviously fascinated with the work we've been doing all day. "I had practiced when I was younger."

"Wow..." Round saucer-like eyes stare at my pillow and I wave my hand in front of her face.

"You don't have to call me that, you know?"

Her brow furrows and her hands move behind her back. "What do you mean?"

"You don't have to put 'Elder' in front of my name when we're working. Really, I'd rather it never be used, although that's not the way things work. So, please, only use it in a formal setting, not when we're simple colleagues." I gesture to our matching navy-blue scrubs, the only difference in our uniform being our name badges.

"Oh," Rosemary grins and moves her hands to her hips. "Well, okay, Serina."

I genuinely smile at her and set the suture kit I was using down. "So, Rosemary, where are you from?" I cross my arms over my chest, bumping my badge with my forearm.

Her eyes light up and I follow her as she starts to move about the room. "I was in the Prime system." I absorb what she said and we both grab our advanced human anatomy books from the table set in the middle of the back room. There weren't many of the advanced books being used, only people who had studied medicine when they were younger really ever touched them. "I lived on Prime 2 with my dad and two younger brothers."

From the table of books and models, we walk to one side of the room and perch ourselves on one of the hospital beds. "How old are your brothers?"

"Jeremy is nineteen and Michael is sixteen." She flips the book open, but her face falls and she looks up, seeming to focus on nothing at all. "Actually, I guess Michael is seventeen now. With us all going into cryo, I missed his birthday."

My hands freeze, the page I was flipping, stilled in a half-bent position. "I keep forgetting about the time difference after cryo. My brother's birthday is now only a month and a half away, rather than five and a half."

I grimace and meet her gaze. "I guess we're just shitty sisters." In the quiet of studying people, I snort, trying to hold back a laugh at her comment.

I move a hand to cover my laugh and the other migrates to my stomach, knowing that should the laughter continue, a stomachache will present itself.

My eyes close briefly as I focus on regaining my composure, and I feel the book on my lap shift. I snap my eyes open and nearly have to lunge to catch my book from falling off my lap and onto the shining tile floor. My heart stops and my body stills. My legs are extended, book slid halfway down them with my hands pressing the reading into the material of my scrubs.

I look on, almost afraid to move and lose the book, seeing the pages under my hands crinkle. Rosemary makes a surprised noise next to me and I slowly release a breath, moving just as slowly to grab the book.

Just as I get the book back in my hands and relax my legs, an officer with his hands behind his back walks up to the both of us. "Elder Serina, Ms. Blake, is everything okay?"

Glancing back at Rosemary I nod. "Yes," Looking back to the officer, I realize that he looks familiar. "Thank you..."

"Major Cavanaugh." His figure with wavy brown hair and stunning grey eyes appear next to Colonel Bartlett's on the balcony. Ah, that's where I know him from.

"Of course, thank you, Major." He dips his head in a nod and turns, walking back to, well, wherever he had been.

"He's quite the sight..." I sit up straight and look over at Rosemary with a surprised expression. She's leaned over, looking past me at his retreating figure, book by her side and forgotten. It takes her a moment to realize I was looking at her, but once she does, she sits up and raises a brow. "What? It's not like he's hard on the eyes."

My lips spread in a wide smile and I simply shake my head. "What?!"

I glance at her and try to find where I was in my book again. "Nothing," I get to the right page, this one showing a few different stitch methods. "You just might have to try talking to him tonight at the bonfire that the HR team is throwing."

I watch as her eyes shine, but gently nudge her shoulder. "Come on, time to practice your stitching or else you'll never be an EC nurse."

"Really? You've got to be fucking with me." Astrid bounces on her feet, hardly able to contain her excitement as I look at the outfit she's picked for me.

On the bed lies a smooth white tube top and a royal blue shred of cloth that is supposed to be a skirt, that I'm not confident will cover my ass.

"It will look so cute! You'll wear your white sunglasses and I'll even let you wear your canvas shoes again." Astrid has a large smile on her face, her expression slowly shifting to a smug grin.

"Oh, you'll let me, huh?" I roll my eyes and look back to the outfit. "Do these really even qualify as clothes? There's like, nothing here!"

"Perfect considering the temperature difference for you." She raises her brows, almost challenging me to argue, only she doesn't seem to realize that I can argue just about anything.

"If that's the reasoning behind the outfits, are you going to be wearing fleece pants and a parka?" All day she had been complaining about the chill that a twenty-degree difference makes.

Astrid scoffs and crosses her arms. "Don't be silly. So what if I have to sacrifice a little warmth to look hot."

"And hey, maybe Will, will give you his jacket like a gentleman, and walk you home. Perhaps even a kiss on the cheek if he's gutsy." My tease, while small, sends a blush of anger through her face.

"Why am I even friends with you?" With hands forming fists, she stops out of my room.

I tilt my head to the side. "Come on, A." She steps back to the doorway, just to give me the one-finger salute, then disappears again. A brief wave of guilt sloshes in my stomach, but then I remember the clothes staring up at me from the bed and no longer feel bad.

For a long time, I stare at the clothes, not wanting to leave the comfort of my scrubs, but eventually, the ticking away of time until we have to leave for the bonfire pushes me to strip and change. Once in the new clothes, I'm pleasantly surprised. Both the top and skirt are more forgiving than I anticipated, being stretchy in places they need to be. Plus, the skirt does in fact cover my ass, so, that's a good thing. In fact, the skirt stops mid-to-high thigh and comes up just past my navel. It's much bigger than it first looked. The top was simple, strapless bra and done. Top and skirt paired, leaves a small strip of skin showing between and I'm struck by how pale I am.

With the lack of sun on Aoria, it was common for fair skinned people to be a little... fairer, than others. But here, I just look sickly. Looks like I'll need some good sun-time on days off.

"Ready?" Astrid calls from the hall.

"Yeah, come on in."

She flows in with a wine colored off-the-shoulder maxi-romper. Isn't that a mouthful? The draped part that hangs from her waist is lace, accenting her tan legs that end in feet fit snuggly in a pair of black-strapped sandals.

"You don't even have your shoes on!" Her voice pitches in a whine. "I want to get there early!"

"Geez, you don't have to wait for me." I sit on the edge of my bed and start to slip my socks and shoes on.

"And show up alone?" She laughs then stares at me with a serious look chilling her features. "Right. Besides, being fashionably late wouldn't be too bad."

"Except for the fact that the eight of us are supposed to address the entire colony and we haven't met even once to talk about what is going to be said."

The color drains from Astrid's face and she's forced to take a seat next to me on the bed. Her sudden weight throws me off balance briefly and I have to fling my arms out to steady myself. "I totally forgot about that!" As I slip my second shoe on, she grips my arm hard and shakes me. "We need to go and find everyone! Screw being fashionably late!"

"Okay—Astrid!" I shake her off and shoot her a careless glare. "I can't finish getting ready if you're shaking my arm like that."

A quick tie of the laces and a run around the room to shut my closet and grab my glasses, now I'm ready. I put the glasses on the top of my head and set my hands on my hips. "Let's go."

"I can't do it. I can't..." Elena backs away from the balcony and stumbles, Raiden and Jaxon both catching an arm.

"Elena, you have to, you're the HR rep, it's sort of your job." Lorna reaches out to Elena but she flinches, apparently, her stage-fright making her jumpy.

A hand touches my shoulder and I turn to look at Astrid. "What do we do now?" She whispers and I shake my head, not knowing what to say.

"We're all supposed to go out there and Elena is supposed to address the entire colony, like now." All eyes turn to Leon, having spoken for only the second time since we all got here.

After we all arrived, figuring out what we were going to say was simple because Elena was going to do all of the talking while the rest of us simply stood in the background ready to raise a glass. But now that the time has come to go out and speak, her nerves have gotten the better of her.

"Who's going to speak now?" Will asks, looking at everyone with an expression that shows that he would prefer the answer to that question not be himself.

Everyone is silent, looking at the other's and not speaking up. A sinking feeling moves from my chest to my abdomen and I look behind me, searching for Maggie. I catch her eye and motion her over. "Maggie, go grab a fifth of whiskey, would you?"

She runs off and I sigh. "I'll do it." Brows raise and I stand tall. "It only makes sense that I would be the second choice. I'm the health rep, people should be able to trust that I have their best interests at mind. So, if Elena isn't able to do it, I will."

My gaze locks with Elena, who stands on her own now. She gives me a nod with a look of gratitude. A door opens and a winded voice breaks through the fog. "Serina," I grin and turn to Maggie. "What do you need this for?"

I grip the bottleneck and rip the seal off. "For backup." I open the bottle and down one, two, three gulps of the burning goodness. Lowering the bottle, I see shocked looks on the faces of the other seven. I clear my throat and wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. "If anybody else needs some liquid courage before going out, Maggie here," I hand the bottle back to her. "Will have it, but get ready to get your asses on that balcony in thirty seconds."

Nobody moves. Frustrated, I clap my hands and raise my voice. "Let's go!" Everyone bolts for Maggie, all seeming to appreciate the offered booze.

My feet carry me in the opposite direction where an officer stands with a stoic expression and a platter with eight glasses of champagne. I say a quick thank you to the officer and grab a glass, contemplating whether or not to drink it now and ignore the plan for a toast at the end of the speech. My speech.

A throat clears and I look up, surprised that the officer had actually interacted with me. He meets my eyes for once and then nods his head to his right. I give him a skeptic look, but glance behind him all the same. What I see, forces me to resist the urge to kiss him. Four full bottles of champagne sit in a small bucket of ice.

The officer seemed to have read my mind. I look back at him and smile. "Bless your soul." I throw the glass in my hand back then pop one of the bottles open refilling it.

"Rina, should you really be drinking this much before you give a speech to the whole colony?" Astrid startles me, precious champagne spilling onto the ground.

"Girl!" I turn on her and glare. "You made me spill! That's alcohol abuse!"

A few laughs pull my attention behind her and the other six stand with glasses in their hands and smiles on their faces. "You don't want to be drunk when you give your speech."

Now it's my turn to chuckle. I shake my head and set the bottle back in the bucket. "A, on Aoria, the drinking age is sixteen. It will take a lot more to make me even tipsy."

"Okay..." Her grip on her glass is tight, knuckles starting to turn white. "Ready?"

"Yes." I take a deep breath and lead everyone out onto the balcony.

All eight of eight fit comfortably out on the balcony. Once we all stand in view of our fellow colonists, the music and hum of conversation slowly fades away to dead silence. The energy that radiates from the hushed colonists along with how quickly the quiet settled over the crowd, sends a chill down my spine and goosebumps across my skin.

There's a moment of anticipation, a moment of absolute stillness that even the once breeze swept trees have ceased to move. "Fellow colonists of C3-G12," I step forward and raise my voice. "Some of you know me, most of you don't. My name is Serina, elder of health."

A short wave of applause. "With me are each of the other seven elders." I step to the side, looking between the crowd and the other bodies on the balcony. I start to name them from left to right. "Jaxon, elder of the guard. Lorna, elder of surveillance. Astrid, elder of academia. Leon, elder of computer engineering. Will, elder of botany. Elena, elder of human resources. And lastly, Raiden, elder of engineering." Applause follows each name/title pairing, a show of respect from those below.

"Now, I know during typical ceremonial introductions, we would state where we came from. Of course, we aren't typical, are we?" A low murmur spreads and I come to see that I've started to open their minds. "No, we are going to be more than some new colony. We, each of us up here and each of you, will be a new way of life. Which is why we won't be announcing our previous planets, because they don't matter!" I stop and there are a few cheers from the crowd.

"Our past lives, past mistakes, past planets don't matter because this is a new start for everyone!" The cheers this time are louder. "We are no longer the people from before. We are all now G-Twelvers, for better or for worse. So you know what that means? It means we can have a new life, be a new person, and, of course, make new mistakes!" In the next moment, there's a wave of sound, cheers so powerful that I nearly cover my ears. I wait a minute, then raise my hand to settle the crowd.

"But more than that, we get to be put into the history books as the ones to start this planet on its way to prosperity! But until then, get to know one another and enjoy the party!" I raise my glass, knowing that the seven behind me do as well. Everyone below shouts as they raise theirs in a large-scale toast.

We sip our glasses then move from the balcony to regroup before joining the public. Once inside, I down the rest of my champagne and I welcome the brief dizziness from the alcohol. Unfortunately, my head clears all too soon and the gravity of what I just did sets in.

I step to the side, dragging Astrid with me and bend over. "Oh my God."

"Rina, what's wrong?" Astrid hovers around me, a hand on my shoulder.

"I can't believe I just did that. I think I'm going to puke." She pales and shakes her head.

"Uh-uh, no way! Maggie!" Hurried steps approach and I shut my eyes. "Whiskey me."

Astrid pulls me up to a straight position and shoves the bottle into my hands. "Drink up and get yourself together. You did great out there, now all that's left is to mingle and enjoy yourself for the rest of the party."

I gladly take the bottle from her and gulp a few drinks. I liquid burns on its way down, but then I can feel it burn away the discomfort and I'm able to breathe correctly. "Thanks."

"With how much you've had...nothing's going to go wrong, is it?" Maggie hesitantly asks and I chuckle.

"Honey, the drinking age on Aoria, is sixteen. How much I've had is typical of a starter at a house party, I'll be fine." Her jaw drops and I pat her shoulder. "The only challenge I'll have for the rest of the night is to last as long as the party and not do something stupid."

Astrid takes the bottle from me and takes a swig herself. "What is something stupid that you shouldn't do?"

I look around the room and find Raiden, standing against the other wall with Will. He watches us over here with a small grin on his face, seeming to only half listen to whatever Will is saying. "I can think of a few things."