"I got you a present" Winston said with a smile one morning.

"No.." I pouted while trying to keep a smile from enveloping my face "You can't keep buying me things. I feel guilty enough already"

"This is the last one, I promise" he laughed.

"Is it really?" I asked as I retrieved the wrapped box, I shot him a look that made it clear I didn't believe him one bit.

"No probably not, but you have to understand I haven't had anyone to buy things for since..." his smile faded.

"Yeah... " I didn't let him finish. I knew by now that as much as he brought her up, it pained him to talk about her.

"She didn't like receiving things either" he continued "You both have that in common. I think you would have liked her"

"We would have been best of friends" I assured him.

"Well, 'sisters' now" he corrected.

"Of course"

Winston quickly regained his smile in an attempt to lighten the mood. "What are you waiting for? Open it"

"Okay" I answered with a smile while loosening the bow.

He hung on my every motion as I unwrapped the box and lifted the lid. Most days I felt like I didn't deserve him. I used to despise everyone that lived on this side of the fence. I would never have admitted it but I did and the first person I met had been so unbelievably kind to me.

My eyes watered when I unveiled my present. A beautiful long sleeved pink dress that flared at the waist. Even just holding it up, I could already tell that it fit me perfectly and he'd bought it just for me. It felt like someone was finally thinking about me after spending so much time alone.

"Do you like it?" he asked.

I chuckled trying to hold back the tears and nodded.

"I want you to wear it today" he said. I turned my attention from the beautiful dress back to him. "We're leaving today"

"Where are we going?" I asked.

6 months and I hadn't once stepped out of this house. The thought of leaving was starting to feel like stepping out into the great unknown.

"Well, NASA camp first, then Mars, then Jupiter, then a whole new planet" he explained.

Mars? Jupiter? He spoke about them like we were just taking a leisurely stroll. I'd gone my whole life never once entertaining the possibility of ever leaving the country.

Winston looked excited, I bet I looked terrified.

"So go get dressed okay? We're getting picked up soon"

"Okay".

=^..^=

I stepped out of the house cautiously at first. We'd had an audience but I couldn't tell what was the bigger tourist arrraction, me or the helicopter currently parked on the street.

It was like nothing I'd ever seen. Like most Americans, I'd of course seen helicopters in the movies and occasionally in the sky before the scarcity of power grounded most of the birds, but this was nothing like those old choppers. Its hull was a sleek black reflective surface. Where the old models had been much too noisy and disruptive to be landed in a residential area such as this, this one was almost entirely quiet even as the four independent blades spun ridiculously fast.

Moving on from the chopper, I finally got to have a closer look at the neighbors that I'd sometimes watched from the windows over the last six months. I was sure they wondered who I was, the girl in the beautiful pink dress.

It was the first and last time they would ever lay eyes on me as I stepped up the helicopter steps and away from sight. I was faced with a giddy realization that the opaque hull of the craft only appeared that way from the outside. On the inside, every section of the fuselage allowed an unobstructed view of the world outside.

Winston smiled at my delight as he took a seat beside me and we lifted in the air. There wasn't even any pilot.

The views of the city had my undivided attention. From that height, I could just make out the fence that separated the high zone from the rest of the city. The same one that I'd illegally crossed and Shana had broken her legs trying to.

The city was in a rougher shape than I would have expected of the high zone. It seemed even the top 10% weren't immune to civil unrest. It turned out they weren't any better than the rest of the country. When their money wasn't enough to guarantee their survival, they fought just like the rest of us.

Still, I couldn't help but notice how quiet the roads were. There were but a handful of cars and even fewer pedestrians.

'Where is everyone?' I wondered to myself. Fifteen minutes into the journey, I got my answer.

Hundreds, maybe thousands of cars lined a large street on all lanes seemingly abandoned. The queue of empty cars went on for another few minutes until finally, we found their owners. The citizens of the high zone had packed themselves like sardines pushing against the gates of NASA camp begging to be let in.

From my vantage point in the air, I could just make out their expensive clothes and jewelry. I felt bad, especially for the children. They didn't deserve that.

"Are you okay?" Winston asked me as we passed over the Camp gates and onto the property that extended for miles in every direction.

I nodded.

Although we were headed for the collection of storied buildings, I could easily make out the different sections of the camp that included housing complexes, parks, runways and more. Several jets were even taking off and landing in the distance. We always heard about the power shortages all around the world, that didn't seem to be the case here.

We touched down on a landing platform where we were quickly welcomed by a young man. Well Winston was, I was barely acknowledged.

"Welcome Dr. Finch" he excitedly outstretched his arm for a handshake which Winston graciously took, "I'm Anthony and I'll be assisting you through check-in"

"Hello Anthony, this is my daughter Alina"

The man gave me a weird glance and tried to hide it when he glanced back to Winston for confirmation. I wasn't sure if Anthony simply knew of my adopted sister's demise or if it was my darker skin that threw him off. It could have been both.

Either way, Anthony quickly recovered and held his hand out to me. Better late than never I guessed.

"Hello" I forced a smile.

"Hello" He replied awkwardly.

I realised he was the first person other than Winston that I had met in over six months.

"Dr. Finch, it's such an honor to meet you. All of us here at NASA have been looking forward to your arrival"

"I'm very happy to be here as well" Winston answered.

As the two engaged in a conversation heavily driven by his fanboy, I took the time to examine my surroundings.

I noticed that there were other important looking people arriving in similar helicopters but my attention was drawn entirely by one single fact. There were trees everywhere. It had to have been one of the only places on the planet with so many real and live trees.

And to think there was a time in our not-so-distant past where vibrant forests with thriving ecosystems could be found in every corner of the world. How had we let it come to this?

=^..^=

The main building already had several people in line waiting to be checked in but Anthony guided us to a private area where we were immediately attended to. At first I thought it was because Winston was simply that important and while that was part of it, it also turned out those in line were those who gained access to the Voyager program through the lotteries.

Wherever we went, we were treated differently, specially, right until we were shown to our adjoining rooms. I slowly started to realise just how important my adopted father was.

=^..^=

By that point, the year had already been one of many firsts and new beginnings but the biggest one of all was still yet to come.

I spent most of my days exploring camp. There was so much I was yet to see of Earth which was made all the more tragic by the fact that I was leaving soon, never to return. For some reason unknown to me, I felt a deep sense of loss as the day we were scheduled to begin our journey to join the Voyagers at Mars Station fast approached.

'Maybe because my parents are buried here' I thought to myself on one of my walks around camp wearing one of those dreary, bland jumpsuits they had us wear.

'I am leaving my parents and going far away' I convinced myself that must have been the reason. I'd never had the chance to mourn their loss. It was kind of hard to mourn when you were worried about your next meal.

Even worse, I was only 16 when I lost them and I was left alone, forced to grow up overnight.

'Yes, the loss I feel now is for the life I once had' I managed to convince myself.

I was Malik Whitmore then. He died with our parents who never even got the chance to meet their daughter or even know of her existence. The truth is I would have remained Malik if they had lived. He was so deathly afraid of their disapproval. Even as the society crumbled, there was nothing he feared more than the disappointment of his father or the tears of his mother.

"Are you okay?"

I looked up to see the most beautiful girl you've ever seen staring back at me. Those were the first words she ever said to me.

I nodded my response. I must have been so lost in my thoughts that my face displayed my sadness without my knowledge.

"Are you sure?" she asked. There was that voice again. Music to my ears.

"Mm-hmm" I forced a quick smile.

"Okay" she smiled back at me "See you around"

She took off jogging maintaining a pace that would have been difficult for me to replicate even at my quickest. As her ponytail bobbed left and right, I wondered how someone could be so perfect.

=^..^=

I thought about her everyday, no matter what I was doing, she would somehow cross my mind. Even as Winston guided me into the spacecraft that was destined for orbit and I wore my seat belt, I thought only of her.

A once in a lifetime experience as we lifted off the Earth's surface and ascended at unimaginable speeds through the clouds, even this paled in comparison to meeting her.

Back in the middle zone, girls like her used to make me so jealous. I'd watch them with their fancy hairstyles and pretty dresses and I'd do my best not to show how heartbroken I was. Nature had flipped a coin at my birth and it had landed wrong and just for that reason alone, I was destined to live a life that wasn't mine. Atleast I used to think so.

Now it wasn't jealousy I felt when I thought of her, it was something else.

"Don't be afraid" Winston said to me from his aisle seat. He'd noticed I hadn't looked out the window the whole flight, not even once. Most first time fliers couldn't get enough of the view from up here.

"I'm not" I answered before turning my gaze to the world outside the spacecraft or lack thereof. Pitch black except for the blue orb that curved across the horizon.

It was funny how the only time I got to see our planet in all its glory is when I was leaving.

"There's the ISS" Winston pointed to the unusual structure in the distance "Early in my career, I spent four months on it. A very eye opening experience. Of course back then, it was much smaller."

"What were you doing on it?"

"Oh you know, research. Boring stuff"

That was weird. Winston usually had no problem explaining his work to me. I considered saying something but decided against it.

=^..^=

The International Space Station was bigger than I thought it'd be. I always pictured cramped corridors just enough for a handful of people. What I encountered instead was what almost felt like a small city floating in space.

How could something so grand exist when humanity on the surface was scraping to get by?

"Welcome to the International Space Station, Dr. Finch" a man wasted no time in approaching us as soon as we touched down. "Or should I say welcome back?" he smiled broadly.

"Another one of your fans?" I whispered to Winston while maintaining the fake smile on my face.

"I'm happy to be back" he went in for a handshake entirely ignoring my comment.

"This way please"

While the other arrivals were led to some form of orientation, Winston and I were informed that there was someone very excited to meet us.

"Welcome Dr. Finch" the strange woman stood as soon as we walked into her office.

"Hello" Winston replied shaking her hand as well. Was it going to be like this the entire trip?

"I'm Caitlyn Alcove, I head the Human Exploration and Operations Division here at NASA"

"You were in charge of the Pathfinder missions" Winston commented.

"You're well informed. And who is the young lady?"

"Oh this is my daughter, Alina"

"Hello" I said simply.

"It's very nice to meet you, Alina. Are you excited about to journey?"

I shrugged.

"I know it may seem like a long one but it'll feel like the blink of an eye when you're in stasis"

"What's that?" I asked.

"Oh, it's how we make it so you sleep throughout the journey"

"Oh" I answered. I wasn't feeling like talking so I let Winston have the conversation he clearly wanted to have.

"So the planet is viable?" he asked.

"It would appear so. How familiar are you with the mission specifics?"

"I've read everything about it."

"Good. Four beacons have been activated so far. We're still waiting on human reproduction viability but that's not mission critical so the Voyager mission is a go."

"Well we're very happy to be included" he touched my arm gently "Although... my daughter and I are on separate ships. I know we'll be in stasis anyway but I'd prefer it if we were together. Is there any way..."

"Unfortunately, Voyager 1 is intended for very specific individuals. The passenger list is straight from the white house"

"I understand. I can be moved to 4 if that works" he countered.

"I really wish I could help. Your presence on 1 is absolutely essential"

"May I ask why?" Winston conceded.

"From what I can tell, optics. The president likes what you stand for. You're known to put the planet first. He insists were going to do things differently this time and your presence will help to convey that to the public."

Winston let out a sigh of resignation. It was settled. When we got to Mars, we'd be separated and we wouldn't meet again till we got to our destination. Blink of an eye as Caitlyn claimed. I hoped she was right.

=^..^=

Just like it had at NASA camp, the days blended together on the ISS until I was lying in my very own stasis pod on the Nomad, the ship that would be ferrying us to Mars Station.

I hadn't known anyone at NASA camp and as such just kept to myself. Winston who had kept out of the public eye for so long was doing a lot of catching up and so we rarely got to spend anytime together.

Not that I minded. I'd spent months with him all to myself. They could have a few days.

All things considered, the space station turned out to be pretty uneventful. Except one thing, the implant.

I'd been implanted with a device that was supposed to handle my HRT from that moment on. At specific intervals, it would dispense just the right amount of the serum into my bloodstream. This ensured that my transition would proceed even while I slept.

To be honest, it freaked me out a bit. The fact that I would go to bed and wake up different. That was something I'd dreamed about for so many years as a kid but of course, I'd always woken up disappointed. Now it was finally a reality, not magic but science.

"Are you ready?" the doctor asked as soon as I was lying comfortably in the capsule.

I nodded.

"As soon as the mask is on, just breathe normally" he instructed.

I nodded again trying not to breathe any differently than I'd been.

"You're okay, my dear" I turned to Winston who stood to the side reassuring me "My capsule is right next to yours so we'll be together the whole time"

The doctor placed the mask on my face.

"Count back from ten for me" the doctor instructed.

'10, 9, 8...'

"I can't wait to show you around Mars Station" Winston said just before the world faded to black.

=^..^=

Mars Station was... unexpected. It had started off normally enough, Winston hadn't been there to ease me out of stasis which was always rough on first-timers. Something important must have come up.

It had taken me a long time to get over the stasis sickness after which I had another matter to contend with. My body had changed at an alarming rate over the past four months. My hair was fuller and wilder and in desperate need of a trim. I particularly struggled with the new weight that I now found on my chest. I'd gone from a B cup to a D seemingly overnight, a change that now looked oversized when paired with my small frame.

I may have also added a few inches to my hips but I couldn't say for sure.

"My daughter is all grown up" Winston commented on my appearance the moment he arrived.

"Yeah" I let out a nervous laugh. It wasn't the first time my new body was attracting attention. I'd caught one of the nurses staring earlier.

Winston's comment wasn't in any way the same but still made me feel self conscious.

"Can I get a new shirt?" I asked crossing my arms. "This one feels kinda small" So did my pants when I thought about it.

"Okay" Winston had answered without skipping a beat.

I hadn't decided whether I liked uniforms. Every single person on the Nomad and even now, most of Mars Station dressed very similarly. Sure there were differences in color and style, for instance you could easily tell the passenger and crew uniforms apart, but still clearly part of the same collection. They reminded me of those old Star Trek movies.

=^..^=

An outfit change later, he was finally showing me around the station just as he'd promised.

"People really live down there?" I asked looking past the glass wall that separated us from the infinite void. Mars looked to me like a dirty dust ball, a stark contrast from the serene beauty that was our home world from space.

"Yes, an estimated 380,000 with more arriving every month"

"Have you been down there, the surface?" I turned to look at him.

"I have"

"Have you been everywhere?" I turned back to the world below.

"Not everywhere" he answered "I'm afraid this is as far as I've come. Everywhere we go from this point on will be as new for me as it is for you"

"Jupiter?"

"Yes" he smiled "Jupiter. Come on, let's get you some food" he said to me before placing a hand on my back leading me away.

We hadn't even made it ten steps when a voice cut through the air grabbing the attention of everyone around.

"Winston" it called out.

I followed it to its source. It belonged to a blonde woman, maybe in her forties. She was one of only a few people that were dressed out of uniform. She'd called to my adopted father but her eyes had remained locked on me.

"When I heard you left Earth with a girl you claim is your daughter, I didn't want to believe it."

"Evelyn" Winston replied. It always felt like trouble when he became a man of few words.

"Who is this girl?" she asked much more directly.

"Evelyn, meet Alina. Alina, this is my ex-wife Evelyn"

"Nice to meet you" I said as innocently as I could.

She eyed me from head to toe as if assessing a piece of meat.

"Hmm" was her only response "Is this a mid-life crisis thing?"

"Evelyn, stop" Winston said with a tension building in his voice. I dared not look at him, or her. Instead, I focused my gaze on the floor. "Or do you seriously think you can replace our daughter?"

"See that's interesting" he retorted "That you can accuse me of replacing our daughter when you already did that"

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"I'm talking about..." he paused "People are staring, Evelyn. Let's not do this here."

I quickly glanced around and he was right. People were staring, although they were pretending not to.

"I have nothing more to say to you" she replied "And you..."

Me?

I turned my gaze to her and met her disgusted glance in my direction.

"Enjoy my daughter's place" As if to ensure that she got the last word, she turned and walked briskly away.

I turned back to Winston who only mouthed the words, "I'm sorry"..

=^..^=

"I don't like that we're not going to be together" Winston said to me as Voyager check-ins began.

"Me too" I replied "We're going to be asleep anyway" I tried to cheer him up.

"Right, you have a VIP ticket so you won't be asleep for all of it."

"Oh, I thought..."

"Well you can sleep through the whole thing but I wouldn't if I were you. You'll get to meet other passengers, eat, see more our solar system" he explained "And we can speak everytime we're awake. It'll be too lonely for me if I don't get to talk to you"

"Okay, I won't sleep through it" I assured him.

A voice rang through the station's speakers calling for boarding of our respective spaceships.

We both took deep breaths.

"I'm going to miss you so very much" he pulled me in for a big hug.

I wrapped my arms around him as a response.

"I'll miss you too"

He held me close and didn't let go. I wondered whether his ex-wife had been right. Was I his daughter's replacement?

"Okay, we should get to boarding" he said as he finally loosened his grip. The boarding gates for 1 and 4 were in opposite directions so this was goodbye.

"I'll call you immediately I'm awake" he smiled.

"I'll answer" I smiled back.

I don't know why but I really wanted to hug him again but people were started to shuffle around us so I settled for a wave instead.

"Bye" I turned and headed for the gate so as soon as the words left my lips.

I remember thinking about how beautiful Voyager 4 was. How had we managed to build something like this in the midst of so much scarcity?

I was allowed to explore the ship that was to be my home for the foreseeable future. I was particularly interested in the biodomes which housed several species of plants.

By the time we were directed to the stasis chamber, a room that housed thousands of capsules mounted on the walls, the lotteries and other regular passengers were already fast asleep and so they would remain for years to come.

"Don't be afraid" the doctor said as he guided me into my capsule.

"I'm not" I replied.

I counted back from ten in my head. My last thoughts were of my parent's house, I wondered what Vance and Omega had done to it.

=^..^=

The first thing I did upon waking up was check my body for any changes. Any more and I would be entering into the realm of unreasonable. Thankfully, the last year in stasis hadn't changed me much.

"Yeah, I just woke up" I spoke to Winston through a computer in my assigned room. 'Computer' was a strong word. It had little else other than a collection of movies and music. A nice feature allowed us to see how far into the journey we were and of course, it allowed us communicate with the other passengers if you had their room code but that was about it.

"Are you feeling okay? You look tired"

I was tired which was weird since I'd supposedly just slept for a year.

"I am" I yawned.

"Get some food and some sleep, okay?"

"Okay"

"Talk soon"

As I walked through the relatively empty halls of Voyager 4, that's when I saw her for the second time. She was leaning over a railing, her gaze locked on a massive oak tree that stood tall reaching three quarters of the way from the ship's ground floor to our place on the third floor.

Atleast two hundred million miles from the place we first met, the probability that we would be standing here together must have been miniscule. I had no choice but to talk to her.

As I drew closer, I noticed that she was dressed in a free flowing skirt and a sweater, a simple outfit but one that put my standard issue dress to shame.

It must have cost a fortune.

"H... Hi" I struggled to speak.

Nonetheless, she turned to me and smiled brightly.

"Hello"

There was that voice again. A unique cadence that suited her perfectly.

"I don't know if you remember me, from NASA camp" My voice was shaky and unsteady. Unlike hers, I wasn't born with this voice. I'd won it after months of training. It was another thing that my parent's wouldn't recognize if they were here.

"Oh yes!" her eyes widened with recognition "You look different"

"Yeah" I chuckled nervously "I'm Alina" I outstretched my hand hoping to change the subject.

"I'm Ruby" her hands met mine. Bony and petite. By comparison, mine felt gargantuan.

I paused thinking of what to say. I hadn't thought this far ahead.

"I like your skirt" I forced out.

"Oh, thanks. I know it's a waste printing with everything going on but linen makes me itch"

As I wrestled with what to say next, her gaze was drawn back to the oak tree. I decided there was nothing to say.

"It was nice meeting you, Ruby"

"Hey wait" she called out interrupting my turn away "Are you headed to the cafeteria?"

I nodded.

"Can I join you?"

"Sure"

=^..^=

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Hi, thanks for reading this as always. Would love to hear your thoughts. Worried it might feel rushed but that's because it's just a back story for the what is to be a sequel to first mother.