The ship that was capable of traveling using the HyperZipline to Earth was a sleek, bullet shaped spaceship. It had the same color theme as Settlement Mirah and a flag I didn't recognize printed onto the side. It was grey with a green and blue circle in the center. Perhaps it was Zoel's symbol? I wasn't bothered, however. Officers Peterson and Byrne and I boarded the ship.

    The Mayors had given us any supplies we would need, including what we needed for passage. A very nervous pilot would be taking us. After learning that we were of the Patriot's crew, he seemed to pale. His thoughts were complacent so I wasn't worried.

     The ship took off from Zoel after we secured the Patriot. I didn't like leaving our crew so defenseless, but this was the only choice we had. The trip would take a week. Three days to arrive, one day to get what we needed, and three days to get back to Zoel. I retired to my room for most of the trip there. I fixed up a makeshift gym, determined to get my muscle mass back. When I wasn't working, I was reading up on what had happened the past five hundred and fifty years that I'd missed.

    Unfortunately, the Zoel Revolution had nearly erased all history before roughly the hundredth year. Any remains of Earth were gone, besides the technology that the Pioneer crew had brought with them. The Revolution itself was so embellished that it was as if I were reading up on a heroic tale of bravery rather than an attack on our past and the destruction of our old ways. I was disgusted. These people are honestly proud that they have no idea where they come from?

    By the third day, there was a noticeable difference in my strength. My gait was smooth once again. I wasn't nearly close to what I was before, but I could defend myself well enough now. I had done all the reading I could find, discovering answers to my previous questions. One was about the robes that I had yet to see anyone besides my crew not wear. During the Revolution, an outcry about gender had arisen. To compromise, every person would wear a neque. It concealed any hint of a sex or gender, and according to the database, made everything 'equal'. I wanted to go back in time and shake some sense into the Zoellians when they made that decision. Blasted fools. This is what happened when we left people alone with no trace of our past for so long. Well, there's no way they're getting me into those robe things.

    A faint crackling appeared over the speaker in my room. "First Officer, we are approaching Earth."

    "On my way. Have you told my officers?"

    "In a moment, ma'am." The speakers silenced. I dropped down from the pull-up bar I had created, grabbing a towel and drying the sweat. I pulled on the Patriot-issued blue shirt and tapped open the door. It slid apart and into the walls to allow me to exit. Moments later and I was entering the ship's bridge. Haral Rafel sat in the pilot's seat. I had learned he was a quiet-spoken man that only seemed to think about his job. I didn't mind. It made tuning out his thoughts easier.

    Moments after I entered, Officer Byrne jogged inside. Her sharp, slanted eyes took in the scene of light as it flashed past the front of the ship. We were still moving too quickly for our eyes to process much else than flashing light. Officer Peterson followed after her. I noticed the faint tint of yellow on his scalp in the sign of hair. I ran a hand over my own head and discovered a prickly fuzz.

    "How long until we break from full speed?" I questioned the pilot. Haral checked a few screens. "About a minute, First Officer. You will want to strap yourself down. The 'g force is incredibly strong."

    Officer Peterson had beat me to it. He already sat in a chair and put on a seatbelt. Officer Byrne followed and I did the same, sitting on the chair against the sleek wall and pulling the straps over my chest. I made sure they were snug. "Disengaging full speed in three . . . two . . . one."

    My gut wrenched. I gritted my teeth, jerking against the straps. It felt as if I was in a car that hit the brakes but multiplied by a thousand times. My teeth rattled, heart skipped a beat, and my blood seemed to stutter in my veins. Officer Peterson clapped a hand over his mouth, sick, and Officer Byrne had paled. Her veins were stark against her skin.

    "What the . . . I don't understand. I must have miscalculated." Haral frowned, looking at his controls. "One moment. I believe I disengaged too early."

    I looked forward at last and hid a blanch. We had definitely not stopped in front of Earth. We must have been in the Asteroid Belt. There was nothing but rocks and debris around us. The depths of empty space stared from around the asteroids. Officer Byrne pressed a hand to her head. I undid my belt and headed to the pilot. "This must be the Asteroid Belt. How many seconds off was the slow-down?"

    "In order for us to be this far away, by several seconds." His eyebrows creased. "This makes no sense. We're at the coordinates. The fuel is at the right amount. I timed it right. What went wrong?"

    My eyes moved to his console. Sure enough, blaring numbers and letters showed our coordinates. I remembered my training enough to recognize them right away. The blood drained from my face, and for the first time, I felt actual fear. My eyes turned up to look through the reinforced glass to stare at the debris.

   We're in the right place. Those aren't asteroids. That can only mean . . . Shit.