The Retreat (The After Trilogy Book 1) Read Free Page B

major greenhouse gases?”
    “Water vapour,” a girl answered.
    Romy listed off the others in her mind, listening with half an ear to the hesitant stream of answers. What would it have been like? Earth. Having actual dirt under your feet. Clouds above you, instead of far below you. And animals. Romy longed to see a real-life animal—if there were any left.
    Earth was a shiny bauble dangling just out of reach. A beautiful, untouchable swirl of greens and blues. If she could ever hate anyone, it would be her ancestors for selfishly throwing away their home.
    The lecturer’s next words caught Romy’s attention. “As you know, select teams are sent to collect any materials we might be in deficit of. They also monitor Earth’s progress. What are some of their findings?”
    The cadets looked blankly at each other. Romy caught the questioning glance of the lecturer.
    “That the effect of global warming is more catastrophic than any of the forecasts predicted,” she offered.
    Vice-commander Warner nodded for her to continue.
    “One in ten species were predicted to fall extinct, but it is guesstimated three in five are no longer. While it was predicted that one-twelfth of humankind would perish, in actuality, half died from global warming related causes . . . .”
    “. . . while the other half killed each other in the anarchy before The Retreat,” the vice-commander finished for her.
    Romy sagged as the attention moved from her.
    Who could say? Maybe the Earth humans deserved what they got? Or they never lived long enough to learn the harsh lesson that, at the end of the day, nature would always have the last laugh.
    A flurry of movement startled Romy from her daydream. The lecture was over and the cadets were milling about the classroom.
    She exited behind a knot of cadets, spotting Thrym standing at ease in the shining white hall. He held two sets of sneakers. The cadets scuttled past him, staring in awe. Romy had to admit he did look the part of “saviour of the world”. It was accompanied by a familiar twang of guilt.
    Thrym was desperate for a higher ranking. He definitely drew the short straw when they were handing out knots.
    Their watches beeped in unison. Neither of them bothered to check the alert, dismissing it with a wave before pivoting in the direction of the health centre. Twice-daily exercise was mandatory to maintain the space soldiers’ bone density and cardiovascular health.
    It was Romy’s favourite time of the day.
    “The twins just earned us extra duties. Kitchen clean-up for two months.” Thrym sighed.
    Romy stared at her friend in disbelief. She had to tilt her head slightly back to meet his gaze. Each of the space soldiers were around six foot. It would have made more sense to be shorter in a space ship. But all of their genetics were designed for an eventual return to a hostile Earth, so tall they had to be.
    “I don’t even want to know what they did. Why does command always punish all of us?” she asked.
    Romy and Thrym both knew the answer. Orbito One command was aware that Deimos and Phobos really only answered to three people: their knot. Very occasionally the twins listened to the commander. Usually in the wake of having done something wrong.
    “I think they hope the rest of us will get annoyed and pull them into line.”
    Romy smiled. “Pull Dei and Pho into line. . . .”
    Thrym’s blue eyes lit up. “I know.” The light faded slightly and she knew he was thinking about their knot status being stuck at the bottom for the next two months. They’d been there for the better part of twelve years, but he never stopped trying to better their ranking. If it were based on his efforts alone, they’d be at the top. Alas, the sucky attitude of the others counted for more.
    She dropped her gaze, and they walked silently into the gym.
    Elara and the twins were already pounding away on the treadmills. The health centre had a long, narrow gymnasium filled with treadmills and