MONARK

Chapter One: Escape

It was a very dark time for the planet. After many centuries of human habitation, it had become very polluted with their waste. When their leaders found out what they were doing, many of them kept this fact a guarded secret. For if they told the public, their rising fortunes would be in danger.

Once the public did discover the truth, they tried their best to reverse what they had done. But it was too late. The planet had reached the point of no return and it was dying underneath their feet. The only option that remained was to escape...

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Jack Sellers was awakened by some sounds coming from outside his bedroom. He opened his eyes and looked over at the alarm clock. It was turned off again. The electricity must have went off again last night, and we--

Jack's father burst into the room. "Wake up! Oh, you are. Good." his father said. "We slept in again due to the damn electricity. If we don't hurry, we won't make it to the ship in time. Go, go, go!" His father said, then ran out of the room and down the hall.

Jack stood and got dressed as quick as he could. He also put on his breathing mask. The planet's air had gotten very toxic over the last few years, so people began wearing masks. It was now mandatory or you would get sick and possibly die.

Jack grabbed his luggage and made his way to the car. Each person was only allowed three peices of luggage on board the Monark. Jack had had some tough choices to make when packing his bags. He could only take so much with him to the new world. Everything else had to be left behind.

After Jack loaded up his luggage, his mother loaded some of his little sister Violet's bags. "It's a bit hard to believe, but... I'm going to miss this planet." Jack told her, looking back at the house. "And I thought I would never be able to say that."

"Don't just stand there." his mother said. "We need to get to the ship." Jack took a seat in the back of the car as his father loaded the rest of the luggage. The others then joined him. Not long after that, their car left home for the last time. Jack looked out the window, thinking of the life and friends he was leaving behind.

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Rick Sellers, Jack's father, placed the last of his family's luggage on the cart and began rolling it toward one of the small spacecraft that would take them all to the larger ship hovering high above them. The Monark was a huge black behemoth, large enough to contain over half a million people as well as a sampling of our planet's animal species.

Rick noticed his son looking over at the protesters being restricted by the tall chain-link fence. The Monark was a closely-guarded secret by the planet's leaders, and was made using the latest secret technology just in case of an emergency like this one. Most of the Monark's passengers consisted of the very rich and very powerful. Rick's family only got in after much work on his part, including much ass kissing of his powerful boss. The protesters are just jealous, he tried to convince himself. Or maybe they didn't wish to be left for dead...

The family reached the gate and Rick handed four plastic rectangular cards to the ticket taker. The woman scanned each of them, then handed them back. "Proceed." was all that she had to say.

As the four moved onward, a male protester managed to climb the fence and land of the other side. He then took off running toward the gate. But he didn't make it far. Two guards appeared and followed after him. One of them fired a weapon that emitted a brief beam of electricity. The young man convulsed and fell to the ground hard, knocking off his breathing mask.

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Captain Berkley walked into the control room and stopped near his Captain's chair. Today was the day that the human race for remember for ages to come. They would remember it for the survival of the human race... or for dooming some of the best parts of the human race to death. And that's why the Captain conspired with some of the more caring rich people aboard the Monark to sneak some of the not-so-rich-and-famous on board. They should be safe and in hiding by now. Berkley smiled.

A younger woman by the name of Valerie Drake walked up to Berkley. "Everything is looking good. We're on schedule for departure in little over an hour."

"That's great." Berkley replied, still smiling. Valerie smiled back, then walked away. The Captain then looked to the large viewscreen before him and at the neighboring planet that awaited their arrival. Berkley hoped they wouldn't destroy that beautiful planet like they had this one.

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Jack Sellers and his family exited the small spacecraft and into a huge lobby on board the Monark. The room expanded out in front of them, and the ceiling looked far higher than any school gymnasium Jack had been in. And this room was absolutely filled with people trying to get to where they needed to be. Some others just stood and talked. He recognized some of them: celebrities, politicians...

Violet's face lit up when she noticed a few of the celebrities and then she began walking toward one of them. Luckily, our mom stopped her before she got too far.

"Well, let's get to our rooms." his father said. They then followed him, turned toward the right, and made their way through the crowd. Once past them, they made their way down a corridor, up in an elevator, and down another corridor. When they finally made it to their door, Jack's father opened it with one of the plastic cards he had used earlier and they walked inside. Somehow, their luggage had already beat them to their room.

"There's only two beds." Jack commented.

"Those are ours. Yours are behind that door." Jack's father explained, handing him his own card.

"Oh." Jack then used to the card to open the door and walked through into his and Violet's connecting bedroom. He went to the window and opened the curtain. Beyond the window, he could see just about everything. Stars twinkled all around. On one side, he could see the dying planet they were leaving and instantly felt bad for those he was leaving behind. But then felt a little better upon remembering the past mistakes he was also leaving behind. On the other side and a little farther off, he could see the new world. It was beautiful. What had his father called it? Earth, Jack remembered. Earth.

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