Page 1 of Queen Isabella

Chapter 1

Malfunction

Isabella

“Evacuate! Evacuate!” the automated ship message blared.

Groggily Isa blinked, frowning as she tried to remember where she was. She wasn’t napping in her cell bunk, that was for sure. Shell-shocked, she panned the sterile white surface less than a foot from her face and instantly remembered. She was aboard the UFV Manifest, a colonizing vessel on its way to Tellus twenty-nine b.

“Evacuate?!” she rasped, her mouth feeling like it was filled with cotton after being in stasis.

The ship is malfunctioning, the answer instantly occurred to her. Isa’s eyes widened in panic.What happened?!How long had she been asleep?

Her gaze was riveted to the window in the stasis pod, but all she could see was the row of pods above hers and the reflection of the flashing alarm. Her first instinct was to get out, and she frantically pressed on the lid. Except, her arms were still weak from the extended sleep and did little more than slow-motionshadowbox with the slick lid. Her hands dropped the instant she remembered the damn space coffins were also life pods.

I knew this was going to happen!

The human race was on a collision course with total destruction. The population on Earth was out of control, and the environment was rebelling because of it. Soon, very soon, mother nature would snuff them out entirely. When her grandma was a little girl in the late twenty-first century, the various governments dissolved, forming the Unified Federation. Sadly, even the new government couldn’t rein in the rampant decline. Now Earth was pressed to establish an off-world colony, in fact, it was overdue.

The mission to Tellus was a shit show from the start, and that was the public consensus, not just her own opinion. The technology to reach the habitable planet was still new, and this hundred-year trip was the Manifest’s maiden voyage. They hadn’t even kicked the proverbial tires on the ship with a tour around the solar system first. Then again, why bother testing the ship when you plan to fill it with convicts?

When the government announced they’d be sending felons on this maiden mission, she assumed they meant lifers. She recalled having that exact conversation with her family. She was making breakfast with her mom, while her father and brother watched the update on the news. Going to Tellus versus spending the rest of their life in a jail cell seemed preferable. That’s the only way someone would make such a horrific choice, since everyone knew it was a one-way mission. Her brother even agreed, and Saul never agreed with her on anything. She never imagined the UF was targeting people like her.

“Ha!” Isa barked out a hysterical laugh that was drowned out by the alarms. “I’m not a convict. I’m an archaeologist!”

Though in the eyes of her government, she was a criminal. Her thoughts flashed back to that horrible day. They were leaving the dig site of an old tavern on the edge of Flagstaff.

“Jen!” Harvey barked as he brought a load of digging equipment to the hover van.

Isa’s wide-eyed gaze met Jen’s and she cringed at her friend and fellow coworker. Jen was also Harvey’s wife—pregnant wife.

Harvey was not one of those men or bosses who usually yelled. In fact, Harvey was one of the few men who was tolerable. Isa liked men, their bodies that is. It just seemed that when most men opened their mouths, they ruined it. It was easier not to bother with them, besides, her career was far more fulfilling. From what she’d observed, though, Harvey was a catch. He was still paternalistic, but at least he didn’t think women were simply meant to stay home making babies. That was good for her, since he’d hired her for his archaeological crew. The clincher was that he hired her as a companion for his wife, and with Jen pregnant her job might be coming to an end.

“If you are going to be disobedient, I’ll call your mother and have her stay at home with you.” Harvey pointed to the chair in the shade of a nearby tree.

“I was only helping load the artifacts. The bags are hardly heavy.” Jen eyed her perturbed husband.

“I was only bending over while nine months pregnant with my center of gravity all askew,” Harvey countered, his tone teetering on condescending.

Isa warily watched Harvey, unsure if he was sincerely angry. He wasn’t usually this irritable, but he’d been acting strange all day. Perhaps he was nervous about the baby coming.

“Fine, but I’m gonna sit in the conditioned van,” Jen huffed and waddled toward the other vehicle.

Isa smirked at Harvey, trying to gauge where he was mood wise, now that Jen was going to sit down.

“Last night she tried reorganizing the nursery for a third time.” Harvey incredulously shook his head.

“I heard women do that when it gets closer,” Isa chuckled, relieved he seemed better.

“Ooh, ooh,” Jen declared.

Her gaze swiveled and discovered Jen standing in a puddle of water that hadn’t been there a minute ago.

“My water broke.” Jen grimaced over her shoulder.

Panic transformed Harvey’s face and he raced to his wife. As he helped Jen in the van he cast a worried glance at the dig site.

“Go to the hospital. I can get the rest of this packed and to the museum,” Isa urged.

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