• At first I thought I was dreaming. The world outside the tank was still upside down and blurred, but I could make out several faint figures rummaging thought the room. Three had the uniforms that the men usually wore and the others were in regular army uniforms. One was in front of the tank, tapping it gently. I guessed before Boomer left he masked the thing so no one knew I was here.
    “What’s the point of having one of these if you’re not going to use it?” the boy asked. I was right, he couldn’t see me, but I could see him. His brown hair and dark eyes seemed so lively. His skin was somewhat pale but not to the extent that Boomers’ was. He wore one of the uniforms the men in the cult wore. Around his waist, thought, was something that really caught my eyes; a belt with the same thing the panda in my dream had.
    “Don’t worry about that, Narrow,” one of the other figures said. It was a girls’ voice. She ruffled through some files on the other side of the room. “We need to know what Boomer and his Golden Gays are up to.”
    The boy named Narrow nodded. He began typing quickly.
    “Did anyone find anything?” A different girl said roughly. Her black hair made her face impossible to see from where I was.
    “Try to be more quiet, Middnight,” the boy named Narrow said. “And seriously, Amethyst, do you have to rustle those papers so loudly?”
    “You and you’re super hearing,” The girl named Middnight rolled her eyes.
    I gave a quick intake of breath. If he had super hearing, maybe he could hear me. I tried not to move, thinking they were sent to do something horrid. But when I heard what she had to say next, my heart skipped a heavenly beat.
    “Come on, Narrow. We’re the resistance; we have to break a few rules to get things done.”
    I mentally screamed, flipping myself right side up and twirling around quickly. I was saved! If only I could get there attention somehow. I thought that if they couldn’t see in the tube and hear me splashing around for sure they wouldn’t be able to hear if I tapped the glass, but the boy named Narrow was now so close to it, it was almost as if I could feel his breath.
    I tapped the glass, his eyes widened. I smirked, but he dismissed the sound. I growled mentally. I planted my feet and back on the sides and threw the hardest punch the liquid would let me, which was pretty hard.
    Narrow jumped back in horror. I hit the glass again, giving a little wince of pain as I pulled my hand back and saw my knuckles had turned red.
    “H-hey guys,” Narrow approached the glass again. “I think there’s something in there.”
    “That sly dog,” one of the other boys said, joining Narrow at the tank side. “He’s finally learned how to cloak things. I wonder what he’s up to now.”
    “Hey,” the girl named Amethyst said quickly. “I found a file! It’s on this girl named Discovery Jones on a nearby station.”
    “Didn’t that station send out an S.O.S around three weeks ago?” Narrow asked, typing like a mad man.
    I nodded. Yes! That was my station! But three weeks ago? I knew I hadn’t been in the tank for three weeks. And what did they mean by ‘a nearby station?’
    “Rig, have a look at this,” Narrow said, pointing to a halo feed. The boy beside him squinted. “Looks like Boomer has been busy. He’s tested that serum out and I guess he thinks he’s finally perfected it. I guess he was going to try it out on that Discovery chick.”
    I nodded again. Now all I needed t know was what was in it. I hit the glass again, bringing Narrows mind back to me.
    “Oh, right,” he said. “Man, that thing’s persistent. I wonder what-”
    The cloak suddenly vanished. I gave an excited yip in my mind, pressing my hands to the glass. The whole room became quiet. Their eyes were on me and mine were scanning everyone’s face.
    “Are you guys really the resistance?” I asked hopefully.
    “Oh God; Rig, Thrown, get her out of there!” Amethyst shrieked. Her eyes were back on the file, hands trembling. “Oh God, Oh God; this is horrible! Bro, come see this!”
    Narrow moved quickly, not daring to take his eyes off of me. The boy named Rig, along with another boy who had blonde hair who I guessed was Thrown opened the hatch on top of the tube. I swam up quickly, taking a gasp of air gratefully. I thanked the boys as they helped me out.
    “Oh no,” Narrow hissed. “I knew we should’ve responded immediately. This is bad, Sis. Very bad.”
    I turned toward them, pulling on a shirt the boy named Rig handed me. Middnight had joined their little huddle and was swiftly reading over the file. She gave a small gasp and then shook her head in shame.
    I walked toward them, peering over their shoulders but they closed the file and shoved it into a bag. Narrow took his arm and laced it around my waist. “Is your name, by any chance, Discovery?” he asked.
    “Yeah,” I answered slowly. “My name’s Discovery Jones.”
    He gave a heavy sigh. “Did Boomer tell you what he gave you?”
    “You mean that shot?” I cringed. “No, I passed out from pain after that. Were you guys serious about the whole S.O.S being sent out three weeks ago? Boomer told me I’d have to be in there two weeks ago. Did we really leave my station? He said I could go back.”
    Narrow sighed. He led me over a chair and sat me down. He placed his hand in my hair, which was dripping wet still, and pressed his lips to my forehead. “I hope you don’t mind this,” he whispered.
    “Not at all,” I whispered back, burying my face in his chest. He smelled of my station. I smiled widely.
    “Narrow, we have to leave,” Rig said quickly. “Bring her, too. God knows she doesn’t want to stay here any longer.”
    “Can you explain what Boomer did to me?” I asked.
    Narrow looked at me in shock and sadness. He bent over, motioning me to jump on. I did without any question. “I promise, Discovery, that I will not let any one else hurt you and I’ll protect you with every ounce of strength in my body” He said, running out the room with the rest of the group.
    “Thanks,” I whispered, a little confused. “But can you tell me-”
    “I’ll tell you as soon as we’re off this ship,” he whispered.
    We turned a few more corners, hid from guards when we needed to and dashed when the coast was clear. After a few minutes we were in the docking bay. The two girls lent me a hand getting onto their ship while the boys kept watch. After we were settled, we flew out and didn’t look back.
    I wiggled my toes and kicked my legs, trying to regain some type of feeling in them. I was mentally doing math equations to wake up the reluctant part of my mind that had been dormant for some time when Narrow caught my attention. He was looking over the file again, each time his eyes scanned a page he found himself biting his lip. I inched close to him, looking over his shoulder.
    “Discovery,” he whispered, closing it quickly. “About that shot.”
    Here was the moment I had been waiting for. The answer to why Boomer had invaded my station, to why he gave me a shot, to why he put me in a bowl like a fish for weeks on end. All of it, summed up in this one moment. But, why was I so scared.
    “You see,” Narrow started. “Boomer’s around a hundred and thirty years old. And once a man turns about fifty-”
    “I don’t need the male version of sex ed,” I whispered.
    “Well,” Narrow whispered. “Boomer never had kids. And his cult is run in a monarchy kind of way. So when he dies, there’s no more leader. That’s why he needed you.”
    I looked at him in confusion. “What?”
    “That shot he gave you was to make you,” Narrow started.
    “What does this have to do with me?” I asked. “What does this monarchy thing and him not having kids have to do with me?”
    “If you’d calm down,” Narrow said quickly.
    “What was that shot?” I shrieked. “What was in it? Why did Boomer need me? What’s so important-”
    “You’re pregnant, Discovery,” Narrow said.