Chapter 3: Something New

No one really thoughts about life outside of the space station. They know there are powerful and rich people out there, but growing up in the lowest level of society, they are happy just to have food and clean water. Every now and then you will have some miracle leave the space stations or some unlucky person being forced to live there. No one would talk much about them because they didn't know anything and any new person didn't really talk to anyone. They knew. Usually the new people would die pretty early or kill themselves, not wanting to live in such a bad place forever. It was home for everyone else.

John was thinking about a lot as they traveled on a transport shuttle to cargo ship 7341. Most on the people on the space station were not educated, but everyone knew what a prisoner was. Being told that your entire space station is to hold prisoners and their family's, no one was expecting it.

John couldn't stop thinking about Sam though. The only other person he has ever really loved was gone. He didn't know where he was or if he is alive. He could only hope there were other survivors that made it to other ships as well.

Looking around where everyone was sitting, John could see that no one wanted to talk or look at each other. Hardly anyone knew anyone and they were all told that they were the only survivors. John could see that there were two security guards standing by a door. Other than that, the room had a few boxes of cargo laying about.

"Hey," John called in a low turn to the guard. Getting his attention, the guard started to walk over to him.

"Where are we going? Do you have any food on you?" John asked. He wanted to find out more about what was going on. Before he could ask the guard another question, he got kicked in the face and hit his head hard against the side of the ship. Walking back, the guarded mumbled to the other one standing by the door.

"I hate this job. You screw up once, and they give you the worst job in the books."

"Just be thankful you still have one."

John barely heard what they were saying, but he understood the message. People from the upper society really did not like them. Shaking his jaw and trying to gather his thoughts again, he sat against the side of the ship and looked at the guards. They just stood there, staring straight ahead, occasionally saying something to each other.

"Prepare the docking bay. Please secure cargo and yourselves."

Everyone looked at the guards to see what they were suppose to do. The guards just chuckled as they grabbed on to a rope, tied to the side of the ship. When the ship docked, everyone was thrown sideways and some sustained minor injuries. As the door opened, everyone saw the two guards walk out and greet other people.

"Alright ladies, everyone get up and follow me."

. . .

Following the head guard, they were led down to the prisoner hold where they could all stay for the time being.

"This is cargo ship 7341. We hold all the necessary cargo for the neighboring space stations. You will be working on cargo ship 7341, until we tell you otherwise." The guard said in a loud and demanding voice.

"We have multiple jobs here at cargo ship 7341. We need cleaners, movers, junk clearers, watchers, and handymen. Does anyone have any relevant experience in these areas."

A few peoples hands went up as this is the type of work they did back on the prisoner station. A couple of other guards came forward and removed them from the group. There was only a handful a people left, mostly young. John looked to be one of the older ones, so he assumed that everyone here just completed or hasn't completed basic education. The head guard continued.

"Everyone else, come lift this box and we will tell you what job is best for you." Inside the box was a heavy piece of metal. Hardly any of the guards were able to lift it, and they mostly did this for entertainment.

The head guard called up the youngest first. She was a skinny, littler girl about 12 years old. All the guards started to chuckle when she struggled to move the box. The head guard said she can be a cleaner and someone took her away.

The next couple of people were similar. One of the young boys, about 17 years old was able to move the box on inch. He was a 6 foot tall, bulky guy and even some of the guards wanted to stay away from him. The head guard said he could be a mover and moved on.

Last to try was John. Comparing him to the previous guy, he looked small and malnourished. Standing at a solid 5 feet and 10 inches and weighing 130 pounds, you can tell he did not have much power behind him. That still never failed him from opening his mouth.

"Do I get a cookie if I can lift it?" The two guards from before looked annoyed because they saw it was the same person from before. One of them leaned over to whisper something into the head guards ear before returning behind him. The head guard chuckled and looked at John.

"I'll give you a whole bag of cookies if you can lift the box." This caused some from behind to laugh. They enjoyed teasing the weak and John was easy to tease.

"Okay," John said impassively. He knew there was no chance he could lift it, but still wanted to say something. As he grabbed both sides, he could feel that he was able to move the box a little. Surprising everyone around and himself, he was able to lift the box 1 inch off the ground then 2 inches. By the time he got to half a foot off the ground, he ran out of breath and dropped the box hard on the ship. Hearing the loud bang as it landed, one could only image how heavy it was.

Looking up at the other guards, he could see their shocked expressions as well. The head guard on the other hand did not look too happy. After catching his breath, John asked the head guard.

"So can I have my cookies now?" He said in a hopeful tone.

"You can be a mover," the head guard replied.

"Come on man, at least stick to your bet." John said while stepping forward. Several of the guards went for their weapons, and John took the hint that he should not step any closer.

"You can be a mover. Show him where to go." The head guard said before leaving the room.

. . .

'What just happened,' John thought as they were leading him to where he would be working. He knew that he shouldn't have been able to lift the box after seeing how much everyone else struggled, but he felt strength coursing through his body as soon as he attempted.

It was hard for John to think about. His brother always beat him in wrestling when they were younger, and he never stood out amongst any of his classmates in the strength department.

"So these two are suppose to be a part of my crew," the department head of shipments stated. He didn't look too happy getting some left over people from the recent solar flare accident, but he couldn't refuse them.

He was an older man that looked like he hadn't showered in years and ate one too may meals. You could vaguely smell him if you got to close, but he seemed unbothered.

The guards dropped the two off and left without saying a word to the department head.

"Are you guys able to move heavy things around?" the department head asked as they walked further into the storage room, onboard the ship.

John and the other kids both nodded yes. Frankly, they were still tied up so they wanted to get on the good side of someone who wasn't a guard. The department head look skeptical at John before untying their restraints.

"You can call me Streg. My momma named me it so don't make fun of it, or I'll beat you guys to a pulp." Streg said in a joking tone, but you could tell he meant what he said.

"You guys can relax around here. We are also considered to be the bottom of the barrel. Only the guards and the administration jobs can viewed as upper class on this ship. But even they are looked down in certain areas."

"For now, I'll just show you where you are sleeping and you guys can stay out of trouble. Get into trouble and the restraints go back on. I mean it." Streg looked a lot more serious now.

"What's your names by the way?" Streg finally asked.

"John"

"Rand"

Streg left the new guys where they were going to sleep and went to work on some other stuff. He told him he would get them when it was time to eat.