Lily stood among a row of ten other students. She was in the front row of five since she was younger than the rest and shorter than all but two of them. Guards, standing at attention for the spectacle, stood at both sides of the stage. They weren't traditional honor guards; these soldiers were dressed in full combat armor that reminded her of the biomechs and some of the soldiers she'd seen when they'd taken her from her home. They held their rifles across their bodies without wavering, adding to the silent threat.

President Ondalla walked out onto the stage and was greeted with cheering that grew slowly. Lily stood as stiff as she could but she looked over the standing students and staff of the station and she could see that a lot of the cheering was forced. Children taken from Venus only made up ten percent of the student body of TLC-1; the others were from Mars, Earth, lunar bases, and other agricultural and habitation stations. The revolution was over before Lily and the people of Venus even knew it had begun.

As Lily studied the students-her peers and classmates-she realized that history texts could be written and names could be changed, but her memories and the memories of others would not. They would know what happened. She wondered how many of them still woke up in the middle of the night screaming for a friend who was taken from them in a burst of dirt and fire.

"Thank you, students and faculty. Thank you!" President Ondalla addressed the gathered crowd. Not all of the station's population could fit in the auditorium that had been built into one of the outer rings, so it was being filmed and broadcast throughout both the station and the other human settlements throughout the solar system.

When the applause died down, President Ondalla continued. "I want to congratulate you all on being the first in a new age of young adults who will reap the benefits of our centralized education system. I know, it's school and you're thinking how boring and miserable it is." He paused and received a smattering of laughter from the older kids and staff of the station. "I remember being young and eager to get into the world myself. But let me assure you this educational approach has been studied and received the approval of scientists, doctors, and working professionals throughout the entirety of human-colonized worlds."

He waited for a moment and was greeted with more applause. Lily could barely see his face but she was pretty sure he was smiling for the cameras. She was certain he believed what he was saying and she had no reason to doubt it, but he seemed too stiff to her. Or maybe she was still feeling defensive after her meeting with him the day before.

"Historically we, as a race, have struggled with misunderstanding and ignorance. This will put an end to that as you all get to know one another and understand the value of your fellow human beings."

He paused to smile for effect and then continued. "Finding a meaningful job and supporting yourself and your family? That's long been a worry for young people trying to make their way in life. Our new way of living fixes that problem! Just think, you don't have to worry about finding a job and putting food on your table! The system will take care of that for you. All you have to do is find what you are good at and follow that dream. Or, if you're equally suited to multiple professions, you can choose among them when the time comes and then follow that path in life."

Lily risked breaking form and glanced at her peers around her. She was the only fourteen-year-old; the rest were sixteen, like Palla, or older. They knew what they were going to do with their lives. They'd either chosen or been suited for one profession already. She was the only one who had no idea what was out there to do, let alone whether she wanted to do it or not.

"Life's not all about work without play, though," Ondalla said and earned a few smiles from the crowd. "We have decided to change the format of how professional sports works. Don't worry, you're not losing your favorite teams or sports. We're simply sanctioning them and taking away the preposterous excess and waste built into the system. After all, if your job is to provide something essential for the human race to survive and grow, why should you receive less than someone who gets to play a game for a living?"

Genuine cheering erupted from the crowd. He held up his hands, bringing the low roar down so he could speak again. "This is where I open up and speak as honestly as I can. I can talk all day about how humanity is destined for greatness if we just work together and put our society before ourselves. It sounds good and the more you think about it, the more it wins people over. But let's be honest. We still have that nagging voice inside that wants something more. Something we can take pride in. Something we can invest ourselves and get excited about, even though maybe it's a little bit shocking. A little bit dangerous. Maybe even a little bit sexy?"

Lily glanced at the crowd and saw that he'd managed to pull them in with his teasing speech. Even she had been suckered by his lowered voice and sense of friendliness.

The president turned and gestured at the large display screen behind him. It flickered to life and showed a life-sized view of a biomech. It was greeted with gasps from the crowd and a few cries. Lily felt her chest tighten, preventing her from breathing for a moment. It was just a picture, she reminded herself. Not a robot about to gun down her friends and family.

"This is not the antiquated robotic defense systems of days past. The military and private sectors alike struggled for years to develop something long considered the realm of science fiction-a mechanized humanoid fighting machine. What they discovered was that it was too slow, too prone to breakdowns, and too fragile to handle real combat situations."

Ondalla paused and studied the crowd while they, in turn, stared up at the figure on the screen. The biomech began to move, walking at first and then even breaking into a jog. The sound of each thudding footstep boomed from speakers in the room.

The biomech raised the gun in its hand and took sight at something off screen before it fired the massive projectile from the cannon. A few moments later, wings deployed from its back, stretching out until they were twice as wide as the biomech was. It crouched and leapt up into the air while powerful blasts of air were vented out of ports on its chest and back to allow it to do a controlled hop of what appeared to be close to a hundred meters. The crowd awed and gasped as it landed amid a cloud of dust and debris that shook the camera. When it cleared, they saw it standing among several other biomechs, each bearing varied weaponry, paint schemes, and designs.

"These are not your grandfather's robots," President Ondalla repeated. "These are biomechs, a combination of technology and biology. Melding man and machine into a perfect fighting unit. These units are deployed with our armed forces throughout the solar system but the best of the best of our biomech pilots will be invited to a new arena. An old sport enjoyed through the ages with a new modern twist. Instead of gladiators fighting lions, we will have biomechs pitted against biomechs!"

The crowd fell into a stunned silence that was soon replaced as whispering spread between students. President Ondalla turned to glance at Lily's group, an eager grin on his face, and then he turned back. "What you're seeing is being streamed from Earth, near the Mojave wasteland," he announced.

He turned to the screen as the biomechs faced off against each other. Each saluted, raising arms or weapons in a show of respect, and then the battle began.

Lily's gasp was drowned out by the cries of others as the six biomechs fought one another. The sound of gunshots and explosions washed over them, leaving everyone cowering and staring in amazement. A few people, especially the younger kids, cowered as the sounds brought back memories. Lily flinched time and again with each explosion and clenched her fists at her sides. She blinked repeatedly but couldn't stop the tear from rolling down her cheek.

Several minutes passed until a lone biomech stood tall over the others. They were fallen and in various states of disrepair. Limbs were broken or torn off and armor was rent and gaping. Fluid stained the ground, though it was anybody's guess if it was organic or not. The survivor, the same biomech with the wings they'd first seen, raised its remaining arm with its gun into the air in salute to the camera.

"Wow!" President Ondalla said, his voice jarring everyone out of their shock. "That was a show! But don't worry, the odds of one of the pilots being hurt is very slim. They're protected inside the bodies of these massive machines by layers and layers of armor."

People reclaimed their seats and their positions, organizing themselves slowly while the president took a moment. Lily stared at the surviving biomech and noticed hatches opening on the fallen ones and allowing people to emerge. The pilots looked shaken, to say the least. The picture went blank, ending her speculation on the giant robots that had not yet released their pilots.

"So we have education, a system to sustain and advance ourselves through working in careers that we are suited for, and we have entertainment. This is the future of humanity!" President Ondalla raised his arms and was greeted with applause that started out scattered and rough, but quickly grew until even Lily's skepticism had her thinking everyone was buying into it.

As the applause died, President Ondalla turned to Lily's group. "And now, to congratulate these special young students who have excelled beyond the wildest expectations, tell us your name and what you're chosen path is. We'll start at the top, on the left."

"Joss, science path," the first boy, an eighteen-year-old, said.

"Karin, technology path."

"Ode, science path."

"Palla, administration path."

And so on it went until Lily was the only one left. Tomas, on her right, had spoken, leaving it to her to speak up.

President Ondalla spared her the agony. "This, as most of you have already heard, is one of the newest students here. Lily came from an agricultural colony on Venus and has done some astonishing things in her short time here. We're all very excited to see how far she can climb, but as it stands, she is only fourteen years old and among the top one percent among all students. Looks like more than just good food is grown on Venus! So Lily, tell us, do you have any idea what path you might like to go for?"

Lily's eyes widened and her lips parted. He'd put her on the spot after all. She turned and stared at the crowd and saw hundreds of faces looking back at her for something amazing. She turned her head back to the president and then glanced at the blank display on the wall. Several thoughts crashed through her head in the span of time between her rapid heartbeats.

He wants people to keep their eyes on me? Well, what better place than a spectacle admired and watched. She lifted her chin and met his gaze while declaring, "I'm going to be a biomech pilot who plays in the games."

Chapter 19.

Krys used every bit of woodcraft he could think of as he slipped through the forest. He'd spent veeks training with Mig on top of spending as much time playing in the woods as a kid. He leaned against a tree and pulled out his infopad so he could watch through the picker's camera. He'd piggybacked his pad onto the control pad, allowing him to control it if he needed to or at least watch what was going on.

Satisfied that she had it heading slowly south and away, he tucked the pad against his lower back and leaned around the tree. He saw movement through the trees and heard the approaching sounds of trees being run over. Krys shook his head in disgust. All the years spent terraforming Venus required massive effort both in space to build the solar shield and on the planet planting and growing forests and adding water from ice collected deeper in the solar system. All the time and effort and now in the span of a few hours, the forest was being run over and flattened.

Krys waited and watched, keeping his eye out for movement. He made out shadows and shapes in the forest but the push towards him seemed to have stopped. They were following the picker!

Krys pumped his hand in the air and started to turn away. He stopped and glanced back. Could he learn more? He rubbed his thumb across his lips, considering his options, and then jerked his hand away and stared at it. He thought he'd stopped doing that. With a scowl, Krys pulled the pad out and watched the highpicker's progress for a few more seconds.

"Wait a minute," he mumbled. He glanced over his shoulder and when he saw no movement, he looked back at the pad. "How are you following it still?"

In manual mode, the highpicker would have a mission. It wouldn't need to send a heartbeat signal out. But they'd turned and headed south, after it. Which meant... "They're tracking it another way!"

Krys turned back to face the hidden threat. He licked his lips and spat out the flecks of dirt his thumb had left behind. Scowling at the taste, he tucked the pad away and started through the forest, slinking from one tree or bush to the next. He didn't stop for more than a few seconds to listen until he almost stumbled out into the new swath of destruction cut through the forest.

He stared across the six-meter wide path and saw how the trees were smashed and both branches and trunks were split and shredded. Some of the undergrowth had fared better, with a few of the hardier types having the resiliency to pop back up after being trampled. Nearly all of the ferns were crushed beyond hope.

He turned his head to the left and saw the soldiers and tanks less than two hundred meters away. They were moving fast, too, plowing over the ground and trampling them. In a matter of minutes, they'd break free of the edge of the forest and be in open ground. And that meant they'd go faster.

Krys scowled and ducked back behind the trees. If he was going to find anything, he had to hurry! He grabbed the pad and held it tight in his hand while he ran through the undergrowth. He dodged trees and bushes and tried to leap over fallen limbs and other obstacles. It was only a matter of time until the inevitable happened.

Krys's foot landed after he hopped over a black rock left over from a volcanic event and slid straight down into a small ditch. A root caught the edge of his shoe and rolled his ankle, and then sent the rest of him crashing to the ground with the grace of a ripe coconut dropping from a tree. He grunted when he hit and then hissed when he came to a stop and felt the pain flare in his ankle and shoot up his leg.

He bit his lip and glanced around, trying to see the clearing. He had to have made up a lot of ground on them, but was it too much? Had they heard him? He put his hands down and scooted across the ground on his butt to try to find some cover. That's what Mig had told him. Cover first, triage second.

Behind the trunk of another tree, Krys looked at his foot and saw nothing out of the ordinary. He picked his leg up and tried to rotate his ankle. The burning that ripped up his leg and into his chest stole his breath. He clenched his teeth together and sucked air in through his nose before leaning back and looking around the tree. His fears were justified: he saw two soldiers poking around at the edge of the man-made road and looking for him.

Krys panicked and rolled away onto his hands and knees. His toes dragged across the ground, bending his ankle and sending another bolt of pain up his leg. He pushed it away and started to scramble away as fast as he could across the forest floor. He made it to the next tree and slid behind it before leaning to the side and looking back.

"Over here!"

Krys watched as one of the soldiers stomped through the brush and squatted down a few meters from where he'd fallen. He stood up and held Krys's infopad in his hand. "Check this out-told you someone was here!"

The other soldier joined him and stared at it. "That's broken," he said. "Could have been here a long time."

The man holding his pad turned it over in his hand and looked at it. "Naw, flip to thermal-it's still warm."

"You're right!" the other soldier said as he brought his rifle up and picked up his head. He started scanning the forest to Krys's right.

Krys stared up at the leaves above him. The soldiers had thermal optical capabilities built into their helmets. How could he possibly hide from that? He drew his leg up and planted it down again, wincing at the pain. Pain didn't matter, though, not in a situation like this. Mr. Strain had taught him that too. He could howl and cry and feel sorry for himself all he wanted later. Right now he needed to be on his game.

He pushed with his hands and good foot to climb back to his feet. He turned sideways, keeping himself concealed behind the tree, and tested his foot again. It hurt, but he knew he could walk on it. He didn't have a choice.

"Call for backup," the second soldier said.

Krys grimaced and turned to look into the forest. If he was lucky, he could make it to a thicker tree that had split off into three trunks near its base. From there he'd be guessing on where to go and how to stay hidden. The odds were bad any way he looked at it. And every second that passed made them worse.

"Damn optics don't work very well," the first soldier complained. "So warm here I can't see any residual heat on the ground."

"They were probably wearing shoes," the second man said.

They were both silent a moment before the first man said, "Foxhound one and two, stand by. Investigating confirmed local anomaly at your two-ten-zero."

Krys tried to quiet his breathing while he listened for a response. If there was one, he never heard it. No doubt it went straight into their helmets. He risked a quick glance and ducked back before they noticed him. They wore the same armor the woman soldier who had saved him wore. Helmets with a visor to cover their eyes and armor that looked almost like it was some sort of exoskeleton.

Mr. Strain had told him about the kinds of armor he'd seen and used when he was a soldier. There were lightweight vests that protected the torso that hardly any soldier bothered with anymore. Then there was the field armor that the two men hunting him had on. That was the standard and from what Mr. Strain said, it was designed to stop just about any standard bullet from breaking through. The joints at the arms, legs, and neck were the weak points, but without a military class rifle, there was no point in trying.

They'd seen another kind of body armor, too. Mr. Strain had never run into it before but he said he'd heard about it. It was a fully enclosed suit that had its own power system. They could be used in a vacuum or underwater and, if what he'd heard was right, they even had some special surprises built into them. Thrusters for maneuvering in zero g or whatever else they could think of.

Krys hoped none of those heavy suits were after him. He was having a hard enough time with the two regular soldiers after him. Krys turned away and started to sidestep through the forest. Each step was torture. His ankle was on fire and every time he came down on it, it felt like he was shoving it into a burning fire pit.

"Contact!"

Krys turned and saw one of the soldiers raising his rifle. If he could see the soldier, that meant the soldier could see him! He gulped and dropped like a stone to the ground, and then began to frantically start crawling away from them.

A rifle thundered behind him, stealing his breath and paralyzing him. Torn vegetation fell around him. Shredded leaves fluttered to the ground and his cheek was splattered with the juice of a fern that had been cut in half.

"Is he down?"

"I don't know. He's not moving."

"Finish him off. I want to get back."

"Corporal said she wanted us to capture the rebels, not kill them."

Krys sucked in his breath and looked around. He had three meters to go to the tree and once he was there, he had no idea. There was no way he could get away. No way he could do anything but lay there and die. And then they'd go after the others. The only family he had left.

Krys forced himself to his knees and stood up, favoring his leg. He held his arms up and called out as loudly as he could, "Don't shoot! I surrender."

One of the soldiers swore. The other chuckled. "Good thing, it looks like another kid."

Krys jerked when he heard that. Were kids special? Some, like Lily, had been captured and sent away. Was that what they were going to do to him to? Would he go where she went? Would he get to see her again?"

"Foxhound one and two, we have a prisoner."

Krys turned slowly, limping on his twisted ankle, and came to face them. "Are-are you going to shoot me?"

"Don't do anything stupid," the second soldier growled at him.

The first soldier nodded his head and motioned with his gun towards Krys. "Roger, extracting now," he said into the radio in his helmet.

The second soldier slung his rifle and came forward. "Hurt your leg?"

"My ankle."

The soldier grunted. "Can you walk?"

"I think so."

"Good. I don't want to have to come up with a story about why you resisted and I had to shoot you."

Krys gasped and nodded. "I'll make it."

The soldier stepped out of his way and nodded towards the edge of the path. "Get going, kid."

Krys took a breath and hissed it out with his first step. He was not looking forward to the walk or to what lay at the end of it.

Chapter 20.

The president's ceremony was over, allowing Lily to leave the stage after the president and before the general assembly of students. They emptied into a conference room where they had gathered before the ceremony. Lily turned to leave when Palla grabbed her arm and yanked her off to the side.

"What are you doing?" Palla hissed.

Lily blinked. "I was going to go back to my room."

Palla's eyes narrowed. "That's not what I mean and you know it!"