Volunteer (Selected Book 3) Read online

  Volunteer

  Selected #3

  Robin Roseau

  Table of Contents

  Uprooting

  Interview

  Testing

  Planning A Future

  University

  First Date

  Vassal

  Break

  Exam

  Europe

  Winter Into Spring

  Retest

  Surprise

  Amaryllis

  Attention

  Ambassador

  Consciousness

  Dual Major

  Challenge

  Capture The Baton

  Chase

  Taste

  Octal

  Cell

  Graduation

  New Life

  Catseye

  Video

  Violet

  Home

  Audra

  Good Night

  About the Author

  Uprooting

  I was young when the aliens came, but I remember as if it were yesterday. We were in school, and Mrs. Jeffries, the principal, made an announcement over the intercom system. I don't remember what she said, but I remember my teacher, Miss Palmer, told all of us to remain calm as she turned on the television.

  We never got to watch television in school, so that surprised all of us, and everyone talked. But Miss Palmer raised her voice. She never raised her voice, except that one time, and we all grew quiet.

  Then she turned on the news. What child wants to watch the news? But she told us to be quiet. She told us when we were older, we would want to remember this moment.

  That didn't make sense at the time, but it sure does now.

  Then we saw the spaceship. It didn't really look like other spaceships. It wasn't pointed like a rocket. And we were all too young to have ever really seen the space shuttles when they were flying. But there was no mistaking it for a spaceship nevertheless. First, it was flying, and it didn't have wings. For a minute I thought we were going to watch a movie after all, and I wanted Miss Palmer to back up and play it from the beginning.

  But then Donny Berger said a naughty word. "He said 'What the fuck is that?'" We weren't supposed to use that word, and I was sure Miss Palmer was going to yell at him.

  "Aliens," Miss Palmer said.

  Well, we were just kids, but we weren't stupid.

  "Space aliens?" Monica Dram asked. "My dad says there's no such thing."

  "That's what we all thought," Miss Palmer said. "We were all wrong."

  "My Uncle Bob says there are too space aliens," said Eddie Bigelow. "He said they've been living in New York for years and years."

  "Your Uncle Bob's an idiot," said Sally Hampton.

  "Uh, uh," replied Eddie. He pointed to the screen. "Miss Palmer said those are aliens!"

  "But they aren't living in New York."

  "How would you know?" Eddie asked.

  "That's enough," said Miss Palmer.

  Well, we all watched the space aliens land their spaceship. Miss Palmer explained they were landing at the United Nations in New York, at which point Eddie Bigelow said, "See? They're in New York!"

  "But they don't live there," Sally Hampton said.

  Miss Palmer shushed them.

  We watched the space aliens for a while. It seems like forever. We were just little kids, and we quickly grew bored. Even if they were space aliens.

  After that, we kept the television on, but Miss Palmer tried to hold the rest of class. Afterwards, when it was time to go home, those of us who normally rode the bus took the bus. But I walked to school, and they didn't let any of us who walked go home. I had to wait for my mom to get me.

  That was fifteen years ago. I'm twenty-three now.

  * * * *

  I'm the older of two girls to a single mom. When the aliens landed, we were living in a crappy apartment in a crappy neighborhood in Cleveland. Mom was the head cook at the school, which paid about what you might expect.

  My name is Skye Andrews. I'm short and kind of small, but everyone says I'm cute, and I'm called bubbly a lot. What can I say? I like life. My hair is blond, almost white, although sometimes I color it, just for fun, and my eyes are blue, really, really blue. I like to wear my hair parted in the middle in an angled bob, short in back but touching my shoulders in front. The color might change with my moods, but I've kept the style for a while. I like it.

  My sister's name is Audra. She's four years younger than I am. Growing up, I was the lucky one. Audra not so much. When she was little, she was diagnosed with something called osteogenesis imperfecta, or OI amongst those in the know. It's also known as brittle bone disease, and it means just what it sounds like. When it comes to OI, it really sucks being one of those in the know. My sister didn't produce something called collagen. Humans have no known cure. Without the aliens, my sister probably wouldn't be alive today.

  Shortly after the aliens landed, they set up their Testing Centers. I didn't know anything about that. And I didn't know that Mom was one of the earliest people to get tested.

  What I did know was that Grandma Jan came to stay with Audra and me for two days, and Mom didn't come home. But then the second day when I got home from school, Mom and Grandma Jan were both there, and they were both crying.

  I didn't understand that, but Mom pulled me into her arms and asked me what I'd do if we could cure Audra.

  "There's no cure, Mom."

  "The aliens have a cure."

  "They do?"

  "Darling, what would you do for your sister?"

  "Anything, Mom."

  "Would you give up all your friends to cure your sister?"

  "The aliens want me to give up my friends, and if I do, they'll make Audra better?"

  "The aliens offered me a job. A good job, Skye. We'll live in a really nice home and have nice things, and they'll cure Audra."

  "Really?"

  "But we have to move."

  "To space?"

  "No. But far from Cleveland."

  "Cleveland sucks. Will this place suck, too?" I should have said that word, but Mom let me get away with it. She normally wouldn't have.

  "No."

  "Will there be other kids?"

  "Maybe not very many."

  I thought about it. I wasn't allowed to play with Audra because she could get hurt so easily. Oh, we could play board games and cards, but she couldn't run around or anything.

  "What about Audra?"

  "The aliens will fix her right up," Mom said. "She'll have good, strong bones."

  "You told them 'yes', didn't you?"

  "Yes, Darling. I did."

  I smiled and hugged my mom. "Good. Will we be able to play?"

  "Yes, Darling. You and Audra will be able to play all you want."

  "When do we go?"

  "Tonight."

  * * * *

  We flew to Africa that night, flying aboard one of the alien spaceships! Grandma Jan and Mom packed us with one big suitcase each. The aliens sent a car for us. It seemed like a regular car, except it was really quiet, and the person driving it didn't actually have to drive it. The car drove all by itself. I thought that was something.

  They took us to the Cleveland airport. I'd been there before, but we went in a different entrance. And when we pulled up, they had a special bed for Audra. Mom and I got to walk, but a couple of nurses made Audra climb onto the bed. She looked scared, but excited, too, and Mom held her hand while we walked.

  Audra said it was the most comfortable bed she'd ever been in.

  It wasn't a long walk, and then we were climbing into the back of a spaceship. Inside, mom stared. "This is better than first class."

  For me, it was a long time ago,
and I don't remember all the details. But there were chairs. They reminded me of the recliner we had at home, but these chairs were a whole lot better than our old recliner.

  The nurses talked to my mom. I don't remember what they said, but I remember being really embarrassed when Mom told me we had to take our clothes off. I argued with Mom, but she knelt down in front of me. "Skye, this is part of helping your sister. Don't argue now."

  For me, those were the magic words, and so I grew quiet and did what I was told.

  They put me in a chair right next to Audra's bed, and they very, very carefully helped Audra take off her clothes, too. I remember that part. The nurses were very careful with Audra. I thought that was nice.

  Then the nurses talked to us. They told us these were magic chairs. They were a little like cocoons.

  "Will we become butterflies?" I asked.

  "No, but when your sister comes out of her chair, she's going to be all better, nice and strong. That's pretty good, isn't it?"

  "Yeah," I said. I looked over at Audra. She looked a little scared. Mom was holding her hand. And I felt a little bad, because no one was holding my hand. But one of the nurses saw where I was looking, and she took my hand. I held tightly.

  "This is a little scary the first time," the other nurse said. "But it's pretty cool, too. But first, we're going to give you some new glasses."

  She did me first, telling me I wouldn't be able to see right away, but only for a minute. And they weren't just glasses. They had ear buds, too, sort of like Sally Hampton's iPod. That was a little weird, and I squirmed around. But then I could see again.

  "Okay, that's all right," I said. I turned my head and smiled at Audra, who was now watching me carefully.

  "You look weird," she said.

  "You're going to look weird, too," I said. I pointed at the glasses the nurse was holding. "I bet those are yours."

  "Did it hurt, little miss?" asked the nurse.

  "Me?" I asked. "My name's Skye."

  "Pleased to meet you, Skye. I'm Nan. Did the glasses hurt?"

  "They felt weird at first, but now I can't even feel them. No, they didn't hurt."

  "Are you ready for your glasses, Audra?" Nurse Nan asked.

  "Do I have to?"

  "Yes. It's required before we can cure you."

  "All right." Audra was used to nurses and doctors, and while she didn't always like it, it never required too much work getting her to do what they said.

  The nurse was really careful putting the glasses on Audra. I was right; she looked weird.

  "These are crappy glasses," Audra said. "I can't see."

  "Just a moment," the nurse said.

  "I could see almost right away."

  "Audra's will take just a tiny bit longer."

  "Oh!" said Audra. "I can see now." She looked over at me. "Do I look like a weird space alien now?"

  "Yep," I said. "Or like you're ready to go swimming."

  "Swimming?" Audra asked. It wasn't on her list of allowed activities. She turned to Mom. "Will I be able to go swimming, Mom?"

  "Yes, Darling," Mom said. Her voice cracked. "You'll be able to run and play and do all the things your sister can do."

  "I can't wait!"

  "What a great attitude," said Nurse Nan. "All right. I'm going to make the chair be a cocoon now. It's going to be just like getting tucked into bed, but it will hold you very carefully. Who wants to be first?"

  "I can, unless Audra wants to."

  "Can I watch?"

  "Of course you can, Audra," said the nurse.

  The other nurse, the one holding my hand, leaned down and whispered into my ear. "We need you to be brave, Skye. For your sister. Can you stay calm?"

  That made me nervous. I bit my lip, but I nodded. For my sister.

  Nurse Nan did something. I couldn't see what, but then the chair began to kind of, well, hug me. It was weird, but it felt really good at the same time. It started at my middle, which was okay, because I didn't like being naked in front of these strangers, even if they were nurses. But it wrapped around me completely, leaving my face for last.

  The nurse whispered to me the entire time, telling me she'd sat in a chair like this dozens of times, and it was easy as pie, even if it was a little weird the first time.

  This was all weird, so what was one more thing?

  Then she asked, "Are you being brave, Skye?"

  I was trying, and so I nodded.

  "Can you tell your sister it feels nice? It feels nice, doesn't it?"

  "Yeah," I said. I couldn't turn my head anymore and was looking at the ceiling, but I said, "Audra, it's really cool. It's like getting hugged by the chair."

  "You're a good girl," the nurse said. "It's going to cover your face, too, just like you've pulled the blankets over your head. But you'll be able to breathe normally, and if you need a drink or something, the chair will give you one."

  "Really?"

  "Really. But you're going to sleep, so you probably won't notice."

  "I won't get to watch?"

  "Well, that's the cool thing. Your goggles will let you watch for a little while, even with your face covered. But then you'll sleep, and when you wake up, you'll be in your new home. Ready now?"

  I nodded, and a moment later, the chair covered my face.

  But I could breathe, and I could still see, which was really weird. I knew the chair covered me completely, but I could still breathe.

  Then I heard a new voice. "Hello, Skye."

  "Hello. Who are you?"

  "I'm the ship."

  "The ship?"

  "The ship you're in."

  "You can talk?"

  "I can. It is my job to take care of you during this trip."

  "So if I have to go to the bathroom, I should tell you."

  The ship paused then said, "Yes. For now, I'm going to let you see what I see outside. But if you want to watch a little television, I can do that, too."

  "Are we leaving?"

  "In another thirty-seven minutes."

  "Can I watch TV until we're leaving? But I'd like to look out the window."

  "All right. Do you know what you'd like to watch?"

  "I don't know. What's on?"

  "I can show you anything you would like," the ship said.

  "Can you show me next week's episode of Peter and Dieter?" That was my favorite show.

  "I'm sorry. I can't show you next week's, but I can show you last night's."

  "I already saw last night's," I said.

  We talked for another minute, finally settling on an episode of Kitten Rescues.

  The ship timed everything perfectly. The credits were rolling when it spoke next. "We're about to take off. Did you want to watch more television?"

  "Can I see out the window?"

  "Of course." And then suddenly the view changed. I wasn't looking out the side. I was looking out the front, like the pilot might. There was just a little bit of the spaceship at the bottom of the view, but then I could see the airport in front of us. And then it was just another minute before we were moving.

  I thought we'd blast off like a rocket ship. I thought that's why they put us in the weird chairs. Instead, we took off a lot like a regular airplane. We actually had to move around the airport for a little bit, and then the ship said, "Here we go." And we were moving forward, faster and faster, before we began to lift into the sky.

  I didn't feel a single thing, and it was quiet besides. That was a little disconcerting. Shouldn't it have been loud, like a rocket?

  But we flew higher and higher into the night, the lights of Cleveland spread out below us. But then the screen went dark.

  "Hey!" I complained. "I can't see anything."

  "I'm sorry, Skye," said the ship. "We're in the clouds now. But in another minute, there will be stars."

  "We're in the clouds?"

  "Yes."

  "But we're going to fly above the clouds?"

  "Yes, high, high above the clouds."

&nbs
p; I didn't like not being able to see anything, but sure enough, it was only another minute or two before we were on top of the clouds. The moon was out, so I could see the clouds below us, at least for a little while, but then we were higher and higher.

  But there were stars, so many stars. They were beautiful.

  "Wow! I've never seen so many stars!"

  "The lights of Cleveland make it hard to see them properly," the ship explained. "This is what it looks like when you're way out in the country, miles and miles from any other lights. But there will be even more, because we fly so high."

  If there were, I couldn't have told you. I watched the stars for a while, anyway.

  But I must have been tired, in spite of the excitement, because I slept. And I didn't wake again until we were in Africa.

  * * * *

  I know now, although I didn't know at the time, that the ship made me sleep. And I know something else. The ship did something to me, to my brain, that kept me from being able to tell anyone my story for a long, long time.

  But things change.

  Interview

  I was eighteen when I actually got to meet one of the mating candidates. Mom's job was as a cook for the center where the mating candidates met their space aliens. For years, it was a poorly kept secret what the aliens did there, although a secret nevertheless. We were one of the earliest families to arrive, and a lot of the people who worked for The Center, as everyone called it, were single. But some came with kids, and so Audra and I weren't the only ones.

  But as I said, it was at first a poorly kept secret, but for some reason, while we could talk about it with everyone who lived near The Center, not a single one of us could talk about it on the Internet. We couldn't even talk about why we couldn't talk about it. In fact, it seemed perfectly natural to us to keep the secrets.

  And so word got out to all of us what happened there, although it was a long time before we had any details. Mom didn't know the details, although the people who served as guards did. Mom only knew she was cooking this meal or that one.

  It was Tasmin Hunter who hacked into the alien's broadcasts. At home, everyone had Internet and cable television, but the aliens had their own broadcasts, and somehow Tasmin figured out how to break into it, and she invited all the kids to come to her house after school to see what was going on.