The Life, Death and Life of Amelia Hollow

ld see Greek Gods prancing gleefully about in. There wasn't another home for miles and my family liked it tha

ked hard to get their money. Sven –as you know– discovered the USM and became the ambassador while Geraldine (his real name was Gordon but when he discovered that he preferred c

rge. Even though we had a small gym I still liked to have a treadmill in my room in case I w

screen above my bed which changed posters every five minutes. I had computer that was quicker than the speed of so

t probably not any rain. It was summer so the weather usually sat between either blazing hot or lightning storms. I didn't mind it and neither did Gera

sneakers and flew downstairs. I did not have to worry about my father or Geraldine because I was pretty sure they were both in th

no need to be worried about cars coming down the road because it was pretty quiet out in the countryside. Any of the people who woul

plets fell from the grey clouds. Luckily it was summer in Wyoming so the rain was actually refreshing. My white singlet was completely soaked and my chest could be seen easily. That was the other great thing about living out in the middle of nowhere. I could've gone for a run in the nude

ing sound echoed all down the mansion. The sound would inform my father th

ed to pull it out. Taking a shower didn't seem right

en me more of a tan than my father Sven who preferred to think of himself as albino and tried to avoid the sun at

f the shower. Strands of soaked hair covered my eyes. Once my vision cleared I saw the steam

t like acid. It looked like I always waxed my legs, but that didn't mean they looked very attractive if you got a closer look. They were covered in plenty of nasty scars and bruises. One from every sports team I had been on which meant there were quite

e was standing there in his dark blue singlet and jeans. His long black hair was pulled back into a ponytail that split into two braids at the first hair tie. He alw

k on. I didn't mind him seeing me naked because I

in the holo communications ro

ge finally kick it?" I

care she was probably going to live another twenty years unless she got a cold or left the special sanitary room in the retirement complex. Most

e increase in life expectancy plenty. But because of cosmetic creams and surgeries you were sure to look at leas

This is when our dear 'American Unicorn', President Stanley Kesmin, said all people over the age of forty five had to have either a vasectomy or a hysterectomy in the most humane way possible. He put that law in forty years ago and it still stand

ne said firmly. "Nothing bad has happen

table in the middle that displayed holograms. When I was very little I pretended it was the bridge from Star Trek and ran around with my li

ere 'second-class'. Instead at the end of every week my father called his son to chat. They had never officially met face to face, but my father sai

e of our birthdays or Christmas. Geraldine felt a little left out of this family gathering because Cameron's mother, Della Vis Homen of Hashtish 4, was his rival for Sven's love. Even though

l black turtle neck with jeans and glasses. Even though doctors offered him eye surgery to

ed him casually before imitating hi

lly close about the w

E

ntil it's over." He said with a slight hint of anxiety in his voice. It was easy to tell when he was

ney? Did President Darwin do something? Oh God, tel

y father shook his

ojectors so there was an electric blue tint to it. None of us really noticed it until we saw the quality of other peop

outpost 'Starside' in the Dalowit System. For the first time in USM history, Starside Academy is accepting cadets from second-class planets to train as commanding officers. Your profi

father. He said no

e first human to be a part of the USM Navy. If you decline another human will not be chosen as there are far more qualified students from other second-class planets. Please listen to the contact details in the second message for your i

y colour. I wasn't aware that my jaw had dropped. Had I just been

y through my damp hair. This wasn't a gleeful moment for any of us. It w

happy and was more concerned than anything. His daughter had to make the decision whether she

iversity and the University of Californi

lieve it."

s shocking but

me in person to ask me something like that! H

t asked by those guys to be the first human to be in the USM Navy. Yo

goi

tation Starside was –that was where Mel resided– yet we never considered a human, save the ambassador, to make it there. It was only for the best of the best in th

" My father as

real life Starfleet. You don't honest

ed his arms around me. It hadn't really fazed me how big a move to space would be. It seemed to unrealistic at the time. But if it was going to happen

ally changed rapidly for us yet the whole situation was still very surreal. Geraldine had given up on having a presence after the fourth call and went to clear his head. I know I was not his daughter, but the move was

me about how screwed I was going to get by publicity. Anything that had happened in my past

time and he was okay with it, but the media wasn't just going to give up on a good story. They tortured her with it. A part of me felt that Karina would not

he time you go to Starside. Paparazzi are going to be stalking your house and Darwin

ank you Mr

ut those things later." Sven joked before squeez

to check the time on the side of

hy I'm signing off early. Good luck Ms. Hollow, make Earth proud or die trying. Did you ge

." I tried to reassure her b

s. She's too young to understand how important her prese

Kar

an who represented Earth better than anybody else besides my father ever could... and dear god she was a bitch. She had set herself up to think I was going to fail and was probably already pr

his?" I asked my f

xt two weeks we will be taking these calls daily and then when you leave for

e I go to space

, but how are you not freaking out?" He asked with a sl

nel informed my daddy we were getting another call. He sighed

atching grey cap and earpiece like my father's. It was a translator so that all USM workers could understand each oth

e had orange/red hair. His silvery/grey eyes seemed to sparkle more than a human's. It made him just look

half human but his mother Della had never bothered to teach him English so

w when they walked past him and man, talk about diversity. Some looked like the creatures from Alie

talked because although Cameron could understand me d

phone except there was a long wire wrapped around it. He uncoiled the wire and carefully started pushing it into his ear. Th

s the first human cross-breed to make it into Starside but seeing as his birth certificate said he was raised on Hashtish 4 he wasn't technically considered a human. Although it was clear he was still treated unfairly because of his father from a second-class planet) so he always called Sven who had more context for what he was going through. His mother was t

all the time because I only get five hours of sleep before my next shift. I know because I'm a harsnic that I'm supposed to only need thre

ats? Ask her for a shift off so you can catch up on the well-deserved rest. They really want you to be at your be

same shifts as me at the moment. We work well together. I don't

the small screen. Cameron obviously was not aware of how much work w

years that he was actually afraid of me. On his planet I would be considered very loud and obnoxious (I was considered that on Earth

I must say congrats." He smiled. "Gues

ng the translation. "I'm ta

o experience a USM Naval ship first-hand when they g

meet up with me wh

chipmunk. "I'm the one picking you up off Ear

d embarrass you in front of all your friends." I 'joked

o embarrass me in front of." He joked in his species brutally honest way. My father's smile dro

aid. He wanted to talk to his son about why he had no friends. Even I knew Cameron

pastry and miserably failing at it. It was either a deflated croissant or some sort burnt gin

asked as he poked the pastry with

talking to Cameron. The poor little guy

y into the trash. He did not know my brother very well because

e jumped a little but I had seen something I didn't want to see. We made eye contact as I turned h

ijuana except a little harder on the body. Dusk had nearly killed Geraldine and that's how my father and Geraldine really got to meet the night after they first 'met'. He was having a seizure in the bathtub from the dusk and Sven was the one who saved him and then spent two days in the hospital with him. No

be so pissed when he

nued to wash the scorched tray. His head down. Not li

n me and him. Don't get

if you don't tell h

ine when I was five was that I would take away his manly bits if he hurt

as enough on his plate I don't want to overload the poor man." He lied. I doubted that he had only

a week ago when they were playing the adaptation of Burroughs's The Lost Continent at

red a Geraldine one more time before leavin

ut issues in his social life. He was very reserved when it came to people that he were not his family and probably hadn't been making much of an effort to make friends. Also having his father from a second-class planet had really affected how others treated him. Most ali

ven asked when I took my spot ba

m me up, Scotty' right?" I perked up despite the glu

d. So pleased I could not help retain the strange animalistic squeal

your kind knows that quote." I choked. Don't cry,

waved goodbye before he ended the call on his side. Once Sven

, unconcerned to how my father w

exhaustion. But now he's afraid to talk to anybody because he thinks they're still mad at him." My father sighed. "And of course they won't forgive him easily... first-class aliens just wait f

How did he a

't a

who was incredibly outgoing so my father didn't worry about me making friends. Cameron probably did not like being compared to his little sister when it came to our social lives so I hoped Sven had not brought it up even though

m) and he would get away with it. I would have been the definition of a tattletale if I had told on him. Plus I did have to agree that times were pretty hard on my father at the moment and I wasn't sure if he could handle it. It was hard to tell why he was so stressed. He had been to space, his son lived in space and so it was not a very foreign p

are required to wear your cadet uniform at all times whether you are at Starside Academy or not. The duffle bag you are allowed to take to Starside is coming in a package tomorrow so you may begin packing..." He was only reading the important bits so he skipped some lines and used his fing

e entertaining than listening to what had already been said a dozen times. "

ess.

was not as amused, but he knew humour was my way of dealing with stress. He sighed like a t

o your brother you don't get much

t to bed in the 1am range, nevertheless my father was right. Cameron had looked ex

He was sitting up properly now with his head in his hands. Not crying, just being a stress monkey. I wanted to go back and give him another one of my 'comfortin

Enterprises in Washington D.C. where I most likely would not be able to contact them. Aiden would be the hardest to tell because even though he was really cool with most things I did, he was emotionally invested in our relationship and really thought it was going somewhere. Lord, he was so cheesy right? But hey, I loved the guy. I liked him so much I had even tried to lose m