[Earth, 506 years after first successful colony, 148 years after first contact]
Lila opened her eyes calmly as a chilling sensation washed over her face, causing her to unexpectedly wake. As usual, she was wasting time in her bed, not doing her homework, nor even bothering to watch anything on her phone. And yet, despite her lazy demeanor, she remained sharp enough to remember her own room.
She brushed aside her brown pigtails, squinting with her dried green eyes as she tried to wake herself up. Typically, the strategy was to just lie there and hope her body would feel better. But her curiosity had piqued.
"Did someone open the window?" Lila mumbled to herself as she turned around to look at her plushies, as if somehow the circular pillows with smiles on their faces had committed the crime.
She knew more than most how rarely she would bother to open her stuffy room, its size barely large enough to contain one set of closed blinds.
"Am I tripping?" Lila spoke more loudly, staring at her blue-painted wall with wide eyes.
After some time contemplating nothing, as she usually did, Lila's gaze shifted over to her computer, its monitor showing an indicator for no internet access. Checking her phone revealed the same; every form of connection Lila possessed was gone. Scratching her head, she began to slither her way out of bed as she reached for the window.
"Uh huh." Lila squinted, her hazel colored eyes peering out of her blinds. "Nice."
Her room was rather mundane as far as Earth establishments went. She had decorated the white drywall with posters of cute anime girls and LED lights, and possessed the most unremarkable assortment of dusty wooden furniture next to her queen-sized bed. The only somewhat remarkable part of the room, which she did put effort into, was her computer setup, featuring an adjustable height setting and two high-quality monitors. It was all very Lila.
She wore a set of tight blue jeans and a red t-shirt, fearing nothing from her own flat figure when it came to appearance.
Realizing her eyes had yet to adapt to the light, Lila surrendered herself to leaving the room for a better look. It wasn't a far walk to the front door; her single-story home was never known for its grandeur. But what she could take pride in was the silence of her neighborhood, which made the situation all the more alarming as a sudden rumble shook the wooden floor.
"Don't follow me out pupper!" Lila yelled as she opened the front door. "The last thing Mom needs right now is you pulling another stunt.
She never really saw much of her mother anymore, not after the father left. She was far too busy paying for the entire family. And with her brother's career firmly planted in the military, Lila was mostly alone. She had nothing but her own conscience to keep her out of trouble and on task with her college homework.
Refusing to wear socks or shoes of any kind, the petite girl hobbled into the front yard as she turned to see her neighbor, their face transfixed on something in the sky. In their hands was an old set of binoculars, clutched tightly in their hands. Around the same time, a few more of Lila's neighbors appeared outside their front porch, many of them staring silently in the distance.
"Hey, Diane! What is it?" Lila waved, coming to terms with her lesser eyesight as she tried to get a good look. "Space aliens?"
"No, uh," the young woman waved back without shifting her head, her blonde hair gleaming in the evening sunlight as she spoke. "I think it's the Air Force."
"Awesome! What branch?"
"You know I'm not into all that like you, Lila." Diane shrugged. "But I think it's all of them?"
"All of them?" Lila laughed. "Yeah, that's not likely. They wouldn't just-."
Just then, another set of aircraft flew high above Lila's house, their presence nearly as subtle as the last, albeit far more visible. It wasn't long before an entire convoy could be witnessed with the naked eye, their tightly-packed formation sailing in an almost unprofessional manner. It was then that Lila became considerably more alert.
"Oh."
Lila pulled out her phone, examining it with furious speed as she tried to gain any piece of information she could. Embarassingly enough, she was quite adept when it came to sifting through the fake crap. Eventually, she came upon a press announcement from NASA.
Lila grimaced quietly as she read. "Due to unusual events...what a total load of bull."
"Is that bad?" Diane asked loudly as the rest of the neighborhood began to audibly voice their concerns. "I mean, maybe it's just a drill. My husband says sometimes they like to pretend we're in an emergency for practice."
"No, that has to be the reserve as well. National Guard, too. It's all of them. All at the same time."
"Well, they're flying pretty high. That's nice of them."
"Yeah...Lila muttered to herself. "They're booking it."
"You should call your mom, Lila," another neighbor shouted in a masculine voice. "My money's on a meteor."
"Oh yeah, you'd love that, huh, Fred. Just like the movies?" Diane retorted. "Yeah, not on my Friday."
Lila ignored the rising tide of voices, her eyes fixed on the fleet of aircraft as she fumbled around for her phone. She wasn't nearly arrogant enough to assume what was really going on, and yet such activity still put her on edge. The young girl had always loved speaking with her brother's friends, both superiors and peers alike, when it came to all the absurd protocols post-colonial humanity had implemented.
But never before did she think one of them might be in play right in front of her very eyes.
*In other news, COLONEX has partnered with Tesselation to transfer assets for an on-demand ship-off.*
She didn't take herself for a conspiracy theorist, but the news wasn't looking good. Lila knew just as much as everyone that when those with power saw trouble on the horizon, they ran. And they ran like hell.
"At least the cell is working," Lila squeezed her phone as she sent a call to her mother. "That's money."
"Hey, Lila," the same neighbor asked loudly, much to the annoyance of Diane, who was about to walk back inside. "You're a military nut. What's going on? Has your brother said anything?"
"Uh, not yet, Fred," Lila stumbled over her words as she listened intently, waiting for her mother to pick up. "But it's not a drill, I can guarantee you that."
She prayed to herself that her mother would respond.
"Lila? Are you okay?" A feminine voice spoke gently to Lila through her left ear. "Please tell me your home."
"Yeah, of course, Mom. Where's brother-bear?"
"Jamie got called in; the entire base is buzzing."
"Yeah, I can see that. They're flying everything, Mom." Lila explained in as simple a manner as she could afford. "Not just the fast fancy ones brother-bear flies, I mean everything."
Her mother spoke warmly, relieved that her daughter didn't sound too frightened. "They mentioned an evacuation. Here, Lila, I'm at the front bureau. Just give me a second."
"Yeah, that adds up." Lila smiled, somewhat amused by the excitement. "Let's hope it's not already cooked."
A second, more professional voice emitted from Lila's phone, its cadence hiding a smidgen of fear. "Yes, Miss Macey. Jane Macey, we have your son on file right here. All service members have a guaranteed placement for families. There's no cause for alarm. Please just wait for an announcement, and we can provide more details."
Her mother's voice became louder. "Okay, Lila."
"Yeah, I know, Mom," Lila interrupted. "I'll meet you at Saint Spears airfield."
"Hm? How do you already know? Did they make the announcement?"
"Nope. I just know that's where they keep all the rockets and bunkers. And that's where this herd here is heading." The young girl spoke hurriedly as she slipped on a pair of shoes. "Please tell me we have a car."
"You don't even have your license, young lady, and no, we don't have any. Just take the bus." Jane sighed, trying to speak softly to her daughter.
"You're joking, right?"
"It's the safest-."
"Yeah, no, I'm hoofing it. See you there!" Lila scoffed before hanging up abruptly.
On her way out, Lila made sure to grab both her red bike and her dog, motioning for the brown Labrador to follow. She, of course, neglected the helmet and jacket in exchange for a few saved seconds as she barreled out of the driveway. But just before she could speed off, Lila made sure to brake in front of Diane's house.
"Hey!" Lila shouted to Fred, who was arguing with Diane and several other members of the community. "Spears, get going."
"The airfield!" Fred threw his hands up, his overweight belly moving along with him. "Of course. They're gonna leave without us in their fancy rockets, fucking cowards."
"Don't worry about all that, ya'll," Lila explained calmly as she began to speed up. "Just get there. It doesn't take a conspiracy theorist to point that out to you."
"Well, hold on. What if we're not allowed?" One neighbor protested.
*Then we're all dead, you idiot.*
Lila tried to laugh it off. "Come on now, we've all seen the movies. Half the people on whatever fancy list they make won't show up in time. They'll take anyone they can get with this kind of short notice," she shrugged, giving one last moment to look at Diane, who seemed rather uncertain with her newborn clutched in her arms.
"But in the movies, don't people like riot at the fence and eat each other when it's too crowded?" Fred retorted.
"Well, it's a good thing we're a small town." The young girl smirked before speeding off, her dog giving chase.
It was true, Wyoming had escaped much of Earth's more troubled urban efforts. And when the colonial program took flight, it was left largely primitive by expansionist standards. It was the perfect home for a quaint little girl in a quaint little town.
"The city people," Lila chucked to herself, imagining the mile-wide hive centers trying to evacuate. "Yeah, no thank you. Not at this time."