I got a question from someone about the Exodus trial. Wondering why Kane, Micah's somewhat surrogate father, would be willing to send her down when there are no guarantees that they'll make it safely? The way I see it, the guy was willing to cull nearly 300 people in order to save some time on the Ark. Would he not be willing to sacrifice five upstanding citizens if it may mean hope for his people? Just seems that way to me. Also without the mission, Micah has no choice but to be floated. At least with the exodus, she has a chance of surviving and living on (albeit a very small chance).

I also thought about writing part of this chapter from (Mr.) Pike's point of view, but I actually really hate his guts so… it didn't happen. And writing as Micah's mother would mean including Pike in some way. It's funny how I choose to make my character the daughter of someone I dislike with a passion. Haha.

Recap: Preparing for lift off.

Warning: strong language ahead.

Faya Gada | 13

Bellamy was just coming out of dreamland when the guards showed up pounding at the door. His heart nearly jumped out of his chest as his body went into a mechanical trance. Cursing, he quickly slid out of the bed and onto the floor, grabbing for the closest article of clothing he found. As he drew up his pants, he tried to blink the sleep from his heavy eyes. This had to be the fastest he'd ever thrown on clothes. Probably attributed to the fact that guards were just outside the door. He was sure no one wanted to see a naked guardsman. Aside from Micah, of course.

Once dressed, he ran his hand through his raven hair. He tried to fix the bed hair but it didn't seem to follow procedure. Before he reached the door, he glanced back to see if his involvement was obvious and he literally almost fainted.

She was gone.

Fuck!

He goes into a panic and just stands there for a second before whispering, "Mike…Micah, where are you? Mike?" He moves around to the bathroom then kitchen and comes up short. There isn't a sign of the lieutenant commander in the apartment and the guards are still banging on the door. Instead of lying, he does the only thing he can think to do at the moment.

Throw her under the bus.

He makes a commotion of trashing the bathroom and leaving the door slightly ajar to simulate falling out of the bathroom. Taking false breaths, Bellamy makes himself crawl to the door while roughly pushing against his face to appear redder. This had to look like an assault. When the door banged open, the desperate man put on a show.

"What the hell is going on?! One second I'm standing outside the bathroom, the next I'm waking up in the shower!"

He was sure to put on his best crazy eyes, though he didn't know if he even had those in the first place. However, it helped his story that he'd literally just woken up. By now, his freckled face was reddened unevenly, giving the illusion that he may have been assaulted.

One of the guards pushes past the man on the floor to survey the apartment while the man at the door addresses him. "Do you remember anything, son?"

"N-No. I…I'm sorry. It's all a blur. I just remember her going to the restroom."

"Pike is attempting escape. We've got every man on the job."

…What?

"…but…where could she go? We're in deep space…"

"We've been trying to figure it out. She was seen on another station but as she is yet missing in action, we wanted to make sure she didn't somehow make it back here."

Bellamy stepped aside and let the men pass as he contemplated what he just heard. Micah deserted him and made a run for it. What the hell was happening? And where was she? And why didn't she tell him? Did she not trust him enough? Think he would try to stop her or turn her in?

To be honest, he wasn't sure what he would've done if she'd come to him first. He'd like to think he'd help, but it wouldn't save her life in the end. He'd just be named an accomplice and lose more than just his job. He'd probably lose his life.

Would that have been worth it?

Probably not. But not Micah was out there fighting for her life on her own.

Bellamy wasn't sure of what he could do at this point.

Still nervous and unsure, Micah is trembling. Doing her best not to break down. She asks them, "What are you guys in for?"

"I'm just the pilot," Takada expressed with a small smile. "Martin will be our security, Bhett our medic, and Morales is running point."

"What? That can't be right." She turns to Morales. "What experience do you have?"

"I may be a new face to you, but I ain't new to leadership."

"Then what am I—'

[bleep, bleep, red lights, turbulence]

"Exodus One, we are go. I repeat, we are go. Over."

"Exodus One to Command. Diverting power to engines. Over." Takada slightly turned his head and threw back, "Buckle in! Helmets on!" before facing forward to mess with the controls.

Morales smirked at Micah and secured his seat. Clicks could be heard around the shuttle. "Time to make history."

Suddenly it was like her heart was in her throat, the beating pounding inside her ears and the shuttle got dark as Martin killed the back lights. There was only the green and red flashes from the ceiling above and Micah swore she was going to throw up.

"Don't you fucking chuck on me!" Morales spit out from next to her, but she didn't hear him.

All that she could focus on in that moment was her rapid breathing. There was the sound of the engines, she supposed, which were blaring and seemed to be accelerating as a hatch began to peek open from below. The movement shook the whole shuttle causing Micah to shake in her seat. Instinctively, her hands grabbed onto the handles, which already held the hands of Morales on her left and Bhatt on the other side. She did not hesitate to crush their hands into oblivion.

"Shit!"

The jerk exclaimed. Yet he did not pull his hand away was looking over and seeing how distraught the girl was. If this helped her to freak out less, so be it.

Then quickly the whole Ark shook as the shuttle dropped into space.

At the beginning of the chapter, I wanted to illustrate that Bellamy is a survivor as evident from before he got to earth. It's not just about his family, but he is ready to do what he has to do (i.e. lie his butt off) to protect himself despite his apparent friendship with Micah.

Also I've had writer's block like no one's business, but Micah's departure to Earth was overdue to I spruced something up. It's definitely too short and not good like I want it to be, but I felt bad leaving it how it was. We'll see about how soon her Earth debut will be up next chapter.