Chapter 7

A couple of hours later, Clarke got up, she heard Charlotte scream and couldn't go back to sleep after that. She sighed and left the dropship. She wandered over to Finn who was watching the sky.

"Clarke, what's up? Can't sleep?"

"No, once Charlotte screamed, I couldn't get back to sleep. What are you doing?" Finn shrugged his shoulders.

"It's a clear night and I was looking at the stars. I never knew what a beautiful and peaceful sight it could be." He returned his gaze to the night sky. Clarke sat beside him and looked up. Nothing was said for a few moments. It was a nice peaceful moment in the past hectic days.

Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo

"That is a nice sight," Callie said to Abby, watching through Finn's eyes.

"Yes, it is," Abby admitted. Callie turned to her best friend.

"What's going to happen once they figure out what we did to them?"

"I have no idea other than Clarke not forgiving me. She already hates me because of what I did to her father. It may have been indirectly, but I am the cause of her father's death. When they find out about the cameras and microphones, we'll see a change in them. Once they know they'll either play up or they'll ignore us. Most of them may even do things we don't want to see just because they know we are watching. I know I don't want to see Clarke with anyone, but I can't stop it."

"Do you really think Clarke would do that just to get back at you?" Callie asked, frowning.

"Not really. I think she'll do whatever she wants to do to try to embarrass me. All the Ark already knows it was I who had her imprisoned. There are secrets that can and probably will be spilled for the entire Ark to know. Maybe letting the rest of the Ark follow the kids was a mistake. If we had kept it to ourselves, the secrets would stay secret. All the secrets and reasons they were arrested will come out if they know we are listening. There will also be some lies told just to get people up here into trouble."

"This could get messy!" Callie said, seeing the scope of whatever those kids could say. "The parents of those kids could decide on a little payback on the guards who arrested their kids."

"I know. It's probably good that Shumway died. Can you imagine the rioting that could occur when they find out that he was behind a lot of stuff that happened to their kids? We never arrested him because we never had enough proof." Callie snorted.

"That's not a problem for most guards, Abby. They arrest kids on the flimsiest of charges and for some reason, Jaha believes them and not the kids."

"That's partly our fault, Callie. How many times have we said that children don't know what they are doing or saying and that they haven't enough life experience to understand the complexities of adult life?" Callie thought about it.

"Then we have to do better, Abby. We have to start listening to those kids and the ones still up here. Those ones on the ground have been pardoned, they just don't know it yet." Both turned back to the screens.

Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo

"Look! A shooting star!" Finn said, pointing it out. "You should make a wish." Clarke laughed.

"Why?" she asked.

"It's a thing people did a long time ago. I read about it," he said, shrugging.

"But it's just a rock burning up in the atmosphere. Why would that make your wish come true?" Clarke asked, baffled.

"Alright, romance killer," Finn said. They both looked back at the shooting star.

"Finn, that's not a shooting star!" Clarke said, urgently. Both of them got up but kept on watching it.

"Check it out!" one of the delinquents on the wall said.

"Bellamy! Get out here!" another one called. Several people came out of various tents.

"They're coming to help us. Now we can kick some grounder ass!" said Jones, one of Bellamy's boys.

"Please tell me they brought down some shampoo," Roma said while looking at it.

Oo-ooo-oo-ooo-ooo-oo

"What was that?" Abby asked one of the technicians.

"Tracking it now, Councillor," the man said. Abby grunted. Anything out of the ordinary and she was Councillor Griffin, for mundane matters she was Dr Griffin. The technician looked up and gulped.

"What?" asked Abby.

"That was an escape pod of some kind, Councillor. It came from the Ark!"

"Who was in it?"

"No idea. We'll have to wait and see who didn't report for work, unless it was a kid, but how did they get hold of one? All the ones we have left are useless. They've been cannibalised and nothing works on them anymore."

"Keep tracking it. Maybe the kids will go after it and we can figure out who stole it."

"Yes, ma'am," he said before turning back to his work.

Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo

"Bellamy! Me and Finn will go have a look," Clarke said.

"I'd rather you didn't," Bellamy said. "We have no idea who they are or how many of them there are."

"We'll be careful and we won't approach until we know it's safe. If we know the people are the bad guys from the Ark, we'll just leave them there." Bellamy was nodding.

"If it is those bad guys, maybe the grounders will do us a favour and kill them."

"Hell, Bellamy, all we need to do is leave it up to nature. Those on the Ark can learn the way we did, by figuring it out themselves!" Murphy said. Bellamy nodded.

"Fine, but stay back at first and only go ahead when you know you can. For one person, you can take them. If you see any weapons, leave them alone."

"Got it," Finn said as Clarke reluctantly nodded.

Finn and Clarke set off into the darkness with Finn leading the way.

Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo

"Be careful, baby," Abby whispered.

"She will," Callie whispered back. "Clarke will be cautious. She won't want to get caught again." Abby nodded but didn't take her eyes off the screens.

Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo

"There!" Finn whispered to Clarke. She looked and nodded. They waited for a few minutes as they watched the small pod. It was settled and steaming but there was no sign of movement, They moved closer.

"Can you see anything?" Clarke asked. Finn looked all around them.

"Nothing moving out here and nothing moving down there," he said.

"Let's get closer. See if we can see who's in the pod." Finn nodded and led the way. They quietly moved closer. They stopped every now and then to check for any signs of movement.

They made it to the pod and looked around.

"Alright, let's see who's in here," Finn said, moving to the door. He tried the handle but it was hard to get open. Clarke helped him wrestle the door handle open and then pulled the door to open it.

"Come on, wake up," Finn said to the helmeted figure.

"Let's get the helmet off, Finn," Clarke said. He nodded and undid the clasps that held it to the suit. It hissed as air escaped and then Finn gently pulled it off the person in the pod.

"Shit! Raven!?" Finn said, surprised to see his girlfriend.

"You know her?" Clarke asked. Finn blushed.

"Yeah, well…err… the thing is…" Finn didn't know what to say.

"He's my boyfriend," the woman in the pod said, her eyes only starting to open.

"Your boyfriend!" Clarke said, surprised and pissed at Finn.

"Please tell me you didn't sleep with him?" Raven asked.

"No, we haven't, but that hasn't stopped him from trying," Clarke told her.

"I know. I saw it." Both Clarke and Finn exchanged glances.

"What?"

"Those scars behind your ears, the Ark council decided that the radio wasn't enough to know what was going on. They implanted small cameras and microphones into you. Every single thing you've said and done has been monitored on the Ark - by everyone." Both prisoners were stunned.

Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo

There was complete silence in the command centre as Jaha, Kane, Abby, Callie and several others watched as their secret was revealed. Abby closed her eyes. Now it was known, she knew Clarke would be pissed at herand knew she would have somechoicewords to say - words everyone on the Ark could hear and gossip about.

ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo

"We have cameras and microphones tracking our every moment?" Clarke said in a very cold, quiet voice.

"Yes," Raven said. Clarke turned to Finn. She looked him in the eyes and then spoke.

"To the Ark council and those thugs who imprisoned kids who were innocent, fuck you!" Clarke raised her middle fingers towards Finn, but it was meant for the Arkers. "You've been illegally spying on us. I hope to hell you got more than you bargained for! Mom, I know it was you who turned in dad and myself. You can go float yourself! From this moment on, we are separate from you! You want to come down here and live? Start reading the survival books! Figure it out for yourself!"

"Clarke, calm down," Finn said.

"Why? Why should I? They've been spying on us, Finn. Where was our privacy? Where was our right to do things on our own, without adults watching? How would they like it if someone forced technology into their brains and then watched every little thing that did? Some of the kids have been having sex! Hope they enjoyed the show! And what about when we go to the toilet? Were they watching even then? I know some of the guards would have enjoyed that, seeing kids naked. Some of them would have gotten off on it!" Raven wasn't sure how to calm Clarke down. Finn put his hand on Clarke's arm.

"Clarke, listen to me! We can't do anything about it now. We can only wait until they come down and then get them to take them out of us."

"They can't," Raven said.

"What do you mean, they can't?" Finn said, turning to Raven.

"They put them in but they don't know how to take them out without doing some damage and they don't know the level of damage it could cause."

"Fucking fantastic!" Clarke said, sarcastically. She turned back to Finn.

"You'd better find a way of knocking them off, you callous bastards! When you come down, you'd better run because I can't guarantee your safety!"

"The entire Ark knows everything, Clarke. They saw when Octavia got bitten by the river snake and that Jasper saved her. They saw Jasper speared and your rescue of him and the way you nursed him back. They saw when Murphy and Bellamy were going to kill him just to shut him up and they were watching when the acid fog was released. They saw moments of life and death struggles and they saw moments of heroism. For most of the Ark, you are a hero for saving Jasper's life. I know his parents love you for it. They all saw an Alpha Princess looking out for all of them," Raven explained.

"What?" Clarke said, calming down.

"They think you're a hero, Clarke. They watched as you risked your life getting that red seaweed for him. For putting yourself in the way of Bellamy, and Octavia and Monty did the same when Murphy wanted to kill him."

"See Clarke, not everything is bad," Finn said. Clarke looked at him.

"No, it's not, but your behaviour didn't change, did it?" Finn blushed again and then he looked away.

"I'm sorry, Raven, but had I known about you, I wouldn't have encouraged him, or at least, I'd have rebuffed him when he flirted. I swear to you that we've never had sex nor even kissed."

"I know, I was watching as well. Finn does have to answer to me for flirting, but you don't. You get a free pass, just don't flirt back at him!"

"I won't. The sisterhood is safe."

"What sisterhood?" Finn asked.

"The one that says you don't go after someone else's guy - or girl." Raven smirked at Clarke and she smirked back.

"You two are weird," Finn said.

"We need to radio the Ark," Raven said.

"What for? They already know you're down and safe and they've been watching us the entire time. What could you possibly have to say to them that you haven't said yet?" Raven's eyes widened as she realised her own actions were now known. She turned ro Finn.

"Sorry, Ark, but I needed to come down to be with Finn."

"Finished?" Clarke asked. Raven nodded. "Anything you brought down with you?"

"Not much, A few tools for electronics and stuff."

"Nothing else?"

"Nope."

"Then let's get you back to the camp," Clarke said. Raven nodded and got out of the ship. She stumbled as she stood upright. Finn caught her.

"Easy, there, Raven. Get your bearings first."

"I'm good," she said a few minutes later. Clarke closed the pod door.

"Let's go then. The sooner we're back at camp, the better."

"The radio! We need to take it back with us. It's the only way we have of hearing from them." Clarke huffed but allowed it. Once Raven had taken the radio out, she followed the other two back towards the camp. She stopped when it bagan to rain. She looked up, her eyes closing every now and then when raindrops landed near them.

"Is this rain?" she asked, one hand out to catch the falling water. Clarke and Finn turned around and grinned at Raven's wonder.

"Yes," Clarke said.

"We'd better go before we get absolutely soaked, Raven. Rain is very wet and soggy on our clothing!" Finn said, grinning. Raven followed them agan.

Xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx

Miller was on sentry duty when they returned.

"Clarke's back!" he shouted down to those near the gate. Bellamy and Jones came out and waited for them to enter.

"So, what's happening?" Bellamy said.

"Bellamy Blake?" Raven said. Bellamy nodded.

"Shumway's dead. You didn't kill him though, he'd been found and Abby had to operate. He had used up his allotment of medicine but Jaha wouldn't allow anymore to be given and he died later that night."

"About fucking time!" Murphy said. "He was the worst of the guards. He broke the law so many times and wasn't even reprimanded for it!"

"What does that mean for me?" he asked, fearful that they'd come after him once they came down.

"You are pardoned. Every crime committed on the Ark is now pardoned! Jaha promised that the Exodus Charter would be enforced on the ground. As your crimes happened on the Ark, you get a clean sheet, a do over. You are no longer criminals!" Raven told them. Yells and cheers sounded from the delinquents.

"Can't wait for mom to come down!" Monty said. "I want to show her what we've built!"

"She already knows!" Clarke said. She stood up on a log so everyone could see her.

"For those of you who haven't discovered it yet, check behind your right ear for the scar." Everyone checked their ears.

"What the fuck?!" Jones said.

"Yeah, Raven told us that the Ark council has implanted cameras and microphones into us. Those scars are where they placed them. Every single thing you've done and said has been watched by the people on the Ark. All of them have access to every kid. Everyone watches someone when they are off duty."

"Not just off duty, either!" Raven called out. "Even during work time the monitors are on. Work in Farm station ground to a halt when Jasper was speared and they watched the rescue of him. Everything has been watched. Think about what you've done and said. It was all watched up there. They are still watching you even now. They will not stop. Your actions and words will be known to all."

"Wait!" Clarke said, turning quickly to Raven. "The Exodus Charter says we are pardoned for our crimes, right?"

"Yes," Raven said.

"Then they are in violation of our privacy laws by listening and watching us. We have a right to privacy. Even down here, we have private areas. Our tents are ours and no-one has the right to just go into someone else's."

"So?" Bellamy said. Clarke turned to Monty, the nearest prisoner.

"Monty, this is not a message for you nor your parents, more of a line to the entire Ark."

"Okay?" Monty said slowly, not knowing what was going on.

"Ark Station, as newly freed prisoners, our right to privacy stands. You must turn off the cameras and microphones in our heads. If you do not, you are in violation of your own laws. We have a right to privacy. We do not want you to watch or hear us as we have sex or go to the toilet. Even on the Ark, those actions are considered no-one else's business. Turn them off and leave us alone."

"How do we know if they have?" Octavia asked.

"We don't. We have to figure out a way to stop them. When you go to the bathroom, close your eyes while doing your business. We need to check bunkers for either ear defenders or headphones. If we can play music through the headphones then they cannot listen in on what we are doing."

"I'll take a team and hunt for old world places. There should be a town near here, right?"

"Probably," Bellamy said.

"Then that's what we'll do. I want watchers and sentries ready for when people need the slit trenches. I want people to stop looking when they are there. I know that's harder said than done, but it is the only way we can have at least a semblance of privacy," Clarke said.

"Alright! Everyone back to work or whatever you were doing!" Bellamy yelled out to them all. They scattered.

Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo

There is huge potential for things to go wrong," Callie said.

"How so?" Jaha asked.

"Now that they know, how many of them will be telling lies to get people into trouble? How many of them will tell the entire Ark the truth of their own imprisonment? We know some of those kids were arrested on false charges and we know you still imprisoned them without any proof they did it. You took the word of a guard over the person arrested. That is against the rules of the Ark, Chancellor. Our own law was based on the old American one of innocence until PROVEN guilty. Your guards no longer investigate if they did it and often they make things up. How many people have to die, Chancellor? Clarke was right. We will be going down and we need everyone we have to make it on the ground. We've watched the kids struggle to feed themselves and get water. Will you still kill people because you're scared you won't have enough to eat?" Callie asked.

There was silence in the command centre as everyone held their breath, waiting for the Chancellor to order her arrest for treason, for speaking out against him.

"You walk a fine line, Officer Cartwig," Jaha said to her.

"We have to, Chancellor, you seem to think you have a right to do anything you want, but you don't. Now those kids have proven the ground is safe enough to live there, how long before the Ark fights back? Do you really think people are going to put up with arbitrary arrests anymore? Have you not heard the rumbings around the Ark about how your guards seem more callous and arrest happy? If you don't order them to stand down, there will be a civil war up here - and soon!" Callie walked away and left the command centre.

"She's right," Abby said. "You have to be more careful, Thelonious. Your reign will only last as long as they let you." Jaha looked at her and then around the room, seeing them agreeing with Callie. He gave a choppy nod before leaving himself. He had some thinking to do.

ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo

"Clarke? You still got that map?" Octavia asked.

"Yeah, why?" Clarke replied.

"Are there any towns marked on it?"

"Let me look," Clarke said, going into the dropship to retrieve the map. She took it back outside so Octavia could look at it as well.

"This is topographical. Only the way the land lays is on this along with the county lines. Mom marked one place way down here," Clarke said, pointing to a small star at the bottom of the map.

"A town?"

"Probably. I don't think mom would have put something on there we couldn't use."

"Then it could be the only big town around here," Octavia said. "How far is it?"

"Around 10 to 12 miles, I'd guess."

"So a day to get there, another to look around for things we can use and a day to come back. Three days," Octavia said. Clarke nodded.

"Take either Monty or Raven with you. Find those headphones, especially those noise cancelling ones. See if you can find any of those ones that played music. Maybe raid houses for them if you can't find any in the stores. Those ones may not have music on them. I think once they were bought, the customer had to pay for and download their favourite music themselves." Octavia nodded.

"Look for blindfolds as well. Music players that can be solar powered. Monty or Raven can look for solar panels that can be used to charge them up again. If we can, then maybe we leave one in each trench area and anyone who goes, plays music loudly. Until we get confirmation that they have turned them off, it's what we have to do. I don't like the thought that every person on the Ark has seen my own private bits just because I needed the trenches and those nosey bastards up there like to perv on us!"

"Alright. I'll also look for things we can use like knives, spears, pots and pans, cutlery, plates, clothes, packs, and anything else I can think of."

"Try torches or headlights. Tools like picks and shovels as well as small tools. Medical supplies, water containers and probably some kind of pull along trailer to carry it all!" Octavia nodded. Clarke pointed to the contour lines on the map.

"According to this, the town is down the mountain from us. Going there will be fine but dragging large wheeled trailers will be hard work. Take a bigger team than you think. You're in charge but I think I'll send Del and Deek with you with at least ten people. That should give you enough people to properly search the town for stuff. Check to see if we could live there. It may be better to move there than try to bring everything here." Octavia nodded again.

"I'd better clear this with Bellamy too. I hope he lets me go," Octavia said, a bit pensively.

"Tell him I've already given you permission and a large team. You're in charge and Del and Deek are your seconds." Octavia gave a firm nod. This was her time to get a bit of independence from her brother.

"Got it!" she said with assurity, before marching off to find Bellamy. Clarke smiled after her. Octavia was shaping up to be a good team player and leader. She looked around to see what else needed doing. She saw Monty talking to himself and then realised he was giving a running commentary to his parents! She looked around and saw a few others do the same. She should have thought about that. She wondered what those without family on the Ark were doing.

"Mom, it's time to let me go. I'm nearly 18. It's time to stop seeing kids and start seeing people who are surviving in an environment we were not prepared for. Jaha, don't float people just to save on resources. We know it's what you do, but you'll all be coming down.. Lock up the adults who commit a crime. Actual murder and sexual assaults, those you can float. We don't need those kinds of people down here. We need to work hard to survive, not keep looking over our shoulders. We've proven the ground is safe to live on, now it's our time to live. We are no longer your people, Jaha. We stopped being your people as soon as we were convicted of our crimes and definately when you sent us down here, not knowing if we would live or die." She stopped and looked around.

"Charlotte needs psychiatric help all because you didn't bother to make sure she didn't see her parents floated. What kind of monster are you? You've been watching us and now you know what she's like. Every single night she has nightmares. Every single night she has to relive the horror you perpetrated on her. Now she's locked up because she couldn't kill you. Wells has a sliced up arm because of the way she thinks - and Bellamy telling her to slay her demons.

"Wise up Ark Council! When you come down you will not be in charge. The ground won't let you all live in the same place. There's not enough animals to feed you every single day, nor food plants either. You'd strip the place bare within a week! Start planning on several towns with no more than about three or four hundred. Plan where you need to be to live. A town isn't it. Think about what you actually need on the ground. You cannot live by Ark laws, nor go to a mess hall for your food. You want to eat? Go out there and hunt for your food, otherwise you'll starve. This life is hard, Ark Council, don't pretend you can still live like you do right now. You'll lose people that way. Why would they stay if you start hoarding things for yourselves? This is your only warning!" Clarke stopped talking and walked away. She went up to the lookout point she'd first gone to on that first day.

She was there for a few minutes before Miller was there beside her.

"It's dangerous to go off on your own, Clarke," he said.

"I know but right now, I really couldn't care less. I've just had a one sided conversation with my mom, Jaha and the Ark council. Why did they do it, Miller? Other than to watch us, why?"

"I don't know, Clarke. I wish I did. I know dad wouldn't have gone along with it."

"Mom did. She had to be the one to implant them in us. Jackson doesn't have the experience."

"And your mom does?"

"Mom wrote a thesis on the human brain for her medical exams. If there's one person on the Ark who knows which parts of the brain does what, it's my mom."

"They're probably still watching and listening, aren't they?"

"Probably. Can you really see anyone who had a kid down here, not watching? It's the only way to keep tabs on their kids because of Bellamy's stupid rule of taking the bracelets off to eat." Miller blushed.

"Sorry, but I thought it was a good idea. I know my dad wouldn't like it, but to be truely free, we needed to be free from any Ark influence."

"We were, Miller. Those bracelets only allowed them to monitor our biosigns, nothing else. Certainly not be able to communicate with us."

"So why was Monty trying to get one to work like that?"

"Because it gave them hope, Nathan," Clarke said with a sigh. "Sometimes it's better to let them work on something you know won't work to keep morale up." MIller stopped to think about it.

"I never even thought of that. Good job I'm not a leader."

"But you are, Nathan. You are in charge of the sentries. That makes you one of the leaders."

"I don't make the decisions, though."

"Maybe not for the entire camp, but you do for the sentries. You decide where they stand their watches. You decide how many are on each shift, how many shifts and who is on each shift. You're a leader, Miller whether you like it or not. Bellamy trusts you to do your job and so do I. With you taking charge of them, we don't need to worry about it."

Ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo-ooo

"She's not wrong," Kane said. "Miller's shaping up to be a good team leader."

"I know, but she's also right about us invading their privacy. When we implanted those cameras and mikes, I never thought about the privacy aspect, only as a way to keep tabs on my daughter," Abby said, rubbing her face. It was a dilemma both of them were having. Kane because it was the only way to monitor the ground. It wasn't that he didn't trust the kids, more that he wanted to see for himself what was happening on the ground. For Abby, it was so she saw her daughter every day, but at the same time, she knew she didn't want anyone seeing her when she used the trenches. If they turned them off, they had no way of monitoring them but if they didn't they would be in violation of their own laws - and she would lose that connection to her daughter, one who hated her right now.

"Come on, it's almost time for the Council meeting," Kane said, ushering her away from the monitor and towards the council chambers.

xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx-xxx

"So what do we do about the monitoring?" asked Councilwoman Muir.

"Nothing," Jaha said. "After hearing Clarke say they were no longer part of us, we are not in violation of Ark laws. All we are doing is monitoring another group on the ground. Ark laws do not apply to them so we keep the cameras going."

"And the privacy aspect, sir?" Kane asked. Jaha shrugged.

"Most people would look away at that point."

"But some don't Chancellor," Kane said. "I've overheard several guards discussing the physical naked attributes of several of the girls down there. Remember, all of them are currently underage and therefore we are invading the privacy of children."

"There's nothing I can do about that, Kane, unless someone comes forward and names those involved AND can provide proof."

"You never needed proof to lock my daughter up!" Abby said. "In fact, my daughter never committed a crime. You just locked her up because you panicked. My husband was floated and my daughter locked up. No evidence she did anything, just your paranoia!"

"Jake was about to go public with the information!" Jaha said, half-rising from his seat.

"Did you ask him to keep it quiet or did you do your usual knee-jerk reaction and float him - just in case?!"

"He said the public had a right to know. I couldn't afford that kind of panic."

"And my daughter?"

"She knew."

"So did I but you didn't float me."

"You're our chief medical officer, we couldn't afford to lose you."

"But your chief of engineering and your best friend was expendable along with your son's best friend?" Abby asked, incredulously. Jaha shook his head, more because Abby didn't understand what he was trying to do than denying what she said.

"The Ark is dying, Abby. We have to save resources."

"And those kids have proved that the ground is safe enough for us to live there. Stop killing people because you're scared and start planning on how to get everyone to the ground!" Abby said, fiercely. Everyone else was quiet. Kane had a quiet respect for Abby as she put into words what everyone else was thinking. Jaha was panicking. Even though he knew his son was alive, he was acting as though they had to stay in space. Maybe he was scared to go to the ground, who knew? Kane hoped that things happened sooner rather than later because Jaha would find excuses to kill more people.

"Where are we on our plans for the ground?" asked Councillor Cole.

"We don't have enough exodus ships," Jaha said. "We have 7 and they can hold a hundred at most."

"That's less than half!" Councillor Kaplan said, getting to his feet.

"More like 35%!" Councillor Fuji said.

"We need to figure out how to either make more or how to turn one of the stations into a dropship," Abby said.

"A station?" Councillor Muir asked, shocked at the thought. Abby nodded.

"If we make sure that…say Mecha station was chosen. We'd need to make sure it was fit for purpose. We'd need to check the navigation system, life support, engines and thrusters and things I can't remember from Jake's talks."

"Mecha?" asked Kane.

"I was just throwing a name out there, Kane. Pick a station." He nodded.

"Could we all fit into one station?"

"I don't think so, but we could cram everyone into two of them. We just need to rip out everything we don't need."

"Is that necessary?" asked Cole.

"If we want to take everyone down, yes," replied Abby. "Do you want to volunteer to stay behind?" she asked him. He shook his head. "I doubt anyone wants to be left behind, so we have to find a way to take two stations."

"Why not all of them?"

"Because we have limited time. We can check two stations and make the necessary alterations and repairs and make sure all systems are up to scratch and can get us to the ground safely."

"So which stations do you recommend?" asked Kaplan.

"Mecha and Alpha. Alpha because it is the place we live and where the med bay is and Mecha so we can make anything we need like spades, gardening tools, hammers, fencing and anything else we need."

"Then I agree," Jaha said, speaking for the first time since Abby attacked him verbally.

"All in favour of getting Mecha and Alpha ready for the drop?" Kane asked. All hands including his own went up.

"It is unanimous. I will inform Jacapo Sinclair of the need and then we'll check on how long it will take and how much we can take with us."

"And when we can go down," Kane said. Jaha nodded.

"Meeting adjourned."

xxx-ooo-xxx-ooo-xxx

That's your lot for now. I haven't even started chapter 8 yet. I'm debating whether to follow canon or not. Obviously anything on the Ark is no longer canon, but do events still play out on the ground as they did in the show? I want Octavia to wander off and get captured by Lincoln, Raven to restore the radio and get help from the Ark looking for her, but do Roma, Diggs and Mbege need to die to find her? Still thinking about it. Until next time, stay safe. Samdagger.