(G1) Chapter 1

She was told the house was small, but this was smaller than she expected. It was decorated, if you could call the placing of very basic furniture decorating, in the gray and turquoise that colored everything in Lunar Lakes. It had all the basic connivances needed in a house, a functional kitchen, a small living room, a bathroom and bedroom with bunk beds. She wondered who her roommate would be.

Graduation had only been hours ago, but she had her few meager belongings packed and ready to go. She wasn’t staying in the orphanage one minute longer than needed. The second her diploma was in hand she was asking the director for the address of the house assigned to her.

And here she was, for the first time alone. Being crowded in with twenty other girls was something she was not going to miss. She stood in the middle of the small house examining everything. She had no idea what she was going to do with her life. That was the problem with growing up in the orphanage; you weren’t given anything other than a basic education. Those who had family had the advantage of learning from their parents or friends of the family how to be a doctor or scientist. Musical or artistic skills were refined. Those from the orphanage weren’t so lucky. They had to forge their own way with no guidance. Many ended up working in the mines. It wasn’t a bad way to live, but it wasn’t something she didn’t think she was cut out for.

Behind her the door opened. “I think I have the wrong house.”  The voice was that of a young man, and not one she recognized. “Is this One Twelve Babylon Boulevard?

She turned around to find a dark haired young man, with a single bag in hand standing inside the door. “Yes it is. Why?”

He dropped his bag. “One of us is in the wrong house.”

She refused to let the panic she was feeling take over. “You mean someone screwed up. How hard is it to get this housing thing fixed?”

The way things were set up, when moving out into one of the Orphan Houses, as they were known, you were supposed to be paired with someone of the same gender, much how it was at the orphanage; boys with boys and girls with girls. The utmost care was taken to ensure gender segregation to prevent complications.

“I have heard stories and no one is ever in any hurry to fix these things. We checked out, therefore they are no longer responsible for us.”

As far as she was concerned this was a serious problem. “Someone has to fix this! I can’t live with you!” The goal of the orphanage was to provide food, shelter and education. That is where their responsibility ended. Like every government agency before them in the history of humanity they did the absolute minimum. None of the charges were really prepared to live on their own.

He was amused by her distress and smiled. “I don’t think you would make a horrible roommate.” He really shouldn’t be flirting with her and he knew it. The more frustrated she became the more amusement it brought him. “I don’t think it would so bad.”

She knew absolutely nothing about the opposite sex, other than what she picked up in the last ten minutes, and that was that they were difficult. “You can’t be serious! I can list at least five reasons why this isn’t going to work! Who do we have to contact?”

He shook his head. “Let’s start over. Name I Kaidan. It’s nice to meet you…I think…and it looks like I am going to be your roommate.” She said nothing. “Are you going to at least give me your name?”

“Lola.”

“Here’s the deal, Lola. I signed enlistment papers yesterday for the military. I report in tomorrow. I will be gone the better part of every day. We rarely have to see each other. If it makes you feel better you can have the bedroom and I will sleep on the couch. We can make this work for now.”

She stared at him as she thought it over. He was nice to look at. “What if this doesn’t work?”

“I dunno.” He shrugged. “I’ll think of something.”

He seemed awfully sure of himself. “You don’t have to sleep on the couch. There are bunk beds. Just knock before entering the bathroom.”