Smoke filled the air as she rose to her feet, coughing. What had happened? It felt as though the very ground under her feet had trembled. And then she saw it, in the distance. A small package, wrapped with tape, falling from the sky. The colors drew her, and she walked, unthinking, towards it. He hit her from the side, her vision recognizing only a blur before the impact. Before she could decide what had happened, to open her mouth to say something, the package before her vanished into a flame and a puff of smoke, followed by a ground-shaking explosion. Shocked, dazed by the commotion, she looked toward him. He grabbed her arm and led her, running, through the field, the stables, past the House which was now in flames. They ran until she could run no more, and she collapsed on the ground in the woods.
For the first time, her mind began to work again. She looked towards her rescuer. Who was this man? Someone from the plant? Certainly, not from the House.
"Who...who are you?" she finally gasped.
"Just another worker seeking sanctuary, like yourself," he responded.
"I don’t understand," she said. "Why are we here? What is going on? Where are the guards?"
For indeed, although the House and plant had guards aplenty, there were none to be seen.
"The planet has been attacked from space--the guards are busy rescuing the Others. If we can make it out before they destroy the planet, we will be free."
Free! The idea blazed through her mind, igniting a buried flame. She had all but lost hope, had almost forgotten the very word of freedom, sung to her so long ago by her mother. At least, before the Others decided that there would be no mothers. They were all just workers, nothing more, nothing less. But for the moment, the dream of freedom was still only that, a dream. She looked at him suddenly, fiercely.
"So how do we get off this planet?"