Chapter Text
Standing in the middle of the bedroom, Clarke Griffin surveyed her belongings. She hadn’t seen her room in over a year. It felt strange to be there, standing amongst the bright colors of childhood paintings tacked up on the walls, after having spent so much time in a dull prison cell. She walked over to her repurposed metal dresser where a small collection of personal items sat waiting for her in a line. She saw her father’s watch, still too a bit too big for her own wrist; she slipped it on anyway. There was a framed digital photo of her with her parents. They all looked so happy back then. So carefree, so unburdened. Next to the photo was a small porcelain figurine in the shape of a pig that had been brought into space by the Griffin family’s Earth ancestor. She loved the history of it, but the creepiness of those black eyes following you wherever you went was a little too unsettling.
Just as Clarke began to reach out and brush off the dust from her Exceptional Earth Skills award ribbon, the bedroom door slid open and in walked her mother. They’d been apart for a whole two minutes since Clarke had been released from lockup, but that was apparently too long for Abigail Griffin to handle.
“Everything is exactly the way you left it.” Abby said with a smile, as if not invading her daughter’s personal space and moving things around was a feat to be proud of.
Clarke wanted to scream. She wanted to pound her fists against the dresser, to yell as loud as she could, to let her mother know just how agonizing spending an entire year in lockup with unresolved grief had been. But she didn’t. Clarke had never been the type of person to reveal her own pain, and she wasn’t about to start now. Besides, today was about new beginnings, not the past.
Settling, Clarke nodded and said, “Thanks.”
Abby took a step forward and placed her hands on Clarke’s shoulders. She looked at her daughter with tears of joy building in her eyes. “I can’t tell you how happy I am to have you back home.”
“I’m happy to be back.” Clarke avoided the word ‘home’ on purpose. This place she’d grown up in, this bedroom where her father had taught her how to read and where her grandparents had given Clarke her first set of paintbrushes and where her mother had sung her to sleep after every childish nightmare, was no home to her. Not anymore. It was a tomb for a different life, for a different person.
Abby gave Clarke’s shoulders a comforting squeeze. “Happy birthday, Clarke.”
“Thanks.” Clarke shrugged out of her mother’s grip as casually as she could. She didn’t want to hurt her mother’s feelings, but the adjustment period between lockup and normal life had only just begun. After spending so many lonely nights wishing she had someone there to hold her or even just someone to confide in, and subsequently bottling up those feelings and shoving them down to the very depths of her consciousness, Clarke wasn’t ready for physical comfort just yet and she certainly wasn’t ready to talk through her feelings.
“Go.” Abby gestured to the open doorway, still smiling. “I know you must be eager to see your friends.”
With a simple nod in agreement and a forced smile, Clarke left the room.
--
“Did you start a prison gang?” Raven asked before sharing a humorous grin with Finn.
Clarke sat across from the pair of best friends at the table, hardly paying any attention to them at all. Her interest was across the cafeteria, focused on a group of unfamiliar faces. They were all dressed in worn-out clothes, the kind of patched up fabric that had been passed down and recycled through the generations. Most of them had black tattoos on their faces and arms, a type of body modification the Arkers had only ever seen in old media from the Earth. The strangers were muscular too, far more so than the average Ark citizen was. They were captivating to watch, all huddled together at one table whispering words to each other.
“Hello?” Raven waved her hand in front of Clarke’s face. “Earth to Clarke?”
“If only.” Clarke muttered. Before either Raven or Finn could make a comment, a fourth seat at the table became occupied.
“Hey.” Wells greeted Clarke cautiously.
Clarke ignored Wells, instead turning her full attention to Raven and Finn. “So what’s up with the new people?”
Surprised, Finn asked, “They didn’t tell you about Trikru while you were in lockup?”
“They did.” Clarke clarified. “But only as a safety precaution. I meant, what are they like? What do we know about them?”
Raven glanced over her shoulder at the Trikru group across the cafeteria. Turning back, she leaned into her elbows on the table and lowered her voice. “Honestly, they’re incredible. There are about three hundred of them in total, which doesn’t sound like a lot to us, but the Trikru Research Outpost was only designed to sustain fifty people at max. They must have some serious technological advances going on over there to get their population up so high. And get this, their leader is our age.” Raven’s face lit up. “And she’s smoking hot. We saw her when they first connected the bridge between their station and The Ark.”
Clarke was utterly fascinated, though no doubt everyone was. For nearly a century, the Arkers had believed that they were the last of humanity, and now they knew that lonely assumption to be untrue. Clarke had a million questions she wanted to ask, and it took some effort to only dish them out one at a time.
“So they have their own political system?” She asked.
Wells jumped in. “Yes and no. They’re not democratic like we are, so they don’t elect their leaders. I’m guessing it’s more of a monarchy system with the first born child of the previous leader being heir to the title. I mean, realistically, why else would they let someone so young be in charge of everything?”
“How do you know they didn’t elect their leader?” Clarke asked, still refusing to even so much as glance in Wells’s direction.
Growing almost bashful, Raven answered, “Your mom. She’s been keeping me updated on everything.”
Oblivious to Finn’s knowing smirk, Clarke asked Raven, “Since when are you friends with my mom?”
“Oh no.” Wells grumbled as something across the cafeteria caught his eye. The others quickly tried to follow his line of sight.
“Here we go again.” Finn sighed as a guard entered through the café doors. A tense silence fell upon the room as the rest of those dining noticed as well.
“Who is that? What’s going on?” Clarke asked in a whisper.
Raven leaned in even closer to whisper back, “You don’t remember Bellamy Blake?”
“That’s Bellamy Blake?” Clarke stared at the guard in awe. The last time she had seen Bellamy was years ago, when he was nothing but a lanky teenaged janitor who’d just been transferred to the night shift in Farm Station. The two hadn’t been friends, or even acquaintances, but she’d known of him just as everyone on The Ark knew of everyone else.
Raven nodded. “Yeah, and he’s not a real big fan of the Trikru people. The first day they were here, he got into a fistfight with one of them because they wouldn’t recognize his authority.”
Clarke watched Bellamy closely as he glared at the group of outsiders. Despite knowing nothing about these strangers, Clarke was overwhelmed with the desire to protect them from him.
She turned back to Raven and Finn, still ignoring Wells. “Does he even have any authority over them?”
“It’s complicated.” Finn replied. “Their Commander lady and The Council have been stuck in negotiations for the whole week that they’ve been here.”
Raven added, “I’m surprised Abby didn’t tell you about all of this.”
Clarke, whose real interest was over in the developing Trikru/Bellamy tension, was too distracted to catch that Raven was on a first name basis with her mother. “What’s the hold up? Why all the negotiations?”
Again, Wells forced his way into the conversation. “It’s your classic case of both sides thinking that they are the one who should be in control. The Council was under the impression that Trikru agreeing to join The Ark meant that they would want to assimilate into our society, but Trikru never planned to surrender their political power to us. They want to operate independently from The Ark, sharing resources when necessary. They’re all for mingling socially, but whenever they come into Ark territory they refuse to abide by our laws and they ignore our guards. A lot of Arkers want to flat out ban them from coming into our stations at all. The thing is, we can’t afford to offend or upset their leader. Trikru doesn’t need us to survive, but eventually we’ll need them.”
Clarke mulled it over for a moment while she watched Bellamy saunter up to the Trikru table. “What happens if they decide they don’t want to follow our rules?”
Finn used his thumb to gesture across the café to where Bellamy had begun loudly telling the people from Trikru to leave. With a joking grin, Finn said, “World War Four: Space Edition. Sounds catchy, right?”
“That’s not funny.” Wells and Clarke answered in accidental unison.
Desperate for a distraction from everything that Wells reminded her of, Clarke jumped out of her seat and, ignoring the growing protests from her friends, marched across the cafeteria. Bellamy Blake was standing with one hand on his electric baton, ready to give out shock lashes at a moment’s notice. Opposite him stood a large tattooed man with his hands balled into fists.
“Go back to where you came from!” Bellamy ordered.
“Why don’t you make me.” The man suggested angrily.
Without giving her course of action much thought, Clarke stepped between the two men and pushed them apart. “Hey! Enough with the fighting.”
A hint of recognition crossed Bellamy’s face, but he was otherwise unfazed by Clarke’s interruption. “This doesn’t concern you.”
“Yes, it does.” Clarke argued. She only had half the story, if that, but even Clarke knew that policing a group of people who had spent the past ninety-seven years floating through space with zero contact to the world they’d left behind was wrong. “We needs friends, not enemies. Or did you forget that we’re all that’s left of humanity in the entire universe? How are we supposed to learn from each other and grow as a species if you two go and start a war?”
A woman from the Trikru table stood and the man stepped back immediately, his fists releasing with ease. The woman looked directly at Clarke as she spoke. “What is your name?”
Growing uneasy under the attention, she answered, “Clarke.”
“Clarke, I am Anya.” The woman replied. Though her tone was on the amicable side, her demeanor was anything but friendly. “I believe the Commander would like to see you.”
--
Clarke had managed to follow Anya and her group of fellow Trikru members all the way to the bridge before The Council tried to intervene. They were all there, Abby included, waiting for everyone to arrive. The group from Trikru passed through the bridge with little concern, but Clarke, Raven, Finn, and Wells remained behind to hear what the Councilmembers had to say.
“Clarke…” Abby’s expression was filled with too many mixed emotions to read. “What are you doing? You’ve only been out of lockup for forty minutes and already you’ve gotten yourself mixed up in this?”
Raven sidestepped closer to Abby as she said, “Hey, if anyone can talk some sense into these people, it’s Clarke.”
“I agree.” Wells added unexpectedly. Clarke knew he was only trying to get back on her good side, but it was going to take a lot more than a brief show of support for her to ever view him with half as much respect as she used to.
With his arms folded across his chest, Chancellor Jaha looked from his son Wells, to Clarke. “Perhaps it’s time we approached this situation from a new angle.”
Councilmembers Marcus Kane and Diana Sydney were baffled.
Kane stepped forward. “Chancellor, we cannot send an unarmed citizen into foreign territory, especially one who has only just regained her rights.”
“I agree.” Diana did not bother to hide her disgust. “Clarke cannot negotiate on behalf of The Ark.”
Clarke shook her head. Even a year away from all of these people and their petty power struggles still wasn’t long enough. “I’m not going to negotiate anything. I’m going to talk to them. To learn about them. It doesn’t hurt anyone to sit down and have a conversation.”
Clarke could tell from the looks on their faces that not a single member of The Council had even considered befriending the Trikru people before making a finalized agreement on supplies and political boundaries. It sickened her that not one of them seemed to genuinely care about these strangers even half as much as they cared about their resources.
Turning her to her mother, Clarke said, “I’ll be back later.”
“Clarke…” Abby reached out her hand but let it fall. She knew better than any of them that Clarke’s stubbornness was not an easy thing to challenge. “Stay safe.”
--
Alone at last, Clarke walked down a long rectangular room decked from floor to ceiling with plant life. The agricultural setup was incredible. Miniature potted trees scraped against the ceiling, the walls were lined with containers full of exotic ripening fruit, and leafy vines covered every inch of space that wasn’t being used as either a walkway or a space for tools. Clarke’s boots crunched against the fallen leaves and soil that littered the walkways. The air was thick and humid, like walking through a hot shower.
The door at the end of the rectangular room slid open with a long, grinding whine. A girl walked in, accompanied by two guards who remained near the doorway as she advanced. If the protection hadn’t given her away, then the Commander’s striking beauty would have. Her clothes, though aesthetically similar to her people’s, were clearly custom made. She was small in frame, and certainly small compared to her bodyguards, but her true strength was evident in the way she walked; powerful and confident. As the Commander finally reached her destination, Clarke noticed the way the color of her eyes matched the deep greens of plants around them.
“Clarke.” The Commander greeted with neither smile nor handshake. Instead, she tucked her arms behind her back and stood with her back uncomfortably straight.
“Commander.” Clarke tried to match her lack of emotion.
She sent a cautious glance over her shoulder at the guards across the room. Quietly, she offered, “My name is Lexa.”
“Lexa.” Clarke repeated with a nod, understanding that the use of her name was probably best kept between them.
“Anya told me about the incident in your dining hall.” Lexa’s voice returned to a normal volume. “Thank you for deescalating the situation.”
Clarke brushed it off. “It was the right thing to do.”
Lexa observed Clarke’s every movement, but whether she did this with interest or with worry was hard for Clarke to guess.
“Your people mistrust us.” Her head tilted to the side ever so slightly. “Yet you do not share their wariness. Why?”
Clarke drew in a deep breath, deciding that it would be best to just get the truth all out in the open right from the start. “I’ve spent the last year of my life imprisoned. I wasn’t even released until today.”
“Imprisoned?” The surprise was clear in her tone. “For what crime?”
“Treason.” Clarke began to worry that airing her dirty laundry at the start of the conversation might not have been the best plan after all. “I broke the law, for the good of my people, but my leaders didn’t see it that way.”
Understanding dawned on Lexa. “You mistrust your own leaders.”
“Well…not all of them.” Clarke tried to backpedal the best that she could. “And I wouldn’t say that I don’t trust them, exactly. I just don’t agree with them on most things.”
“I see why Anya brought you to me.” Lexa admitted. Her hand reached out and gently caressed the leaves of a vine that was dangling from a piece of metal framework. “Ever since the bridge was secured, your people have sent only the most loyal to speak of negotiations and compromises. Your perspective on this matter is of much greater value to me. Tell me, Clarke, what do your people want most from us?”
“Your resources.” Clarke answered truthfully.
“And what lengths would they go to obtain our resources?” Lexa’s eyes never left Clarke as she waited for an answer.
“I don’t know.” Clarke lied. Finn had been right to say that The Council would go to war if they had to. They had been searching for ways to extend The Ark’s numbered days since the very first Unity Day, and out of the deep space had come this shining beacon of hope for all Arkers. There was no doubt in Clarke’s mind that The Council would stop at nothing to take everything Trikru had to offer.
But she couldn’t tell Lexa the truth. The people of The Ark would surely die without Trikru’s help.
Lexa walked over to the end of the room with Clarke trailing close behind. She pried a few vines away from the circular window and peered out at the view.
“My people have not known hunger since the dark days. They sleep peacefully, no longer afraid that their last breath will be drawn alone in the night. For generations, we have lived with the hope that we would one day see the world of green and blue that our ancestors spoke of.” Lexa moved more of the vines so that Clarke could have a proper view beside her. “Returning to Earth has always been the priority for us. In the beginning, they had hope that it was our own communications which had failed, but as the years went on, they accepted that some degree of devastation must have occurred. A nuclear war was certainly one of the more popular theories…but a part of me always hoped it wouldn’t be true.” A softness touched her features, and suddenly Clarke found herself having trouble looking away. “I once had a dream that I was on Earth running through a field of flowers with people who shared my lineage. My Earth ancestor left behind two brothers when she joined the Trikru Research Outpost. Both brothers had children. My ancestor was able to speak to them before communications went dark. None of them would likely be alive now, but I always hoped that I’d be able to meet their descendants when we finally reached Earth.” She cleared her throat and the softness fled her. “Your leaders say the Earth is uninhabitable.”
Finally able to pry her eyes away from Lexa, Clarke looked out at the blue planet below. “It probably is. The radiation levels are still high compared to what they were before the fallout. It’ll probably be another generation or two before it's safe for anyone to go down there.”
“You’re sure there are no survivors?” Lexa asked. “No one living safely beneath the surface?”
Clarke chose her words carefully. “If anyone’s alive down there, they’ve never tried to contact us. If there are survivors, we don’t know about them. I’m sorry.”
Lexa gave her a peculiar look. “Why are you apologizing?”
Clarke shrugged. “I can tell how much Earth meant to you.”
Lexa lowered the vines and stepped away from the window. “Are there others like you on The Ark?”
“Like me?” Clarke questioned, following Lexa’s lead as they strolled between the rows of plant life.
“Yes.” Lexa tucked her arms behind her back as she walked. “You view Trikru as people who live in a space station, not as a space station that happens to have people. Are there more like you?”
“Of course.” Clarke assured her. “The Council has to think objectively, but they do care about your people. Their job is to ensure the safety and continued existence of humanity, and that has to include everyone from Trikru.”
Lexa glanced through the vines at the guards near the door, ensuring that they would not overhear her words. “Your leaders want me to relinquish all power and to have my people recognize The Council as our official leadership.”
Clarke watched her carefully. “But you don’t trust them.”
“Should I?” Lexa challenged.
Clarke felt the weight of humanity resting on her shoulders. She was torn. Logically, the right thing to do would be to advise Lexa to join The Ark and surrender her power. They would be able to split the resources fairly, to learn from each other, to grow as one people. But that was a perfect world, and they did not live in a perfect world. If Trikru agreed to follow The Ark’s laws, and the people continued to clash, there would be nothing to stop The Council from arresting every last Trikru person they felt like floating.
“No.” Clarke’s blunt answer surprised them both. “I mean, not yet. Let me talk to them. Let me see what they have planned. Any deal that gets made has to be a fair one. If I can help it, I won’t let you walk into a trap.”
“Would you really betray your own people to ensure the safety of mine?” Lexa asked, more than a little suspicious.
Clarke took a moment to think before saying, “I don’t think that we should be divided. I think our people have to work together if we have any chance of getting humanity back to the ground. I’m not working for one side or the other, I’m here for all of us.”
Lexa sent yet another cautious glance to the guards. “Is it foolish of me to trust you?”
Clarke looked at the plethora of green around them, at the weaponless guards near the door, and finally at the girl who dreamed of running through a field of flowers on the ground. “That depends. If things don’t work out, do you have room on this side of the bridge for one more?”
“You dislike your people enough to leave them?” Lexa was stumped. “What did they do to hurt you so badly?”
Clarke swallowed back the raw emotion that threatened to give away how conflicted she truly was. She didn’t hate The Ark, but everything about her friends and her mother and The Council forced her to come face to face with feelings that she’d worked so hard to repress. Trikru was a way out. A new start. A fresh beginning. A place where no one knew her story, and where no one knew her pain.
“They locked me up.” Clarke reminded her. “It’s hard to forgive a group of people who voted for you to spend the rest of your childhood in a cell.”
“The rest of your childhood?” Lexa asked.
“Um, yeah. Only juveniles are sent to lockup on The Ark. Adults get floated.”
“Floated?”
Clarke turned away from Lexa as she answered, “Floated means getting sent outside to die. Every crime on The Ark is a capital offense punishable by death. There isn’t enough room in lockup for anyone but the adolescents.”
“Your ways are strange, but not so unlike our own. Severe crimes are typically met with an eye for an eye punishment, which can include death, but most crimes are forgiven in exchange for additional labor. We have no prison or lockup on Trikru. If I’m being honest, the entire concept is hard to grasp. What good is there in locking up a child until they turn eighteen?”
Clarke made it clear with her tone that she didn’t agree with the answer she was giving. “It’s supposed to rehabilitate us. To give us time to reflect on the wrong that we’ve done, time to learn our lesson and agree that we’ll never do it again.”
Lexa stopped and stared at Clarke. “And will you commit treason again, or have you learned your lesson?”
“If the lesson was to ignore the greater good and blindly follow The Council, then no. I did not.”
“What did you do that they branded as treason?” Lexa wondered aloud.
Avoiding the issue, Clarke replied, “That’s a story for another day.”
A small sigh escaped her. “I’m not sure how many more days of negotiations your Council will allow.”
“What do you want?” Clarke began walking again. “What would be your ideal compromise?”
Lexa kept up with Clarke’s pace as they turned a corner and started down another row. “I want to feel confident that my people and the life we have built will remain safe. I believe it would work best if Trikru and The Ark remained independently operated. However, my people do not wish to follow your rules. They find them to be frivolous and, quite frankly, so do I. Your way of life is strict and harsh. Life on Trikru is much more relaxed. We work where we want, we contribute where we can, and we don’t enforce respect. My people will never recognize an authority figure who has not first earned their respect. Your people come from a military background, I know that. Rules are a way of life for you. But we are the descendants of loners who willingly traveled to the edge of the solar system for the sake of scientific discovery.” She paused to retrace her train of thought. “My ideal compromise would be that Ark law ends on the bridge where Trikru law begins. I cannot promise that my people will follow your laws, but it is their choice to cross the bridge and it is your consequences that they can face. The same applies to Arkers in Trikru territory. If a punishment is needed, I, as the Commander, will be the one to decide their fate.”
“I think that’s fair.” Actually, Clarke wholeheartedly agreed with Lexa’s plan. The problem would be to get everyone else to agree as well. “I’ll talk with The Council about it.”
“Your people have already turned down my proposition several times.” Lexa informed her.
“I can get them to change their minds.” Clarke promised.
“How?” She asked.
“I have connections.” Clarke answered. When she saw that Lexa expected more, she added, “My mother is one of the councilmembers, and the Chancellor’s son and I…well, we go way back. I have some influence with them.”
“Not enough influence to escape a charge of treason.” She pointed out.
Clarke replied, “Lucky for you, there’s no law against negotiating on behalf of a foreign space station.”
“Would you really want to live on Trikru if your people preferred that we destroy the bridge?” She asked.
“I might.” Clarke admitted. “You’re already the best company I’ve had in over a year.”
A small smile tugged at the corner of Lexa’s lips. The sight sent butterflies to Clarke’s stomach.
She lowered her voice and sent a glance to the door. “I’m a much better conversationalist when there aren’t guards watching my every move.”
“Are you suggesting we speak in private sometime?” It had been ages since Clarke had felt the thrilling rush of flirtation, but in the back of her mind she knew it would be best to stay reasonable. In all likelihood, things would not go smoothly between The Ark and Trikru, and forming an emotional attachment to anyone from Trikru, let alone their leader, would surely only cause more harm than good.
Lexa tilted her head to the side, amused but guarded. “And what would you have us speak of?”
Clarke wanted to flirt. She wanted push the boundaries, to test the waters, to see if Lexa was truly picking up what Clarke was putting down. But she couldn’t. Things were much too complicated as they were, and if Clarke went and did something impulsive and stupid, it would only make things harder for herself. She could find someone back on The Ark to soothe her libido. It didn’t have to be the beautiful, interesting, foreign girl who happened to be the clever political leader of an entire society that had spent the previous ninety-seven years floating through space with the sole romantic purpose of returning to their home planet to rejoin their fellow humans so they could skip through a field of flowers together. So, of course, it had to be her. Clarke was fucked, and not in the way she wanted to be.
Lexa was utterly mesmerizing, from her calculated words to her aura of unattainability. The fact that she was clearly just as astounded by Clarke as Clarke was of her only made the attraction stronger. Not to mention those lips and those eyes and those long fingers that caressed the leaves of plants so softly that her hand seemed to move in a spiritual flow along each vine it passed. There was so much to learn about her, and Clarke wanted nothing more than to stay in the garden and listen to every last thing this girl had to say.
But her people were waiting. The longer that Clarke took, the less time she would have to make The Council understand Lexa’s point of view.
After much deliberation, Clarke finally had an answer for Lexa’s question. “You’ll just have to invite me over sometime and find out for yourself.”
The small smile returned to its place at the corner of her lips. “Perhaps there is hope for our people yet. If we can get along, the rest may try to as well.”
“Yeah.” Clarke was still unsure as to whether or not Lexa was on the same page as her, so she decided to play it cool. “We should definitely be friends, you know, for the sake of our people.”
“I agree.” She nodded, not giving up any further hints.
Feeling a little rusty at the flirting game, Clarke decided it was best to stop while she was ahead. “I better go talk things through with The Council.”
“Of course.” Lexa redirected their path so that they were headed for the exit. Abruptly, she stopped halfway. “Clarke, I want you to know, you are welcome at Trikru if you ever wish to return.”
“Oh, I’ll be back.” Clarke assured her.
“And happy birthday.” She added quickly, as if the words had been sitting on the tip of her tongue the entire time.
Clarke smiled, surprised that Lexa had even caught that Clarke’s release from lockup was directly related to it being her birthday, but even more so that Lexa had actually wanted to say something about it.
--
“Absolutely not.” Abby said, literally putting her foot down. The loud thump of her boot hitting the floor filled the council chamber, demanding silence from those within. Abby looked around at their audience, at her fellow councilmembers, at the Chancellor himself, at Wells, at Raven and Finn who had managed to weasel their way into the Big Important Discussion. Finally, she looked to Clarke and to Clarke alone.
“It’s too dangerous for you to go back. We don’t know what these people are capable of. They could hold you hostage and demand that we hand over our supplies. They could kill you just to set some sort of example. Their technology is advanced, even more powerful than our own. Who’s to say that they won’t use it to hurt you? To hurt all of us? This Commander is refusing to give up her power for a reason. She’s hiding something on that station. She has something that she doesn’t want us to know about.”
Clarke scoffed. “You’re just spouting paranoid garbage! You don’t even know these people, but you’re oh so certain that they’re heartless murderers? Look around, the real murderers are in this room.”
The councilmembers shifted uneasily under Clarke’s furious gaze. Wells, Raven, and Finn stepped into the background, flattening themselves against the nearest wall to avoid and observe.
“Clarke.” Chancellor Jaha folded his hands together. “Abby is right. It’s too dangerous. Though we all came from the same planet, we are no longer the same people. We have to proceed with caution.”
Irritated, Clarke threw up her hands. “I am telling you, the Commander wants to work with us. She’s not hiding some big bad weapon. She’s playing it safe, just like all of you are trying to do right now. She doesn’t trust you because you haven’t done anything to earn her trust yet.”
Councilwoman Diana Sydney, with her near constant look of disgust, asked, “And just how do you expect us to earn the Commander’s trust?”
“You could start by trusting me.” Clarke replied.
“You?” Marcus Kane laughed. “You want us to trust you, a girl who was charged with treason?”
Abby sidestepped so that she stood between Clarke and the other councilmembers. “Listen to me, Clarke. No unauthorized citizens are allowed to leave The Ark. This was a decision The Council made before the bridge had even been secured. For the safety of everyone, you cannot go back to that station without The Council’s permission. Do you understand?”
“No.” Clarke looked to her friends for backup. “You guys agree with me, right? This isn’t fair.”
Raven was the first of the three wallflowers to break their silence. “Uh, yeah. I’m with Clarke. I mean, how’re you supposed to build trust if you don’t even want to try trusting them?”
Finn nodded. “Yeah, yeah. We should all be allowed into Trikru. If we looked around and saw how they live, I bet we’d see that they really aren’t so different from us.”
Jaha looked to his son. “What about you, Wells? What’re your thoughts?”
Nervously, Wells gestured to the others. “I agree. We can’t expect to receive something that we’re not willing to give.”
Diana chuckled to herself. “Can someone please explain to me why we are consulting teenagers on this?”
Kane turned to Jaha as he said, “The Council should meet privately to discuss this matter further.”
“Yes.” Jaha agreed. “Yes, Clarke and the Commander have given us much to discuss.”
In a last ditch effort, Clarke said, “There’s nothing wrong with them wanting to maintain their independence. If things were reversed and they were the bigger station, none of you would want to give up your place on The Council to follow their Commander. Don’t demonize them for doing exactly what you would do too. We can live together, side by side in harmony, but only if you choose that path. The Commander wants peace, I’m sure of it.”
“Thank you, Clarke.” Jaha gestured to the door. “You and the others may go now.”
--
“You’re sure this will work?” Clarke asked a tense whisper.
Raven flashed her light into Clarke’s eyes, temporarily blinding her. “Would you relax and let me do my job?”
“Sorry, okay.” Rather than hover over Raven’s shoulder as she pried apart and rewired the bridge door’s security control panel, Clarke returned to her watchful post at the corner. She peeked around it, searching for any kind of trouble. Satisfied that the coast was still clear, Clarke shot a thumbs up back down the hall to Finn, who occupied the opposite corner. He replied with a thumbs up of his own.
Just as Raven finally secured the control panel back to its original position with a proud grin, the sound of rushing footsteps met their ears. Panicked, Clarke scrambled to help Raven pack up her tools. By the time Finn had reached the bridge as well, the approaching visitor was upon them. Raven turned her light on newcomer, revealing them to be a sweaty teen out of breath.
Raven clicked off her flashlight and attached it to her work belt before asking, “Are there any guards following you?”
“Yes.” The girl nodded, struggling to catch her breath. “Just one. His name is Bellamy Blake.”
The three friends shared uneasy glances amongst themselves. They didn’t have the time to stop and save anyone, especially a girl none of the three seemed to recognize, but it went against everything they believed in not to.
Caving, Clarke asked the unfamiliar girl, “Are you from The Ark or are you from Trikru?”
With some hesitation, she answered, “The Ark.”
“Did you break any laws? Is Bellamy coming to arrest you?” Clarke questioned. If she was going to put her neck on the line for this girl, she had to know what she was getting herself into.
“Yes, I broke the law. Please, you have to help me.” The girl begged. “I can’t let him find me.”
Immediately, the trio began to brainstorm.
“Well, we can’t hide her in any of our rooms.” Finn tossed out the obvious throwaway.
Without much confidence, Raven suggested, “I might could get her into the mechanics’ storage room, but the odds of someone finding her in the morning are pretty high.”
Clarke noticed the desperation in the girl’s eyes, and suddenly it became clear to her what she needed to do.
“No one on The Ark is going to help us.” Clarke pointed to the bridge. “But the people in Trikru will.”
“How can you be so sure that Trikru won’t just give her up?” Raven asked, rightfully skeptical. “If The Council finds out that we helped a criminal escape to foreign territory, they’ll float her and us.”
“I’ll talk to the Commander and tell her to keep it quiet. She seems like a reasonable person. And with The Council, well, you said so yourself that no one will know that we tampered with the bridge’s security control panel, so why would they assume she even left The Ark? Besides, it’s not like they’ll send guards out looking for her over there anyway.” Clarke turned to the girl. “What’s your name?”
“Octavia.” She answered with a trembling voice.
Clarke offered the girl her hand as she asked, “What crime will they charge you with?”
“I don’t know.” She confessed while taking Clarke’s hand. “I just know that they’ll float me the moment I’m of age.”
The distant sound of approaching footsteps reached them. Quietly, Clarke said, “I’m going to be honest with you, Octavia…I don’t know what will happen on the other side of this bridge. All I know is that Trikru is our best shot at keeping you safe.”
“Let’s go.” Octavia’s hand shook as it held tight to Clarke’s.
Clarke pulled Octavia over to the bridge door’s control panel, where she entered the two-button clearance code that Raven had programmed into it. Glancing back as the bridge door opened, Clarke asked Raven, “Can you cover for me if my mom comes looking?”
“Don’t worry.” Raven tried to suppress a smirk. “I’ve got it covered. She’ll never even know you were gone.”
Curious but entirely too preoccupied, Clarke ignored the weird response from Raven and headed into the unknown.
--
Clarke stood awkwardly in the center of the Commander’s Office, too adrenalized to sit down. She hadn’t been out of lockup for twelve hours yet, and already she’d broken enough laws to get herself floated a dozen times over. To distract herself, Clarke took in her surroundings. A formidable desk with a chair resembling a throne was placed in front of the large window, one with a view of the moon that was outstandingly beautiful. Metal shelves filled to the brim with actual real-life paper books ran along the walls, taking up every bit of space that wasn’t occupied with a television monitor. Each screen displayed various diagnostic reports or live security feeds from different sections and hallways of the station, and a small lone screen near the door appeared to work as a community corkboard that featured news from the people (pod ball had been rescheduled to Tuesday night; see Gustus for signup).
The door creaked open and in walked the Commander, still dressed in the clothes she’d worn to speak with Clarke in the garden. She gestured for Clarke to sit on the battered couch as she took her place behind the desk. As Clarke finally allowed herself to sit, she noticed the undeniably powerful aura that Lexa radiated from her seat in front of the window with the distant moon sitting at her shoulder.
“Your friend is resting safely in our medical bay.” Lexa promised, her tone professional. “She was dehydrated, and it’s possible she is suffering from a nervous breakdown. My medical consultants will watch over her and ensure that she recovers swiftly.”
“Thank you for helping us.” Clarke said, hoping that her sincerity showed. “I know this puts everything we’re working for at risk.”
“It certainly could complicate things.” Lexa agreed. “Your people, what will they do if Octavia is discovered to be missing?”
“I don’t know.” Clarke lied. She knew exactly what they would do. “But it probably won’t be good.”
Lexa deliberated the situation for a moment, giving Clarke time to further admire just how captivating the Commander looked in the soft lighting of her office. The appeal did not fall solely on her natural beauty, but in the strength of her posture and the unyielding authority in her voice. There was no denying this woman was a leader, someone great and worthy of her title.
Finally, Lexa said, “I must admit, the more I learn about your people, the less inclined I am to accept any of their offers. My advisers believe your laws to be unethical and cruel, and they say our people will never follow them. If both Trikru and The Ark are to remain independent, I’m afraid the bridge will need to be closed off from any and all social visits.”
Any and all social visits? Clarke wasn’t about to accept that one without a fight. “We can figure something out. There has to be a compromise that both sides can agree on.”
“Have your people given their verdict on our latest proposal?” Lexa questioned.
Clarke blew out a heavy sigh. “No, not yet. They’ve probably adjourned the council meeting for the night by now, but I’m sure they’ll go back to arguing first thing in the morning. But don’t worry, I’ll stay involved the whole way through. You can count on me to make sure that your concerns are heard.”
“I admire your perseverance, Clarke, but I can’t help but wonder why you are so dedicated.” She confessed.
“At the risk of sounding pretentious…” Clarke paused. “I see the union of our people as being the absolute key to bringing humanity back to the ground, and I believe I’m in a unique position to provide what both sides need most right now: a voice of reason that doesn’t feel blind allegiance to either side. I may have been born on The Ark, and I may have grown up there, and all of my friends and my mother may live there…but I’ve never in my life felt like The Ark was where I belonged. Just like you, I’ve dreamt of being on the ground. I don’t want to just give our future generations a chance to return to the ground, I want to guarantee that together our people will bring humanity home.”
A small smile formed on Lexa’s lips, a feature which Clarke had a difficult time not staring at. She clasped her hands together on the desk and replied, “Your passion is admirable. I agree that reclaiming the Earth on behalf of our species should be the ultimate goal for all those involved. However, I also believe your leaders uphold a corrupt system that I cannot easily ignore. No deal your people offer is worth more than our independence, than our freedom to live as we always have. I hope The Council knows that we will not be intimidated by your weapons or your size. If they wish to share in our provisions and our equipment, they must understand that what we offer cannot be taken by force should they decide an alliance is no longer in their best interest. We will defend ourselves.”
“And you would have every right to defend yourself.” Clarke agreed. “But I know Trikru doesn’t want a war, and I know there are people in The Ark who don’t want one either. We can find a solution that will please both sides. It may take some time, and it may take a lot of debating, but we’ll get there. Trust me.”
“I do trust you.” Lexa’s voice was soft. “There’s just…something about you that makes it easy.”
Just as a flirtatious response flittered through Clarke’s mind, a screeching filled the room and drew their attention to the door. A woman with facial tattoos and bulky apparel entered.
“Heda, I bring you news of the one named Octavia.” The woman’s demeanor shifted as she realized Clarke was in the room. “Forgive me, I did not realize you had company.”
Lexa leaned back in her chair and waved the visitor forward. “Indra, please, give your news.”
Indra gave a dutiful nod and said, “She has confessed that she is a fugitive of The Ark, though she does not wish to disclose her crimes.”
“Yes, I am aware of this predicament.” Lexa replied.
“Heda!” Indra was appalled. “You knew this girl was fleeing prosecution, yet you allowed her into our care?”
“Yes.” Lexa answered simply. “We do not turn our back on those who seek our help.”
Indra did not try to hide her frustration in the least. “Now is not the time for old words from Earth ancestors. If The Ark discovers what you have done, they will not treat it lightly.”
“I fully understand the consequences of my actions. I do not need you to tell me of them.” Lexa’s tone was not to be questioned, making Clarke marvel at the respect she commanded.
Indra’s gaze fell to the floor. “Of course, Heda. Forgive me for speaking out of turn.”
The door opened once more, this time allowing for two more to enter the Commander’s Office. Clarke recognized the woman to be Anya, the one who had brought Clarke to the garden earlier in the day, and the man to be the one who had stood up to Bellamy Blake in the cafeteria.
“Anya. Lincoln.” Lexa greeted politely. Neither seemed as surprised as Indra to see Clarke sitting on the couch.
“Commander.” Anya gave a slight bow before continuing. “As you’ve requested, the bridge’s security has been reevaluated and a new code is being implemented as we speak.”
“Thank you.” Lexa looked from one Trikru member to the next. “Indra, your concern has been noted. You may return to the medical bay and continue keeping watch over our guest Octavia. Lincoln, I must ask that you accompany Indra and keep guard. You may leave your post when a proper replacement is approved. Anya…” Lexa glanced to where Clarke sat, silent and observant. “Have the new code we discussed sent to me when it is in full effect.”
Wordlessly, the three Trikru members gave respectful bows and exited the office.
Clarke waited until the door had slid shut before asking, “Heda?”
“Yes?” Lexa prompted, waiting expectantly for Clarke to continue.
Clarke laughed as she realized the miscommunication that had occurred. “No, I meant, why do they call you that?”
“Oh.” Lexa turned a tad bashful at the mix-up. “Heda is synonymous with commander.”
“Where does that term come from?” Clarke asked, curious.
“In the dark days, my people separated into two factions, with each believing that they were the rightful rulers of Trikru. As a way to keep their plans secretive, one faction developed a second language to communicate with. By the time the conflict ended, Trigedasleng had already spread to the others. For many decades Trigedasleng was our primary language, but the Commander before me decreed that a return to English was necessary if we desired to assimilate back into life on Earth. Despite this, some terms and phrases, as you’ve noticed, have become so ingrained in our way of life that they never reverted back to English.”
“You’ve mentioned the dark days before.” Clarke noted. “What is that?”
“A time of inaction.” She explained. “The dark days were the years between losing all communication and the decision to send Trikru back to Earth. This station was supplied with only enough fuel to travel to the edge of our solar system, a place that it was never meant to leave. Every drop of fuel that remained was used to set Trikru back in motion toward Earth. After that, we relied solely on the hope that no obstacle would derail us from our path. There were setbacks, of course, most notably navigating the asteroid belt with our thrusters and avoiding Saturn’s gravitational pull.”
“You saw Saturn?” Clarke asked in awe. “You floated right by it?”
Lexa smiled at Clarke’s reaction. “Yes. It was eight or so years ago, but I remember it well.”
With a smile of her own, Clarke said, “I bet it was beautiful.”
“It was.” Lexa concurred with a nod. Hesitantly, she added, “At the time, I was sad that our meeting with Saturn would be so brief. I loved looking out my bedroom window and seeing it out there, something bright and beautiful in a scene that was usually devoid of color. On our final day of visibility, I went to the window and I kissed Saturn goodbye. I think that was when I first learned what it meant to be heartbroken.”
“Wow.” Dumbfounded, Clarke struggled to find a coherent response. “Sounds like a great first kiss. Mine was with a girl from Farm Station. She kind of slobbered all over me. It wasn’t pretty.”
With a bittersweet smile, Lexa said, “My real first kiss was much different than my kiss with Saturn. Her name was Costia.”
“I don’t mean to pry…” Clarke knew she was wading into dangerous waters, but her curiosity was too great to ignore. “But what happened to her?”
Lexa avoided looking at Clarke as she replied, “She was murdered. As I said before, Trikru was split into factions during the dark days. The ones who created Trigedasleng referred to themselves as Grounders, as in the side most capable of returning to the ground, while the other faction named themselves Azgeda, after their leader’s homeland. The Grounders wanted to return to Earth, while Azgeda wanted to leave our solar system in search for a new planet to inhabit. Though the conflict ended with the Grounders winning, some of Azgeda’s beliefs are still present in their descendants to this very day. A particularly radical one wanted to overthrow me. She had Costia killed to break me, but the action obviously did not provide the results she had hoped for.”
“Oh my god.” Clarke gaped. Just when she thought Lexa was done surprising her, another curve ball came flying her way. “What happened to the person who wanted to overthrow you?”
“An eye for an eye.” Lexa answered quietly. “Or, as the Trikru Earth ancestors would put it, blood must have blood.”
Clarke nodded understandingly before asking, “So how does one become commander, exactly?”
“Traditionally, children who show the greatest potential are placed into a special group to be physically and mentally trained for leadership roles. When a commander dies, a conclave is held until the next commander is chosen through rigorous testing of the mind, body, and spirit.”
A loud beeping noise sounded from the monitor closest to Lexa’s desk, earning both of their attentions.
“What does the mean?” Clarke asked, searching the screen of rushing diagnostic reports for anything that stood out.
“It means I have received the new clearance code for the bridge’s control panel.” Lexa gave Clarke a sly look. “It needed to be upgraded so that no further breaches in our security can occur.”
Clarke smirked. “Yeah, you know, it really wasn’t all that hard to get into this place.”
Lexa’s expression became impossible to read. “This is a serious matter.”
“Oh.” Clarke’s smirk fell as embarrassment flooded her. “I’m sorry, I just—“
Lexa cut her off with a laugh. “It’s okay, Clarke. You’re not in any trouble.”
“So you didn’t mind my breaking and entering?” Clarke asked with a nervous laugh.
Growing coy, Lexa replied, “Not at all. And the next time that you want to cross the bridge unescorted, all you’ll need to do is use the clearance code. No breaking necessary.”
Clarke’s smirk returned in full force. “Are you suggesting that I should visit you late at night again sometime?”
“Perhaps I am.” She said with an alluring tone that sparked more than just a slight arousal in Clarke.
“Then perhaps I’ll take you up on that.” Clarke replied with a grin. “Late at night is probably the only time I’ll be able to sneak off The Ark anyway. There’s kind of a ‘no unauthorized citizens may cross the bridge into Trikru territory’ rule in effect right now.”
Lexa shook her head, clearly charmed by Clarke’s rebelliousness and nerve. “I think you’ve broken enough of your people’s laws for one night. We should get you back across the bridge before your absence is noticed.”
“It is getting pretty late.” Clarke accepted. “I guess I should go.”
“Come, I’ll show you the way.” Lexa offered as she stood from her desk.
“Oh, yeah, thanks.” Clarke quickly stood up as well. “I’d probably spend hours wandering around this place lost if I was on my own.”
Clarke followed Lexa’s lead out of the Commander’s Office and down a long hallway.
“What will happen to Octavia after she’s cleared to leave your medical bay?” Clarke asked as they turned down a new hallway. It was remarkable just how similar the Trikru station was to The Ark, from the color scheme, to the use of materials, to even the shape of their doors and windows.
“We will find space for Octavia, should she wish to remain with us.” Lexa promised.
“Thank you again for helping.” Clarke said earnestly, turning down another hallway. “You didn’t have to, but you did, and that means a lot.”
“I’m happy to help.” Lexa replied as they reached their destination. She reached out and began typing into the security control panel, her lithe fingers gliding over its screen with a practiced swiftness. As the bridge doors began to open, she turned to Clarke and said, “The new clearance code is three, twelve, one, eighteen, eleven, five.”
“Okay…” Clarke hesitated. “Honestly, I’m probably not going to remember that.”
Lexa glanced around to ensure they were alone and lowered her voice. “It’s a simple substitution cipher. Each number corresponds with the position of a letter in the alphabet. The number one, for example, would stand for the letter A. The new clearance code is three, twelve, one, eighteen, eleven, five. Or, if it’s translated into letters, the word Clarke.”
“My name.” Clarke said dumbly. “It spells my name? Why is my name the code?”
She smiled at Clarke’s innocent confusion. “You’re the reason we had to change the original code prematurely. It’s easier for us to remember the new one this way.”
“Oh, well, that makes sense.” Clarke was a little embarrassed that all of Trikru would know her as the girl who broke into their station, but she couldn’t blame them; it was an easy code to remember.
Tucking her arms behind her back, Lexa said, “Farewell, Clarke, until we meet again.”
“Hopefully that will be sooner rather than later.” Clarke replied. “Goodnight, Lexa.”
The tiny pleased smile that Clarke received from Lexa in response to using her name rather than her title said more to Clarke than words ever could.