Staying alive was a daily lottery.

“Correct. Can anyone name the major greenhouse gases?”

“Water vapour,” a girl answered.

Romy listed off the others in her mind, listening with half an ear to the hesitant stream of answers. What would it have been like? Earth. Having actual dirt under your feet. Clouds above you, instead of far below you. And animals. Romy longed to see a real-life animal—if there were any left.

Earth was a shiny bauble dangling just out of reach. A beautiful, untouchable swirl of greens and blues. If she could ever hate anyone, it would be her ancestors for selfishly throwing away their home.

The lecturer’s next words caught Romy’s attention. “As you know, select teams are sent to collect any materials we might be in deficit of. They also monitor Earth’s progress. What are some of their findings?”

The cadets looked blankly at each other. Romy caught the questioning glance of the lecturer.

“That the effect of global warming is more catastrophic than any of the forecasts predicted,” she offered.

Vice-commander Warner nodded for her to continue.

“One in ten species were predicted to fall extinct, but it is guesstimated three in five are no longer. While it was predicted that one-twelfth of humankind would perish, in actuality, half died from global warming related causes . . . .”

“. . . while the other half killed each other in the anarchy before The Retreat,” the vice-commander finished for her.

Romy sagged as the attention moved from her.

Who could say? Maybe the Earth humans deserved what they got? Or they never lived long enough to learn the harsh lesson that, at the end of the day, nature would always have the last laugh.

A flurry of movement startled Romy from her daydream. The lecture was over and the cadets were milling about the classroom.

She exited behind a knot of cadets, spotting Thrym standing at ease in the shining white hall. He held two sets of sneakers. The cadets scuttled past him, staring in awe. Romy had to admit he did look the part of “saviour of the world”. It was accompanied by a familiar twang of guilt.

Thrym was desperate for a higher ranking. He definitely drew the short straw when they were handing out knots.

Their watches beeped in unison. Neither of them bothered to check the alert, dismissing it with a wave before pivoting in the direction of the health centre. Twice-daily exercise was mandatory to maintain the space soldiers’ bone density and cardiovascular health.

It was Romy’s favourite time of the day.

“The twins just earned us extra duties. Kitchen clean-up for two months.” Thrym sighed.