Plymouth Colony, II - Sharolyn Wells, Author

 

...Teris wiped her fingers across tear-streaked cheeks.  “It looks bigger than our village.”  Her fingers tightened on her brother’s arm and her voice shook.  “Do you think they’ll separate us?”  Eric leaned over and kissed his older sister’s forehead.  “You worry too much.  Just remember, out of all the billions of people on Earth, the lottery selected very few.”  His brow furrowed.  “Although, I can’t help wondering why they chose us.”

 

“I don’t think, for a society this advanced, they would need me as a doctor.  I’m sure they have doctors of their own.  And you?”  She shrugged. “I’m sure they have police officers, too.”  Her woeful gaze darted to his.  “Mother said they wanted people of breeding age.  I don’t know why but this makes me nervous.”  She began crying again as she thought about her family.  Starting from today, Eric would be the only family she had left.  Her children, if she ever had any, would never know the special people her parents had been.  “I wish Mom and Dad had the same chance as we do.”  One of Eric’s shoulders rose and fell.  He pushed his raven hair behind his ear.  “Don’t think about Mom and Dad anymore.  You know they wanted this for us.  They told us to put our names in the lottery, even though they knew they would be left behind here on earth.”...

Teris and Eric Keyes were both chosen by a lottery to be to leave earth before it’s destruction by meteors.  Scientists reported that over one hundred meteors were traveling toward earth, some as big as the ones that took out the dinosaurs.  After the discovery, a planet that virtually mirrors earth agreed to take one hundred thousand young people off Earth and to the safety of their planet Kelkan.  The one condition was that they must be young and of a breeding age.  Due to a plague that had been spread years ago by the reptilian beings from Novari, many Kelkans died or were became unable to produce children.  Unless outside life was introduced to their world, the Kelkani people would become extinct.

Imagine being chosen to leave the world you know to be taken to one you don’t.  As with Teris and Eric, they, as well as the others, want to trust these strange people who look like Earth people but can you really believe in them enough to put your life into their hands?  How can you be sure their promises are real and there aren’t other reasons for them rescuing your people?  You know nothing about their cultures.  You don’t even know what they eat.  But what if their promises are all true and they are really helping to save your world and way of life by rescuing as many as possible. 

Plymouth Colony II will make you realize that disasters are possible and hopefully rescues are too.  This was quite an interesting book that gave me food for thought.