Author's note: this is my very first published story; it was done with much input , help and encouragement from friends. A special thank you to The Tall Man for his suggestions and editing. (I.O.U. a B.J - anytime you choose to collect).
There is no under age sex in this story - all characters are over 18 years of age.
Part One -- The Pilgrimage begins
The year is 2159, a time when space colonization has become commonplace, thanks to the rapid advancement of scientific accomplishments during the latter part of the twentieth century and the beginning of the third millennium. At long last, a one-world government has been formed, it's priorities to deal with very serious and at first seemingly insoluble climatic and population problems on Earth. This government has finally started to become effective in making decisions to try and save the human race, which is threatened with destruction as a result of its own mis-management.
No more wars to kill off any of our people, no major diseases, life is almost eternal as a result of astonishing medical leaps forward; all this means that the anticipated population explosion of the second half of the 1900's had been seriously underestimated. The average life expectancy is now over 120 years, and there is almost no room for newborns.
New doctrine worldwide emergency laws have been enacted to contain the frightening pace of population augmentation. The majority of children were, until now, sterilized at birth as a temporary means of slowing it down. But it was calculated that the world population was already too high for Earth's dwindling resources, and still more had to be done.
Those people who have escaped unflinching application of these new laws, being born before they came into effect, are encouraged to seek voluntary sterilization. If they do not, then legal authorization will be required before they will be allowed to bring new children into the world; such authorization is rarely given, being limited to people who can afford to bribe the final decision-makers, or those of high intellect or important government rank.
Apart from the relentless sterilization program applied to children whose births are officially approved, compulsory birth control is also strictly followed by all men and women. Most future parents opt for early abortion in the case of an 'accidental' pregnancy, since breaking these strict laws results in heavy fines and prison sentences for both parents. The only alternative to suffering punishment is to hand over the child for various scientific projects, which would release the parents of any responsibility. For a first offence, that is. Execution by lethal injection has been reintroduced for an unthinkable second infraction. The value of life for anyone other than the privileged elite has diminished to the point that it can be sacrificed in the so-called best interests of the human race.
Faced with possible extinction, as time passes, more extreme measures had to be taken to ensure the survival of the human race. A vast number of ordinary people are being sent by space vessel to several outlying planets only recently discovered, situated in far flung corners of the known galaxies. In the very beginning it was the smartest that human kind had to offer that were selected to go, in order to set up colonies. Now the major selection of pioneers is done by lottery and voluntary choice.
We are no longer concerned with the exodus of a handful of people, but many millions of families and single people of all ages and races, who will be the last hope for the survival of the human race. The scale of this desperate pilgrimage is at first mind-boggling and will have to be carried out over half a century. The vessels which carry them are the size of cities, and capable of sustaining life for many years, the time necessary to travel unimaginable distances measured in many light years.
In short, with the extinction of life on Earth potentially imminent, these many pioneers, or pilgrims as they became known, may be the only hope of survival somewhere else.
My name is Reema. I was one of those pilgrims, and this is my story.
I was an 'oops' baby for my parents. I have two siblings, my brother Dillon was sixteen and my older sister Tanya was twenty when I came along. Because I was a late, unwanted child, effectively I was turned over to the authorities so that my parents could avoid serious penalties. Once my education began I spent many years in one boarding school or another. These schools were really like glorified convents, even jails to me, but it was deemed best for everyone that I should be educated in the very strict fashion which was common in boarding schools.
Along the way, the world situation became worse and worse.
Just short of turning eighteen, at the end of my statutory education period, according to law like everyone else, I had to go through what was known as 'placement testing'. At the end of an extremely stressful series of physical and mental examinations, a suitable future direction would be decided for each young man or woman, according to their background, their aptitudes, their IQ, character and personality, as well as their physical condition. We students had no influence over the choice which was made for us, whether to be teachers, trainee scientists, functionaries, or whatever the results of the testing showed, or whatever the government decided was appropriate for us. The Principal was god, in this respect, and his recommendations were usually followed without question.