The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

Sentinel Speaks
Part 2

Simmersun had been sent home in his mid-teens, one sunny afternoon – not for bad behaviour; but for correcting his teacher yet again.

The unfortunate teacher who had brought the complaint had been new and entirely unaware that one of his students had known quite as much as he had: Leaf Simmersun had been that young person; and the class had been astro-navigation.

Several days had passed, during which the young man's parents had been assured by him several times, “Don't worry, it'll be alright.”

They hadn't been able to understand how their son could be so calm, with the pressure that the school had placed upon him.

Yet all the while, his demeanour was calm, his countenance quite relaxed. What they had missed would not be immediately apparent, to many – and, Leaf liked it that way: it suited him.

Leaf Simmersun was a tall, slim young man who possessed an innate ability to see more with a glance in a given direction, than many others – staring intently, for a far longer time.

Once realized, this ability had proven useful to Leaf – both in his interests and studies.
Astro-navigation and, man's passage through the stars, had long been a fascination.

The school had reassigned the trainee teacher, reticent to lose one of their brightest young minds – and, potential winner of the years 'most gifted student' and all the prestige that could bring to the school.

Leaf had smiled that morning in class, as he sat in his usual place in the large auditorium, his folders, lunch-box and bag to his left, his notepad and pen to his right. He continued to smile, as the new teacher walked up to the lectern, adjusted some cue-cards and tapped the microphone, prior to speaking...

Brought in at the last minute, as it were – the stern looking ex-marine had scant training that would help him deal with a student like Leaf Simmersun.
The young man never excelled in area of expertise, bar one specific – the study of the stars and little else.

It was not as though he did not apply himself. Leaf was an intelligent young man, who had an interest that had become an obsession – that he intended to take into his work life, such was his passion for the stars.

And then, Leaf had encountered 'The Rock'. John Rivers had earned the soubriquet 'The Rock' for his strength of character and, his reliability under fire.

But, the normally stoic ex-marine had been thoroughly unprepared for his second day at work, when halfway through a lecture, a quiet young man had begun to question the merits of whether or not those who thought Pluto should be re-instated as a planet were right or wrong.

It hadn't been an unreasonable question to ask and Rivers had enjoyed the banter that had followed the query. Then the young man furthered his questions, by expanding on his own theories on the ideas of man terraforming other planets within his own solar system and, his theories intrigued Rivers.

Once the lecture had ended, the professor had sought out the young man whose conversation had proven so stimulating. Leaf Simmesun had been a delight to encounter Rivers had decided, taking real pleasure, in meeting a young person, with such an enquiring mind.

In turn, Leaf was pleased he had decided to attend lectures that day, because that was when he had met Professor Rivers, who had called to him, “Are you busy?”

The question had led Simmersun to being drawn to the world of ‘The Ark Project’, at first as an assistant; and then as a participant.

His job had been to prepare the candidates for the induction and, all that would entail.

They would have to know that it was understood that each passenger would be on a crew rota and awoken, expected to assure that certain tasks were performed, while the crew slept on.

The rota established that that there were a sufficient number of people on board so that no-one individual should be expected to work more than their allotted four days and nights.

This was a mandatory element of the induction, for each person on the Ark Ship. There were to be no free-loaders, on the last starship to leave a dying world, in search of a new world.

And then the upheaval had begun and while many panicked, the schedule of Sentinel was brought forward. Then, with the induction prepared, given and over, Leaf had been assigned a cryo-tube on the second of five levels in the vast ship.