Free The Colonists (The Movement Trilogy) by Jason Gurley

out beside her, arms crossed behind his white hair. Above them, the glass dome seems to touch the pale yellow Martian sky above Olympus City. Within the dome are trees and grasses and flowers, all cultivated from seeds originated from Earth which was.  
    Did you ever wonder why this place is called the Earth Room, Ammie? Grandfather asks.
    Amaterasu shakes her head.  
    It's because the grass we're lying on comes from Earth originally, he says. And those trees, they once lived on Earth, too. Does that make you wonder anything about Earth?  
    These are plants, Amaterasu says, running her fingers through the glass.
    Yes.
    Plants are alive, she says.  
    Yes, they are.  
    So if they were once on Earth -- that means Earth has life?  
    Yes, Grandfather says. Can I tell you a story?  
    I love your stories, Grandfather.  
    Grandfather turns on his side, and Amaterasu mimics him.
    Once, Grandfather says, there was absolutely nothing at all.  
    Nothing at all?
    Nothing, he says. No system. No planets. No sun. There weren't any stars. There wasn't a Mars, and Olympus City didn't exist. Pure, utter, complete nothing.
    Nothing, Amaterasu repeats.  
    And then one day, everything exploded.
    What exploded? she asks.  
    Nothing, he says.  
    But you said everything did.  
    Nothing exploded and created everything, he says. Do you understand?  
    No, she admits.
    It's okay. I don't really, either. But listen what happened next.
    Okay, she says, scooting in close.
    All of that nothing exploded, and there was a lot of dust and stuff floating around. And some of it got stuck together, and then more of it got stuck together, and it started to turn into things.
    What kind of things?
    Oh, you know. Planets and stars and stuff.  
    What? Really?  
    Oh, yes, Grandfather says. This is all very accurate.
    I don't believe you.
    That's because you've been sheltered from the truth, he whispers.  
    Like in the broadcasts! she says.
    Like in the broadcasts, he says.  
    Then what happened? she asks.
    Well, all of those planets sort of grouped up together, and made systems. Our system has thirteen planets, but some have just two or three, and some have hundreds.  
    Wow, she says. Then what?  
    Then a lot of time passed, he says. And the same thing happened, but on a much, much, much, much smaller scale. Remember how all the stuff came together and made planets?  
    Yes, Amaterasu says.
    Well, a lot of smaller stuff came together and made life, Grandfather explains. And that life started really, really small and simple. But then, as a lot of time went by, it started to get more and more interesting. And eventually, do you know what happened?
    Amaterasu shakes her head.  
    Some of that simple life turned into very complex life, he says. And that's where we came from. So in a way, you could say that you and the sun are cousins.
    Amaterasu laughs and claps her hands. Tell me more!
    Well, when we first showed up, we lived on the planet Earth, Grandfather says. And we were pretty helpless at first, but we got better and better at things. We figured out tools, and we figured out fire, and we figured out how to eat other things to stay alive, and we learned how to make babies and --
    How do you do that? Amaterasu asks.
    Grandfather smiles. Maybe that part we'll tell a little later, he says. But for now -- we got better at being alive. And then we learned how to build things, like houses and towns and cities. And then we started making vehicles, like little things called automobiles that rolled around on the ground very fast, and other things, called aeroplanes, that soared around in the sky, also very fast. And do you know where all of that happened?
    On Citadel Meili? Amaterasu asks.
    Oh, no, Grandfather says. All of this happened on Earth.
    But Miss Hamu says --
    Oh, never mind what Miss Hamu says. Let me tell you very simply what happened. Okay?
    Okay.
    You trust me? You know I wouldn't lie to you?
    I trust you, Amaterasu says.
    For a long time,