V. The Children of Jagellowsk
The next half hour was a blur of children marching past Mayhew into the belly of the Fearless Explorer. They were surprisingly calm. No panic and only a few tears. The kids still waiting to board were uncommonly calm as well as were the few adults. The peacekeepers were still maintaining the cordon, but they did not have to enforce it.
Some children asked about their parents, why Mama and Papa couldn’t come along and when they’d see them again. The crewmembers registering the kids always gave them the same line, “This ship is only for kids. Your parents will be on the next ship.”
It was a blatant lie and Mayhew hated it, hated lying into the faces of children about to lose everything. But what else could they do? The truth would only cause panic, after all,
