by Nathan Pedde
Des threw his backpack over his shoulder and exited the bathroom. He felt a touch weird at what he was doing. He wasn’t sure if it was the right thing or not.
He walked down the central corridor of the Academy. It overlooked the entire sector of the station from its home on a gently rising hill. The Academy stretched to five stories tall and was covered in gray painted stucco which gave it a boxy feeling.
Des found his classroom, but no one waited outside the door. He was too early. Des jingled the door handle, but he saw it was locked. He walked around the halls of the school and looked at all of the objects, or the lack of objects on the walls. There was no posters or artwork on the walls, only a single line of lockers. The lack of decor gave the school an uneasy feeling of uniformity Des wasn’t used to. He looked into an open classroom, the desks were in neat rows with their chairs stacked on top. It looked very much like the halls. They were devoid of anything interesting to look at.
Des looked down at his watch. He still had twenty minutes to go before his class started.
“Can I help you with anything?” A familiar Voice said from behind him.
Des panicked inside as he turned around and saw a student stood before of him. However, it wasn’t just any student, it was his brother, Sheemo.
Sheemo looked smart in his fancy uniform as it fit him perfectly.
“I said, can I help you with anything?” Sheemo repeated.
“No,” Des said as he reminded himself he wore an academy uniform and a different face, “I’m just waiting for my class to start.”
“Right,” Sheemo said, “What’s your name cadet?”
“My name is… umm,” Des said as he stumbled on his words.
“Umm? Your name is Umm?”
“No,” Des said, “Sorry. I got lost in thought for a second. My name is Ryder Fly.”
“Ryder Fly?”
“Yes. I hate my parents.”
“Stand by your door,” Sheemo said, “Don’t wander around the school at this early in the morning. If an older student sees you, he’ll beat you.”
Sheemo turned and marched away through the hallways, his boots clattered on the floor as he strolled away. Des shrugged his shoulders and wandered back towards his classroom. He was suddenly unsure if going to the academy was a smart idea. He was uncertain he wanted to get involved in this place.
When Des arrived at the classroom door, he found it was now open. A couple of students sat at their desks in the classroom in the same Academy uniforms. Des picked a seat in the middle of the room and sat down.
A student who sat in the desk across from him leaned into to talk to him. The student was tall and looked to be at least eighteen. He was at least old enough to have to shave once every couple weeks.
“First time in this course?” the Student said.
“It’s a course,” Des said, “shouldn’t you only have to take it once?”
“Sure okay,” the Student said, “Nerd.”
“Excuse me?” Des said, “What did you call me?”
The student didn’t say anything.
Fifteen minutes later, a teacher walked into the classroom. He was dressed in a crisp military uniform. Des knew his uniforms, he knew the teacher had to be from the Jovian Aeronautical Force. The rank insignia told him he was a Major. The colored ribbons that decorated his chest informed him the Major had combat experience and had been wounded at least once. Of course, Des also understood he was in a spy class and the uniform and ribbons could be lies.
“Okay,” the Teacher said, “I’m Mr. Smith. I’ll be your ‘Home Economics for Beginners’ teacher. I’ll begin by taking roll call.”
Des listened to the Mr. Smith call out each name. Des didn’t listen to the names, except for the name of the student next to him.
“Veer Robert,” Mr. Smith called out.
“Here.” Veer said.
“And lastly, Ryder Fly,” Mr. Smith said.
“Right here,” Des said.
“Okay,” Mr. Smith said, “I assume you all know what this course is actually about, so I won’t explain it. This class is an hour in length, and it’ll consist of a lecture. There are no notes allowed to be taken. There will be no tests, except for the final. Each morning, before class, you’ll write out the notes from what was talked about on the previous day. That’ll happen before class starts. The doors will be open, up to a half hour before class starts. Do not write your notes down after the class ends. You may not record any audio. If it’s discovered you’re cheating, you will be disqualified and punished. I’m sure you all know what I am. I know where each of you lives.”
Des felt the veiled threat in his bones, and it caused the hairs on the back of his neck to stand up. He knew Mr. Smith was serious.
***
Mr. Smith looked at the dozen students in the class.
“Do you understand me?” Mr. Smith said, however, before anyone could answer, he continued, “All right. Let's begin.”
The teacher started his lecture. He stood still in the spot as he spoke. Mr. Smith didn’t sway or wander around the class, like most teachers he knew. He also didn’t look around at anyone as gave his lecture. Most teachers had the habit of making eye contact with someone in class during their talk. However, Mr. Smith did not.
The class ticked by as Des listened to every word. The lecture ended an hour later. Mr. Smith looked at his watch one moment while he talked about the importance of knowing what was going on at all times.
“Times up,” Mr. Smith said as he stopped mid-sentence, “See you tomorrow.”
Mr. Smith spun on his heels and marched out of the classroom. The students looked at each other for a moment, looks of shock on their faces. They grabbed their bags and proceeded to file out of the room.
Des grabbed his bag and walked out the door.
“Where are you going?” Veer called out from behind him.
Des ignored him as he marched away. He had places to be and he didn’t have much time. Des had to get across the sector to the safehouse, then he had to change his uniform to his normal school one, and get to his other school on time. He hated the fact the safehouse wasn’t near the military academy or his school.
The trick with getting out of the military academy. This early in the morning, most kids would be going for the full day. They would arrive in the early morning and leave in the afternoon. It was standard school stuff. If Des is seen leaving the academy every morning and not in anyone's classes, then his cover will get blown.
When he walked into the school at four in the morning, he would plan to walk out the door. Des figured at six in the morning when he was done his class, there would be no one in the school.
Des was wrong at with the line of thought.
The school looked like it was packed with students. The hallways bristled with cadets of different shapes or sizes. They all looked relaxed in the halls, yet still very military academy formal.
At Des’s school, the students would be half out of their school uniforms. They would have their jackets off, and ties loosened with lots of slouching. Here, the cadets still talked to each other, joked and laughed, but they had what Des knew was the Academy Crispness. The students all stood straight, and the uniforms were impeccable like the cadets were honored to wear them. It gave them the stereotype of being elitist.
Des walked through the school corridors, he was careful not to bump or jostle any of the cadets. He blended into the cadets and joined behind a group who walked through the passages the way he needed to go.
No other student looked at him twice. He was just another cadet at the school to learn. At one of the entrances to the academy, was his brother and his group of friends. His brother would notice him leaving the school, even with the face of Ryder Fly.
“Cryslis,” Des said quietly, “Why are there so many students at the school at this hour and how do I get out of the school without anyone noticing me?”
“I was wondering if you were going to ask me that question,” C
ryslis replied into his ear, “Test time. Figure it out. Don’t get followed, questioned or caught. I’m watching you on camera.”
“Shit,” Des said.
He walked up the stairs to the second floor. The windows on the ground floor were covered in iron bars. There were no bars on the upper windows if he could find one to climb out of.
“Ryder,” A Voice called out.
Des turned his head, Veer was behind him, in a foolish attempt to catch up to him. The boy was going to get him noticed. Des saw a boys bathroom nearby, and he entered it.
The room was empty of people. Des shoved the garbage can underneath the door handle and jammed it in. It wouldn’t be enough to block the door from being opened, by it would be enough to slow him down for a few minutes.
Des scanned the bathroom, it was a standard school bathroom with a half dozen stalls and urinals on one wall and sinks on the other. A retched stench migrated out of one of the stalls, some boy had forgotten to flush.
At the very end was a window, which was open a crack. Des slid the window all the way open and looked out. On the edge of the building was a concrete lip where the first and second floors met. It would be enough for Des to get a toehold if he was lucky.
From the angle of the bathroom, there was no one in eyeshot. Which meant no one would see a cadet climb out of the second story window.
Behind Des, the door slammed as someone, probable Veer, tried to get into the bathroom. It looked like the garbage can would hold for now.
Des climbed out of the window and shimmied along the ledge of the building. He strained as his fingers gripped on individual bricks.
I don’t want to die, Des thought, I don’t want to die. This is crazy. I don’t want to die.
Des looked back and saw the window open. He shimmied back and slid the window shut. He figured it would be better to disappear from Veer.
Nearby, there was the power conduit for the building. It was a heavy steel pipe which stretched from the top of the building and into the ground of the station.
Des climbed down the steel pipe to the ground. He let out a sigh of relief as he marched across the academy grounds and around the corner. He needed to figure out a better way out next time. As well as better places to change into civilian clothes, even if he were to keep his Ryder face on.
Chapter 8
Des’s plan was for him to get to Cryslis’s small apartment safehouse to change. He had managed to get out of the military academy without anyone really paying attention to him. Except for Veer.
He figured Veer had busted into the boy's bathroom, making a scene in the process. Once he got inside, he would have found the bathroom empty, like he had vanished.
Now Des just had to walk the distance to the safehouse. He figured it would be a simple thing to do.
He was told the safehouse was one Cryslis frequently used when she needed someplace to go in the Teal Sector. She told him she has a few others scattered around the station.
Des looked at his watch. It was barely six in the morning. Most people were still asleep in their beds. A few of the morning people were walking along the road. Very few pedestrians paid any attention to Des as he walked down the street.
As Des crossed a road, he glanced to his left and his right watching for traffic. Trailing thirty feet behind was Veer. Des picked him out of the crowd due to Veer’s cadet uniform. Veer walked down the road going the same way Des was.
He cursed Veer under his breath. For someone who had to redo the course a couple times, as Veer had said, he had managed to catch up to him. At that moment, Des realized he had underestimated Veer, the jerk was better than he had thought.
Des saw Veer cross the road shortly after Des did. He knew Veer had spotted him and he was being followed.
He looked away as he shifted his bag. Des had hoped Veer didn’t see him looking. He tried to look natural as he walked down the road. He turned the next corner and kept walking. Des picked up his pace and searched to the side hoping to find somewhere to turn into. He would need to study the station more, not only the simple ways through it, but the untrodden paths.
Des glanced back down the street at the corner and noticed Veer still followed him. He was following, but not making a scene. Des didn’t know why Veer was after him or why he had taken an interest in him. He would figure out that later, once he had lost him.
Along both sides of the road was a line of small shops. The shops were simple in nature with simple storefronts and displays. There were bookstores and coffee shops. Des turned and walked into a coffee shop.
The bell dinged as he entered. The shop was filled with patrons standing in line and sitting at tables. It looked like all of the morning people were lined up getting morning coffee. Des walked up to the cashier and stood in line. He angled his body to watch the door. Des saw Veer look in just as he was stepped up to the counter.
“Do you have a bathroom I can use?” Des asked.
The coffee shop girl behind the till looked up at Des.
“To the side of the store, just follow the sign,” the Coffee Shop Girl said.
“Thank you,” Des said.
Des walked towards the small hallway. The hallway turned a corner, hiding the bathroom entrance from the patron’s view in the store. He headed towards the bathroom.
He slid around the corner, and there was a second door. However, this one said 'staff room.' Des looked into the staff room and saw a door which said, ‘Exit.'
“When can I get off today?” A Voice said from the staff room.
Des entered into the small bathroom. He locked the door behind him.
Think. Think, Des thought.
Des cursed the academy uniform he wore. He had no way of hiding in the crowd. The bright red of his jacket made him stand out, not that he had anything to change into. It was all at the safehouse. He knew he would fix that for next time somehow. With or without Cryslis’s permission.
He heard the door handle rattle a couple of times. Footsteps slowly faded away from the door.
Des got down on his hands and knees. He looked underneath the door. However, Des couldn’t see anyone by the door.
He opened the door. No one was in the hallway.
A voice echoed down the hallway, “Thanks for all of your help. Crazy plebe.”
The voice was Veer’s, and it was getting close to the bathroom.
Des looked at the staffroom door. It was shut, and after he tried the door handle, he discovered it was locked. The lock was a newer electronic, the type with a keypad and code. Des pulled out his personal phone and hit a couple quick buttons.
New, but not sophisticated, Des thought as the door unlocked.
Des opened the door and locked it behind him. The staff room was cluttered with boxes and bags. He made his way to the exit and left the store.
He found himself in a small alley. The alley was narrow and filled with debris and trash from the buildings around him. With no sign of Veer around him, Des headed down it to Cryslis’s safehouse. Des hoped he had managed to loose Veer a second time using the same trick.
***
It took Des twenty minutes to walk the short distance to the safehouse. He was nervous he was going to see Veer following him again, but he didn’t see him. He was worried he was being followed at a distance by whoever had helped him after he got out of the academy, but it was a problem for another time. He entered the small apartment building after he confirmed he wasn’t being followed.
The building was three stories tall and made out of larger reddish stone. The building was skinnier than the others around it. Only two apartments were on each floor. It was surrounded by buildings of the same style on both sides.
Des headed up the stairs and to the safehouse’s door. Des rapped on the door a couple times and was let in. Cryslis stood in the entranceway. A pin shooter was in her hand.
“You’re late,” Cryslis said.
“I had to lose a nosy tail,” Des replied, “What’s with the pin shooter?”
Cryslis left the safehouse entranceway and closed the door behind Des. She led him into a small living room. A young man who looked like he was in his early twenties sat on a couch.
“That’s Cooley,” Cryslis said, “This is Des.”
Cryslis handed the shooter to Cooley.
Cooley removed the magazine and checked the chamber for a round. He set the weapon into a small metallic box with a key lock. The lock snapped closed as the lid snapped shut. Cooley had a smallish head and close-cropped hair. He wore simple black street clothes, but Des could tell he had military training. It was how he handled the gun. Des had watched his uncle and his older brother do the same with guns.
“He handles running some of my safehouses around the station. He’s also very good with computers and is our support when we’re in the field.”
Des nodded.
“Why didn’t you contact me about the tail?” Cryslis asked.
“Wasn’t that part of the test?” Des asked.
“No,” Cryslis said, “I just wanted to see how you got out of the school. I didn’t know you were being followed by anyone.”
“Did I pass?”
“You passed the test,” Cooley said, “Good job with disappearing from the bathroom.”
“Who was following you?” Cryslis said, “And next time, you’re to call it in as you notice it.”
“Well,” Des said, “He’s going to be a thorn in my side. His assumed name is Veer Robert, and he’s in my class.”
Des gave Cryslis a small rundown on what he thought about Veer.
“The name and the face matter little,” Cooley said, “And I bet he has help of some kind to be able to get back on your tail.”
“Or he was lucky?” Cryslis said.
“How many times are we lucky?” Cooley asked.
“Never,” Cryslis said, “is this house blown?”
“I don’t think so,” Cooley said.
“Well,” Cryslis said as she looked over at Des, “Get dressed. You need to get to your other school.”
Des’s walk to his regular school was smooth and uneventful in comparison to this walk to the safehouse. He felt safe not in the Ryder disguise or the academy uniform. He had hoped to get to his school with enough time to do his school work, but the walk took him longer than he thought it should had.
