Blue Sky Tomorrows

by L. J. Hachmeister

  Cam pushed aside the memory and the emotion, and latched onto the lesson. “There’s always a way…”

  A fire escape. A backdoor. Something he could use to circumvent his weakness.

  Or maybe someone.

  “Ferros.”

  Cam turned over onto his other side facing the rest of the barracks. Stempton had stepped on the bottom bunk and pulled himself partway up so that he could rest his elbows on Cam’s mattress. Below, his bunkmate muttered a protest, but otherwise kept quiet. Hoch and Walli, hanging farther back, scowled and tried to look intimidating.

  “What?”

  “What business you have with that launnie?”

  Cam scoffed and turned his attention back to his datapad. “Nothing.”

  “Why were you in c-corridor?”

  Cam leveled his eyes with Stempton’s. “Why do you care?”

  “Keep lippin’ off, rub. See where it gets you.”

  The thought crossed his mind to slam Stempton’s head against the bed frame, but a fight now, especially in front of so many witnesses, would land him in the brig. Besides, if Stempton wanted to beat a psycho, he’d figure out a way to do it so that he wouldn’t be kicked out of the Academy, but guarantee a victory that would kill Cam’s reputation.

  Or me. The thought quickened his heart as he stared into the boy’s mustard-colored eyes. He knew that look. He’d seen that kind of hatred in his father’s face when he came home after losing his job to a leech. I humiliated you, and now you want me dead.

  But something kept him from doing it right away. Stempton wanted something—needed something—from him.

  I need you, too, he thought. Rolling up his right sleeve of his pajama shirt to reveal his scars, he cut all emotion out of his voice. “Yeah, let’s see.”

  Stempton grunted, and faded back for a second. Cheeks turning red, he grabbed a dataclip out of his pocket and held it in front of Cam’s face. “We have a deal?”

  Cam looked at the red chip, insides burning.

  “Come on, killer. It’s not like you’re going to be the one saving the galaxy. Take it.”

  Rogman’s admonition resurfaced: “The other cadets here are the best of the best. The competition will annihilate you.”

  He swiped the chip from Stempton’s hand.

  The red-haired boy smirked. “We’ll talk later, killer.”

  Stempton, Walli, and Hoch returned to their bunks, laughing and elbowing each other.

  Alone again, Cam held on to the red chip in his left hand, feeling cheap and dirty.

  It doesn’t matter, he tried to tell himself. It’s a means to an end.

  With this chip he’d pass chemistry, and get one step closer to finding his sister, even if he did have to rough up a few of Stempton’s enemies.

  Opening his secret document, he wrote a note on Stempton: Manipulative. Cunning. Don’t trust him.

  Chewing other his thumbnail, he added: Afraid of me.

  Fear. His one advantage. Thinking of Colin, he realized his second: need.

  Still, he didn’t download the answers. Not yet. Something, a hot feeling pooling in his stomach, kept him fitting the chip into a port.

  Lying back down on his bed, he turned onto his side and checked his sleeve. No messages, no alerts. He thought of Jahx’s private link, typing it in twice, but deleting it both times.

  I don’t need anyone, he told himself, closing his eyes. He tried to imagine himself curled up on the sofa, his big sister’s feet propped on top of him as she read her ancient literature presentation on her datapad. The twins, playing by the fireplace, babbled in their secret language as their father cursed the losing rumbee team on the television. Off in the kitchen, their mother yelled for someone to come help her with the roast.

  Kara, he thought as his grip loosened on his datapad and the chip, his body sinking into the mattress. In the distance, he saw her limp body carried off by USC soldiers. Don’t give up on me.

  Chapter 11

  “Just take a seat,” the professor said, waving Cam toward the back of the class.

  Cam trudged up the stairs to the only empty desk, trying not to lose his footing in the dark. The lighted walkway gave him some idea where to place his feet, and glowing interface ports outlined the desks. The other students, whispering to each other in anxious tones, paid no attention to the new addition.

  “Alright, class,” the professor announced, “today’s match – Cadet Walli against cadet Teahvo.”

  Anxiety turned into excited chatter, at least amongst the students not pitted against each other. Two dark figures walked down to the front of the class where a large, circular console projected a spherical playing field.

  Walli stepped into the projected light first and took his seat in one of the two chairs. His opponent, a hulking, muli-limbed hominid with amphibian feet, banged his knees against the console as he tried to fit his oversized body into the smaller seat.

  The other kids laughed. All except one.

  Jahx.

  The dark-hair boy watched with concern from two rows down.

  What’s his problem?

  A second thought came at the heels of the first as the teacher ran down the rules of the match. What’s he looking for?

  “…Walli will take the ground force, Teahvo the air strike. Each player will be evenly matched in playing pieces. However, the air strike will have a 60% fuel loss, and ground force will have only phase missiles and disruptors. The match will start in thirty seconds. Ready yourselves, players.”

  Cam leaned forward, fascinated as the spherical playing field lit up with a variety of different game pieces. Teahvo and Walli changed the angle of their viewpoints on their personal interfaces close to their keyboards and controllers as the holographic timer ticked down above the sphere.

  “Walli’s gonna crush that freak,” he heard someone whisper.

  Cam gripped the edge of his desk. Nothing Kara ever played with him—from the trick-taking card competitions to the challenging strategy game they played in their heads—compared to this.

  The timer buzzed. Teahvo swarmed Walli’s base, coming in hot with his entire fleet of battleships. Responding with tanks and crawlers, Walli kept his ground forces tight and controlled, but couldn’t keep up with Teahvo’s multi-faceted attack. The battle lasted two minutes.

  “Chak,” Walli said, slamming his fists against his console as his base of operations blipped out.

  Teahvo pointed one of his limbs and jeered through a translator fixed below his mouth. “You talk big, but you play like a girl!”

  Cam quirked an eyebrow. Females made up forty percent of the Academy students and professors. Such an insult didn’t make sense. Unless he feels threatened by feminine qualities. He got out his secret document and wrote down his observation.

  “What did we learn class?” the professor asked as the two opponents returned to their seats.

  Students shouted out various answers. “Take the enemy by surprise.”

  “Don’t crowd your base.”

  “That’s right,” the professor said, resetting the playing field with a swipe of her hand. “You can’t always afford to be conservative, not when time and supplies are a factor. Next up: Cadet Drachsi and Zhow.”

  Jahx and Shiggla. He watched the two rise and walk to the console. Jahx quietly took his seat, making no adjustments to the keyboards and controllers, his demeanor even, calm.

  Too calm, Cam thought. He pulled up the class roster on his sleeve and reviewed the rankings. Shiggla’s the top student in this class. He’s going to get smashed.

  But then he looked at Jahx’s standings. Dead center. But instead of an even win/loss ratio, his stats held him close to zero. How is that possible?

  Shiggla whispered something from across the way as the teacher announced the game’s restrictions. Cam couldn’t quite tell, but it looked like, you’re dead, launnie.

  “In this simulation, we will explore one-sided advantages,” she explained, typing something on her dat
apad as the playing field populated with new game pieces. “Tough decisions must be made in battle. Loss and death are inevitable. How will you deal with these challenges? What is more important—the objective, or the life you preserve?”

  Heart thudding in his chest, Cam watched as the playing field appeared. On one side of the open space, thousands of red playing pieces populated, from dreadnaughts to warships, and on the other, a radioactive fuel transport and a battleship at 20% power.

  That’s not fair! Cam couldn’t believe the odds. Jahx, in control of the two starships, didn’t stand a chance against Shiggla’s massive fleet.

  “Cadet Zhow,” the professor said, addressing Shiggla, “to win this match, you must destroy the enemy with zero loss. Drachsi – to win, you must last five minutes.”

  Five minutes? He’s not going to last five seconds, he thought as the other kids laughed and cheered on Shiggla to obliterate Jahx.

  Cam gripped the edge of his desk, biting his lip as the time ticked down about the sphere. Other kids stood up, clapping their hands and chanting Shiggla’s name.

  Standing, Cam held his breath as the timer approached zero. He wanted to do something—not that he knew what—as Shiggla changed the angle of her game to focus on the warships. A smug smile upon her face, she gave a thumb’s down to her opponent as the timer read 10, 9, 8…

  Jahx, what are you doing? Cam thought as the blue-eyed boy stared at Shiggla, his focus beyond her conceited expression, somewhere that didn’t make sense to him, as the slaughter approached.

  But as the timer hit 3, 2, 1, Jahx’s hands shot up to the controls.

  Cam held his breath. The entirety of Shiggla’s fleet locked on to Jahx’s two ships. But not before Jahx, overcharging his engines, turned his own battleship on his fuel transport.

  What are you—

  He fired, targeting the fuel tankers on the ship as his engaged his battleship’s jump drives, the engines that folded space-time. The entire playing sphere exploded in a flash of light.

  “No!” Shiggla shouted as her playing pieces vanished.

  The simulation ended, scoreboard remaining 0-0. The entire classroom went silent.

  “Another draw. Congratulations, cadet Drachsi; I’ve never met a student more determined to sacrifice everything to avoid a fight. Return to your seats,” the professor said.

  That’s why his class ranking is so weird, Cam realized. He must tie a lot of his matches.

  But why? Why would a human from Fiorah want to tie his matches instead of winning?

  Or losing.

  Cam didn’t understand it, but as he sat back down, he made note of it in his profile on Jahx. Doesn’t want to win. Or lose. Class ranking is average – again.

  Cam watched as some of the other students whispered insults to Jahx.

  “Cheater.”

  “Wimp.”

  “Launnie.”

  But the black-haired boy remained lost in his own thoughts, returning to his seat and facing the front of the class as the teacher called two new students down for another match.

  There’s something more to you, isn’t there? he thought, studying Jahx as the boy watched the other players taking centerstage. Tying can be harder than winning or losing.

  Cam decided to find out what. After all, Jahx was a street kid, like him. And street kids knew how to survive, how to beat all the odds.

  Or at least that’s how he justified planning their next encounter.

  Jahx Drachsi, he thought, as if the human boy could somehow hear him. Can you help me find my sister?

  Chapter 12

  Cam looked for Iggie and Tomia at breakfast the next day in the mess hall, but didn’t see them anywhere.

  Where are they?

  As much as he hated to admit it, just seeing them, even at a distance, gave him some kind of reassurance.

  It’s early, he thought, checking his sleeve. 0530. No, Tomia would be here. She eats early.

  As he dumped his tray, he did one last visual scan of the half-full mess hall, hoping to see their familiar faces. I’ll just go check on them later, in the barracks, he decided.

  Stempton’s red chip in his pants pocket, Cam hurried to 102, trying to keep the anxiety from his face. With only a couple hours left until class, he needed to upload his answers to the study questions or else he’d lose points in his class score, as well as ranking. Not that I need to do anything but pass.

  Still, everything counted. Hopping off the lift, he used his student code to gain access to 102 and entered the dark classroom.

  The center gaming console, lit and projecting a rotating spherical battlefield, cast restless shadows across the room. He wound his way around the console to the gaming terminals at the far side of the room. Four stations, all with glowing keyboards and flat screen monitors, waited for the next player.

  Crouching underneath the terminal, he pried off the protective panel and studied the internal wiring. At four, Kara taught him how to rig arcades to give them a free game. By seven, he’d figured out how to open most door and vault locks, with only a few burns and gashes to show for his mistakes. But he didn’t need to play games or steal food. Now, he needed information.

  Pulling out a bundle of yellow wires, he clamped off two of the lines to isolate a free port.

  “Let’s see what you’re up to, ratchakker,” he said, fitting the chip inside the port.

  Standing back up, he watched as the data streamed across the flat screen. Research papers, study questions, and test answers from former students as far back as ten years ago, zoomed across the screen.

  He hacked the system, Cam thought. Or he stole this from someone who did.

  As smart as Stempton was, something like this required a level of hacking genius he didn’t think the red-headed Crexan possessed.

  Everything seemed legit until he saw the code at the very bottom right of the safe view, appearing as blips of zeros and ones. Chak.

  “Hey.”

  Cam reared back, fists up, ready for an attack.

  “Sorry,” Jahx said, stepping out from behind the second row of desks and holding up his hands. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  “What are you doing here?” Cam said, trying to shield the download with his body.

  Jahx descended the stairs until he stood across from Cam, hands at his side, looking anything but threatening. “Just needed the quiet.”

  Cam slowed his breathing, but stayed in front of the terminal. “Why here?”

  Looking at his feet, Jahx answered in a less confident tone. “I don’t like games like this… but I feel like I have to be here.”

  Cam looked over his shoulder, at the desk Jahx popped out from. Shiggla’s desk. “Are you rigging the games? Is that why you tie all the time?”

  “I know why you say that,” Jahx said, pointing to the terminal Cam tried to cover up. “You just found out Stempton gave you a hot chip. Yeah, some kids cheat and lie to get ahead, but I don’t. Players like you and me don’t have to.”

  Cam’s mouth hung open before he regained enough of himself from the shock to clamp it back shut. “W-what?”

  As Jahx walked toward him, Cam got out of the way, surprised and weirded out by his actions. He watched as the black-haired boy used the keyboard alt functions to display the code hidden in the chip’s programming. “See, right here,” he said, pointing to the highlighted areas, “Stempton wanted you to download this to your personal datapad so he could access all your files. Then he could have watched you, framed you for anything… you know.”

  Cam swallowed hard. He gathered Stempton wanted to screw him, and the chip had been rigged, but not to this extent. Still, it made sense as he looked at the code. “That assino.”

  “He’s a six,” Jahx said as he tapped the keyboard and edited the code, “meaning he thinks about six moves ahead in any scenario, game or not. He’s smart, but he’s got a weakness.”

  “He thinks everyone else is dumb,” Cam replied.

  “Yep,” Jahx repl
ied, wiping the terminal record of their interaction.

  “So, what’s your game then?”

  Jahx pulled out the red chip and handed it back to Cam, blue eyes bespeaking of a troubled past. “Survival.”

  He’s... like me. Cam took the chip and held it in his fist, unsure of what to say next. “How am I going to pass chemistry? Or even gaming? I’m not… I didn’t go to school like everyone else. I’m not… I’m just not like the other kids.”

  Jahx sounded as if he chose his words with care. “Right, but kids like us have had the cruelest—and best—teacher of all growing up. They don’t get what you and I know.”

  Desperation, he thought, but didn’t answer aloud.

  To his surprise, Jahx closed his hand around his fist. His heart fluttered at his touch. “I got rid of the malware. If you want, you can have all the answers in an instant. Or, I can help you get started, show you a few tricks how to figure this stuff out faster, and you can do it without cheating.”

  An old memory, from when Kara first taught him how to pick a lock, came to mind. He remembered the feel of her strong grips underneath his armpits as she held him up so he could reach the exposed door keypad, the confidence in her voice as she waited patiently for him to select the correct wires to cross. “You’re smart, Cam-cam. You’ve got this.”

  “Ok.”

  “Ok,” Jahx said with a hint of a smile.

  Withdrawing his fist, Cam asked again: “What were you doing at Shiggla’s desk?”

  Jahx waved at him to follow as he made his way back to her desk.

  “Student information, other than rank, is private,” he explained, calling up the video files recorded from the desk. “But how a student watches the battle matches are accessible by anyone because it’s considered ‘battle footage.’”