“I’ve never seen one in person,” Kaylana’s voice hushed in awe.
“There aren’t any more trees in Orlando. I had no idea they would be here.” Aurora tentatively placed her hand against the tree. The rough texture bit into her palm. “I thought the only remaining plant life was out west.”
“I wonder how old they are.” Kaylana tilted her head back.
The palm fronds way above their heads gently swayed in the breeze.
“Old. They’ve gotta be over fifty feet tall.” Aurora craned her head back, but in comparison to the enormous Academy building beside them, it was hard to accurately judge. Everything looked small next to the Apollo Academy.
Now that Aurora was closer, she could see the delicate gold logo that she had seen from a distance earlier. On the lower part of one A, a shuttle looked as if it flew directly away from the letter and up into the stars sprinkled above it. The logo was beautiful and classic in its detail.
Aurora tried to take in the massive building. She felt history pouring out of every square inch. She was there to follow in the steps of Neil Armstrong and the many brave astronauts who had made history before her. All of their sacrifice and hard work led to the opportunities she had today. Even though NASA was no longer around, its foundations were still a part of the building that housed the Academy. It was fitting that her dreams would be intertwined with the many dreams and accomplishments of those who came before her.
The facility was much busier than Aurora thought it would be. Many walked as if on some important mission, and Aurora realized they very well could be.
As she watched the people scurrying around her, the hair on the back of her neck rose. There was something different about them, but it took her several moments to figure out what.
She could clearly see their eyes. The only tech they wore were the thick white techiwatches strapped to their wrists.
“Aurora, Kaylana!” Her dad’s familiar voice carried to them as he stepped out of the hovercar. By the time Aurora and Kaylana walked over to him, their luggage was out of the trunk.
“I’m sorry about this morning. I shouldn’t have pushed you.” Her dad placed his hands on her shoulders. “You were really great today.” He pulled her into another awkward hug. “I’m proud of you.”
Aurora’s shoulders sagged as she wrapped her arms around her father. “I love you, Dad.” She was never one to stay mad for long. He always did what he thought best, even if at times it was misguided.
“Can I join in?” Before either of them answered, Kaylana wrapped her long arms around both of them.
“Mr. Titon, don’t let my dad work too hard while I’m away,” Kaylana joked, causing Aurora’s dad to smile.
“I’ll try to kick him out of the medical lab every once in awhile.” He pulled away. “I guess I’ll see you girls in a few months. Call me if you need anything.” He patted Aurora’s shoulder one last time before he hopped into the back of the hovercar. Once his car went through the security gate, the steel doors began to close. “I guess it’s time.” Aurora turned, grabbing her bag. “We better get to the cafeteria.”
Aurora struggled to climb the three stairs that led to the moving stairway. Her stupid luggage probably outweighed her. Kaylana managed hers without a problem and thankfully reached back, helping her pull the monstrous suitcase onto the motorized stairs. Aurora hopped on, following her luggage up the hundred steps to the Academy’s main door.
Cool air greeted her when she walked through the soaring glass doors. The interior of the building was just as impressive as the outside with a large vaulted ceiling that looked like it belonged to the lobby of a high-end resort. Hanging above their heads was an enormous, moving replica of their solar system. The sun was brightly lit and centered in the room, allowing the eight planets that surrounded to move slowly along their orbits.
Aurora looked around wide-eyed. Hallways covered in glass screens led people in multiple directions. The three elevators looked like they could hold fifty people easily. The place was enormous.
“This is so nova!” Kaylana squealed.
Together they followed signs to the cafeteria, down a side hallway. When they reached their destination, the metal doors to the cafeteria automatically swung open, having sensed their arrival.
ZANE
Only when the steel doors on the Academy’s massive outer gate clicked closed did Zane allow himself to fully understand what this meant for him. He would have his own room with a roof over his head, an education, and a chance to go where few people had gone before. This was the biggest break of his life. He hesitantly let out a smile.
“Feels good, doesn’t it?” Akemi nodded at the Academy. Before he gave Zane a chance to answer he continued, “We better get going. Orientation starts soon.”
Slinging his book bag over his shoulder, Zane followed Akemi as he bounded toward the Apollo Academy. As soon as Zane placed his foot on the motorized stairway, he was propelled upward and promptly deposited outside the main front door. Akemi was already through the door by the time Zane realized the door was equipped with a retinal scanner.
He tried to look away, but it was too late.
A warning beep sounded, followed by red warning lights.
Zane stopped, freezing in place. What should he do? He couldn’t run, this was where he needed to be.
“Zane, what’s going on?” Akemi’s worried voice called out to him.
“Don’t worry about it. Just a misunderstanding. I’ll meet you in the cafeteria.”
Zane couldn’t see if Akemi listened to him or not because an angry security guard stood before him. The guard took in Zane’s dark clothing and combat boots and came to his own conclusion.
“This is private property of the Apollo Academy,” the guard gruffly informed him.
“Really? You mean this isn’t the Statue of Liberty?” Zane cocked his head to the side as the guard stared at him in confusion. “Damn, you’re not too bright. I’m a new cadet.”
The guard pointed to the retinal scanner above the door. “That alarm only goes off when it reads an unknown retinal scan. I’m afraid I’m going to have to escort you off the property.”
Shit. Now he had the task of convincing this guard that he was expected. Zane wiped his face clean of emotion. “I’m afraid I can’t do that,” he explained. “Ms. Lovell is expecting me at orientation.” Zane looked down at his watch. “Which is starting right about now. So the sooner you let me by,” he said, his hands spread wide, “the better off we’ll be.”
“Is that so?” The guard’s voice was laced with disdain. “Then what’s your name? And why didn’t the retinal scan recognize you?”
“Zane Paxton. It must be broken or something.” He shrugged.
“Well, Zane Paxton, let’s get a retinal scan, and we’ll go from there.” The guard pulled a retinal wand from his back pocket.
“Look, you need to call Ms. Lovell.” Zane backed up, but the guard kept moving forward.
His back bumped against the door, and Zane pushed it open. At least there would be fewer witnesses out here.
Even though he knew this wasn’t going to go well, there was nothing left to do but let the guard scan his eyes.
A warning beep accompanied his unknown status when it came up on the screen.
The guard took a step back, and his eyes widened. Before Zane knew it, the guard had pulled out his stun gun and pointed it at him. Zane rolled his eyes; no one ever took his unknown status well. Unknowns were usually criminals stripped of status or people so poor that they didn’t matter to society.
“Like I said, you need to call Ms. Lovell. She’s aware of my status.” Zane held his hands up in surrender.
The guard eyed him warily before he relented. He kept the gun on Zane as he slowly lifted his other arm and spoke into his techiwatch.
“I’ve got a situation here. There’s an unknown trying to get onto the Academy’s grounds.”
Another male voice responded. “An unknown?” A brie
f pause followed, but it wasn’t long enough to verify with anyone else. “Well, get rid of him. We don’t allow unknowns into our facility.”
Zane tensed as the guard’s mouth contorted into an evil grin. Obviously these people were too low in the Academy’s ranks to know anything.
“With pleasure.” He lowered his arm and took a menacing step toward Zane. “You heard my supervisor. Now you better get moving before I teach you a lesson. The Apollo Academy’s an elite organization and doesn’t need the likes of you running around.”
Zane hesitated. He needed to get to someone who knew of his acceptance. He wasn’t about to let one guard keep him from finally having a chance at a better life. He’d been in plenty of fights and knew he could easily disarm the guard. Without letting his intentions cross his face, Zane leaped toward him.
The guard tried to move out of his way but instead fell backwards onto the ground. Zane knocked the stun gun out of his hand. With the threat of the gun gone, Zane wrestled the guard, trying to restrain him.
They rolled across the ground as each struggled to gain the upper hand.
Despite his size, the guard was surprisingly agile and evaded Zane’s attempts to subdue him. Zane wished he could just punch the guy senseless, but he really didn’t want to make that kind of impression on his first day. Zane looked around. If only there was something to tie him down with.
His hesitation cost him.
Before he knew it, a hand clamped down on his shoulder, and he felt the distinct pressure of the stun gun against his back.
“Lock your hands together and hold them out in front of you.”
Zane eased his hands in front of him. He didn’t really feel like getting electrocuted today.
As soon as his hands were together, the guard clamped manacles around his wrists, binding them.
“Try that again, and I’ll use this.” He waved the stun gun in the air.
The guard pushed Zane forward and spoke into his techiwatch. “Sky, meet me at the front entrance.”
Zane was completely drenched in sweat and covered in dirt, but he stood there as if he wasn’t wearing handcuffs or being manipulated by a security guard. This was so not the way he thought this day would go, but at least he wasn’t being removed from the school yet.
A tall, well-built, twenty-something boy came through the front door. Zane assumed this was Sky. His blond hair was spiked with gel, and his bright blue eyes took in Zane’s disheveled appearance. Sky walked around Zane, looking him up and down. He moved like he owned the place.
“What do we have here?” Sky asked the guard.
“A trespasser who just attacked me, but I held him off.”
“You don’t watch it and I’ll wipe that smile off your face,” Zane calmly said. If he really wanted to get out of the guy’s grip, it was only a matter of leverage.
The guard’s hold tightened, but Zane could tell he’d spooked him. “What should we do with him?” The guard shoved Zane forward.
“Look, I was invited to the initiation test this morning, and I passed. I’m a new student here. This guard’s a bit dense.” Zane shrugged his shoulders.
“He’s an unknown,” the guard said as if that proved everything.
Sky’s eyebrows rose. “An unknown?”
“Don’t believe me?” The guard shoved the wand into Sky’s hands.
Zane stepped into the dark shadow the building cast over him. There were people everywhere, and some of them stopped to stare. He inclined his head forward. “Listen. Sky, right? Let’s not cause a scene. Someone obviously accepted me. Maybe you should check with Ms. Lovell.”
Sky placed the retinal scanner over his left eye, but before it scanned, Sky’s techiwatch beeped. Sky pushed Zane back and enlarged the screen on his watch.
Ms. Lovell appeared on the screen. “Sky, a student just informed me that Zane Paxton has been detained.”
Akemi.
Sky turned the monitor so that Ms. Lovell could see Zane standing handcuffed next to the guard. “Is this Zane Paxton? Our security guard had to handcuff him after he attacked. He’s an unknown.”
Ms. Lovell’s eyebrows rose, and Zane heard her heels clicking against the floor as she moved. “Zane? Is this true?”
Zane stepped forward and tried to wipe some of the sweat and dirt off of his face “Yeah. I, uh, had a little altercation getting past the guard. He, uh, didn’t like my retinal scan.” He shrugged and offered no apology. Someone should have expected this sort of response to his status.
Ms. Lovell sighed. “Zane, I’m aware of your situation. I planned on discussing this with you when you got here. It seems I should have acted more quickly. Sky, please have Mr. Werner remove his cuffs and escort Zane to the cafeteria. You’re both late.”
Zane’s shoulders sagged. Good, they weren’t going to kick him out.
“Are you sure about this? Since when do we let unknowns train here?” Sky frowned.
“Sky, do I need to remind you of your background? Or of the desperate situation we find ourselves in? We need him.”
Sky paled. “Of course not. We’ll be on our way.” Sky ended the call and motioned for the guard to remove the handcuffs.
The guard looked pissed but didn’t contradict Ms. Lovell’s or Sky’s orders. He hastily removed the cuffs and stomped away.
Zane rubbed his wrists and looked at Sky. He looked about as happy as the guard did.
When they arrived at the cafeteria, Ms. Lovell was calmly standing in front of the gathered cadets in a side alcove. After a quick head count, Zane realized he was the last person to get there. Instead of shuffling to a seat, he casually strolled in and sat down in the available chair next to Akemi.
“Thanks,” Zane whispered to Akemi.
“It looks like we are all here now. Mr. Zane Paxton, I’m glad you made it safely.” Ms. Lovell walked to his seat and handed him an electronic pin. He clipped it to his shirt and watched his name continuously scroll over it.
Ms. Lovell turned back to face everyone. “Welcome to the Apollo Academy class eight. Congratulations to everyone for passing not only your entrance exams, but also your exciting initiation test this morning. We are delighted to have an exceptional group of students for this year’s class. You were all accepted into our facility because you each have a certain set of skills that will make you an integral part of our missions.”
Zane looked around. The cafeteria was a large sterile white room with tables and chairs dispersed throughout. This room alone was fifty times the size of the place he grew up in. There were large groups of people eating, but the noise of all of those people did not make it back to their alcove.
At the front of the room he saw a screen on which the day’s available food options were displayed. A man selected an option on the screen and then moved to wait in front of a metal door. A few moments later the metal door opened, revealing a plate of food. Zane felt some of the tension in his shoulders release; he would have consistent meals that he would not have to steal.
Ms. Lovell continued speaking as he looked around. “We will begin with a few guidelines. First, we do not speak of any mission outside of the Apollo Academy. We pride ourselves on our partnership with the Apollo Alliance and discretion is an integral part of that relationship. Second, we are all adults here, and thus we will treat one another with respect. It’s understandable that there will be some competitive behavior during your training. That’s only natural. In fact, we encourage competitiveness because it will motivate you to work harder to be the best. But we do expect it to be conducted in a constructive manner. We will need you all to work as a team, and rivalries will not be tolerated.”
Ms. Lovell paused as if to make her point clear. “We are all equals here.”
Yeah, right. He’d already seen how well that rule held up.
“We expect your primary focus to be on your studies so that you may excel in your area of concentration. Your schedules will be intense and demanding. Not everyone will be cut out for this type
of lifestyle.” Ms. Lovell paused to emphasize the point.
“Finally, each student will attend weekly appointments with our in-house medical staff to ensure that each of you remain in stable physical and mental health. Our training is extremely demanding, and it is our responsibility to ensure that everyone remains healthy.”
With that last declaration, Zane felt his palms begin to sweat, but he managed to keep his face composed, showing nothing of his inner turmoil. Weekly appointments with a doctor? With weekly medical examinations, keeping his anomaly from being discovered was going to be next to impossible.
He hadn’t been to a doctor since his ill-fated visit thirteen years ago. Zane mulled over this turn of events and tried to strategize. Even if they took his blood work they would have no reason to do a detailed genetic screening. These visits were to ensure his health, he rationalized, so if he showed no symptoms of anything, there would be no reason to do extensive testing. It didn’t matter what he had to do; he couldn’t let anyone find out.
AURORA
Aurora thought she’d already seen it all today. But when Zane walked into the cafeteria completely disheveled, covered in dirt, she was still surprised. What could have possibly happened to him in the last half hour?
He sauntered in and sat at the front of the group with that same arrogant face, thundersome eyes, and cool predator stalk she was beginning to associate him with. He didn’t even look bothered that he was covered in dirt. If it were Aurora, she knew her face would have been bright red.
Zane never once glanced in her direction, so she didn’t worry about getting caught staring this time. She let her gaze slowly travel down his fit, lean body. His hair stuck in matted, clumps to his forehead, and the dirt smeared on his face seemed to highlight his sculpted cheekbones. Stars, he was sexy.
It was only when Aurora had her fill of Zane that she saw the blond haired boy that came in with him. He went to stand by the other teachers lined up behind Ms. Lovell. He posed against the wall and crossed his arms, showing off his perfectly honed muscles. When his blue eyes met hers, they narrowed, and his face turned to disgust. Aurora quickly looked away but not before she saw the muscles in his forearms clench.
The Apollo Academy Page 5
