“Thank you,” I whisper to him as I look over at our lean-to with the lock still intact.
I turn in a circle to take in the camp. Everyone is busy getting ready for dinner, streams of people coming down the trail out of the fields.
“I can’t believe they showed themselves to all these people. And threatened them,” I whisper to Rand and Mrs. Mitchell. “Everyone knows it’s illegal for them to be here.”
“Sure. But who’s going to tell? And if one of us was brave enough to put our necks out like that, who would we tell? No one cares about a few hundred thousand immigrants.” Mrs. Mitchell’s crosses her arms.
“But I heard some of the land bosses came down to help,” I say quietly.
“Yes, a few did. Enough to scare the Unit away, but when it comes down to protecting all of us, there won’t be enough help.” Mrs. Mitchell’s face turns a dark shade of pink.
I clamp my mouth shut. I’ve never seen Mrs. Mitchell so angry. I look at Rand. His face mirrors hers, except he’s grinding his jaw. I swallow. “This was all my fault. I need to be the one to do something about this. They can’t just terrorize us and get away with it.”
“You can’t do anything. You don’t want to mess with your chances at getting into the Academy,” says Mrs. Mitchell, a tinge of sadness in her tone.
“But—”
“She’s right. Take care of your mom and get sleep tonight. We have our final tests tomorrow,” says Rand as he takes a step away from the tent. “I’ll meet you back here and we can walk up in the morning.”
I frown and look over at Mrs. Mitchell. “You don’t think they’ll be back tonight?”
She shakes her head, making her jowls shake. “No, I don’t. I think they’ll wait to see if anyone tells on them first. There were only about eight of them, and there are hundreds of thousands of us, so they were down here and gone in the span of less than twenty minutes.”
I crease my forehead deeper as I think about that. I tilt my head and look over at Rand. “They knew exactly where to go, then. They know it’s me. Otherwise it might’ve taken them all night to get over here to my tent.”
Cam slips his hand into mine and closes the distance between us, hugging himself to me.
Rand’s expression freezes into concern.
“You agree then? They do know it’s me. The Unit is coming after me.” I squeeze Cam’s hand.
“Get some sleep,” Rand says before he turns toward the dam. “Nothing we can do about it right now. Like Mrs. Mitchell said, they won’t be back tonight. She’s right. And we have a big day tomorrow.”
Cam and I wave to Rand as he leaves. While we get ready for bed and take care of Mom, Cam doesn’t say or ask anything. I’m grateful because I doubt I’d have any good answers right now. I’m fighting to keep my mind on the tests tomorrow.
When I go to the lean-to for food for the next day, I rummage in the bags we brought back from Kai. I find what looks like a small button attached to the bottom of one of the medical containers. I growl under my breath as I peel it off. After making sure there aren’t others, I take it down to the river with me. As I let the washcloths soak in the cold water, I take the tracker and crush it between two rocks and then throw it far out into the current.
I take the long way back to my tent, stretching my sore legs. I replace the washcloth on Mom’s forehead and place the others in the cooler. I rub my sore joints, my sleeping bag feeling heavenly in my exhaustion. I fall asleep listening to the sounds of the camp and Mom’s small whimpers.
I sleep fairly well, considering all that I have on my mind right now. I wake refreshed, ready to prove myself to the space team today. For the final physical tests, they have actual teams from the space stations come down to proctor our tests. I get to meet the very people I might one day work with.
I get dressed as I try to shake any negative self-talk out of my head. I need to focus on the physical tests today. I won’t have a more life changing week than this. I feel cheated in a way, since normally I would be super psyched to be meeting real Space Command officers. But with everything else going on right now, I’m having a hard time allowing myself to feel happy or excited.
The smell of fresh brewed coffee reaches through my misery. I ruffle Cam’s hair to wake him up, then I step out of the tent.
The air is a little chilly, as autumn is drawing close. The sun is just showing orange over the jagged rock canyon wall. Rand has our small campfire going and is boiling coffee. I walk over, and he smiles and hands me a cup. I sit down beside him and curl my hands around it, the warmth amazing in my swollen hands.
“Thanks.”
“I make it pretty strong, so my feelings won’t be hurt if you need to dilute it a bit.” He smiles and hands me a thermos of milk.
I take a small sip, and smile. “No, the coffee is good. I think I’ll need a lot of caffeine this morning, anyway.”
We both turn to watch the sun creep higher into the sky. “You know, I’m not only saying thanks for the coffee, but for everything. Helping my mom and standing up against the Unit. It seems I owe you.”
“Well that’s my master plan, you know. You always being in debt to me.” He chuckles over his coffee cup, his blue eyes still on the sunrise.
I elbow him in the side and get a satisfying grunt out of him.
“All right. Keep your dangerous ninja moves to yourself, I was just kidding.” He puts his coffee down and turns toward me. “Seriously though, I’m here for you whenever you need me. I’m glad I could be here for you.”
I look down into the brown liquid in my hand, not daring to meet his eyes. I’m afraid of seeing the intensity that I can hear in his voice. “Like care for me as good friends, right? Friends who help each other out and go to school together?” I sound like I’m back in grade school again. I bite my lip, hoping Rand understands what I mean in between my childish questions.
After a long, awkward silence, he lets out a long breath. “If that’s what you want. I’ll always be your friend. But tell me, is it because of Kai? Is he the reason you only want to be friends with me? Because you know you can’t have a future with him.” The last sentence is barely audible, but I heard it and all the meaning behind those words.
My heart sinks. “I’m sorry, Rand. I do really like Kai; despite the obvious challenges we face. I like you too, but as a friend.” I look up at him and smile weakly. “Not that more between you and me hasn’t crossed my mind.” I poke his right biceps. “I have spent the past week watching your muscles in gym.” I turn away, absolutely mortified that in trying to spare his feelings, I’ve resorted to admitting that.
“Really? You’ve been watching my muscles?” I hear teasing in his voice.
I feel the heat crawl up my neck. “Well, you do flaunt them all over the place. Every girl around has watched you take your shirt off.”
He laughs beside me. I get up and walk toward the tent to give myself some distance from him. Once again, I’m thinking about a guy instead of the real problems I’m facing. Or the problems I’m trying to avoid.
I close my eyes and allow the morning sun to warm my skin and I try to imagine myself up on a space station, never feeling the direct sunlight on me again. A mixture of emotions swirl inside me. But isn’t that what I’ve been working for all these years? The space station life? Away from the oppression of living in a tent, working in the fields, barely staying alive.
Instead of hating this land, I’ve come to love it and feel comforted by it. I sigh.
Cam comes and leans against me.
“Morning, sleepy one.” I reach over and pull him to me and kiss the top of his head, his messy hair sticking out in all directions.
“I’m hungry.”
Always the grouch in the morning.
“Rand has some coffee and maybe some breakfast for us. Come on.”
We walk over and sit down with Rand. He looks at Cam and then back at me with a question on his face. I shrug. “He’s not a morning person.”
; “I’m right here, you know.”
“I know. You’re just so much fun to tease. Especially in the mornings.”
Cam takes the cup of coffee and sandwich Rand offers him. Rand chuckles.
We put out the fire and while Cam gets Mrs. Mitchell, I check on Mom. Her fever is still high, and the medicine Dr. Tuttle left with us yesterday doesn’t seem to be working. I silently say a prayer as I change her washcloths and turn her so she can take more medicine.
“Mom, you need to get better. You’ve got to fight this. We need you. I’m taking my last Academy test today.” I give her some pain meds on top of the other meds and make her sip some water.
Nothing. She just starts snoring, her breathing ragged with the fever.
I scoot out of the tent when I hear Mrs. Mitchell coming with Cam.
“Last of your tests today?” Her smile is just what I need right now.
I grin. “Yes, Rand and I are going to get warmed up by jogging to school.” I look over at Rand, and he makes a face at me.
“I don’t need to warm up.” He lowers his voice. “Neither do you. We’ve got this.” His big smile is infectious, and both Cam and I walk away smiling, saying goodbye to Mrs. Mitchell.
We take it slower than normal up the hill so Cam can keep up. Once we’re past the bridge and are on the path to the school, we tell Cam to do his best, but we’re going to race up ahead. Cam, still grumpy, just glares at me as I speed past him.
Rand and I pace each other easily. The importance of the tests today weighs heavily on both of us. Lost in our own thoughts, it seems too soon when the school comes into view. I slow down and run backwards for a few minutes, trying to spot Cam. I turn back around and slow to a walk.
“He’ll catch up,” Rand says next to me.
“I know. I’m just trying to figure out what to do if I make it into the Academy.”
“What do you mean if?”
I look over at him. “Today’s tests aren’t only the physical ability tests. We also have the space mission simulators. Actual Space Command officers will be there.”
“So? You’ll do fine.”
“You’re not even nervous? They’re bringing in the trailers today. The g-force test, several flying simulators, and the spacewalk simulator. We have to take apart and put together one of the space station modules in less than two hours! Only about ten percent of prep school cadets get through those with perfect scores.”
“I’m not worried, and neither should you be. You’ve worked hard in the fields, so you’re strong and agile, and your time in the tunnels has prepared you for the other tests. You’re perfectly suited to work on a space station.” He stops and looks down at me.
He’s not even out of breath.
“Thanks. It’s just that I have a lot riding on these tests.”
Rand nods behind me. “Your brother is tough. You’re just lucky he didn’t make it into the space prep school before you.”
My mouth gapes, and I punch him in the arm. His very muscular arm. I shake my hand out as he pretends to be hurt.
Cam comes up behind us. “What are you crying about?” Cam teases Rand.
“Your sister is beating up on me.” Rand takes a play punch at Cam.
Cam grins and falls into his horse stance and grins as Rand hesitates.
“If you think that was me beating up on you, just wait until you see our Kajukenbo moves. Both of us took three years of it before we left,” I say as I smile down at Cam.
“And I was a belt ahead of her,” Cam feints punching at Rand.
I roll my eyes.
“Impressive, little man.” Rand laughs.
We start walking toward the school. Outside of the huge shining warehouse are three semi-trucks just dropping their trailers. We pick up speed, all of us grinning. Although I’m nervous about passing the tests, I’ve been waiting for this moment since I could walk. Meeting people who really work on the space stations. And I could be one of them if I can pass these tests. My stomach twists as we jog toward the school.
We’re the first students here, so we weave past the trailers and the workers setting them up and slip into the school. Cam and Rand head for the boy’s locker room to change, and I turn into the girls. Stacked on the benches in the locker room are packages with names on them. Grinning, I find my name and unwrap our official Earthlight Space Academy workout gear. The Academy banner shines silver and turquoise on the back of the gray shirt, and a smaller logo decorates the black shorts on the right thigh.
I hurry to change before anyone tells me to wait. I’m still grinning like an idiot when I walk out of the locker room. Rand’s expression mirrors mine when we see each other.
“What if we don’t pass, do we get to keep the logo wear?”
He shrugs. “I guess this is the incentive that Mr. Joe was talking about.”
And that’s all it takes for the heaviness of the situation to fall on me like a load of bricks. “Remind me again why we came early?” I shake out my arms and legs and start pacing around Cam and Rand.
“I find my test anxiety goes down if I know ahead of time what I’m in for. We should go out and watch them set up the machines.”
I nod. “Yes. I do better when I can see what I’m up against, too.” I give Cam a weak smile. “Of course, we thought we had three more months to practice.”
Rand leads us back down the empty corridors. “Something must’ve happened to have them move up the testing.”
I walk next to Rand. “I wonder if it has anything to do with the Unit?”
“How?” Rand tilts his head toward me as we walk. “Do you think our government knows they’re here?”
“I’m not sure exactly. I just have this gut feeling. Kai told me his country has been flying in more of their regular military, without telling any of their citizens why. And now their Unit 29824 is here when they shouldn’t be.” I lower my voice as we step outside.
Cam, Rand, and I stop in our tracks. Ahead of us in the parking lot, are several huge military vehicles with New American Republic flags on them. Soldiers armed with AR-15’s pile out of the vehicles. My heart drops to my knees, and I’m frozen in place as they march toward us.
16
Cameron
Cam grabs both my hand and Rand’s. He’s shaking as we watch the New American Republic military march toward our school. I look over at Rand and see that he’s frozen too. His normally tan face is pale as snow.
I pull the three of us out of the doorway to crouch behind one of the testing trailers. We watch as the uniformed men and women take up posts lining each side of the main sidewalk to the front door. The rest spread out, going on both sides of the school.
“What are they doing here?” Cam’s small voice breaks through my overloaded thoughts.
I look down into his wide eyes. “I’m not sure. But at least they’re on our side.” I give him a weak smile. He puckers his lips like he does when he knows I’m not telling him everything.
Rand stands up beside us. Cam and I also stand. “She’s right though, at least these are our military. I bet they heard about the Unit going into the canyon.”
I lean against the trailer and close my eyes. I feel a tug on my sleeve and open them to see Cam standing with his hands on his hips. “Then we need to tell them that we know that the Chinese Unit is here and that they’re after us.”
“Why would we do that, Cam?” I lean forward so only Rand and Cam can hear me.
“So, they can protect us.” He glances between Rand and me.
I shake my head. “They aren’t going to protect us. We’re only farm workers to them.”
It’s Cam’s turn to shake his head. “No. We’re not. You’re here to get into the Academy, and they’re here at your school. To protect us.”
I bite the inside of my lip and look up at Rand. “He might be right on one point. They are here in force on our last testing day. Maybe we should trust that they’re here so we can get our tests finished?”
Rand peeks arou
nd the trailer again, and then turns back to me. “I think they’re here to protect us, but I don’t think we can trust them with your secret. It might get you in trouble if they know the Unit is only here on our soil because of you and those tunnels.”
I sigh. “True. I just need to keep my head down and pass these tests. There’s no way they would suspect someone like me of attracting the attention of the most dangerous militia in the world.” I make a face at Rand.
“You do have some serious ninja moves.” He rubs his arm where I hit him earlier.
I roll my eyes. “Whatever. Let’s get out there and do what we came to do. Check out what’s in the trailers before the other kids get here.”
Cam grabs my hand again as I turn the corner of the trailer. There are dozens of men and women with red Space Command logos on their shirts opening up the trailers and securing steps to them. None of them seem bothered by the military lined up by each trailer. I take a deep breath and walk out in the open, Cam on one side, Rand on the other. We walk over to the trailer farthest from the one we were hiding behind. The steps are already set up and only a few Space Command officers are working on the machines inside.
“That wouldn’t be fair if you tried it out first,” comes a deep voice behind us.
All three of us twist around to find Mr. Joe, our teacher, dressed in military fatigues behind us. I tilt my head, shocked as I look at our normally long-haired, laid-back teacher in a uniform. “You’re military?”
He nods and steps closer. “I’m with the New American Republic Guard. We train with the full-time guys once a month.”
“I had no idea. Do you know what they’re all doing here?” I whisper and nod toward the military vehicles looming tall in the parking lot.
He looks off to the side, then back at me. “Seems there was some excitement down in the camps. Do you know anything about that?”
I shrug and try to relax. This is just our teacher. He’s on our side. “I heard something about a commotion, but you know how many of us there are down there. It takes days to get information from one side to the other.”
Earthlight Space Academy Boxset Page 11
