Earthlight Space Academy Boxset

by Heather Lee Dyer

  The commander from the Space Intelligence Academy stands up. He’s a smallish red-headed man, probably a second or third generation spacer. Alex’s dad. “Because, young Miss Toland, this security breach has been initially traced to within our space net. We haven’t narrowed it down more than that, but just the fact this person is using Space Command resources to hide his identity is troubling. Very troubling, indeed.”

  I bite the inside of my lip so I don’t swear in front of the commanders. “Thank you commander, for your frankness. It’s both enlightening and frightening at the same time.” Kai moves to stand next to me.

  “We don’t mean to scare you, Miss Toland,” says Commander Svell. All the commanders stand up at some unspoken command.

  “But we did think you needed to know the seriousness of the situation,” adds the general.

  “And I appreciate that. So, what’s our next step?”

  “Reply to that message, please, Miss Toland,” Commander Svell answers. He points to my tablet.

  My face heats up. “Yes, of course. Sorry.” I sit down and pull up the message again. I reread it before I type “Who are you? And what is it you want from me?” I show the general my answer. After he nods in approval, I tap send.

  I look up. Several more security men and women have entered the room. They start ushering the commanders out.

  Kai and I stand and I’m about to tuck my tablet into my backpack when my tablet pings. Everyone stops in their tracks and turns to stare at me. I gulp and click on the message.

  “It’s Anonymous again,” I whisper.

  “Well, read it to us Miss Toland,” urges the general from across the room.

  I take a deep breath, my heart pounding against my ribs. “It says, I can’t tell you that yet. Too many eyes and ears on you right now.”

  The room erupts in shouts and loud conversations between the commanders and the general. Kai pulls me to the side and wraps his arms around me. I bury my face into his shoulder until my shaking subsides.

  When I turn back around, the commanders have gathered back by the couches. The general finally holds his hand up. “Quiet everyone. I’ve ordered my men to sweep the room for listening devices, but it’s just as possible this person could be using her tablet to spy on her.” He turns to me.

  My jaw drops open. “You mean he can see me through my tablet? I have the vid off and the safeties on.”

  The general grunts. “And normally that would be enough. But this person seems to have extra skills with tech. Especially security tech.” He turns to the intelligence commander. “Do you have any idea who would have the ability to do this?”

  The commander stiffens, placing his hands behind his back. “There are many officers and security personnel who would be capable of this. This is what we teach.”

  “You teach them to spy on each other?” I blurt out before my filter catches up with me.

  The commander’s expression darkens. “It’s our duty to keep everyone in the Space Command safe. We’re the ones who built and maintain all communications and space net capabilities. So, if my people know how to build it, it’s understandable that they can figure out a way around it.”

  Great, I’ve made an enemy of both Alex and his father.

  I hope my face doesn’t reflect the horror that is settling into the pit of my stomach. I thought living and working in space would free me from the daily scrutiny and hardship of sharing life in a camp with hundreds of thousands of other people. Now I’m beginning to realize I’ve only traded one prison for another.

  “Sir, may I ask something?” Kai asks next to me.

  “Yes, Mr. Tang,” answers Commander Svell. “What is it?”

  “In my country we knew we had no freedoms. Our government always has some sort of listening or recording device inside our homes and businesses. When you know you’re being watched, after a while it just seems normal. Safe, even. But this Anonymous is doing something that is against normal Space Command laws.” He turns his head toward me. “There is no reason to spy on Anja. She’s not a war criminal or suspect of any crime. With all due respect, why isn’t the SIA doing more to protect her? To protect all of us here in the academy?”

  The commanders look puzzled, and the general looks close to blowing a gasket.

  Kai steps forward. “What I’m trying to ask is, besides tracking Anja’s tablet and keeping Cam and my parents safe, what else should we be doing? This isn’t just a dangerous situation for Anja, but a crime against Space Command and this academy. Am I right?”

  The general’s color pales a bit and I release the breath I was holding.

  “You’re right, Mr. Tang,” answers the general. “This is bigger than just a danger to Miss Toland. And rest assured we’re using every resource we have down here.”

  “Down here?” I ask.

  The general’s gaze swivels to me. “Yes. If we use any of the Space Command resources this person will know. He already seems to know we’re here talking to you.”

  “So,” I begin slowly, “since you’ve tracked the source of this message to the space net, and with the information he seems to know, you think he might be one of your security team?” I pin the commander of intelligence with a glare.

  He has the decency to look uncomfortable. “Yes, miss. It only makes sense. So, you see why I can’t get anyone in my agency involved in this.”

  “But we don’t know if this person is dangerous or not. Or even if he can get to Anja here at the academy.” Kai’s voice is raised, and I look quickly over at him. His fists are balled, and I recognize his end-of-the-rope expression.

  The general steps toward Kai. “Young man, we need to leave security issues to the experts.”

  I narrow my eyes at the commander. Kai glances at me and I know what he’s thinking. Less than a month ago The Seven and the general used Kai, Rand, Cam, and me to pull off a highly sensitive rescue mission. And now the general is lecturing us about leaving my safety to the experts.

  8

  Double Trouble

  I step forward, but Kai is already leaning in to address the general.

  “This is Anja’s life that could be in jeopardy. Yes, she’s very capable of taking care of herself in most circumstances. Yes, she helped you and the military save my parents and helped this country save face diplomatically in the whole process. But right now, right here, we have no idea what we’re up against. At the end of the day, Anja and I are trapped here in the academy not knowing what this Anonymous wants or is capable of doing. So please excuse me if I’m a bit offended that more isn’t being done to help us.”

  I’m not the only one in the room gaping at Kai. I step next to him, clamp my mouth shut, and grasp his hand. He’s strung tight as a fiddle, but he squeezes back.

  “You’re right, of course, young Mr. Tang,” booms the general. He strides toward us, abandoning his post by the door. “I’ve seen how capable you both are, but this is an unusual circumstance. I will meet with The Seven to devise a better plan to keep you and everyone here at the academy safe.” He looks over at the commander of intelligence. “When one student is threatened it could affect the whole academy. You should know that quite well Commander.”

  The commander’s face turns red.

  “I’m really sorry this is all happening because of me.” I frown as I look at the general. “Until Kai said something, I really thought it was only my problem. I didn’t think it was something that could endanger my classmates.” I look over at Commander Svell. “I really want to stay here at the academy, but do you think I should leave? To keep the others safe?”

  His eyes widen. “No, Miss Toland. We don’t even know that this anonymous person poses a real threat yet. And you’re here for a reason. It’s up to us to keep our students safe.” He looks at each commander as he speaks.

  They nod, taking care not to look in the general’s direction.

  “So, for now?” I look at Commander Svell, since right now I’m under his command, not the others.

>   He gives me a small smile. “For now, you just get back to your school routine. That chip will monitor the messages from this Anonymous. Don’t give him any details, just brief, general answers.” His gaze shifts to Kai. “I would suggest that if you send any personal messages to your brother, you use Mr. Tang’s tablet. Would that be acceptable, Mr. Tang?”

  “Yes, sir.” He squeezes my hand. My tension eases a bit with Commander Svell taking us seriously, and saying that he wants me to stay. Even though this whole anonymous thing wasn’t started by me, I have no idea where it’s going to lead.

  Just then a loud alarm sounds and all the lights strobe bright white.

  Commander Svell steps forward and pushes Kai and me toward the door. “I don’t know what’s going on yet, but you two hurry to your emergency stations. This door is about to lock us inside here.” His face is lined with worry, so Kai and I hurry to do what he says.

  Just as he shoves us out into the corridor, a thick metal door encloses him and the others inside the room.

  Kai and I look at each other and then take off running. Students everywhere are jogging through the corridors. The claxon alarm and strobing lights are everywhere. My ears ring as we jog along with the others. Everyone seems to know where to go and not too many are panicking. Kai and I head to our first period class, which is our emergency station. Breathlessly, we run through the door of the classroom just as the glass door closes behind us. The glass goes opaque, and electronic locks engage with a hum and a click. We slowly turn, and the rest of our class is huddled on the far side of the room. They’re all glaring at us as if we did this to them. Even our professor doesn’t say anything as Kai and I sink down into the nearest chairs.

  I stare at the imperfections in the desk to avoid dealing with my classmates. From the looks we got when Kai and I stepped into the classroom, our fellow students blame us for this emergency drill.

  But I’m not so sure it’s just a drill. Not after the intense conversation we just had with the commanders and general.

  And where’s Rand? I lift my eyes slightly to double check, but Rand is definitely not in here.

  I close my eyes and go over everything we talked about with The Seven and the general. It’s a lot to absorb, but something is niggling in the back of my mind, and I can’t grasp it. It bothers me that I don’t know where Rand is as well.

  I look up. Our professor is ticking off everyone’s names on his tablet. “Just two missing,” he says. “Seems a group of students were caught in the auditorium when the security doors went down.” He glances over at Kai and me.

  Lightning goes up my spine as I realize what was niggling at me. I pull my backpack off and take out the tablet. With shaking fingers, I wake it up. One message.

  I look at Kai and frown.

  He immediately gets up out of his chair and comes to kneel beside me.

  “What is it?”

  “Another message. I felt my tablet vibrate as we were hurrying down here.”

  His perfect eyebrows knit together as he watches me tap open the message.

  I hold my breath as I read it.

  “Had to get you away from them. We need to find a more secure way to talk.”

  I frown. My chest squeezes as though something heavy is sitting on it. “This is getting really creepy, Kai,” I whisper.

  “Maybe it’s just someone you knew the last few years that wanted to help you but doesn’t want to be found out? A lot of the people in your camp kept goods and extra wages secret because of how the government treated them, right?”

  I nod, blinking back tears. “That’s true. And they would care about what’s happening with Cam. But they all know I wouldn’t turn them in for having this kind of money. It had to cost a lot to move Mom from Hells Canyon, across country, and into one of the Grissom plots.”

  “That would be quite a cost. I just can’t figure out why someone would do this to you. If they truly wanted to stay anonymous with that kind of donation, then why contact you?”

  “Exactly. That’s what I don’t understand either. If they really wanted to know how Cam was doing, they’d just ask. Not hide behind a secret identity.” I swivel in the chair to face Kai. The murmur of voices on the other side of the room continues, but I can’t hear what they’re saying. “All the documents for Cam living with your parents are sealed, right?”

  “Yes, in fact my parents are working on changing their names. And they’ve talked about doing the same with Cam’s to match theirs.”

  “They are? Why?” All my muscles go tense again. A slow burn starts in the pit of my stomach.

  Kai takes my hand and squeezes. “I’m sorry, I was waiting for the right time to tell you. It’s to keep them all safe. My parents need to change their names anyway so our government can’t track them over here. We’re going to be New American Republic citizens now.” He grins.

  I tilt my head studying Kai’s face. “But what about Cam? No one asked me if it was all right to change his last name.”

  “The general felt it would look less suspicious if he had their same name.”

  I give him a small smile. I do trust the general. But still.

  Kai slides into the chair next to me. “They’ll be fine, Anja. And now with all this going on, it’s a good thing they’re working on changing their names. Anonymous won’t be able to find your brother once we do the same with him.”

  I lean back in my chair. “That’s good, I guess. It’s just hard thinking of him not having my same last name.

  The lights dim and a single tone sounds. Over the intercom comes a disembodied male voice. “This is the end of the drill. This has been a drill only. All students and faculty can resume regular schedules.”

  I dare to look at the class huddled up front. Most of them look relieved, and almost all of them are obviously avoiding looking at Kai and me. Since it seems to only have been a drill, they have nothing to blame us for.

  If it really was a drill. I look back down at the message on my tablet.

  I can’t shake the feeling that all this has put up yet another wall between me and my classmates as they quickly file out the door.

  “Should we head up to the simulators now?” I ask Kai.

  He gazes over at me as we maneuver into the stream of bodies in the corridor. “If you’re up to it.”

  I study his face as he guides us through the crowd. “Of course. I could spend all my time up there.” I smile at him as he leads me to the correct lift. He’s getting around here like he’s been here from the beginning.

  We squish together on the crowded lift, Kai’s body heat comforting after the stressful events of the day. Although Kai is exceptionally handsome, and was even a teen model back in Beijing, the first thing that attracted me to him was how smart he is. Wicked smart.

  The first few weeks when the Chinese students were brought over the Dragon Wall to our Border School was a rough transition for them. Not only were they forced to speak English only, some of the students were less than welcoming to them. Kai took it upon himself to make sure all of them caught up to where the rest of the class was. His tutors had been drilling into him space subjects since he was a little boy.

  “What about you, Kai?” I whisper into his ear. “You’ll have a different last name from your parents.”

  He turns slightly so he can whisper back. “I was already registered in the academy system. They couldn’t change it.” He shrugs.

  A small wave of sadness washes over me. I frown.

  After the lift stops at several levels letting other students off, we finally get to the sim level. We pile off the lift and I immediately pull Kai to the left to the very first simulator.

  He frowns when we get there. It’s a small plane flight sim. He frowns. “We have to do these all over again?”

  “Yes. You just need to get used to the differences between these ones and the ones we had at prep school.” I push him into the sim. “It shouldn’t take you long. Just watch your landings.” I wink at him.
/>   “How many have you done so far?”

  I look across the room. “I’d say I’ve completed twenty-four of them?”

  “Sounds like you’re not sure,” he says, laughing.

  I love that smooth laugh of his. I grin. “Well, if I look at my tablet I’d know for sure.” My smile fades. “But I don’t feel like doing that right now.”

  He nods. “I understand. Don’t take it out until I’m done here. We’ll get through your anonymous issue together.”

  I lean into the machine and kiss him. He responds warmly. When I pull back, I’m smiling again. “Thanks, Kai.”

  He winks at me and straps into the sim. I step back as the door closes and locks Kai into the flight simulator.

  I grin and lean against the sim, listening to Kai talk to himself as he’s put through aerial maneuvers and random missions. I inhale the familiar scent of the large room. Electronics, greased parts, and machinery all bring back warm memories of tagging along with Mom to the NASA base back home. Before the Migration.

  The memory triggers the current situation of Mom’s remains being removed. I shake my head as I picture crews digging up her gravesite on the edge of Hells Canyon where the small migrant cemetery was built. From there she would’ve been placed in a special container and flown across country to Grissom, where they would’ve once again lowered her into the ground.

  Without my knowledge or consent.

  My legs weaken and tears threaten to fall. I slide down the side of the simulator and pull my knees up and wrap my arms around them. I take deep breaths to calm the shakes I feel coming on from the emotions flowing through me.

  Why would someone do this?

  I understand it’s an honor to be buried at Grissom, and she does deserve it. But to do something like this without family authority? That deep pain in my gut that’s all too familiar since the first message from Anonymous returns. I’m not sure what it’s telling me, but my instincts are flashing like a strobe light.