“You’ve ruined everything.” Red creeps up his neck toward his face.
“What are you talking about?” I clutch my tablet to my chest, willing all my muscles to stop shaking.
He raises his hands, and it takes everything I have to not flinch. “You’re poisoning my friends’ minds. Turning them all against me.”
“Unlike you, Josh, I don’t tell people what they can or cannot think or do.” I widen my stance.
The two unread messages seem to burn into my chest as it crosses my mind that I don’t know who the real enemy is here. My father or the class bully? Or both? I flip the tablet into my backpack and pull the straps tight. Now my hands are free for whatever may come next.
Kai touches my shoulder and I just about punch him. I give him an apologetic look.
“What’s going on?” he asks, glaring at Josh.
Out of the corner of my eye I catch sight of the sim that Philip is in shut down and the door start to open.
“Josh was just leaving,” I say, making motions with my hand. Then I take a step toward him.
Predictably, he takes a step backward.
“Because you have sims to finish before tomorrow also, don’t you?” I don’t let him break eye contact as I take another step forward. My traitorous knees are still shaking, but I ignore them.
The redness starts to fade from his face as that sinks in. He gives me one last glare before he turns and stalks away.
Toward the sim that Rand is in.
“Oh, no,” I say. I’m torn between wanting to warn Rand and not wanting to leave Katrina.
Philip comes to stand next to Kai.
I take one last glance at Josh’s back before turning to Kai. “Keep an eye on him. Rand is in that machine. I’ve got to get Katrina.”
Kai’s nods, not taking his eyes off Josh.
I hurry over to the sim I shoved Katrina in. It’s stopped, but the door is still closed. I knock lightly. “Katrina, it’s Anja. He’s gone.”
The door opens and Katrina steps out, red-eyed. “He’s my friend, I shouldn’t have to hide from him.”
I study her as she glances around the room and then locks in on where Josh is now standing by the sim. The rest of us turn to watch as well.
“You said he’s changed quite a bit since being here. But others have told me that he’s always been this way. Maybe just not as intense.”
Katrina wraps her arms around her middle. She gives me a weak smile. “I’ve always made excuses for him. We were an item for a while. Could be I’m still hung up on him.” Her smile fades into a deep frown.
“Or maybe you got to know him more than anyone else. You know what he’s really like when he drops all his defenses.”
She turns toward me. “Did you and Rand date?”
Next to me, Kai twitches. I’m surprised I keep in the laugh that bubbles up. “No. In fact I really didn’t like him at all when he first came to our school. But I did get to know him during some very trying times, so I know that he can be more than his temper.”
She nods and turns back to watch Josh. He’s given up waiting for the sim Rand is in and climbs into the one next to it.
“That’s our clue. Let’s get these sims knocked off our list.” I hurry Philip and Kai into the next two. Katrina and I head for ones closer to Josh and Rand.
“If it wasn’t for all this drama, I might be done with all the sims by now,” says Katrina as she climbs into a stand-up sim.
“Me too,” I say and get into the one next to her. “Whoever gets out first checks on Josh and Rand.” I grin.
She tries her best to glare at me, but it’s lost on her perfect face.
“Keep working on that,” I say laughing.
I give my full attention to the sim, so I don’t have to re-take it. I promise myself to study the last half on my tablet this weekend so I can get through them quicker next time.
The machine flashes “Complete” and my near-perfect score flashes before turning off and releasing the door. Through the slowly opening door, I see Katrina step out of its way and turn toward me.
My heart spikes and I hurry to climb out. “Did something happen?” Her face looks anxious and I try to look around the machines to determine if I spot trouble.
She shakes her head, smiling now. “No. When I got done, I watched Rand go into the next one. Then Josh got out and went into the one Rand just vacated.” She gives a short laugh.
“They didn’t even see each other?”
“Nope.”
“Good, let’s hope our luck holds and they leap frog long enough for Kai and Philip to catch up to us.”
“Let’s go, then,” she says as she makes her way to the next one. Her tablet pings and she stops. She frowns at it.
“Don’t tell me you have a secret stalker too?”
“I wish. It’s Josh. He’s wondering where I am.”
“Ignore him and get into the next sim. I’ll go check on Philip and Kai.”
She hesitates but climbs into the sim and closes the door.
I hurry around the sim and find Kai just getting out of a sim. I smile. “You’ve done two in the time I did one.”
He plants a kiss on my forehead and walks to the next sim. “That’s because I’ve been studying the instructions for each one in my spare time.”
“Rub it in,” I say and hold up my tablet to show him two missed messages.
He frowns. “Can you ignore him until we’re done here?”
“Yes. I’ll deal with him after lights out.” I nod toward where Josh just entered his next sim. “We need to get done while Josh is busy.”
Kai raises an eyebrow. “Rand and Josh haven’t had any issues yet?”
“They haven’t even seen each other yet.” I smile.
“Good.” He points behind me. “Philip is right behind me.”
“Thanks for looking out for him.”
“You just keep going and keep Katrina safe and I’ll stay with Philip.” He shuts the door.
I hurry back over and start another sim. Katrina and I get five more sims done before the lights dim, warning us our time is up. Kai and Philip join us, and my stomach twists as we wait for Rand.
“What’s taking him so long?” I pace in a large circle.
“Those ones are double missions,” says Kai. He grabs me about my waist and hugs me to him. “Stop pacing. He’ll be done soon. Even inside the sims the lights dim just like out here.”
I tilt my head to look up at him.
He grins wickedly. “I read it on my tablet.”
I roll my eyes. I’m strung too tight to take his bait. “Maybe we should head down without him?”
“I think we’re safer in a group,” says Philip from beside me.
“Do we even know if Josh is still up here?”
I peer around Philip, trying to figure out where the voice came from and find that several other classmates have joined our little group.
I wave. “Hi Tod.” I don’t recognize most of the others.
“Actually, we don’t know that for sure,” says Katrina.
Kai lets go of me and points across the room. “There he is.”
My palms sweat as I look where he’s pointing. I relax when I see it’s Rand.
“Excellent. Let’s go,” Katrina waves wildly at Rand.
Rand looks confused, but he jogs to us. “What’s going on?” He looks over the crowd forming behind us.
“Safety in numbers,” I say and turn toward the lift without further explanation. We jog to the lift and pile in.
There are so many of us, we’re squished like sardines.
“Are you sure this thing will hold all of us?” I ask to the crowd.
Katrina starts giggling beside me. Then someone else starts laughing, and soon everyone has the giggles. I think the relief of finishing the first half of our sims and getting away from Josh has us all loopy.
I study the crowd in the lift. I didn’t realize so many people were afraid of Josh. My heart breaks a litt
le at that.
The lift opens just as the lights flash red. Everyone piles out, still giggling and we sprint for the dorms. We get strange looks from other students, but we keep going, several of us skidding around the final corner to the dorms.
I run into the person in front of me, and Kai uses one hand to steady me from behind. I can’t see what stopped our crowd, but no one is giggling now.
The hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I push through the crowd. Katrina is at the front, frozen in place, her smile gone.
There, standing with hands on hips glaring at us, is Josh. He’s in the middle of the corridor, so we’d have to go past him to get to our dorms. Alex is standing just behind Josh. He looks trapped.
18
In Custody
“What’s going on?” I ask Josh as the crowd presses in behind me.
Before Josh can answer, Rand pushes past me. I grab his arm. “No, Rand.” He drags me along for a bit, then stops. It’s as if I’m holding onto the arm of a statue.
“Yeah, listen to your keeper,” snarls Josh.
I let go of Rand’s arm and step in front of him. “Do you really think this is the time for attitude?”
He takes a step toward me. Rand flinches, and I glance to my other side, spotting Kai. When I look behind me, face after face is staring at me. I straighten and turn to face Josh again.
“Well?” I challenge.
His gaze darts at the crowd and then back to me. “Step aside.”
“Why? You think they’re going to join you in this childish behavior?”
“You better watch how you’re talking to me.” He takes another step forward.
I put out both arms to keep Kai and Rand from going forward. “Yet it’s all right for you to intimidate them?” I point to the crowd behind me.
“Them? They know me and support me. You’re the outsider.” Josh’s square jaw grinds as he stares over my shoulder.
“Why would they support you when all you do is threaten them?” I ask. I’m almost dancing with joy that my knees haven’t started shaking.
“Are we going to take this from her?” he snarls at the crowd behind me.
“We’re not going to take this from you anymore, Josh,” Katrina says softly.
Josh practically growls as he steps toward her, but Rand steps between them.
Now Josh and Rand are practically nose to nose. My pulse quickens.
“Katrina’s right,” says Alex.
Josh spins around and pushes Alex in the chest so hard he hits the opposite wall and slides down. Katrina gasps and pushes past Rand to kneel down next to Alex.
“This is how you treat your friends?” Katrina cries. She helps Alex to his feet and comes back to stand next to Rand. Josh steps back against the wall, alone.
“You all right, Alex?” I ask.
“Been through worse, truthfully.” He gives me a small, crooked grin.
“Hard head,” says Katrina. She clutches his arm tightly.
We turn back to Josh, who looks like he finally realizes how serious the situation is. I step in front of him, and Katrina and Alex pass behind me toward the dorms. The rest of the crowd silently follows until it’s just Kai and Rand left beside me in the corridor.
“This is all your fault,” he says to me. His pale face turns pink as he yells. “You took my friends away, and you,” he points to Rand, “took the leadership spot that was mine.”
“Why would anyone want to follow you, Josh?” I point toward the dorms. “You really think you could keep treating these highly intelligent people poorly and still think you deserve to have a leadership role? Let alone friends?”
He snorts. “Highly intelligent? They’re all idiots.”
I frown as I notice Alex and Katrina are still standing at the end of the corridor.
Josh glances in my direction and flinches. He opens his mouth to say something, but they turn and walk away.
I shake my head. “Not idiots, Josh. They just trusted you and hoped for the best for you.” I wave my arms as if taking in the whole academy. “None of us would be here if we weren’t highly intelligent, motivated, and hard-working individuals.”
The lights dim and flash red twice. “Time’s up. See you at testing tomorrow, Josh.” Kai, Rand, and I turn and walk toward the dorms. I listen carefully, my shoulders tense, but Josh doesn’t come after us.
It’s not until I’m safe in my bed do I dare to relax. My tablet pings twice and I groan out loud. I close one eye and look. It’s just Rand and Kai letting me know they’re safe. I message both back that I am too.
Then I open the two new messages that I’ve been avoiding all evening. With everything that happened with Josh I had come close to forgetting all about my father.
I roll over on my stomach to read them.
“What did you do??” and then the second one, “I warned you!”
I think back to remember the messages before these. So much has gone on since yesterday that it takes me a few seconds. Something about knowing I was talking to Cam, and I needed to reply.
A shiver runs down my spine. He had threatened that he could find Cam. Could he? I sit back up and ping Kai as I pull my hair back in a ponytail.
“What’s wrong?” he messages back.
“My father is very angry I haven’t replied. Do you think you could ping your parents and make sure everything is all right over there?”
“Yes. One second.”
My pulse spikes as each second goes by that I don’t hear back from Kai. I get up and pull on my academy sweatpants and hoodie. I’m reaching for my shoes when my tablet pings.
I glance at it. Two words. “Common room.”
I grab my shoes and backpack. Somehow, I manage not to throw up when my door squeals open in the silence of the dorm. I run down the corridor in my socks.
The common room is only lit by nightlight strips running down the middle of the walls. A shadow moves to my left and for an instant I freeze in place.
“Anja.”
I let out the breath I was holding and close the distance to Kai. “What did you find out?” My palms sweat.
“They aren’t answering. But their autoresponder says something about a work trip. They don’t have work trips.” In the dim light I can see my own fears reflected back to me in the shine of Kai’s eyes.
“The general. Ping him. If they had time to record an autoresponder, the general probably had time to get them out of there.” My pulse soars.
I clutch my own worthless tablet to my chest.
“He responded already,” says Kai. He holds his tablet out so I can read the glowing words myself.
“Coming to you.”
“What, all of them? With the general?”
Kai shakes his head. “I’m not sure.”
I look back toward the dorms. We’re whispering, but I’m still nervous someone will discover us out of our rooms. I nod toward the main corridor and we start walking. Kai is sock-footed as well. “Where do you think they would meet us? I don’t like standing here. If Josh heard us, he would turn us into the commander in a heartbeat.”
“That won’t be necessary.” A figure steps out of the dark corridor. Even though I can only see part of him, I know it’s Commander Svell.
My stomach twists. “Commander, I can explain.”
“You don’t have to Miss Toland. The general already has. Follow me.”
I look at Kai, who just shrugs. We turn and follow the commander. When we get to the bay of lifts, he swipes his academy badge over the sensor and the lift buttons light up. He presses one and the door opens so the three of us climb in.
“Do you know why the general is coming here, Commander? And does he have my brother?”
“Your brother and Mr. and Mrs. Chao are safe. But please tell me about the last few messages you received from your father.”
With trembling fingers, I unlock my tablet and pull up the last two and read them to him and Kai.
The commander calmly nods. Then h
e asks, “He doesn’t know that you’re aware of his identity yet?”
“No. I haven’t had time to reply to him.” A pain spreads throughout my chest. “I know I should’ve taken time tonight to respond to him. But we were busy catching up on the sims.”
Kai grasps my hand and squeezes.
“You won’t need to reply to him anymore, I doubt he’ll be threatening you again. I would think he’s violated too many laws by coming to Earth.”
“He’s here?” I whisper.
“Yes. He showed up at the safe house.”
My knees finally give out and I slide down the wall.
“Thankfully, Miss Toland, you were able to figure out that this Anonymous was your father. That way, when he encountered our security, they knew enough to detain him.”
It takes a second as I process that. “You have him in custody?”
Kai pulls me to my feet and helps keep me steady.
The door opens and we find ourselves on the space dock level. The cold air finds us in the lift, and I shiver. Up here the building is protected by layers of energy fields since it’s high enough in the atmosphere that if something were to happen, we would all be dead without them.
We step out and the commander leads us toward the main dock area. We follow the protected corridor outside the dock. Large windows and an inner layer of energy field separate us from open space. The main doors on the far side slowly open and a dark shape pushes through the energy barrier until we can see that it’s the academy’s spaceship.
I turn to Kai who’s also watching it land. “The same ship we used to rescue your parents.”
He gives a quick nod. “The first time.”
My heart sinks. “I’m sorry, Kai.”
He looks over at me. His dark expression dissolves and he pulls me to him. “It’s not your fault,” he whispers. His breath tickles my ear.
“Both times have been because of me.” I narrow my eyes. “So, you can’t say it’s not my fault.”
He grabs my hand and tugs me back down the corridor after the commander. “I can say that because it’s not your fault. You didn’t order that Unit to capture me or my parents, and you definitely didn’t have anything to do with your father coming after you.”
Earthlight Space Academy Boxset Page 33
