“Anja?”
I blink. Philip stands in front of me holding his tablet toward me.
Kai takes the tablet. He holds it so we can both see Cam’s face.
That snaps me back to reality. “Cam?”
My tough little brother has tears rolling down his face. The vid is bouncing as if he’s walking with his tablet.
“What’s going on?”
“I’m safe now. We’re in an underground building somewhere. Dad got me special access to call you.”
I shake my head. Dad? After a heartbeat I realize he’s talking about Mr. Chao. I paste on a smile. “I’m glad you’re safe. Are they there with you?”
Kai leans in closer.
“Yes, they’re getting us supplies. I guess we’ll be here for a few days. What’s going on, Anja?”
My heart breaks as I watch my brother swipe tears away. He holds the tiny black and white fluff ball to his chest. I should be there with him.
“That’s a hard question to answer.” I look up at Philip. “How long do I have?”
He gazes behind us where the commander and the general have their heads together with a few other officers that have joined us from somewhere. “Just a few minutes. Your brother called here, and I captured his signal. But it’s shielded so my system can’t maintain it for long.” He points at the tablet in my hands.
I nod. “Cam, we don’t have long. We don’t know much yet, other than we’re under some kind of attack. We’ll try to keep our tablets open to your calls since we still can’t call out.”
He nods.
“Stay close to my parents. They’ll keep you safe,” says Kai.
I hear the anxiety in his voice.
“Cam, call me each day when you wake up. I’ll let you know more about what’s going on then, all right?”
He stares at me for a moment, then nods. “Dad says the less I know the better.”
I bite my lip. Echoes of my conversation with the commander resonates through my mind. “Yes, too much information can be overwhelming. But I’ve never lied to you, right?” I notice the commander has broken off from the group and is heading toward us.
“Right,” Cam sniffles.
“I don’t want anyone here to know I can talk to you, yet, so I need to go. I love you and I’ll talk to you in the morning.”
“Me too,” he says and disconnects.
Philip takes his tablet back as the commander stops in front of us.
“Are you kids all right?”
We nod. I swallow back tears.
“Good. Do any of you need medical attention?”
We shake our heads.
“Then you’re free to report to the cafeteria. It’s first lunch.”
My stomach growls in response.
We turn to leave, but the commander grasps my arm lightly. “I do have a question first.”
Kai and Philip stop beside me.
“Before we had to evacuate the ship,” the commander says and straightens up, “we were talking about forgiveness and second chances.”
“Yes?” My stomach churns.
“Do you think my security should give Josh a second chance?”
My chest squeezes tight. I look over at Kai. His face pales.
I clamp my mouth shut and study the commander. He’s steeled his face into a neutral expression. Toying with me. I sigh.
“You know?”
He rubs the stubble growing on his face. “You didn’t think you could hide him forever, did you?” His tired eyes study me.
“No, I knew it would only be a matter of time before you discovered him. And yes, part of hiding him was giving him a second chance, but we also need him right now. You haven’t been exactly forthcoming with us.” I feel my cheeks warm. “He was out there in all this. His transport ship was attacked. He knows more about what’s going on in our world than we do.”
The commander’s facade crumbles. “I’m sorry for the secrecy. I’m just trying to protect you. We need you all to concentrate on your studies so you can integrate into your future careers in a healthy and strong way.”
Kai clears his throat. “We understand that, sir, but you’ve trusted us before with dangerous missions. This situation is no different. We need to know everything so we can make the best decisions moving forward.”
The commander spreads his hands out. “This is bigger than what you’ve faced in the past.”
“Yes, but now we have more help. We don’t really have a choice, anyway, do we commander?” I ask.
The lights overhead flash once letting us know lunch is ready. The commander tilts his head as he looks at the three of us. His expression is again unreadable. A chill comes over me as the adrenaline drains from my body in the cold dock.
“No, we don’t have a choice.”
“So, can we get our outside access back?” Philip has been silent for so long we’re startled when he speaks.
“Um, maybe?” The commander stares at Philip like he’s grown a second head.
I turn and start walking toward the door, hiding a smile. My stomach growls all the way to the lift. The commander follows us but doesn’t get on.
“I’ll talk to The Seven and see how we can work together moving forward.” He turns to pin me with a knowing look. “We’re bringing in the rest of the students tonight, so Josh will need to share a room with one of your friends.”
I nod, realizing the commander just basically dropped the charges against Josh.
“He can move into my room. But what about classes? Will he join us?” Kai asks.
“We need all the help we can get to make the transition to the space habitats. If you think he’s willing to work with his classmates instead of against them, I’ll reinstate him as a Year Two.”
Kai nods but the set of his shoulders betrays his doubt. The lift doors close and we ride down to the cafeteria level in silence.
13
New Normal
When we get off the lift, Kai stops me. He nods for Philip to go ahead.
“Do you think we can trust him?”
“I’m still not sure. He needs to earn our trust back.”
Kai smiles. “I meant the commander.”
I laugh. “So, you’re good with Josh, but unsure of the commander of the academy?”
He shrugs. “We’re not relying on Josh to keep us safe.”
My smile fades. “Good point.” I sigh. “I think this is another thing we don’t have a choice in. It’s not like we can transfer to another school.”
Kai hooks his arm in mine, and we head toward the cafeteria.
“You think he’ll restore our outside access? That would go a long way for us to be able to trust him.” My stomach growls again and I tug Kai forward.
“I hope so. If he doesn’t today, we won’t hear from Cam until tomorrow morning.”
I glance sideways at him. “Has your father been able to get any messages to you?”
“No.”
“I thought with his connections he would find a way.”
“I think if it were an emergency, he could. Since we haven’t heard from him, I guess it’s a good thing.”
I nod and let go of his arm so I can grab a tray. After loading up our food, we meet the others in the back of the cafeteria.
“Our new favorite table, huh?” I sit down next to Philip.
He nods, his mouth full.
“Where’s Rand?” I look around the table.
“He went upstairs to get Josh. Said he heard from the commander to make sure Josh joined us. When did the commander find out?” Alex looks between Kai and me.
“He’s known since we took him to the dorms. Seems the commander is giving him a second chance with everything going on.” I wave toward the darkened windows.
“Another chance? So, he doesn’t have to go to Starlight Max?” Katrina asks. She’s got a bandage on her temple but looks fine otherwise.
“Right. And he’ll start classes tomorrow with us.” I lean forward to get a better look a
t her. “Is your head all right?”
She fingers her bandage. “I have a bit of a headache, but the nurse said I was fine.”
“What happened?” Josh stands frozen staring at Katrina with his tray gripped firmly in front of him.
She looks up at him and smiles. “Just a bump from that last earthquake.” She frowns and looks over at me. “What do we call it? We know it’s not an earthquake, but,” she lowers her voice, “bombing sounds so scary.”
I nod. “I agree. Especially until we talk with the rest of our class. Let’s just call them quakes?” I look around the table. Everyone nods in agreement and Katrina relaxes.
Josh sits down beside her.
Rand drops into the last empty chair on the other side of Josh. He frowns down at his plate before he starts eating.
“Thanks for going to get him, Rand.” I say.
He looks up with a full mouth and grunts.
“Have you all declared your career preferences yet?” Josh holds his tablet up. “I read through the messages from the last few weeks. I realize I’m really far behind. According to this latest one we need to have it declared this week.”
Panic floods over me. I pull out my tablet and read through the latest message from the academy. I slump in my seat. “He’s right. By Friday,” I say to no one in particular.
Philip elbows me. “It’s not a death sentence. Just our top three preferences.”
I sit up and stare at him. “Just? This decision will determine our whole future. Where we go to work and with whom. And with the rest of humanity eventually living up there, we won’t have as many choices.” My voice cracks slightly at the end and I swallow as my cheeks grow warm.
“I thought you already knew what you want to do?” asks Katrina.
“I thought I did. But having to choose now, without first going through the rest of Year Two classes makes me think I’m missing out on something.”
I look beside me at Kai, who has been quiet this whole time. “Do you know what you want to do?”
He shrugs. “The only thing I enjoyed about our summer cruise was that you were there with me.”
I nod. “We didn’t have great leadership up there,” I say to the others at our table. “In light of what we now know, it might’ve been because of the political climate down here. But whatever the reason, trying to retrofit that ship was next to impossible with the lack of communication and leadership we had to deal with.”
We finish our meal without much more conversation. The realization that we have to declare our career choices by the end of the week puts a damper on the whole rest of the day.
Dinner is the same somber affair. It isn’t until the lights flash green twice do we snap out of our solitary thoughts.
We look at one another for half a second before pulling out our tablets.
“What does green mean?” Josh asks.
“We’ve never seen that one before. It says here that they’re opening the doors downstairs to admit the new students,” I tell the others as I read the message the commander just sent.
“So green means?” asks Sean.
“Means it’s going to get even more crowded in here,” grumbles Rand.
“It also says that the commander will be making an announcement soon.” I glance over at Kai.
“And he wants us to report to the sim level now.” Philip stands.
“Probably so they can feed the new students. Who knows where they’ve been all this time with everything going on out there,” says Katrina. She casts a worried glance over at Josh, who is finishing the last of his meal.
We get up and head to the lifts. We pile into one along with a handful of other students. The others get off at different levels, and by the time we get to the sim level it’s just our group. When we step out into the large room all we hear are the machines humming across the large space.
I check my messages.
Philip stops next to me and says, “I think the commander sent different groups of us to different levels.”
“Good. He did say he didn’t want to chance us being in one location in case another attack happened.” My skin tingles. “Do you think he knows there’s going to be another one soon?”
“I don’t think he’d move all those students if he thought there might be an attack,” answers Rand from the other side of me.
I study him for a moment. He looks like he got more sleep last night, but he still isn’t his normal confident self. Over his shoulder I see Josh and Katrina lost in conversation. I sigh. Guess he’s dealing with things pretty well, considering.
“Since you worked with the general more than we did, what do you think his next move will be?”
It’s as if a light goes on inside Rand. He’s more animated as he answers. “I think he’s probably got the academy well-protected so he can move the students. But he knows that will also put a target on us. It’ll draw the Purists out in the open. Then he’ll move his forces to track them down.”
“So, he’s basically using us as bait?” Philip’s voice squeaks.
Rand nods. “Yes, but I don’t see how he has any other choice. Those students are safest here and they’ll get training before being shipped into space.”
“I agree. It doesn’t sound like they have many options out there,” Kai grabs my hand and pulls me toward the sims.
“I still don’t like it,” Philip mumbles as he follows.
“Me neither. What about the younger kids? Like Cam?” I ask Rand.
“They’ll probably have to go wherever their parents are being taken.”
Kai squeezes my hand. “We’ll get to talk to Cam soon. My parents will make sure he’s safe.”
My heart feels like there’s a band around it squeezing tight. “I hope we get to talk to him tonight.”
“Anja,” whispers Kai beside me.
I look up to see the commander and Ms. Germain standing at the far end of the sim room. Next to them is the anti-grav final sim. It’s currently empty and the energy shields are down. The one-person ship sits quiet.
We hurry toward them. Their expressions are guarded, and Ms. Germain’s normal sunny disposition is gone. Her tense shoulders and frown make a shiver go through me. This can’t be good.
When we stop, we find that it’s just our core group up here.
Philip was right.
Alex and Sean stop next to Katrina and Josh, and Rand, Philip, and Kai are on the other side of me. A questioning look passes through of us.
“I’ll be brief since I have new students to take care of. You all are now the leaders over both classes at Earthlight.”
I hear Katrina gasp. She covers her mouth with her hand as her cheeks redden.
“Since these are unusual circumstances right now, unusual actions need to be taken. I’m tasking you with making sure the students stay calm and focused on their classes for the next few weeks. You know all there is to know right now, and you can decide what to tell the others. You’ll report directly to Ms. Germain, since as you’ve figured out, I can’t respond as quickly as I’d like. Ms. Germain knows what’s going on and she has access to a special sat link that should give us a heads up when any danger is nearby.”
“Danger? Like the bombings?” Rand asks, his shoulders tense.
“Yes. I’ll let Ms. Germain explain.”
She steps forward and I realize this is the first time I’ve seen her in an academy uniform. Devoid of her messy apron and jeans she looks like a completely different person.
“Our system isn’t perfect, so I might only get a few seconds notice before it registers an attack. But it’s better than nothing. I’ll just ping you with the word “safety,” and that’ll be your cue to duck and hide. So far, the explosions have only rocked our buildings; nothing has been damaged. But we’d like to keep you at the academy as long as we can to safely finish your education.”
“That machine up in the greenhouse—is that what can sense the explosions before they happen?” I ask, finally putting a few thing
s together in my mind.
“Yes. I modified existing earthquake tech to work with the data we have on the locations and movements of the Purists.”
“You have eyes on the Purists? Why don’t we just stop them?” asks Alex, his expression serious.
“It’s not as easy as that. They’ve lodged themselves into communities of innocent people. We have agents on the ground keeping an eye on them as well, but we can’t risk widespread casualties.”
“Human shields,” mutters Rand.
I frown and nod. “What are they damaging then? They haven’t killed people yet?”
The commander steps forward. “There have been a few deaths, but they mostly target natural areas and abandoned buildings. They’ve even attacked the Wall, making our allies nervous.”
I close my eyes. Tears prick hot behind my eyelids. I take a steadying breath and open them. “What about the border people? Did our government move them somewhere safely?”
“We’re still in the process of doing that. It’s tricky with the Purists attacking our transports.” The commander glances over at Josh, who pales.
Kai steps toward the commander. “You said it was up to us to decide what to tell the other students. It doesn’t sound like you’re allowing outside access still.”
The commander and Ms. Germain exchange glances, causing my stomach to twist. “That’s correct,” says the commander. “With the attacks escalating we had to stop our space net integration project.”
“What about our families?” My voice cracks slightly as my whole body goes numb.
“You’ll still get limited access every few days to contact them. But that access comes at a price. There are good men and women guarding the one remaining sat tower outside the academy.”
Rand lets out a frustrated sound. I watch as he runs his hand through his hair. “I should be out there with them, sir. I’m almost done with my security classes.”
My jaw gapes and I glance at Kai. He just shrugs.
“You’ve already declared your specialty?” I ask Rand.
Earthlight Space Academy Boxset Page 49
