“Nine p.m.”
“What does that mean?” Katrina asks.
“I think maybe he’ll call me then. He must have talked with Cam and knows I can receive vid calls.” I look up. “Do you think something happened to Cam?”
Katrina’s long bob sways as she shakes her head. “If something happened to him or Kai’s parents, he would call you right away. This probably just means he has more information for you.”
Tears spill as I feel overloaded. “More?” The image of Kai’s father in the bed behind Cam comes back to me. “I wish Kai were here so I could tell him.”
“Tell me what?” Hot breath rushes over my neck. The small hairs stick up at the sound of the familiar voice.
Katrina lets go of me and I turn into Kai’s open arms. I bury my face into his chest as relief floods hot through my body.
He whispers into my ear, “I’m so sorry. I just needed to run out my emotions.”
“Like we used to do behind the Border School.” The two of us would disappear for hours running through the desert.
He nods.
I pull away far enough to look into his eyes. My heart races as he gazes down at me. “Hungry?”
He tilts his head. “Sure. Then you’ll let me know what you two were talking about?”
I glance over at Katrina and grin. “Yes.”
Kai grabs my hand and squeezes as we follow Katrina to the cafeteria. She leans toward me as we grab trays. “They’ve cut our meals down to ten minutes each because of the sheer number of new students they need to circulate through the cafeterias.”
I grab a few protein bars and tuck them into my backpack for later. My stomach lurches as I think of all I need to tell Kai. I only grab a few pieces of fruit before sitting down with the others.
“They really have limited options today,” Philip says as he shoves the end of a sub sandwich into this mouth.
“I heard they haven’t been able to get supplies to us because of the barrier.” Alex takes a bite of an apple.
“Where did you hear that?” I ask.
Alex glances over at Sean. “We have a friend who works in the kitchen. During class this morning she was complaining about having to get creative with our meals.”
Creative? I look down at my tray thankful I just took fruit.
“What happens if they can’t get supplies to us?”
I look past Kai to see Josh staring at his tray.
“I’m sure the commander will think of something.” I look over at Philip. “Have they repaired the Kagawa yet?”
He pauses with his mouth full, but then nods.
I laugh. “Sorry. Bad timing.”
The lights flash a warning that our time is up. We finish our meal and take care of the trays.
“Want to go for a run?” asks Rand as we’re walking down the corridor.
I glance at Kai. “I’d love to, but we need to take care of something before tonight. You guys go ahead. We’ll meet you back at the community room later.”
Kai gives me a curious glance but allows me to pull him to one of the lifts that leads down to the shop levels. I choose the lowest one just because I haven’t seen it yet.
When the lift doors open, I gasp. I step out into the chilly room. A few banks of lights turn on as we walk farther, illuminating large dark shapes scattered around the huge room.
Kai stops beside one of the shapes as the lights turn on overhead.
“Nice.” His tone is appreciative as he looks at the chunk of metal.
The walls are lined with heavy duty metal shelving as far as my eye can see. “This must be the parts level. I thought there were only active shops down here?”
Kai points to the large chunk of metal in front of us. “This is the mech shop. These are small rocket engines. Previous classes must’ve had more hands-on projects than we did.”
I walk around the engine admiring the modifications some former student did to it. “I’d rather be down here working on these than designing miniature rockets.” I inhale the smell of grease and oil.
Kai grabs me up in his arms. “Yes, but then you might not have had the world-winning idea of making drone recycle ships.”
He kisses me before I can say anything. For the first time all day I relax. We get lost in the moment, making up for the time apart. Only the flash of another lunch warning marks the time.
I sigh and step away from Kai. I plop down next to the nearest engine and lean my back against it. Kai folds himself down on the floor next to me, his long legs straight out.
I turn so I can face him. “I talked to Cam.”
He straightens. “With Ms. Germain’s connection?”
I nod. “He was sleeping on the floor of your father’s hospital room.”
Kai’s face scrunches up and he tries to turn away. I grasp his chin to keep him facing me.
“Your father is strong. He doesn’t have permanent damage as far as we can tell. He just needs to rest.”
Kai’s eyes glisten. “I was so afraid I was going to lose him before I even saw him again,” he whispers.
“I know. The general is going to call us tonight at nine.”
“What do you think he wants?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he has a plan to move your parents and Cam?” I drop my hands into my lap.
Kai wraps his arm around me and pulls me close.
I breathe in his scent, now mixed with the smell of engine grease. “This reminds me of sitting in that gas station while we watched Cam go through boxes you’d bring us.”
“Except you don’t have to climb through tunnels to get home.” He kisses the top of my head.
“Those were some scary times, but at least the whole world wasn’t falling apart yet.”
“That we were aware of. We were so focused on just surviving in the Borderlands that anything other than our immediate survival was beyond our awareness.”
“True.” I think of the nights I slept on the ground and how many years I worked my fingers raw in the fields.
“There’s something else bothering you.” Kai nudges me.
I close my eyes briefly. “Ms. Germain told me something about my parents.”
Kai stiffens next to me. “Really?”
“She says she was a close friend of my mothers. I had no idea. She told me my father worked his way into the Purists years ago. He’d always been a dangerous man. He didn’t leave, Kai. My mother forced him to leave. To protect Cam and me,” I finish in a whisper.
Silence envelopes us as Kai holds me tight in the cold room. I think back to all the times Cam and I asked about our father. Mom never gave us the impression that he was capable of these kinds of horrors. I sniff and pull back from Kai.
“We need to get back before the general calls.”
Kai helps me to my feet, and we walk slowly past the hulking engines. I run a finger over one as we pass. “I wonder how they got these huge things down here?”
“In smaller pieces?”
“Maybe. Just seems strange to put the workshop with the largest projects on the lowest level.”
I push the lift button and turn to Kai. “Thank you for listening to me. I’m sorry you didn’t get to talk to your father.”
Kai gives me his million-dollar smile, sending shivers up my spine. “I’ll always be here for you, Anja.”
The lift doors open.
“Always?” I can’t look away from his face. “What about after we’ve graduated? You said you weren’t sure anymore where you want to go.” My heart races even as my body feels numb.
Kai gathers me into his arms. “I want to go wherever you are. I’m sorry if I’ve seemed distant. I was just feeling stressed and insecure.” His smile fades.
“Insecure? About what?”
“I see how much you’ve grown in the past year, and how you’ve stepped up to become an amazing leader. After all you’ve gone through, you’re still focused on helping others. And I’m—” Kai’s voice trails off. He clears his throat. “And I’m n
ot. A leader, I mean. So, I wasn’t sure where I would fit up there with you.”
“Kai, don’t you see how amazing you are? I don’t know anyone other than your father who’s as intelligent and courageous as you are. Please don’t feel insecure around me. We’re a team. Right? You and me. We’ve always been able to get through anything together.”
Kai leans in and kisses me with so much passion that when we part, I’m breathless. We step into the lift and ride to the residential level arm in arm. I’m grinning when we step off the lift into the crowded corridor. As we turn toward our dorm a loud alarm vibrates through my backpack freezing us both in place.
17
Attack Warning
I dig the offending cube out of my pack. “It’s the attack warning. Ms. Germain gave it to me this morning.” I look around the noisy corridor, packed with students hurrying toward the cafeteria. Oblivious to the alarm screaming in my hand.
Kai brings a hand to his mouth and whistles louder than I’d thought possible. Even louder than the cube’s alarm.
Everyone goes quiet and turns toward us. I wave my hand toward the ground. “Get down,” I yell.
Kai and I fall to the floor. The others obey just as the shocks hit the academy building. As the floor heaves and the walls shake, Kai pulls me close to him and covers my head with his arms. I listen to the deep rumble of the building shaking around me, and the shouts of students down the corridor. I bury my face into Kai’s chest and hold on tight.
It feels like forever before the aftershocks level out enough so we can pull ourselves back to standing. I turn the cube over in my hands. A small data screen on one side has numbers scrolling across it. The numbers get smaller and smaller.
I look up to see everyone gaping at me, most pale as snow. I swallow. “I think we’re good for now. Everyone all right?”
Those closest to us nod. Kai and I hurry through the crowd and head to the community room. We find our friends picking themselves up from the floor.
Katrina sees me and comes running to grab me up in a hug. “I wasn’t sure where you guys went. I’m glad you’re all right.”
Philip looks up. “Did that cube give you any better warning than their message to us?” He frowns holding up his tablet.
I hold it out for him to look at the numbers. “Sort of. It gave us enough time to give a warning to those around us in the corridor.”
Fascinated, Philip takes the cube and studies it.
“That tiny cube made that loud whistle?” Rand asks as he runs his hand through his hair. “I heard that from here.”
“Actually, that was Kai.” I turn to Kai, who’s still holding on tight to me. “I had no idea you could whistle like that.”
He grins. “I’ve never had reason to get that many people’s attention.”
“Thankfully, the academy isn’t big on decorations. Not much to fall on us.”
“There’s one thing I’ve been wondering though.” Josh stands up and comes to stand next to Philip. “If these are explosions, how come they last so long? I used to take trips with my father down south, and we experienced several earthquakes down there. Earthquakes last this long and have aftershocks. But an explosion you would think would be just one large percussive blast.”
We stare at Josh for a second.
“That’s actually a great question. Philip? Rand? Do you guys have any ideas?” I take the cube back from Philip and tuck it into my pack.
He shrugs.
Rand sighs. “It would only make sense if there were several explosions at once. And they’d have to be fairly close to make our buildings rock like that. But it still feels like they’re reverberating against something.” He frowns.
I nod. “Maybe we can get the general to clarify that tonight.” I pull out my tablet. “Almost nine.”
Kai steers us toward one of the large couches and we settle in to wait. Our friends find places to lounge around the room. I lean into Kai and watch the others. Despite everything going on, I’m surprised that everyone is still behaving mostly normal.
“What are you thinking?”
I blink and look up at Kai. His gentle smile warms me. “With the stress we’ve experienced and the world falling apart around us, I guess I expected us to change more. You know?”
“How would we change?”
I shrug. “I saw a lot of people down in the camps become sullen and full of hate over the years. They became different under all that grief and stress.”
Kai kisses the top of my head. “Maybe those people were always like that deep down and the stress just revealed who they truly were. You didn’t change.”
I look around the room again. “Josh changed,” I whisper.
Kai leans closer. “Or he just returned to who he was always meant to be. You and Katrina were right about him being a better person than how he was acting last year.”
I smile. Katrina has Josh laughing about something. Not sure if I’ve ever seen Josh laugh.
My tablet pings, and my pulse spikes as I wake the vid. I stare into the scruffy face of the general.
“General?”
He wipes his hand down his face. He looks at me with dark eyes and an exhausted expression. “Good evening, Miss Toland. Your brother was insistent that I talk to you.”
I grin. “He can be very stubborn.”
The general looks off to the side. “Well, in this case it’s a good thing. We’re all so tired I’m not sure any of us are thinking straight. I needed to talk to you anyway.”
An icy sensation rolls through my veins. “Are we in danger, general?”
The room goes silent around me.
I glance up to see everyone staring over at us. I glance back down. The general looks like he’s trying to make up story to tell me.
I turn the volume up on my tablet. “The truth general. We have over a thousand students to keep safe here.”
He sighs. “I’m still not sure how knowing all this is a good idea.”
“It helps us to stay safe and maybe find some way to help.”
He shakes his head. “Washington has gone underground. They’re just basically buying time until we have enough ships retrofitted to bring everyone up to the stations.”
“How is that going? The ships?” Kai asks.
“We’ve got six empty habitat ships ready, and I have permission to use the Leviathan.”
I hear a gasp and look up to find Philip with his hand clasped over his mouth, his eyes wide.
“The Leviathan?” I turn my attention back to the general. Inside I’m chuckling because I’m grateful for amazing friends like Philip. It doesn’t surprise me that he already knows about the Leviathan.
The general leans forward. “It’s the largest spaceship ever made that can withstand Earth’s gravity.”
Confused, I look over at Philip again.
He grins. “It’s as large as a small city but can land and take off from Earth.”
“Wow.” I face the general again. “Sounds like something we should have more of to evacuate the people around the world.”
“This one took years to build and a lot of funding.”
Kai squeezes my hand.
“General? Are you going to move Kai’s parents and my brother?”
He leans back. “I’ve sent most of the base personnel to the spaceport. They’re just waiting turns for the space shuttle to take them to one of the habitats. A small group of us stayed back.”
“Because of my father?” Kai asks.
“Honestly, because both of your fathers.”
Kai and I look at each other.
“What do you mean?” I ask, nerves fluttering in my belly. I tried forgetting that my father was down here with the general.
“Kai’s father obviously needs time to rest before he can handle space travel. And Mr. Toland, well we’ve been trying to get as much intel from him as we can.”
“Doesn’t seem to be helping, does it? We’re still being attacked.” My voice sounds more bitter than I in
tend.
“No, it doesn’t. Although he has helped us find ways to get our people safely to the spaceport. But they’ve been amassing these explosives for years and we’re outnumbered.”
I frown. “About the explosives. Why do they feel like a large earthquake? The percussions we’re feeling here at Earthlight aren’t just a single bomb.”
The general’s face darkens. “You’re right. They’re setting off strings of very large explosives all at once. They’re trying to get through the energy barrier.”
“Energy barrier?” I glance around at the others. They shake their heads.
“Yes, your father also developed an invisible energy wall that can be shaped and grown larger by adjusting its power flow. The Purists used it for years to hide from our sat scans. They were able to shield hundreds of acres of explosive materials and equipment from us. When we caught your father the first time, we had him help us develop one. It’s what’s surrounding your academy, keeping it safe.”
“It’s like a larger version of the energy barrier that you have protecting The Seven?”
“Yes.”
“And the quakes we’re feeling are the bombs hitting that energy wall?”
“Basically, yes.”
I bite the inside of my cheek. I lean forward. “Then how are we supposed to get out of here? Isn’t the energy wall also blocking our exit from the space dock?”
He nods. “The Kagawa won’t be able to take off until we lower it, which would leave the academy at risk.”
“That’s an understatement,” Rand snorts.
“We have another plan. When the time comes, you’ll leave the same way we’re getting in.”
“We?”
The general looks off to the side again and nods at someone. He looks back at me. “I’ve got to go, it’s time. Yes, we’re coming to you. We don’t have any other place to go, so we’re coming to Earthlight.”
My mouth gapes as the vid goes black.
I glance at Kai who looks just as shocked. “He said ‘we’? So that means he’s bringing my parents here? To the academy?”
Earthlight Space Academy Boxset Page 52
