At the cafeteria entrance four soldiers lead my father in. His grav chair floats silently over the tile floor, but the sound is deafening to me. I take a few deep breaths as he catches my gaze and smirks.
Kai places his hand over mine. “You all right?”
I nod.
“Is that Toland?” asks the commander.
Everyone at the table nods.
The commander grinds his jaw. “What is he doing here?”
“The general brought him. Said they couldn’t take him to Starlight yet because of a riot lockdown.”
“The general should’ve told me. He’s introduced a huge security issue into my academy.” The commander stands, grabs the tray Katrina placed in front of him, and walks out. He gives my father’s escort a wide berth.
I groan and stand up. “He didn’t tell us what his idea was.”
Kai pulls me back down. “Let him go. We’ll find him later. He probably needs to get cleaned up and finished eating before he deals with anything else.”
I glare down at him.
Kai holds his hands up in surrender. “Just being the voice of reason here.” He chuckles.
“I think we should hurry to the sims before the others.” Rand stands up. He grins and hurries over to the sani station.
We follow him out. I try not to look over in the direction of my father. As I walk down the corridor the hair on the back of my neck stands up. But I don’t look back.
We stop at the residential level to let Cam and Mr. Chao out. Mr. Chao looks exhausted. Cam hugs Kai and hurries down the corridor.
I give Kai a dark look.
He shrugs. “What? He likes me.”
“I was his sibling first.” I pretend to pout.
Kai grabs me up around my waist and pulls me back into the lift. He kisses me even though I protest.
We find the sim room full of Year Ones desperately trying to get through the dozens of sims. We hurry past and head toward the only sim we need. Rand is already there. He’s strapped into the one-person ship and is getting his helmet hooked up to the craft.
He grins at me as I stand next to the ship and lift up on tiptoes to see him.
“I’m going to be the first in our class to pass this one. My last practice time was better than anyone else.”
“Always competitive.” I shake my head.
“Always.” He reaches for his oxygen mask and I step away and outside of the marked area.
“Good luck.” I wink.
He rolls his eyes. “You know I don’t need luck.”
I laugh.
We feel the floor beneath us vibrate and for a second a wave of fear washes over me. When I see the energy barrier shoot up from the opening in the floor I realize it’s not another attack.
I will my pulse to slow back down and watch the energy barrier envelope the small ship. A slight change in temperature makes me shiver. As the air is sucked out of the enclosed area, Rand’s oxygen kicks in.
He gives us a thumbs up as the sim starts. His focus is determined as he’s put through the most difficult scenarios we’ll encounter in our sims.
Josh comes to stand next to me. “I doubt anything in these sims will be as difficult as what we’re going through.”
I glance sideways at him. “But we’re not fighting in spaceships or on space stations right now.” I wave behind us at the room full of sims.
“No, but these sims are just rote learning for us. Once we learn how each ship or station works, we can handle any emergency automatically. The training is engrained in us. Mind and muscle memory.”
I nod.
“But what we’ve gone through, and what we’ll have to go through in the future is more mentally challenging than any of the scenarios programmed into these machines.”
“That’s very dark,” Katrina says. She studies Josh’s drawn face.
He gives her a small smile. “Sorry.”
“No, he’s right. We do need to learn all this, but it’s just actions without thought.” A shiver runs up my spine. “That’s it. I think that’s what the commander figured out.”
I take out my tablet and request to talk to the commander. When I look up the others are staring at me.
“When I licked the fruit to keep it away from Cam, I was marking it for myself. Cam is used to me doing that and over the years, knowing he’s grossed out by it, won’t even fight me for the food. Even when he was hungry. He’s conditioned to our little routine.”
I start pacing. “Just like the Purists. They’re so used to doing the same thing—fighting us—that they can’t stop now. Even when they’re destroying the one thing they want to save. Earth.”
“Right. But how does that help us defeat them?” Kai asks.
I stop in front of him. “We give them what they want.”
A wave of confusion passes over his face.
“They’ve been licking the fruit all these years—bombing cities and bases to keep others from getting them. All over the world. We’ve lost whole cities, military bases, lakes, and countries.” I point to Sean. He nods in understanding.
I smile and keep going. “But in that victory, the Earth’s land, water, and atmosphere has been damaged. They went too far, and they have to know that. But they don’t know how to stop. If they stop, they lose. So, I propose we give them what they want.”
“And what exactly is that?”
We turn to find the Commander Svell standing behind us in a clean uniform.
I put a hand to my chest. “You’ve got to stop sneaking up on us like that.”
His lip twitches, but he keeps his expression blank.
“I’m not sure my idea is the exact same as what you came up with. But we have to abandon Earth anyway, right?”
He nods.
“There’s no way they would come with us. The whole reason they organized years ago was to protest living in space.”
He frowns. “We could force them to leave.”
“Then what? Have the same problem up in space? Sabotage? War? They would just spread their hatred and dangerous beliefs.”
“We can’t just abandon that many people down here. They’ll die within months,” says Katrina.
Always the soft heart.
“When I was little my mom would tell me stories about big projects the Space Council commissioned. All of them were to prepare us for living and working in space. Experiments to make living in space safer, healthier, and more enjoyable. Have you heard about the Biolab Ten project?”
The commander narrows his eyes at me. “Ten? I’ve heard of the Biolab projects but last I heard there were only seven of them.”
I smile and glance over at Philip. “Last year when we were researching recycling for our class project, Philip and I found the rest of the Biolab projects. Built all around the world, they mimic life on Earth, but in an enclosed system. But they’re also small research stations for testing new vegetation and recycling. We’ve developed the Lunar and Martian domes from this research.”
“It’s true. Your mom and I lived in one for a while.”
Ms. Germain comes to stand next to the commander. He looks at her as if she’s grown a second head.
She laughs. “Really. Patty and I spent one summer between our first and second years of college living in Biolab Eight. It was an amazing experience. Two, young single women living off the land in a small group, not being able to leave the bubble for three months.” She smiles to herself before turning to face me. “But what do the biolabs have to do with our present situation?”
I grin. “We give them to the Purists.”
“What? We can’t do that.” The commander folds his arms over his chest.
“Why not? We have to abandon them anyway, right? We’ve heard that the air and water are bad all around the world, and the attacks have destroyed most of the fertile land. We would be just abandoning the biolabs or recycling them. If we offer the biolabs to the Purists in exchange for a cease fire, we could at least safely evacuate everyone else off the planet. And w
e wouldn’t be just leaving them to die down here.”
“That’s a great idea, actually.” Ms. Germain turns to the commander. “Did the new Space Command come up with anything better?”
“Space Command?” asks Alex, stepping forward.
Ms. Germain smiles. “The Space Council was disbanded this week and renamed the Space Command. Along with the former Space Council members we absorbed all the leaders of the world. A new galactic ruling government.”
“Based on Mars,” whispers Philip.
I nod as more puzzle pieces fall into place.
The commander uncrosses his arms. He suddenly looks tired. “Our only idea was to just assure the Purists they could have the planet. Just give them the fruit.”
“But they’ll die with that plan,” says Ms. Germain.
I watch as the commander’s gaze focuses on something in the distance. He then turns to Ms. Germain. “Let’s go talk to the general about Miss Toland’s idea.”
We watch them leave. From behind us we hear a loud rush of air.
I turn to see Rand’s triumphant face inside his mask. He waits until the barrier is fully retracted into the floor before extracting himself from the ship. He jumps down and strides over to us grinning.
“Passed with the highest score yet from the academy.”
“For now,” says Alex. He grins at Rand. “Until it’s my turn.”
Rand makes a face at him but returns to smiling. “So, what did I miss?” He points to the lifts where the commander and Ms. Germain are just getting into one.
“Anja figured out how to save the world,” says Philip.
I smack his shoulder. “Not as dramatic as that.”
“Pretty close.” Kai wraps an arm around me.
I sigh. “I just suggested they give the Purists the biolabs in exchange for a cease fire. Then we can get out of here without worrying about being shot down.”
“That’s actually a great idea.”
“Don’t sound so surprised.” I laugh.
“No, really. I bet they’ll go for it. It’ll stop their destruction of our planet, and they can hunker down in the biolabs while the rest of us make our homes in space.”
“But how long can they survive in the biolabs?” asks Katrina.
“I think people can live in there for years without coming out,” I answer. “Maybe by that time they’ll either realize they should join us in space, or the Earth might have healed by then.”
“Possibly. I think it’ll take longer than a few years,” says Sean. “When our lake was destroyed, we talked with experts who said it would take almost twenty years to undo the damage done in that small area.”
I frown. “Then the biolabs will just be a temporary solution.”
“But it’ll save billions of people in the meantime.” Kai pulls me closer.
“I suppose so. I still feel bad that they might just die in those biolabs.”
“We don’t know that they will. But we can’t force them to leave. It’s their choice. Your idea at least gives them a fighting chance for survival,” Alex says softly.
“I guess we’ll know soon enough if the general thinks it’s a viable idea. In the meantime, who’s next?” I point to the sim beside us.
Everyone raises their hands except Josh and Rand.
“I need to go finish a few sims first,” says Josh. He smiles and takes out his tablet. “Shouldn’t take too long though.”
I raise an eyebrow at Philip who has his hand raised. He shrugs. “What? I caught up on all my sims and schoolwork once I finished the project programming.”
The crackling sound of the energy barrier startles us. We turn to see Alex sitting in the cockpit of the small ship grinning. We take a few steps backward as the energy barrier gathers power and raises to enclose the small ship.
Sean laughs.
“Sneaky,” Kai says.
“Competitive,” says Rand, his voice full of admiration.
I open my mouth to say something, but I’m cut short by the cube in my pack start to scream. I gasp and look at the others.
“Find cover.”
We scramble to the nearest sim, which is a large metal box that’s bolted to the floor. We brace our backs up against the solid metal as the cube stops and the shaking starts.
I look across the sim room and see that everyone closest to us heard the loud alarm and is doing the same. I feel the first rumbles and grab Kai’s hand. I feel dizzy as I watch the floor ripple.
My heart skips a beat and I lean forward to see past Kai. I gasp. The energy barrier around the small ship that Alex is in crackles.
“Get to the far side,” I yell even as I’m already scrambling around the corner of the sim. The others crawl after me. Rand is barely around the corner when we feel the explosion. I cover my ears as the sound of metal being ripped apart pierces the air. Shards of metal fly past us.
An eternity later the shaking ceases and an eerie calm settles over the room.
Sean peeks around the corner. “Alex!” He’s up and running.
The rest of us scramble to our feet and follow, avoiding the broken metal scattered on the floor.
Inside the small ship we can see Alex’s head leaning against the window, blood running down his face. My heart stops in my chest.
“No!” Sean yells.
Rand runs to help Sean pull Alex out of the ship.
I send an emergency message to the academy nurse and the general’s medic.
They lay Alex on the ground and gently pull his helmet off.
“He’s just unconscious,” says Rand. “The blood is from the side of his face where it hit his helmet.”
Katrina kneels down beside Rand. She digs inside her backpack and pulls out her academy T-shirt. Rand takes it and puts pressure on Alex’s bleeding wound.
We hear boots running across the metal floor behind us. I look over my shoulder to see several soldiers weaving their way through the sims. The medic gets to us first and takes over for Rand.
By the time they get Alex onto an anti-grav stretcher, his eyes are open and he’s talking. Sean follows the procession to the lift.
I wrap my arms around my middle as I watch them take Alex away.
“This thing is toast.”
I turn to see Rand and Philip staring at the hole in the floor near the back of the ship. Rand is glaring at it.
The torn metal looks almost pretty, like a large metal flower opening from the ground.
“The power source overloaded. It wasn’t built to withstand that much shaking.” Philip frowns down into the hole.
I turn to Kai. “We need to check on Cam and your father.”
He nods and retrieves both our backpacks where we dropped them.
Rand, Philip, Katrina, and Josh follow us. “Let’s run the project sim once we make sure everyone is all right. We need to give the general the specs so he can get the retrofits started.”
The heaviness of the current situation weighs us down as we make our way to the residential level. We stay silent as we get on the lift. When the doors open to loud chaos, we’re all startled.
We rush out of the lift only to stop short.
Between us and the dorms is a large chasm in the floor.
21
Trapped Again
I hear my name among the shouts and crackling of exposed broken electrical wiring. I look up to see Cam’s tear-streaked face as he clings to the wall on the other side of the hole.
“Don’t move, Cam. We’re here.” I take a step forward and feel a hand on my shoulder.
“Careful,” comes Kai’s warning.
The gap is only a few feet wide, but it’s deep enough to expose the level below us and all the wiring and conduit running through the floor.
I turn slightly. “Philip? Check the security systems to see if other levels are like this. I didn’t think this quake was that bad, so what happened here?”
Still holding onto my shoulder, Kai takes his other hand and runs it along the crack in t
he wall. He pulls a piece of sheet rock free and dusty sunlight streams through. I squint and lean toward the opening.
“You can see the energy barrier.” I point.
Kai leans forward to see for himself. We watch as the green energy shimmers in the sunlight, crackling in places. “Look,” he points to a lower section of the barrier where the dirty blue sky peeks through.
I gasp. “They’ve made a hole in the barrier. Our building must’ve been hit. Philip?”
“Sending a message to the general now. This is the only level cracked this badly.”
Cam calls my name again.
I lean back away from the destruction. “You all right, Cam?”
Through the dust I see him nod. Other students crowd around him.
“Everyone needs to back away from the hole,” orders Rand beside me.
I blink and look around. Small cracks in the walls radiate out from the hole. My pulse races as I picture the floor plan of the residential levels.
“We need to get them out of there,” I whisper. “There’s no other exits on that side.”
“Cam, go get my father,” says Kai. His voice is steady and assuring.
I hear a ping. I straighten and glance back.
Philip is pale. “The general says we need to evacuate everyone to the lowest level. He also says we’re on our own. They have their hands full with Alex’s wound and your father trying to escape.” He looks up at me with wide eyes. “Again.”
My pulse spikes and I feel like puking. “Trying to escape? He’s still in custody though.”
Philip looks back down at the tablet. “Yes. But they can’t spare any soldiers.”
Great. I now appreciate the security of Starlight Max. Those prisoners may be rioting, but they’re still stuck there. Where else are they going with no atmosphere on the moon?
I turn back around and push my father out of my mind. I need to concentrate on Cam. I look over the chasm to see Cam walking beside the grav chair, holding Mr. Chao’s hand. I step closer to the breach and look down. The ceiling below is still mostly intact, so the hole has only split our floor. I kneel. The broken pieces of our flooring lay collapsed on the braces below.
I stand back up and turn to Kai. “It’s too unstable to have everyone try to jump this. But the anti-grav in the chair works by repelling energy from the surface it travels over, correct?”
Earthlight Space Academy Boxset Page 55
