The Unsound Theory (STAR Academy Book 1)

by Emilia Zeeland

  “The desktop view will show you a live newsfeed and announcements, so you’ll always be up-to-date with information from your teachers,” Howards continued.

  Yalena looked down to see the latest update: “Read Chapters 1 & 2 of Space History before tomorrow.” Some of the other students whispered to each other as they looked at the same newsfeed.

  Professor Howards then gave a short presentation of the classes they would study throughout their freshmen year. Yalena was surprised to find out that the subjects sounded intriguing—Space History, Life Beyond Earth, and Space Travel. It still didn’t feel like she belonged here, but perhaps she might just about be able to survive it. Never mind that she never went to flying school or a space station science lab before. If she just focused on taking this step by step, she could show them—and herself—that it really was worth bringing her in.

  Next, Cooper stepped up to speak. As soon as he began his piece, he lit up, making him seem even younger to Yalena. He delved into an in-depth explanation of the so-called “game.” It was a simulator with battleships meant to build up their reflexes, as well as teach them some rudimentary military strategy.

  Yalena drew in a deep breath, biding her time before she said, “No, thanks.” Yet, when Cooper explained everyone was only required to put in a few group sessions over the semester, she relaxed her posture.

  “The idea is to provide the pilot profiles with a way to practice daily, going against the computer,” Cooper concluded. “This is instrumental for those of you interested in seeing your names climbing up the piloting ranks on the freshmen Top Ten board.”

  With more applause, the students thanked the speakers. Then there was a formal lunch and some time for the eager freshmen to network with the Academy staff.

  Yalena wanted to make sure she could have a word with O’Donnell again. He’d said he hadn’t doubted that she would accept STAR Academy’s invitation, and that sentiment had stayed with her. She spotted him in one of the corners with Cooper. They were speaking in low voices, with their back to her. She made her way toward them, but Eric caught her by the elbow when she’d almost reached them. The commander’s son made a “shh” sign to Yalena, and she froze in dismay.

  “With our latest ship, it would take a long weekend, tops.” Cooper’s voice was barely audible. “I just need the antimatter fuel. Can’t your pompous board cover that?” Cooper’s voice rose above a whisper in a serious tone Yalena hadn’t thus far suspected he was capable of.

  “Money is not the only issue, and you know it,” O’Donnell said, his tone harsh. “It’s not yet time to give the go-ahead for this mission.”

  “Come on, you can give the others a nudge,” Cooper continued heatedly, but the commander cut him off.

  “The board is asking us to tread carefully here, and I agree. I’m not sending you out there when we’re not even sure who or what will be waiting for you. It’s too risky.”

  “Damn it, Marcus! I know it’s a long shot, but if they’ve come back...” Cooper ran his fingers through his soft, blond hair. “If they’re out there, and we don’t help them...” But his older brother silenced him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

  “If it were them, they would have sent us a real message, an intelligible one. They have the tech.” He paused, squeezing Cooper’s shoulder. “I know it’s hard to accept, but this is proof that there may be Others out there. We can’t afford to rush in without knowing what they want. The First Contact mission will launch in twenty-one months. We’ll be ready then; we aren’t now.”

  Yalena’s blood curdled as she listened. By Others, they couldn’t mean what she thought they did—could they? She scowled at Eric, questioning his grasp of her arm. Snapping out of the concentrated way he was listening to the conversation, he loosened his grip on Yalena’s elbow and then led her over to his father.

  “Father, I believe the reception is nearing its end, but perhaps you have time to answer a question for Yalena?”

  Eric let her slip her elbow out of his loosened grip. Feeling her stomach tangle into a ball, she faced O’Donnell and Cooper, who’d quickly turned around. After throwing Eric a piercing look, during which the boy tried to seem innocent, O’Donnell turned to Yalena.

  “Please, you’re welcome to ask me a question.”

  He gave off the feeling of security she needed to chase the thought of the Others from her mind for a second. Come to think of it, it was probably something she misheard. She must have misheard.

  “I just wanted to say that I really found your speech...of use.”

  O’Donnell nodded, and he even seemed pleased by her honest choice of words.

  Heart beating so loud she thought they’d hear it, too, Yalena forced the next words out. “I also wanted to say, I hope I can do well here.”

  “This is a wonderful thing to hear, Russo. And believe me, I have no doubt that you will.”

  He held out his hand to her. When she shook it, Yalena felt he’d really meant that last sentence. It was unbelievable, but she felt like he already knew her. What was even more unthinkable was that she was compelled to trust the commander like she already knew him, too.

  Chapter 7. The Migration

  THAT’S JUST WONDERFUL, Yalena thought upon waking up the next day. Jet lag and restlessness made her get up well before it was time for classes. Plus, she had to get used to hearing Heidi giggle in her sleep. I’ve lasted less than a day, and I’ve already stumbled onto dirt. Actually, I didn’t stumble. I fell headfirst into the quicksand.

  While the Others were exactly the kind of thing Adeline would love to delve into at length, with her flair for dramatic secrets and all, it did nothing but shatter Yalena’s hopes for a smooth and uneventful start at STAR Academy. Never mind what O’Donnell meant when he said Others, why Cooper was so hellbent on going after them, or why Eric was so desperate to hear about them. She’d have to steer clear of all three of them if she wanted to have a chance at normalcy here. She wouldn’t see much of the commander or Cooper as a student, but Eric—and his polite offers to go sightseeing on Unifier—was the one to avoid.

  Yalena went through her morning routine, slightly jealous of Heidi’s sound sleep. When she finished, it was still too early to head to class. With nothing else to take her mind off her nerves, Yalena decided to walk to the Academy since it was the only place she felt confident enough to venture out to. Sure as a seeing eye dog, the green markings led her to the lecture hall for “Life Beyond Earth.” The room was probably classified as big on Unifier—bright, oval, and white, like everything else. The round table must be STAR Academy standard, Yalena thought, for she had yet to find a classroom with individual desks like they had on Earth.

  Yalena took a seat and pulled out a breakfast bar she’d taken from the dorm room’s food cabinet. Already munching on it, she positioned the wireless earpiece in her ear and started another audio lecture.

  When it became apparent that the expansion into Mars and the Moon would not be enough for the stream of people leaving Earth, the second phase of the Migration began. It required much more preparation than the first because it aimed to find a new home for humanity outside the bounds of our solar system. The missions of Farsight and Demonfrost remain the two biggest efforts to resettle humanity.

  In 2101, commander Fia Jones led Farsight out of our solar system on a journey to Aplha Centauri, estimated to last ninety years. Humanity knew that the migration was a long shot and that new inhabitable planets could well be out of our reach, but in the time of such massive destruction, the sacrifice was worth it. Equipped with the latest technology, a crew of twelve hundred people took the brave leap into the unknown.

  In the words of the chief astrobiology officer Cara White, author of the famous Cara White Diaries, “Bravery isn’t fighting and dying here on Earth; that’s futility. But bravery isn’t boarding a Migration ship either. Instead, it is surviving whatever is out there, for the future of our species. We will persist, no matter what we face, because we are a planet
of heroes.”

  As anticipated, Earth lost contact with the Farsight crew when the migration ship entered the acceleration part of their flight at the edges of our solar system and disappeared beyond radar coverage. Any radio signal from Farsight would take years to travel back to Earth, so the government waited. However, forty years later, the crew was expected to go into cruise mode, propelled forward by the acceleration they’d accumulated, at which point, the mission should have come back to us with a report on their progress. Unfortunately, they were never heard from again. Experts speculate that Farsight may have crashed or run into technical difficulties light-years away from Earth. With more than a century since contact was lost, hope of ever hearing back from the mission grows dimmer every day.

  Yalena was startled by the sound of the automatic doors opening. Her Berry fell to the floor, interrupting the audio lecture. When she recovered it, Yalena wiped it out of habit, not that it would have gathered any dust in the sterile surroundings. Eric waved hello and sat down a seat away from her, as if being at a safe distance would work its magic to counteract her questioning glances. Yalena caught herself watching each of his movements, waiting for him to crack and show a sign of something fishy, like he had at the welcome event.

  Eric must have sensed that, because he said, “About yesterday. I didn’t get a chance to explain. I was hoping to hear if Cooper would be coming back for a while, but instead, they were just talking business.” Eric shrugged his shoulders—a fair attempt to seem nonchalant or maybe even innocent. Too bad it didn’t work on her.

  “Of course,” Yalena said, her eyes narrowing. It was none of her business, but part of her was fuming on the inside. Why did she have to be the one to witness something out of the ordinary? Couldn’t she go back to blissful ignorance? She shook the thought off, mentally reaching for a distraction. “You must miss Cooper.”

  “He’s not around as much as he used to be.” Eric seemed to mull over his last statement.

  “Is Cooper the usual crew leader profile?” Yalena couldn’t help but break the silence. She should just disappear into another one of her audio lectures, perhaps more on Cara White, so she wouldn’t feel so clueless the next time Natalia compared herself to the Migration hero. But alas.

  “Cooper’s teachers in the Academy didn’t think he’d go far at first. He was just one of the flying-obsessed kids. But my dad insisted he got some responsibility early on, and he’s handled it marvelously. Maybe because he doesn’t take things too seriously...or stress about anything, really,” Eric raised his eyebrows at the end like he envied that ability. Yalena knew the feeling.

  “And what about your dad?” She scolded herself inwardly for jumping into another question. That was not the definition of “steering clear of the O’Donnells.”

  “His mission, as he says, is to spread ideas and connect people. Any time he’s away, it’s for science conferences or mission approval meetings.” Eric’s reply sounded rehearsed. People were probably always asking him about his dad. “He mentioned you last night. Said you remind him of someone he knew a long time ago.”

  Yalena shuddered.

  “You don’t think he knew...” It felt too weird to say, “my parents,” but she had to make sure.

  A rumble at the entrance of the lecture hall signaled the arrival of a few more of their classmates, including Nico. Yalena brushed a stray chocolatey curl from her face, pausing to see if Eric would still answer now that they weren’t alone.

  He leaned in closer, his clear eyes steady. “I don’t believe he would ever hide that from you. He’s fair. Tough, but fair.”

  Yalena didn’t want to let the thought seep in, but from Eric’s open gesture, she felt he was on her side. So what if he’d been eavesdropping on his father? If Yalena had a dad, she might be caught doing the same.

  “Who’s tough? Your dad?” Nico asked, joining the conversation after he took the empty seat between Eric and Yelena.

  Eric stretched out, then clasped his hands together cheerfully, masking the hushed conspiratorial tone from before with amusement.

  “He chooses penalties for Academy students if they screw up. Which they do.”

  “I thought we were the best and brightest.” Yalena couldn’t help the sarcasm.

  “No one has gone overboard, really. My dad has never had to expel a student, but minor offenses are rather common. He always says the downside of gathering so many capable people in one place is that they can’t wait to be in charge. They get cocky and daring.”

  It sounded as if Eric had a few cases in mind, but he didn’t say anything more specific. Yalena made a mental note to always bear that in mind, not that she could imagine ever having a reason to go against the commander’s will.

  THE FIRST DAY OF CLASSES left little time for Yalena to revisit any of her concerns with either of the three O’Donnells. Life Beyond Earth stretched her thin, despite the refresher lectures she’d hoped would be her secret weapon. They felt more like a life raft instead. Growing up on Earth wasn’t the disadvantage that held her back. Her own conscious efforts to live in a world detached from space societies was what cut her off at the knees. Now that she’d voluntarily stranded herself at the elite Academy, of all places, the irony of her previous strategy nagged her conscience.

  Listening to the buff Martian boys talk about lichen colonies or the use of geothermal underground waters to heat cities under domes on the red planet chipped away at her resolve to remain unimpressed by space. Professor Howards grilled them on the specifics of the ecosystem and its fragility, while Heidi added curious side notes for the benefit of those who’d never seen the place themselves.

  “You can’t see anything on a dusty sol,” she said, gathering all eyes on her. “You look up, but there’s just a gray haze all above you. Thank the stars that the solar panels are mobile and shake off the sand, or we’d risk serious power outages.”

  Then Natalia, as the most vocal of the Moonies, showed off the Moon Sphere, finally something Yalena couldn’t have glossed over all her life. The blue disco ball, as she’d always thought of it, was the most expensive space project in existence, according to the Moonie’s smooth monologue.

  “You see, microgravity-induced illnesses in the mining area severely decreased life expectancy among the first settlers,” Natalia said, her eyes moving from face to face, like she was arguing her case in a murder trial. “When the Quakes ended and the Moonie government established a monopoly on antimatter fuel, after winning the trillions-worth of penalty payments from Earth for providing fuel for their outbound expeditions, we decided it was enough. We needed a habitat that made us feel comfortable.”

  “What an insightful comment on the backstory,” Professor Howards said, interrupting Natalia, or else no other student would be able to get a word in. “The sphere runs on antimatter fuel produced on the Moon, which generates enough energy to keep it spinning, same as we do for Unifier, at a speed that produces gravity.”

  “Is Unifier also entirely fueled by antimatter?” Jen asked. The bright green uniform coupled with her angelic face made her seem like a space pixie.

  “It’s a combination of solar energy and antimatter,” Eric said. “A monopoly is never good, so Martian and Earth governments have been working hard on laser technology that uses solar panels and magnifies their potency.”

  “But not all space stations have gravity,” Nico said. “All the older ones, like the dinosaur that is the International Space Station, have no gravity.”

  “It’s always a cost-benefit analysis,” the professor said. “For example, Zanzar. You’ve done an assignment there, correct?” He turned to Nico, who nodded.

  “I spent one semester on exchange there.”

  “Ew!” Natalia made a face. “Who’d want to spend four months in the place where all space junk goes to die?”

  “It’s a remarkable construction and the second biggest space station in operation,” Nico countered.

  “Imagine trying to take off from Earth,
avoiding the leftover debris from all early space flights like they did back in the 21st century,” Alec said. “It would be a mess.”

  “That’s right,” the professor said. “Don’t forget that nothing can exist in isolation. If we leave ship remains lying around, they’d accumulate over time to unbearable levels. That’s why investments in waste management systems like Zanzar are needed. Innovations aim to proactively solve problems before they arise. Can anybody tell us about the origin of the word?”

  “Zanzar?” Yalena heard herself ask. “It must come from the Italian word for mosquito, ‘zanzara.’”

  “Correct! It’s an ongoing joke on Zanzar that they suck all the space junk like mosquitoes suck blood.” Nico giggled. Yalena threw a sideways glance at Eric. He scratched his forehead, eyes fixated on her, before they both looked away.

  “One more reason to never go to Earth,” Natalia said. “Tiny creatures that drink your blood? I’ll pass.”

  The electronic bell dismissed the class a second before Heidi offered the final comment, more intended for Yalena and Jen than anybody else.

  “And outside of Zanzar station, the mosquito comparison has given fruitful soil for space-lingo swearwords like ‘go to Zanzar’ and ‘you suck like a zanzara,’ so use it with caution.”

  Thankful for the recording capability on her Berry, Yalena captured the discussion and later that day, used the speech-to-text app to turn it into notes she could skim before the next class. Despite having a few chapters to read for Space History and Space Travel each, she pushed herself to review the notes that evening, staying glued to the desk long after Heidi had finished her work.

  “You’re very diligent,” Heidi said, inspecting the notes and unable to let silence hang in the room.

  “I need to be.” Yalena scratched the side of her face, then scrolled down on her tablet. “Being so far behind everybody else is embarrassing, but not as embarrassing as cutting corners.”