Tina paled. “My speech!”
Ron’s mouth dropped open. “You didn’t finish it?”
She shook her head.
Yana patted Tina’s hand. “I will help.”
“Yeah, me too,” Ron told her.
“We can all help,” Maxim added.
Todd stood up. “Sorry, sis, we’ve got to get back home soon, and we want to check on the galaxy before we leave.” He came over to get a hug before heading for the door.
Yana ruffled Bai Hu’s hair. “I will see you and Papa at the ceremony tomorrow, my little kotenok.”
Bai Hu wrapped his arms around her middle and squeezed tight. “I will cheer loudly for you, Jiějiě.”
___
The boys headed out of the dormitory wing and Bai Hu stopped at the top of the staircase and looked up. He grabbed Todd’s arm and pointed at the galaxy projection, frowning. “Todd, look! It is frozen!”
Todd frowned as he squinted at the projection. “Has it crashed?”
Bai Hu nodded, letting his backpack slip from his shoulder so that he could rummage inside for his tablet. He brought up a timetable to show to Todd. “Look, the command center was due to send out the update over two hours ago.”
“It comes from the command center? Why?” Todd asked.
Bai Hu looked at him in shock. “You did not know? The galaxy is one of the backups for the navigation display. If ours isn’t working, maybe Admiral Thomas’ is broken too.”
Todd’s frown deepened. “That’s not good. We should tell someone.”
Bai Hu nodded and called out. “Meredith?”
Meredith’s voice came from Bai Hu’s tablet. “Yes, Bai Hu, Todd. How can I assist you?”
Bai Hu leaned over the tablet. “The galaxy hasn’t updated. Can you tell us why?”
“Are the main systems affected?” Todd asked.
Meredith replied a moment later. “The main systems were updated as scheduled. I can only assume there is a problem with the hardware in the projection room. I will alert Max.”
“Thank you, Meredith,” both boys chimed.
Max arrived a few minutes later, toolbox in hand. “Thanks for alerting us to the problem, boys. Meredith told me the projector was likely broken. Would you boys like to come with me to take a look?”
Bai Hu’s eyes widened. “Go into the projection room? That is out of bounds.”
Max’s mustache fluffed out as his mouth opened wide in a grin. “Not if I permit you to be there, it isn’t.”
Max led the way up the stairs and into the library, taking them through the mesh gate into the restricted section.
“This is where we keep the books on how to blow things up,” Max explained. “Makes no sense to leave that kind of thing lying about in a school full of geniuses.”
He chuckled as he led them to the top of a spiral staircase where the door to the projection room lay behind a barred gate. Max flipped through the bunch of keys on this belt, selecting a medieval-looking one to insert into the heavy lock.
“Now, boys, mind you keep your hands to yourselves in here,” Max told them. He placed his hand on a scanner mounted by the door and waited for it to turn green before pushing open the door with a flourish and standing back to let them drink it all in. “Welcome to the octagon, boys.”
They entered what looked like a wide corridor, the inner wall ringed with windows spaced evenly.
Todd went to one of the windows and looked out on the frozen stars. At this near distance Todd could see every detail, the resolution of the projection crystal clear. “Hey, we’re in the walls around the cupola!” He leaned back to touch one of the tiny projectors lining the edge of the window. “How many projectors does it take to make the galaxy?”
Max nodded and set off walking, gesturing for Bai Hu and Todd to follow. “If I recall correctly, there are over a thousand altogether.”
They turned the corner and the outside wall was given over to blinking servers interspersed with control panels and monitor screens.
Bai Hu ran off along the corridor, examining the equipment with all the joy someone his age would usually reserve for a trip to the candy store. He scampered off to explore, calling out a few moments later. “I have found the problem.”
A moment later Max and Todd caught up to Bai Hu, who stood in front of a bank of dark servers with a concerned expression on his face.
Todd gazed around without a clue what he was looking at. “What does all this stuff do?” he asked the custodian.
Max put his toolbox down on the floor. “The servers translate the scans we receive from the command center and transmit the data through the projection cameras as light. Looks like we have our fault. Let’s see what the problem is, shall we?”
Bai Hu bent down next to the silent machine and held up a frayed cable. “This has been chewed,” he told them. He sniffed at the cable. By a rabbit.”
Max did a double-take. “A rabbit? Are you sure?”
Bai Hu nodded. “I hunted rabbits for food back on the mudball, so I know the smell.” His nose twitched. “I think it is still here.” He sniffed again, moving his head until he caught the scent again. He pointed at the server. “It is inside!”
Max took a canvas bag from his toolbox and passed it to Bai Hu. “Okay, this is what we’re going to do. Put that sack over your arms so you don’t get scratched or bitten. I’m going to remove the casing and you’re going to gently place the sack over the rabbit and scoop it up. Can you do that?”
Bai Hu nodded.
Max turned to Todd. “You wait behind Bai Hu in case the rabbit runs before he can secure it, got it?”
Bai Hu got into position and Todd crouched behind him like a quarterback waiting for the snap. Max pried open the casing on the server, taking care not to let the rabbit escape before they were ready. He slowly moved the front of the casing away and there the rabbit was, sitting hunched on a bundle of chewed wires in the corner of the server.
Bai Hu reached inside and popped the rabbit into the sack before it had a chance to react. He straightened up, handing the sack back to Max.
“Good job, boys.” Max grinned, but his grin faded into a grimace when he bent to examine the chewed wires inside the casing, flipping the mass over with a gloved finger to reveal a sludgy puddle of rabbit waste. “But repairing the damage here is beyond my ability.” He ran a hand over his head as he considered the best action. “Okay, boys, this is what we’re going to do. I’m going to clean up here and get the rabbit over to the habitat. You two run and fetch Tina, Ron, and Aleksei. Tell them they can use anything they need from my tools to get the job done. If anyone can get the projector back up and running it will be those three.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Etheric Academy, Lobby
Maxim and Craig stood with Masha and Mischa by the auditorium doors, handing out programs to people as they went inside.
“Where are they?” Maxim asked for the third time, fidgeting in his graduation gown. “They’re going to miss the start.”
A few stragglers milled in the center of the lobby, staring at the galaxy, which was still stationary.
Masha pointed up at the frozen projection. “They’ll be here when that’s back up and running. Diane and Dorene told them to take a break if they weren’t finished, but you know those three.”
Mischa snickered. “Like talking to a dead bear. No point.”
The last few stragglers filed into the auditorium and Max came to check on them.
The custodian looked up at the still image. “Still nothing, huh?”
Maxim was about to offer to go up to the projection room and drag the three of them down to the ceremony whether they wanted to leave or not when the projection flickered and the galaxy overhead began its slow rotation once more.
“Woohooo!” Mischa cheered.
Max grinned and set off for the right-hand staircase. “Meredith has informed me that Tina, Ron, and Aleksei are ready to come down from the projectio
n room. They’ll be here soon, so you four go and take your places.”
___
Tina tugged at her graduation gown, trying to remove the wrinkles she’d caused when she pulled it on hurriedly over her activewear. “So much for my outfit.”
She ran lightly down the staircase, cutting across the lobby ahead of the boys, who were still wrestling with their gowns as they exited the library.
She slowed as she passed the auditorium doors to take her customary glance at the quote above them. She was pleasantly surprised to see that the quote had been changed. “How apropos for today.”
Ron came to a stop beside her. “You have always loved the quotes.”
Aleksei inserted himself between Tina and Ron, wrapping an arm around each. “If you two are having a moment, don’t take too long. We’re late enough as it is.” He hurried inside the auditorium.
Tina took a step toward the doors and stopped. “This is really it, isn’t it? The end of the Academy for us, and the start of everything to come.”
Ron placed a hand on her shoulder. “We’ve got this, Tina. Whatever comes.”
She nodded once, then again more confidently. “Come on, then. Let’s go.”
They went inside and wove their way to the stage, where the rest of the graduating students were getting comfortable in fold-down chairs on the raised platform on either side.
Tina saw Yana wave from the opposite side and skirted the lectern in the center, pulling Ron up the steps by the arm. They scooted past Craig and Mischa, who sat together holding hands.
She took her seat beside Yana and scanned the audience, searching the front rows where the parents sat with the friends they’d made thanks to their children’s friendships. Her mom was there in the first row, dabbing her eyes as Todd tried to console her. Maxim’s uncle was next to her with Nestor beside him, and Yana’s father sat with Bai Hu farther along the row with Masha and Mischa’s parents.
She nudged Ron, nodding at the end of the second row where his parents were taking photo after photo of their son. “See, they do love you,” she told him as they waved to him.
A couple of rows behind the families and friends of the graduating students, the Guardians had come out in force. They filled the middle of the auditorium and were providing most of the buzz. Tina saw Peter talking to Craig Senior. She was about to ask Masha if she could lipread their conversation when Maxim gasped beside her. He stood up and pointed at the auditorium’s doors.
“He made it!”
Tina followed his finger, seeing an older version of Maxim coming through the door with a woman in a nurse’s uniform supporting him.
Maxim held a hand over his mouth, uncaring of the tears that fell as every Guardian in the auditorium got to their feet and applauded his father.
Nikolai for his part was embarrassed, waving off the attention as he took a seat beside Peter. He met Maxim’s gaze, holding a hand to his heart. “I am so proud of you, my son,” he mouthed.
Maxim sat down, overcome with joy.
“It’s all come together, hasn’t it?” Tina marveled.
The next two hours passed in a blur as first Diane and then Dorene gave a speech, then the deans. Finally, various members of the faculty spoke and handed out achievement awards.
Too soon, it was Tina’s turn to take the podium.
She looked at her mother in the audience for reassurance. Cheryl Lynn waved her mascara-stained handkerchief at Tina, her streaky face a picture of parental pride.
Tina took her cue cards out of her gown and stepped up to the microphone as the audience applauded.
She cleared her throat. “Thank you all for being here. This is a huge day for us all, the day we go our separate ways and take the next step.” She looked down at her cards, suddenly hating everything she’d prepared to say.
She sighed and put the cards down on the lectern. “You know, I had this whole monologue about the future planned, but I spent all of last night and most of today repairing a vital system and it put everything into perspective. Most of you won’t know this, but I was the first kid to go into space. My mom wasn’t too happy with Marcus for taking me up without asking, but that was the happiest moment of my life.”
She saw Marcus sitting with the faculty and gave him a little wave. “That day, I saw the wonder of the galaxy in extreme close-up; possibilities beyond our comprehension. So how can we plan for a future when we know almost nothing about what lies ahead? We can’t. Did everyone see the quote above the doors on the way in here?” She waited for a beat. “In case you missed it, it reads, ‘You cannot predict the future, but you can create it.’” She swept an arm to encompass all the students on the stage. “We are the future of your creation. I stand before you today to make that vow on behalf of everyone on this stage. It will be our honor, our duty, and our privilege to build upon what you, our parents and teachers, have given us, to use our knowledge in service of our Empress and our people, ad aeternitatem!”
The people in the audience all stood to clap and cheer and she stepped down to thunderous applause. Diane and Dorene came forward as Tina went back to her seat.
“Thank you for that rousing speech, Tina,” Dorene enthused. She turned to the audience. “Tina Grimes, everybody!”
Diane held up her hands for quiet as they broke into a fresh ovation. “Thank you all. Our final speaker needs no introduction.”
“In fact, we’d better get out of the way. We’re in her spot.”
Diane and Dorene vacated the stage and the applause died down as the lights dimmed. Lilting harp music began to play, and a hush blanketed the audience as the screen at the back of the stage began to glow faintly.
Tina looked at the side of the stage just in time to see Bethany Anne’s guards fanning out to cover it. Bethany Anne stood in the wings with John and Ashur and winked when she saw Tina looking. Then she placed one hand on Ashur’s back and the other on John’s shoulder and all three disappeared.
So that’s how they do it, Tina thought.
The music ceased, and the footlights threw up a spread of reds and blues to dance over the glowing screen.
A voice began to speak, reverberating around the auditorium. It was the voice of their Empress, and it filled them with its rightness.
“As long as a student pushes themselves, I’ll turn over the heavens to help them.”
The lectern in the center was suddenly illuminated and Bethany Anne stood there with Ashur at her side and John at her back.
The Empress adjusted the height of the microphone and rested her hands on the lectern. “It is with great pride I stand here today. Not so long ago, we made human history when we left Earth behind and crossed the Gate. We are here today to celebrate another momentous occasion—our children crossing the threshold into adulthood.” She half-turned to take in the students on either side of her before facing the audience with a wry smile. “It’s no secret that the greatest challenge with our inaugural class hasn’t been getting them to push themselves, it’s been keeping them alive long enough to reach that potential as they trampled over every boundary they came up against. When Alpha Class destroyed a chunk of the moon on their first class trip, we should have known there and then what to expect going forward from our most brilliant young minds.”
There was a smattering of snickers from the audience.
She swept a finger across the rows of parents. “You raised them to give their best, and Gott Verdammt but they ran with that from the minute they arrived. They have outstripped every expectation we had for them, and I have faith that they will continue to do so. Not despite the challenges we have ahead of us, but because of them. This Academy was founded on the principle that our brightest and best would be given the freedom to grow and explore their burgeoning talents in a nurturing environment, regardless of where they came from back on Earth. I want to thank the entire faculty, past and present—yes, even you, Bobcat—for the knowledge you have shared with these fine young men and women.”
Bethany
Anne smiled as the audience chuckled and many turned to see Bobcat blushing. She let it die down before addressing the students.
“That knowledge is the foundation on which our strength rests and the armor that protects us against the onslaught. And make no mistake—it will be an onslaught. We came to make war, and the war has already begun. Destroying injustice wherever it rears its ugly-ass head will not be quick, nor will it be easy.”
There was a gasp as Bethany Anne’s hair rose to float around her head. Her eyes blazed red, bathing the people in the front rows in their glow.
“We will fight and bleed, and we will sacrifice to wrest control of this galaxy—our galaxy—back from the Kurtherians. We will protect our home and ensure the safety of our people. I refuse to lie to you; it’s going to be damn hard. But it’s also going to be an adventure. You are the pioneers, the next wave of our military, our scientists and engineers, our envoys to the galaxy and beyond. I am incredibly proud to know that every single one of you sitting before me now is not only capable in your field, but willing to go above and beyond. With men and women like you making up the backbone of the Empire, humanity will do much more than survive the wars ahead.”
Her eyes flashed again, and her voice emanated from everywhere in the auditorium.
“We will prevail.”
The End
Author Notes - N.D. Roberts
Written June 9, 2018
Nat’s Author Notes – Alpha Class: Graduation
I can’t believe I’m at this point again! Thank you SO MUCH for reading my second book! The training wheels were definitely taken off with this one, and I hope you enjoyed it!
So many exclamation marks. What can I say, I’m an excitable person ;)
I am a proper author now. I almost started again at least three times while I was writing this book. It had SIX sets of beats before I was satisfied that I’d covered every open arc, and a week ago I totally rewrote the whole book. No exaggeration. It was SO important to me that I lived up to the high praise you all heaped on Discovery. Luckily, I have such wonderful family and friends that the pressure I put on myself to make sure that this book closed out the story in a way that made YOU happy wasn’t that bad, and here we are!
Alpha Class - Graduation_A Kurtherian Gambit Series Page 16
