“H-Hi,” I stuttered out nervously. She continued to smile at me and I felt myself relax marginally before straightening out and lifting my head a bit. I just needed a bit of confidence to get through this. “So what do we do now?” I asked. They looked to me then one another before the blue skinned alien moved forward.
“I guess I’ll introduce myself. I’m Eagalia of the Planet Clish. My chosen focus for my time in Starstream is stealth operations,” she said with a warm smile. I nodded to her before looking to the android, who bounced in place.
“Oh! I’m Silver of Planet Earth! I think we met before at the diner thingie! I was originally created for the headmaster’s use, but he decided that I would be of better use under your direction!” the android said happily. I gave her a smile and nodded before looking to the others, who just stared back at me. I nervously looked from side to side before the blonde girl rolled her eyes and shook her head.
“Fine. My name is Lisa Popperman, but call me Lollipop. I’m serious. Call me Lisa and I’ll figure out how to poison you in your sleep. I’m the team medic,” she growled out. The six armed alien to her right moved away from her while the wolf eared one just looked to her warily.
“My name is Gypsy Crystal, Alpha Pup of Planet Lup. My focus is sniper rifle expertise and tracking,” the wolf eared girl said before shrugging and looking to me. The final girl just shifted in place a few times before finding the ground rather interesting.
“My name is Leatre Giga, daughter of the councilman from Planet Daec. My focus for my schooling is hand to hand combat as well as a close range weapons focus,” she mumbled before sinking into herself.
“Uh right,” I said before looking up when I heard a whistle. The headmaster motioned us over and I turned back to them nervously. “We’ll we’re up so please listen to me,” I said before almost slapping myself in the face, yeah because saying please really showed how assertive I was. Lollipop shot me an amused look and the others just nodded as I led them over to Headmaster Rockefeller. We all lined up in front of him and he gave us an encouraging smile before pulling out a box.
“For the next four years the six of you will be living, working, and learning together as a unit. I stress that the six of you learn how to get along; it will make your stay easier. If all of you can prove you all work together well then you will all continue to work together after your schooling is finished. Units staying together is rare, but it does happen. I wish all of you the best,” he said before placing the box in my hands. I quickly opened it and found a replica pair of the blue glasses he wore and a forearm brace of some kind. “This is your weapon Navigator Jones, use it well,” he said before nodding to us then waving us over to his side.
We followed after him and I pulled on both items before looking up as he waved to the area before him. It was a wall of red and I looked to him as he smiled at us. “This is where you all will be tested. Navigator Jones’ job is to get all of you out of the maze as quickly as possible. For her it will be easy. As long as you listen to her then you all should be fine,” he said before walking to my side and turning my hand over. He pressed the button on the inside of the brace and the glasses flashed to life, causing me to jump. “This will show you the maze and some hazards within it,” he said before moving back.
“Hazards?” I echoed, dread chilling my stomach. He gave me a gentle smile before waving to the door of the maze and I sighed then headed forward. I heard the other follow and I opened the door before heading in. The room was dark, the light so low I could barely see, and I forced down my nerves. I heard the door shut behind us and shook my head before looking back at the others. Silver and Leatre looked terrified and Gypsy seemed to be on high alert, her ears moving as she examined the room. Eagalia was doing the same, but Lollipop looked almost relaxed, her eyes meeting mine.
“So what are we going to do oh great Navigator?” Lollipop asked with a grin. I frowned at her before looking around then hesitantly tapping on my new brace. A holographic keyboard popped up and I aimlessly typed on it for a moment. A map appeared on the right lens of my glasses and I began to examine it, my head hurting just a bit. The maze was startlingly easy so I just shrugged that off and focused on the supposed “hazards”. They couldn’t be that hard, but they still warranted us being careful and cautious.
“I’ve worked through the maze. I’m more concerned about the hazards,” I said, watching as they looked to me in shock.
“That was fast boss,” Lollipop said before shaking her head. I shrugged helplessly before motioning for them to follow me and beginning to lead them through the maze at a moderately slow pace. We encountered nothing through the majority of the maze, even managing some small talk as we walked.
“I didn’t want to come here without my brothers, but papa insisted,” Silver said. She was skipping ahead of us and I mostly ignored her, more interested in keeping my eyes open. Lollipop looked annoyed, but Leatre was more relaxed and was even talking to Gypsy. The taller girl was also relaxing marginally, but Eagalia still had her eyes trained on the walls. I was just about to begin relaxing as well, but I heard something up ahead of us. I quickly grabbed Silver and frowned deeply as the sound faded. She stumbled to a stop and I flashed her a quick smile before frowning deeply again.
“I heard something,” I said lowly before moving back when I heard it again. The ground suddenly began to shudder and I looked to the others, who now looked very alert. I noticed something past Gypsy and my eyes widened when I saw a large man running towards us. I looked forward and scowled when I saw another person was running towards us with his arms raised. “Frontal and rear assaults. Gypsy, you head for the person in front of us. You have height on him and Leatre, please try to fight past your fear to keep us protected!” I said loudly. Gypsy shot past me and toward the man in front of us while Leatre swallowed before nodding with determination on her face.
She spun around and ran for the other man while Eagalia looked to me with wide eyes. “What about us?” she asked. I took a moment to review our map before looking to the larger man. Gypsy had him mostly under control, but it looked like she was going to need help soon. Eagalia would be more harm than good, but I was sure Silver could help her. Lollipop could help Leatre since I was sure she was a cyborg, but I needed to know for certain.
“Lollipop! You have an automated prosthetic right?” I asked while I looked to Leatre and winced when she easily over powered her opponent and tossed him into a wall. I looked back to Lollipop and found she was glaring at me.
“Kind of rude to ask a lady huh?” she snapped. I frowned deeply before pointing to Leatre, who was beginning to lost her grip on the squirming man.
“Look I’m sorry, but she needs help. Silver needs to help Gypsy subdue that other person,” I said. I turned back, gasping when Gypsy began to shape shift, eventually becoming a human wolf hybrid. She slammed the man back and growled while I looked back to Leatre. She was still holding her own, but seemed to be tiring so I looked to Lollipop. She shot me a scowl and I narrowed my eyes at her. “Lollipop now is not the time to throw a hissy fit! Go help her!” I snapped. Lollipop growled before rushing towards Leatre and grabbing the man roughly by his wrist. Her hand began to glow and the man shrieked and she bent his arm into an awkward angle.
“Silver go help Gypsy! Eagalia we have to be prepared to move forward soon,” I warned her, watching as Silver rushed forward and slammed into the man. Gypsy released the large man before looking to me and jerking her head to the side.
“We should move!” she called. I looked back at Leatre and Lollipop, who had knocked the other man unconscious and nodded. We all took off running while Silver knocked the larger man out and I forced them to stop a few halls down. They looked to me curiously, but I placed a hand on the wall to my left. I closed my eyes for a moment before opening them and moving back a bit. The wall was vibrating….that wasn’t good.
“Something’s coming again,” I grumbled. I moved back then grabbed Gypsy’s hand and tugged her
forward. “First line,” I mumbled before moving Leatre to her side as well as Silver. “Second line,” I grumbled before waving Lollipop and Eagalia back. They moved to my side and we watched as a large cyclops man ran around the corner.
He tried to bowl the three over, but they formed a perfect wall, holding him off as he tried to push past them. I bit my lip before looking over my shoulder and shaking my head. The other men could wake up soon and we need to get moving again since we were close to the exit. “Shove him back we have to move!” I called. The three of them moved in unison, marching the man to the wall and allowing us to slip past. When we got around the corner, I stumbled back when a normal sized man tried to grab me. Eagalia yanked me further back before her fist surged forward and impacted against the man’s face. He fall back and she looked to me with a bit of concern on her face.
“Are you alright?” she asked. I nodded and looked to the others, who were still holding the Cyclopsian man back.
“Knock the wind from him and we have to run for the end!” I called. Gypsy did just that, slamming her fist into his stomach before moving back. The man fell to his knees and Silver gave him a swift kick in the face, causing him to fall over. I winced then waved to them before running. I heard them stomping after me and I led them through the remainder of the maze. When we got to the end and out through the door we were greeted by a smiling headmaster. He shot us all a proud look before nodding his head to us.
“Congratulations you six have successfully completed your entrance exam. Great team work by the way. You’ve made the right choice Navigator Jones,” he said before looking to the others. “You five will be heading to the dormitory while I have a word with Navigator Jones,” he said in a simple dismissal. As soon as he finished another teacher walked over and led them off, leaving me alone with Headmaster Rockefeller. “You did very well Rosie,” he said with a warm smile. I gave him one back, feeling a bit more relaxed now that I wasn’t in danger anymore.
“Thank you sir,” I said. He nodded to me before fiddling with his blue glasses and placing them on his face again.
“I’ve taken the liberty of getting everything in order for you and your teammates. When you met up with them, you’ll get measured for your uniforms and also some school supplies,” he said. I nodded and looked down, pulling my own blue glasses off of my face.
“Sir? When do classes start?” I asked, stowing my glasses in my pocket and looking up at him.
“Tomorrow and please be careful with your VISOR it’s very expensive,” he said, pointing to the glasses. I flushed and nodded before pulling it out and shoving it on my face. I rubbed my head and he chuckled before leading me from the room.
Chapter 5
First Day
I was pulled from my dreams by the shriek of an alarm and groaned as I tried to chase the sleep away. I rubbed my face as I rolled onto my back and blinked several times to clear my vision. I looked around for a moment before looking to my right and watching as the others woke up. “Ugh……who the hell set an alarm?” Lollipop growled from her bed. I rubbed my eyes and sat up, running a hand over my face while yawning. The alarm continued to shriek and I grumbled tiredly before turning to it and watching as Eagalia grabbed the alarm and threw it across the room. She scowled as it shattered and I rubbed my head before slipping from my bed and stumbling to one of the dressers in the corner of the room.
I opened the top drawer and shifted through it before pulling out some underwear and socks. I looked around for a moment before locating my uniform and grabbing it off of the hangar on the wall. I yanked out my towel and other toiletries before heading out of the room and down the hall for the bathroom.
We all had a community shower area on each floor and I opened the door to the showers hesitantly, listening for anyone else. I heard quiet conversation near the back area and grimaced before slipping in. I quickly walked to a locker and opened it, putting my clothes inside before awkwardly shedding my clothes. I put my dirty clothes off to the side and shut the door to the locker before walking to a free shower near the lockers. I shut the door and sighed softly before hanging up my towel and starting the water.
The other noise died down as I showered, washing my hair frantically before scowling at the grey streak that had begun to weave its way into my brown locks. I was going to have to talk about my hair with the headmaster later. I shook off that thought as I finished washing the rest of my body and relaxed under the warm spray of water. When I felt the stiffness from the day before fade away, I shut off the water and grabbed my towel from its place. I quickly dried off and wrapped the towel around me before slipping from my stall. The conversation was closer, but I ignored it and headed to my locker, opening it and dressing in my underwear quickly.
I pulled out my uniform and slipped it on before grabbing my dirty clothes and putting them in my towel. I shut my locker and made to leave, but realized I had walked into someone. I shuffled back in shock before looking up and at a rather tall Sarkver. She looked like an older version of Princess Shi-Pluma, but her hair was pushed out of her face by a blue barrette and she had orange eyes. “Who are you?” she asked curiously.
“Um. I’m Rose Mary, Navigator,” I said awkwardly, extending my free hand for a shake. She ignored my gesture and narrowed her eyes at me before smirking slightly.
“You must be new. Usually students don’t use this shower room. It’s kind of reserved for the best,” she said before tossing her hair out of her eyes. I had a bad flashback to Jacques and began to scowl, cutting it off before it could fully form.
“Sorry. I didn’t know,” I said softly. I didn’t have Rusty to back me up and I really didn’t want to cause too much of an issue so early into my school career.
“No problem, but you should really learn not to come here or to certain places,” she pointed out before turning her head as someone called something to her. “Look. I’ll ignore your little transgression, but I’m not going to be so forgiving the next time,” she said, turning to me and shooting me a scowl before turning on her heel and heading out of the room. I glared after her and shook my head before heading out of the room, ducking my head when I passed her and her friend.
She said something snide, but I ignored it as I headed back to the room, walking in to watch as Gypsy shoved on her shoes and glared in Leatre’s direction. I walked over to the dirty clothes chute and tossed in my stuff before heading over to one of our floor length mirrors.
Our uniform was form fitting and comprised of a tight long sleeve white button up, black dress pants, black dress shoes, blue tie and a blue blazer with the school logo on the left breast. My blazer was different though and I pulled it off of its hangar then examined it before pulling it on. My blazer was grey and had a second logo under the Starstream Academy logo. I fixed my blazer before grabbing my brace and VISOR off of the small table from the left of my bed. There were three bunk beds in the room and I slept on the bottom one on the far left of the room.
My bunk mate was Gypsy and she looked down at me as she moved over to my side. “Have you seen my tie?” she asked. I shook my head and began to struggle with my own before she sighed. “How do they expect us to use these things?” she grumbled. She spun me around and I yelped before quieting as she pulled out the messy knot I had made and began to tie it herself.
I felt my face heat up and stood as still as possible while she worked, her hands easily working my tie into the right shape. “There you go. Can you help me?” she asked. I nodded and the two of us moved around the room for a moment before locating her tie in her drawer. She just rolled her eyes and I looked to the others, who were almost done as well. Lollipop was adjusting a red cross patch on her left bicep and looked to me before raising an eyebrow. I looked to Silver, who was almost vibrating in excitement, and smiled softly. Her uniform was perfect and on her left bicep was a patch with the emblem of a VISOR on it. She bounced over to me and continued to bounce in place as she spoke, her excitement making the words jumbled. Leatre moved o
ver hesitantly and ran a hand through her hair before rubbing her hands together.
“Are we going to breakfast now?” she asked shyly. I nodded and Silver cheered before looping her arm with mine and Leatre’s top one. She tugged us both to the door then through it before leading us down the hall.
“Do you even know where we’re going?” I heard from behind me. I looked back and at Lollipop, who was glaring at us as she followed us, Eagalia next to her. Gypsy shuffled out after us, her arms weighed down with our bags. I grimaced before extracting myself from Silver and heading over, grabbing the bag with my name on it and pulled it on. The others followed my example before Silver grinned before pointing up.
“I can directly connect to the school’s database! I’ve downloaded all of the school maps and prepared a direct route to the mess hall,” she said before taking Leatre’s top arm again and tugging her to the elevator. I shrugged and followed after them, falling into step with Eagalia, who looked tired.
“I should still be asleep. My planet runs differently,” she grumbled before rubbing her head and yawning loudly. I was surprised to see that she had thick fangs and looked away when her mouth closed. I really hoped that they served normal food here. We all piled into the elevator and I found myself too close to Gypsy, who grunted when Silver accidently shoved Leatre into us.
I stumbled slightly while Gypsy’s arm came around my waist instantly to keep me on my feet. I sighed in relief and mumbled a soft thank you before glaring at Silver, who shot me a weak grin. I shook my head then blushed when I realized that Gypsy was still holding me.
“Um…..You can let go now,” I said lowly.
“Oh crap sorry,” Gypsy said quickly, her arm jerking away from me. I chanced a glance up and found that she was blushing. I grinned lightly before looking forward as the elevator opened and more students piled in. I grimaced as I was pressed back against Gypsy, who shifted twice before stilling. We stood awkwardly, pushed into one another during the ride before we reached the ground floor and were allowed out. I moved passed the others and smoothed out my uniform jacket before following after Silver, who took the lead again. We followed her out of the dormitories and I took in a deep breathe before burrowing into my jacket. The cool air caused me to shiver and we all headed down a concrete path to a main walk way and after another group of students.
Starstream Academy (The Navigators Book 1) Page 4