Starstream Academy (The Navigators Book 1)

by Alexandria Smith

  “We should go help them,” I said softly. The woman nodded before smiling sheepishly and looking in my direction.

  “Uhhhhh my eyesight’s pretty bad….” She said before trailing off and looking down. I couldn’t help, but chuckle before I grabbed her arm and led her over, making sure she didn’t trip. When we got over, Gypsy growled slightly before looking me over and relaxing marginally while Lollipop fussed and grumbled from her own cage.

  “Damn it boss. Your arm,” she said before looking at me with pain in her eyes.

  “I’m trying not to think about it,” I said weakly while rubbing my neck. She nodded and it took a moment before Gypsy finally managed to break herself out of her cage. The woman seemed more interested in looking around so I left her to her own devices while we freed Lollipop. After a moment of thought, we broke the bars and pulled her out of the wreckage of the cage. The woman was looking up and squinting before grinning widely.

  “Hey kids! I see something….I think,” she said after a moment of talking. I looked up and grinned tiredly when I noticed someone was flying over us.

  “I think it’s Lady Gabrielle,” Gypsy said suddenly. The woman froze before looking to us and swallowing.

  “You mean Gabby’s still around?” she said before her head snapped towards the sky. I watched as the person circled the area twice before swooping down and landing in front of us. The woman moved in front of us before stiffening and straightening out. “Gabby?” she said softly. The person slowly stood and I relaxed when I realized Gypsy had been right. The councilwoman looked worse for wear, but she gave us a tired smile before looking to the woman and freezing.

  “No no…..you died,” she said hollowly. The woman laughed before moving forward and trying to hug Gabrielle and missing. She turned and tired again before grumbling in frustration when she missed again.

  “Gabby I can’t see,” she whined slightly. Gabrielle laughed before placing a hand on her mouth and moving into the taller woman’s arms. “Thank you love,” the woman said with a smile, placing her forehead on Gabrielle’s and laughing. “Oh about before, yeah I was dead, but kiddo over their brought me back. Did you know she’s my grandkid?” she said with a laugh. Gabrielle laughed harder before hugging her tighter while I relaxed more and took a seat.

  “Their reunion is cute and all, but I really want to get out of the God-damn forest,” Lollipop grumbled from my side.

  “I believe it’s been almost two hundred years since they last had contact. We should let them have their moment,” Gypsy said as she took the other seat to my left.

  “I need a new arm,” I grumbled tiredly. Gypsy snorted and I felt a bubble of laughter rise in my throat. Lollipop chuckled from my side and the three of us began to laugh while the woman, Betty Joe, looked at us in confusion.

  “Why are you laughing?” she asked while Gabrielle gently forced Betty Joe to look at her.

  “Relief my love. Where did Hector go?” she asked with anger seeping into her voice.

  “He got away, but don’t worry. Next time we’ll be ready…….um…. I need a new arm though,” she said as she waved what was left of her bicep. Gabrielle recoiled before nodding slowly and looking to me.

  “Seems like Rosie needs one too,” she said softly.

  Chapter 20

  That’s A Wrap

  I sighed in relief as I exited the classroom, rubbing my eye and leaning against the wall outside. We were close to summer and we hadn’t seen or heard anything about Hector, I wasn’t holding my breath when it came to him thinking I was a lost cause. I knew he would be back, but I was glad that I could finish out my classes without worrying for my life. I looked down at my new arm before turning it over. It was colored blue and my brace as built into it while my new VISOR was on my face. “Rosie!” I heard, jumping and looking to the side. Lollipop ran up and grinned down at me before wrapping an arm around my shoulder. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  “Waiting for Gypsy, we had our final for Basic Tracking today,” I said. She nodded before pulling me closer and leaning back against the wall I had been on. I relaxed a bit and watched as other students headed out of the room and nodded to me. I had only gotten more popular in the last few months and now most people would nod to me and give me a smile.

  Betty Joe was adjusting well to suddenly being alive and she loved the technology that had only grown when she was gone. She loved her new arm too often using it to make her VISOR call me. It was funny really and now I was going to stay with her over the summer! Betty Joe, Grandma Jo-Jo she insisted that I call her, had begged Gabrielle, Grammy Gabby she insisted, and the Elysian had instantly agreed.

  I heard the door opened and looked to the side, grinning when Gypsy walked out, her ears slicked back. “I totally failed that,” she groaned before looking to me and pouting. I gave her a smile and she returned it slowly before looking to Lollipop. “How was the field test?” she asked. Lollipop began to laugh before releasing me and shoving her hands into her pocket.

  “After the hell we went through on Elysian that test was easy. We just had to stitch a few wounds up in the middle of a fire fight,” she said with a shrug.

  “Should we be concerned that gun fire doesn’t scare you?” I teased. She laughed again before shoving me slightly with her shoulder. I grinned at her before looking up when I heard my name being called. I beamed when I saw Grandma Jo-Jo trying to maneuver down the hall. She was dressed in a tight grey leather jacket, black slacks and white polo. On her face was a blue VISOR and she managed to walk up, the grin on her face widening.

  “Hey kiddo! How did your test go?” she asked curiously. I shrugged and she chuckled before pulling me into a one armed hug. “Well no matter what I’ll be proud. Gabby wanted me to come down here to talk to the headmaster about apprentices or something like that,” she said with a shrug before nodding to two students who had stopped to bow deeply. “No need to do that,” she told them as they walked off. “They do know I’m not some kind of God or a genie right?” she said with a grin. Gypsy and Lollipop snorted while I giggled and shrugged.

  “I don’t know anymore. Do you want me to lead you to the headmaster’s room?” I asked. She nodded and I waved to Lollipop and Gypsy before tugging Grandma Jo-Jo down the hall. She waved to them before shuffling to my side and shoving her hands into her pockets, a thoughtful look appearing on her face.

  “So Gabby thinks we should take a small vacation since you only have like three weeks off right?” she said, frowning down at me as I nodded.

  “Where are we going to go?” I asked. She shrugged and we fell into silence, walking down a few flights of stairs before heading out of the school building. The air was hot and I grimaced before taking off my dress jacket and tying it around my waist. Grandma Jo-Jo did the same and we both quickly headed to the main offices building before heading up to the headmaster’s office. Grandma Jo-Jo was laughing at a bad pun I had made when we entered the room and I giggled before looking to the headmaster. He looked tired, but he gave me a bright smile before nodding his head to Grandma Jo-Jo.

  “Betty Joe. Rosie. What can I do for the two of you?” he asked curiously. Grandma J-Jo suddenly straightened out before walking over and taking a seat, waving to me as she did so.

  “Take a seat kiddo. We all need to talk,” she said. I frowned, but did as told and she frowned at the headmaster. “So believe it or not I still had a little bit of a consciousness when Rosie here activated her Navigator abilities. I did some digging and found a bit of a disconnect with the students and the Navigators. It’s a miracle that Rosie has a bit of a better moral compass than the other students. It’s not their fault, but you fostering this behavior is not good,” she said. The headmaster scowled at her and I awkwardly shifted in place while they glared one another for a moment.

  “I have my reasons,” he began, but Grandma Jo-Jo raised a hand to stop him.

  “You don’t have to explain to me. I could care less,” she said with a shrug before she loo
ked to me. “I really care about little kiddo’s schooling though,” she said. I noticed the headmaster stiffen and she looked to him seriously. “I spoke to the leaders of the council and they have granted me the right to teacher Rose Mary,” she said.

  “You can’t do that!” he roared suddenly, standing and slamming his hands into the table in front of him. I jumped and recoiled a bit, a shiver working its way through my back while Grandma Jo-Jo jumped to her feet.

  “I can and I did. You didn’t do three things I would have done,” she snapped. I looked between the two and the headmaster relaxed marginally before crossing his arms over his chest.

  “What would you have done then?” he asked in a nasty tone of voice.

  “I would have not removed Rose from the school. I would have brought protection to her and evacuated the campus. I would have had more cover when in space so the stupid crash would have never happened at all and if all of this couldn’t be avoided I would have at least gotten Rose some freaking counseling! She and her friend have probably had nightmares,” she snarled. I blushed and looked down, trying to make myself as small as possible. I did have nightmares, but usually Gypsy and Lollipop woke up too. The three of us would hang out. Near death experiences really brought friends together you know.

  “Rose…..Rose is fine,” the headmaster said, his voice trailing off. I looked up at him and shook my head slowly.

  “I’m really not,” I said softly, my good mood instantly gone and I looked down, nervously picking at my pants.

  “See. Look she’s not exceling under your leadership. Frankly, you don’t know how to handle her and I do. I don’t want her to be like the other Navigators. I don’t want cowards leading their team into battle,” she said. I looked to her and she was roughly pulling on her jacket while nodding her head to him. “I know you were the last. You and the other three, but now Rose and I are here. More Navigators are going to come and maybe you’ll learn that as long as we have one left…..more will come,” she said softly. He ground his teeth before straightening out and glaring at us.

  “Is that all?” he said in a tight voice. She nodded and looked to me, giving me a small smile, which I returned hesitantly. She helped me up before wrapping an arm around my shoulder and pulling me towards the door.

  “So Gabby’s been talking to a therapist that we want you to see. The guy’s supposed to work wonders or something,” she said. I gave her a smile and leaned into her before looking to the headmaster, who frowned deeply at me as we headed out of the room. When we were far enough away, Grandma Jo-Jo released me before gently patting my shoulder. “Don’t worry kiddo. I promise that everything is going to be alright,” she said with an encouraging smile and for the first time since starting this experience I felt like it was true.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  California native, Alexandria Smith has been writing for years before deciding it was time to publish. After a short stint with Teen Fox Publishing, Alexandria Smith decided that Starstream Academy was better off under self-management.