Tina giggled. “Me too! I’ll make sure to tell her how you saved me in the nick of time. That might make her less likely to murder you for this!”
John smiled as she climbed into the Pod on slightly shaky legs. Her shock would pass soon; Tina was smart and strong. He scooped the twins up and carried them into the Pod, placing them gently on the folded-down seats before going back for Maxim and Halli.
Jean closed the hatch when they were all inside the Pod and climbed into the pilot’s seat. “Is everyone strapped in?”
“Yeah,” John told her. “Let’s get out of here.”
The Pod lifted off and the castle grew smaller beneath them. “I’ll be glad to get home,” John remarked. “The sooner we leave this mudball behind for good the better.” He watched the ground fall away on the screen, his attention caught by movement. “Hey, Jean, look at them!” He pointed to the swarm of soldiers rushing the castle. “This part always makes me laugh. Why they think we’re going to leave any breadcrumbs for them, I don’t know.”
Tina frowned. “Um, did either of you pick up the crates with the weapons?”
Jean and John looked at each other and shook their heads.
“The crates!” Jean spat. She called to the EI, “Stop the Pod. Does this thing have any pucks left?”
“We have two mother-puckers remaining in the arsenal,” the EI offered. “Should I deploy them?”
“What are you waiting for?” John demanded. “Mother-puck them!”
The screen showed the first mother-pucker slam into King’s Tower, knocking massive chunks of stone onto the barbican wall and demolishing it. A second later the second hit the courtyard and smashed through the paving.
Twenty seconds later a flaming crater replaced the castle. “That ought to do it,” he quipped. “Shame about the castle.”
Tina began laughing and clapped her hands over her mouth to stifle it.
“What’s so funny?” John asked.
“Nothing, just…” She snorted again. “You’re not going to get this past Diane and Dorene. They’re going to skin you both alive when we get back. This was worse than the moon incident and the Great Wall disaster rolled into one!”
“She’s right,” Jean admitted. “We’re going to get it in the neck for this.”
John made a face. “At least the Ds are afraid of you. I’ll be the one getting strips torn off me.”
Jean patted him on the arm. “As long as they keep their hands off your behind, my love, I’m fine with it!”
CHAPTER TWENTY
QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Etheric Academy Administration Office
Diane and Doreen spat fire at the Queen.
Bethany Anne sat calmly opposite the apoplectic sisters, nodding and listening as they ranted.
“This can’t go on.” Diane scowled. “Every time one of them takes our students off the Meredith Reynolds, they put their lives at risk. The Great Wall situation was bad enough, but having them take part in a full-scale battle? We’ve come to you because it’s gone too far!”
“Not to mention those idiotic fighter jocks taking their students out for live fire exercises! Someone could have been killed!” Dorene banged her hand on the desk. “No more learning in the field until we get it through the thick heads of the faculty that they are responsible for children, not redshirt interns!”
The Queen rested her chin on her folded hands as she considered their words. “So what are you saying…that the Academy isn’t working?”
Diane shook her head. “No, we’re saying that the faculty isn’t working. With the notable exception of your father, almost every single one of them has neglected to protect their students in one way or another. We want them fired from their teaching roles and restricted to keeping the curriculum up to date.” She crossed her arms resolutely.
Dorene interjected, “It can be done. There was a good mix of professionals and families among the last three thousand immigrants, and we will schedule a new intake exam once they have all settled in. The current structure is too loose to keep everything running smoothly…” She paused and looked at her sister when she saw the faraway expression on the Queen’s face.
“Is she even still here with us?” Diane whispered out of the side of her mouth.
She jumped in her seat when Bethany Anne fixed her with narrowed eyes.
“Yes, I’m still here. I’ve reviewed the records, and I agree with you both. What are your suggestions for fixing the issues?”
Diane and Dorene had all the answers.
“Fire them all.”
“Stop allowing the students to go gallivanting around on Earth.”
“We need a more traditional structure, with the enriching and nurturing environment we planned when we started this.”
“Get us some qualified teachers.”
They shouted the final demand in unison. “AND NO MORE ENDANGERING THE STUDENTS!”
The Queen leaned forward slightly. “You’re telling me that the only problem is the faculty?”
Diane snorted. “Have you seen the video of Jean from the castle?”
Bethany Anne grinned. “You know I have.”
Diane’s expression was colder than ice. “And you don’t think it was inappropriate for Jean to allow the students to participate in that battle? She let them operate an untested experimental Gott Verdammt laser!” She took a breath to calm herself before resuming in a softer tone. “They’re still just children, Bethany Anne. They will have a lifetime to experience the reality of our world. They shouldn’t be exposed to that at school.”
Dorene had the final say, although she kept her voice respectful. “And you shouldn’t have okayed the students being present during the siege at the castle.” She flinched, expecting a rebuke for speaking to the Queen so boldly.
Bethany Anne shrugged. “I think they did just fine, but you’re right. Check your tablets, ladies. I had ADAM send over the files of possible teaching candidates.”
Dorene opened her tablet, took a quick look through the list, and nodded in satisfaction. “There will have to be a break in classes while we arrange interviews and get the new faculty up to speed.”
The Queen nodded, getting up from the chair. “After everything the kids have just been through down there they could probably use a break. Call it midyear vacation or something. Make it so. But,” she twirled a finger to emphasize the point, bringing it to rest on the two of them with a wicked smile, “you can deal with the firing part yourselves. They’ll be waiting for you in the auditorium in an hour.”
Diane and Dorene gaped as the Queen disappeared.
“We have to fire them?” Dorene’s eyes glinted dangerously.
Diane’s face became mischievous. “I have a better idea.” She wrote a sentence on a piece of paper and slid it across the desk toward her sister.
Dorene read the piece of paper and cracked up. “You just love riling them up, don’t you?”
“It’s my mission in life, DJ,” she managed to squeeze out through her own gales of laughter. “Anyway, today we get to tear Jean a new one. You can’t say you’re not looking forward to it!”
Dorene wiped away her tears. “Oh, you know I am! How about we go and get dinner after we finish laying down the law? There’s a certain young Wechselbalg who is still in possession of all of his limbs, so I believe you owe me a steak.”
Diane grasped her chest in mock shock. “You owe me! I bet he would get injured, not that he would lose a limb.”
Dorene scowled, then laughed. “Yeah, but he got shot being heroic. I think we’ll call it a draw.” She sobered. “You don’t think it’s too soon for Craig to graduate?”
“No.” Diane shook her head. “I agree with Peter. He’s ready for the structure the Guardians will give him. He’s growing up, DJ.”
“They all are,” Dorene replied wistfully.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Etheric Academy, Auditorium
There was an air of nervousness among the assem
bled faculty.
John folded his arms across his chest and extended his legs into the aisle next to the uncomfortable chair. “I feel like I’m back in detention,” he grumbled to Jean, who sat beside him in the next seat.
“Me too,” she agreed.
“You and me both,” Bobcat chimed in simultaneously from the other side of Jean. “We’re grown-ass adults. We shouldn’t be summoned like school kids who got caught playing hooky.”
Marcus and William sidled in through the back door and took seats at the back near Isaac, making that every faculty member present except the General and Admiral Thomas.
“I can sympathize.” A handsome blond man in a pilot uniform said, leaning over from the row behind. “What are you all in for?”
Bobcat hung his head. “Busted fair and square this time. I had a couple of the kids working on something in the brewery.”
Jean shook her head. “That’ll do it. What about you, Thomas?”
The blond man pursed his lips. “Took the students out to shoot up asteroids. I don’t even know why they have a problem with it. Those kids are almost as sharp as us regular pilots,” he complained. “Why are you two here? Weren’t you down on Earth?”
Jean glanced at John. How to begin? “Um…”
Diane and Dorene walked out onto the stage. The conversation was over.
The Academy administrators halted at the edge of the stage and glared down at all of them with equal amounts of anger and disappointment. They let the silence drag out, making the audience itch under the scrutiny. The tension ratcheted up with every passing second.
Finally Dorene spoke. “This Academy was founded on the principle that our best and brightest children would be given a safe environment in which to learn and grow. You have been called here today because, in one regard or another, you have failed to provide that environment for your students.” She stalked back and forth across the stage, pointing at Thomas and Bobcat in turn. “Your days of endangering the students are over! Dogfights in space, irresponsibility and questionable moral influence.” She changed course abruptly and turned on Jean and John. “You two used a full-blown siege as a Gott Verdammt training exercise!”
Jean bristled as a murmur went around the assembled faculty. She stood up to defend the kids. “Which they all passed with flying colors! I don’t see the issue. These kids are heading for this life. We should be preparing them for it as best as we can.” She sat down again with a thump, folded her arms, and glared back at the two administrators.
Diane stepped forward, her voice dripping disdain. “If this is the best you can do, I won’t feel as bad about what I have to say next. Your teaching days are over.”
Bobcat let out a whoop, clapping his hand over his mouth when the icy stares of the twins zeroed in on him. “Sorry, ma’am,” he muttered.
“You’re not getting away that easily, you boob!” Doreen snarled. “And it’s not all about your complete inability to keep those kids out of the Medical wing either.” Her voice softened just a little. “The Empire is expanding. New arrivals bringing their families means more students. The Academy’s focus is shifting to classroom-based learning to accommodate this growth.”
Diane took over. “Three thousand people have just arrived on the Meredith Reynolds, and their children are eligible for a place at the Academy if they can pass the entrance exam. We cannot expect you to provide a well-rounded education for them all on top of all your other duties in the run-up to our departure through the Gate. You are the spine of the Empire—the hands that build it and the shepherds who protect us. But while you are the font of all our knowledge, you’re just too damn stupid when it comes to the safety of the students!”
She swung her finger an arc to point at everyone present. “I said your teaching days were over, but I didn’t say you were absolved of your responsibility to the Academy. Every single one of you is being promoted. Congratulations, you are all now Dean of your department.”
“Dammit!” Bobcat exclaimed.
Diane glared at him. “When you’ve quite finished? You are going to come up with material that can be learned and then taught by the new instructional staff. Do not leave out a single thing that the students on track for your specialty need to learn to succeed in their futures.”
“Because their future is the future of the whole Empire,” Dorene finished.
Jean smiled to herself. The twins might have thought this was a punishment, but as far as she was concerned it was a much better role. She waved a hand in the air to get attention. “When will you have the new faculty lined up?”
“Dorene is arranging candidate interviews. You’ll sit in on the interviews, and then the best candidates will shadow you as part of their retraining.”
Isaac called out. “Retraining? Why?”
Diane clapped. “Good question. It’s good to see that there’s at least one thinker among you. How many of you were there when this Academy was dreamed up?” Hands went up. “Do you remember why this school was supposed to be different?”
“Because the old system didn’t work,” John said so quietly only Jean could hear him.
Diane continued, “The public education system—the one found in schools all across the Earth—is broken. The brightest are held back, while those needing extra support are left behind. Teachers have given up, and have stopped believing in the value of their vocation.” She sighed. “This is what we need to change. While they have the relevant qualifications to be able to teach, many of the candidates have come from the public education systems around the world. Their mindset is what we need to retrain. We need to help them rediscover the reason they chose to teach in the first place, before the system knocked their ideals and enthusiasm out of them.”
There were nods and murmurs of agreement from everyone seated.
Dorene waved her hands to quiet them. “Enough of your chin-wagging. The future depends on what we pass on for future generations. The students that come through this Academy are our legacy, and the hope for everyone’s future. Now, get your backsides out of here and put together the best Gott Verdammt curriculum that has ever been created!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
QBBS Meredith Reynolds, Etheric Academy, Cafeteria
“Is that cheese I smell?” Tina’s mouth watered as she joined the others at the table. “Happy graduation, Craig!” She held up a hand to high-five him.
“Thanks, Tina,” Craig replied cheerfully.
Chef Van came out of the kitchen carrying a stack of steaming pizza boxes. “Courtesy of Jean Dukes,” he said as he deposited a pizza in front of each student. “Meat, meat, and beets for my favorite Wechselbalg kids. Hawaiian for Aleksi. Veggie-plus for my man Ron. Last but not least, the ultimate cheese feast for Tina.”
“Thanks, Chef Van!” they chorused.
Tina opened her box and breathed in the heavenly aroma. “Mmmm, you got the Bay Grill recipe!” The pizza filled the box from corner to corner, and there were at least five types of cheese, judging by the colors.
“I added my own touch, if you are wondering. There are seven different cheeses. Enjoy!” Chef Van winked and went back to the kitchen.
“Meat, meat, and beets?” Craig asked, hesitating over his first slice.
“Try it, is good,” Maxim said through a mouthful of pizza.
Craig took a bite and chewed gingerly. “No way! It is good!”
Maxim chortled, folding the rest of his slice so he could fit more in his mouth. “Listen to me. I am a wise friend.”
“I’m going to miss your sound advice,” Craig mused. “What’s a veggie-plus?” he asked Ron.
“It’s a vegetarian supreme with pepperoni,” Ron revealed. “Want to try some?” He pushed the box toward Craig, who accepted a slice eagerly.
“It is true you are going to the Guardians?” Nestor asked as Craig took a bite.
Craig nodded. “Peter said it was time, now that I’ve settled down a bit.” He took a bite of his pizza just as Maxim smacked him acr
oss the back heartily in celebration.
“Ewww!” Mischa cried as the blob of half-chewed food hit the table. “You boys are gross!
He snagged it with a napkin and continued, “I was nervous when I went to meet the guys I’ll be training with, but they’re all cool.”
“You will remember us when you’re a mighty Guardian, won’t you?” Mischa joked.
Yana entered the cafeteria with Bai Hu trailing behind. She headed straight for the table and the pizza boxes, and snagged each of them a slice before sliding onto the bench next to Tina. “It is so good to eat together again. Come and sit.” she gestured to Bai Hu. “Have you all met my new little brother yet?”
Bai Hu blushed and looked down with curiosity at the pizza Yana had handed to him. “Hello,” he mumbled shyly.
“It’s great to see you, Bai Hu,” Ron said. “Are you settling in okay with Yana and Nicholas?”
Bai Hu’s face lit up. “They are my family now. Yana is a good jiějiě.”
“That means ‘big sister,’” Yana clarified for the group, pulling Bai Hu into a one-armed hug. “I have been learning to speak Mandarin as my little brother here learns English. He is a much faster learner than I am, though.”
“You are doing well,” Maxim encouraged the younger boy. “We also had to learn to speak English when we arrived. You will get it in no time.”
Bai Hu blushed deeper. “I try new words every day. My tablet tells me what I want to know. I think it was magic at first, but it is Meredith who is magic.”
This brought a friendly laugh from them all and Bai Hu blushed again, unused to the attention.
“She sure is,” Aleksi agreed. He went quiet for a moment. “I will miss this when the break is over and our new classes start.”
“We have a few weeks before that.” Craig tried to mollify him.
It didn’t work—Aleksi still looked glum. “Yes, but after that we go back to our own classes. I have enjoyed getting to know you all better.”
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