Earthlight Space Academy Boxset

by Heather Lee Dyer

  “It’s a cell phone. If you need me, just redial the number in it. Okay?”

  “What do you mean if I need you? For what?”

  The rest of the students surge out of the school and walk past us to get to the truck.

  “You need to go. Just remember what I said. And I really hope your mom is all right. See you tomorrow.” He reaches out and brushes his hand down my arm, sending tingles racing through my body.

  “Wait, Kai.” I step toward him as he turns back. “I need to take you through the tunnels. I meant to do it last weekend but there were many guards.”

  He shakes his head. “It’s too late. Don’t try it right now. Please just trust me on this.” He gives me a small smile and walks away.

  In a daze I walk to the truck and get on. I look back and see Kai and the other Chinese students climbing into an SUV. It’s silver and has the mainland Chinese flag painted on both sides. Strange they didn’t send their usual transport.

  I keep my eyes on the SUV as our truck pulls away in a cloud of dust.

  The cell phone seems to burn within my backpack, and I glance around to see if anyone is watching me. I shake my head. I’m just nervous. I didn’t know cell phones even worked anymore.

  Shading my eyes, I look toward the Wall stretching for miles in the distance. Every so often I see a tall spire of shining metal standing at attention at intervals on top of the Wall. My stomach twists.

  I wonder if for some reason I do need Kai, will the cell phone work down in the canyon? I can’t remember if I told him I live down in the canyon or not. I worry about why he thinks I might need to call him. My mom? The Chinese special forces? My anxiety overtakes me all over again and I force myself to slow down my ragged breathing.

  As soon as the truck stops, I leap down and start running. Rand paces silently next to me. We cross the bridge and head down into the canyon. I slow my pace almost afraid of what I’ll find at home. Will she be dead? How will I take care of Cam? My anxiety finally overwhelms me, and I have to stop and sit down with my head between my knees. Rand sits next to me, his presence warmly comforting.

  Rand still hasn’t said anything. I’m calmer now, so I raise my head and look at him.

  He gives me a small smile. “Are you all right?”

  I look off toward the mouth of the canyon. I can just see the tops of the closest tents. “I’ve just pushed all the worry about Mom and Cam from my mind all day. Now it’s hit me full strength again.”

  Rand takes my hands and helps pull me up to my feet. “I’m here, Anja. I’ll help you, if you let me.”

  “Thanks, Rand. I appreciate that.” I pull my hands from his and brush the dirt off my pants. “I really do, but you don’t really know me yet. And I know you don’t appreciate my friendship with Kai.”

  Rand tips his head and looks down at me. “Well, you’re right. I don’t understand it. You can’t be happy with living in tents while they’re in brand new mansions on our land.”

  “One,” I hold up a finger, “No, I’m not happy living in tents. That’s why I’m working so hard to get into the Academy. Two,” I hold up two fingers, “It’s not their fault that our government and theirs made this deal. Kai’s parents didn’t choose this. And three,” I hold up the third finger, “It’s not our land anymore. We paid off our national debt with the sale of those states. You and the others like you can’t keep blaming the Chinese for something our government initiated, sanctioned, and closed a deal on.” My face grows warm, and I turn away and start walking back down the trail.

  Dread settles over me like the fine canyon dust that settles into every nook and cranny of our tent.

  11

  Danger on the Horizon

  Rand walks me to my tent and then heads back toward the dam to give me and Cam some privacy. Mom is about the same as this morning.

  “You look tired,” I tell Cam as I throw my backpack on my sleeping bag. There are dark circles under his eyes, and he’s lying on his back reading one of my schoolbooks.

  He just makes a face at me.

  “How’s she been?” I gather the washcloths that Cam has thrown in a pile.

  “The same.” He sighs. “But Mrs. Mitchell helped me get medicine and some water in her.”

  I lay my hand on his shoulder. “I’m going to go wash these out, then you can get some sleep. Thank you for staying here with her. I know you must be tired and bored.”

  He just nods and yawns.

  After I rinse out the washcloths in the cold river water, I lay next to Mom, changing her washcloths in between studying. With the knowledge tests starting tomorrow morning, I’m getting nervous and I feel like I’m stretched so thin that I’m going to break in half.

  Sometime during the night, I fall asleep. I wake with my face stuck with sweat to the book I was reading. I peel myself up and roll over to check on Mom and roll right into Cam. He’s squished himself in between Mom and me.

  I smile, looking down on his sweet sleeping face.

  I reach over to Mom. Her fever still seems to be pretty high. I swear to myself and get up taking care not to wake Cam. I take the washcloths and my clean clothes and toiletries out of the tent. I walk down to the river and around a bend where I can be alone. I wade into the freezing cold river. Even though it’s so hot during the day, the river never gets very warm. I wash myself as quickly as I can, and then rinse out the washcloths.

  Shivering, I slosh out of the river and drop my wet clothes and the washcloths on a large rock. I rub myself as dry as I can before I pull on my clean clothes. I sit on the rock, which still has heat radiating from it, and wring out my other clothes as best as I can.

  “Hi.”

  I turn so quickly I almost fall off the rock, and I feel a twinge in my neck. Rand. I glare at him. “How long have you been there?” I can feel my face heating up, even as the rest of me is still shivering.

  “Don’t worry, I just got here.” He chuckles, a deep, warm sound. “Maybe I should’ve gotten here sooner?” He raises an eyebrow at me, as he appraises my wet state.

  “Ha, ha. Funny.” I try to squeeze some of the water out of my hair and run my fingers through the tangles. “No one is usually up this early. I may have to find a different bathing spot now.” I stick my tongue out at him.

  I’m hit in the face as he throws me a dry towel.

  “Dry your hair before you catch cold. We need to get going. Seems you had the same idea that I did to get into the simulators one more time before the tests.”

  “Yes. Thank you for the towel. I’ve used all ours on Mom.” I towel dry my hair as well as I can, then hand it back to him.

  “How’s she doing?”

  “She still has a fever and hasn’t woken up yet.” I fold up the washcloths and grab my wet clothes.

  I look Rand over as he steps closer to me. His hair is wet, his clothes dry, and he smells really good. “You all ready for school?”

  “Yep. I’ll walk you back, and then we can head up. I left my backpack by your tent.” He grins. “Cam told me you’d be here.”

  I stand. “Remind me to ground him.”

  In such a small community everyone knows who everyone else is, and we’ve gotten used to living in such close proximity to each other. But it just feels strange, Rand and me walking together to my tent.

  Because of his issue with Kai or because he’s basically a stranger?

  I glance sideways at him. “You’ve only been up here in Idaho for a few weeks, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “It’s just that I don’t remember hearing about you until just a few days ago.”

  He grins. “Because I worked south in the orchards until I enrolled in school. Heavy lifting.” He then flexes his arm muscles at me.

  I give him a quick smile. “Impressive.”

  “And also, the only place I could find to throw my tent down is on the other side of the dam. Your brother was fishing that day, otherwise no one would’ve known I was here until I started up at school.” He
points in the direction we’re walking. “It’s too crowded over here.”

  I always take my bath on the far side of the dam because I thought no one went over there. The water is too fast for the kids, so most everyone bathes upriver.

  “Oh.” My face heats up again. “Before this morning I didn’t think anyone lived over on that side.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m quite a bit farther downriver. I can’t see your bathing spot from my place.” He bumps my shoulder with his, forcing me to catch my balance.

  I frown. “So, do you think you’re ready for these tests your first week in school?”

  “We studied the same subjects in my prep school. It’s the same curriculum across the globe.”

  I nod. Another thing to look forward to. Space laws are consistent and don’t discriminate.

  We trudge along in single file after that. People are waking up, starting their cooking fires, and getting ready for another long day of working in the fields.

  We reach my tent. I hang my clothes along the top ropes, so they’ll dry in the sun. Then I take the washcloths inside.

  Cam has finished getting dressed and is rolling up his sleeping bag. I kneel and place one of the washcloths on Mom’s forehead and check her vitals. Her breathing seems a bit labored today, and her heart seems faster than it should be. But I don’t have any medical training so I’m not sure if that’s normal or not with a fever. I shake my head and kiss her cheek. “I’m going to school now, Mom. Cam will be here if you need anything.” I hand Cam the rest of the washcloths after giving him a hug.

  I grab my backpack and head out of the tent. Rand is still standing there. “Thanks for waiting, Rand.” I smile and grab a water bottle from my stash just inside the tent flap.

  Then I hear it. A high-pitched metallic ringing.

  The color drains from my face as I rip my backpack off, frantically searching for the phone. I stumble back into the tent as I take the offending phone out and push the answer button. Cam is staring at me with wide eyes. I put a finger to my lips.

  “Hello?”

  “Anja? I’m so glad you answered.”

  “Kai? What’s the matter? I thought I was supposed to use it to call you, not the other way around. Everyone in the camp probably heard the phone ring.” I sound more irritated than I intend, but I’m shaking.

  I guess it does get service all the way down here.

  “You have to get out of there. You and Cam. Now.”

  I look up as Rand ducks into our tent and is staring at me with the phone to my ear.

  I try to talk quietly. “Why, Kai? What’s wrong?”

  “They’ve found you. We did miss a tracker. Grab whatever you can and bring Cam with you to school.”

  “Oh no! With everything that happened with Mom, I forgot to look for the trackers. But we can’t just leave her, Kai. She’s still unconscious.”

  “Anja, this is important. I wouldn’t be using the phone if it wasn’t life or death important. You know that, right? You trust me on this?”

  “Yes, I trust you Kai. It’s just I don’t know what to do with Mom. I can’t move her.” I’m staring at Rand, who’s listening intently to my one-sided conversation.

  “I’ve got to go before they trace my phone. Leave now. They’re on their way.” The line goes dead as so many questions still form in my head. Who’s on their way? Down here in the canyon? What about Mom? And everyone else?

  “Why does Kai want you to leave now?” Rand grinds his jaw, his hands clenched.

  I throw the phone into my backpack and start shoving as much food into it as I can. I add my schoolbooks as well.

  “It’s a long story Rand. But I’ve got to get Cam out of here too. He has to come with us.”

  “What about Mom?” Cam is already throwing stuff into his backpack. He trusts Kai easier than I do.

  “I don’t know, Cam.” I’m very close to tears.

  From the doorway, Rand says, “Mrs. Mitchell. I’ll go get her. You said she’s watched your mom before. I’ll meet you two up at the bridge.”

  In shock I can only say, “Thanks.”

  Rand slips out, and I look around our tent. Our home for the last three years. I lean over Mom. “Mom, Mrs. Mitchell will come take care of you. I need to take Cam with me to school today. You’ll be fine. I’ll come back as soon as I can. I love you.”

  With tears in my eyes I leave the tent without looking back. I feel Cam catch up to me and can hear him sniffling. I can’t look at him or I’ll end up running back to the tent. I do trust Kai and I feel anxious to put a lot of distance between ourselves and the camp.

  I jog most of the way up the path, only slowing down a bit for Cam to catch up. He’s a tough kid, but he’s more strength than endurance.

  We get to the flat land at the top of the canyon. I turn in a circle, studying the valley. The sun is just peeking up over the far mountains, and the sky is kissed with pink and orange.

  At the other end of the canyon, where we go up to meet the bosses for our jobs for the day, I can see large military vehicles scarring the beautiful landscape. They’re bearing down on the farmers’ old trucks and tractors. I can’t tell if they’re ours or theirs.

  My heart skips. I take Cam’s hand and we run toward the bus stop.

  At the bridge, Rand catches up to us. I give him a quick smile, but then keep running, never letting go of Cam’s hand.

  We catch up with the rest of the kids, already loading onto the truck. I let out a huge sigh of relief. Part of me thought maybe the truck wouldn’t be here, and we’d be caught by whoever is after us.

  We help Cam up and settle down on the truck, Rand on one side of Cam and me on the other. Our other classmates are looking at us like we’ve grown antennas out of our heads. The news of a cell phone in camp has spread fast. The truck is too loud so they can’t ask about it, or why we’ve brought Cam with us. I don’t know what I’m going to do once we get to school. I hope Kai has a plan.

  In the distance I watch as each vehicle in the military caravan disappears down into the canyon. My heart stops with each one.

  I wrap my arms around Cam, and he snuggles against me. I can’t let anything happen to him. As hot tears threaten to fall again, I look over Cam’s shoulder and see that Rand is watching us. I blink back the tears, and mouth ‘thank you’ to him. He nods smiling, staring at Cam and me. But the smile doesn’t reach his eyes. He has no one else. At least I have Cam and Mom.

  I close my eyes, because my sadness and his sadness together are all too much for me right now.

  12

  Wednesday

  We arrive at school in a large cloud of dust, as usual. We get off the truck, brushing the dust off our clothes and backpacks.

  Before I can look around for Kai, Rand steps up close to me. “Anja, what’s going on? Why do you have a cell phone and what does Kai have to do with all of this? And why did you and Cam have to leave camp? Good grief, now I sound like you with all the questions.” He runs his hands through his overgrown blond hair and gives me a small grin.

  I grab Cam’s hand and motion for Rand to follow. I go over to the far side of the building. Far enough away no one can hear us, but I can still watch for Kai, who hasn’t arrived yet.

  “I’ll let that comment go because this is serious.” I take a deep breath. “Kai has been helping Cam and me. Food, medicine, that sort of thing.” I leave out the part where Kai gave me Academy books. “I think his government found out. I can’t tell you any more than that, otherwise you’ll be in danger as well. Apparently, they tracked us somehow to our camp.”

  Rand scrunches up his face and rubs his hand through his hair again. “Other than the obvious problem that the Chinese are our enemies, I don’t understand why that’s so bad.” He stills his hand and looks down at me.

  “The Chinese people are not our enemies, Rand.”

  “But it was our land we got kicked out of — our homes and our businesses.” Rand’s face is red with barely controlled anger. A ve
in on his forehead is swelling.

  I place a hand on his arm. “Yes, I know. We’ve been over this. These people and the students in our school, they’re not our enemy. And Kai is my friend.” I look down at Cam. “Our friend.” Cam gives me a big smile. Probably the first smile I’ve seen on him in days.

  Rand shakes his head. “So, Kai’s government is mad at you because one of their own has been giving you food? That still doesn’t make sense. Don’t the Chinese have so-called humanitarian missions all the time?”

  I look down at my shoes. “Yes, but Cam and I went over the Wall to get the supplies.”

  I hear an intake of breath and look up. Rand is actually speechless, and his face has drained of its color.

  “But we were careful. There are tunnels that people have been using for generations to cross over all the time, when it was just states they were sneaking into or out of. I think the Chinese military wants to find those tunnels. I don’t think they’re after us personally.”

  “Then why run? Just tell them where they are?”

  “I can’t do that. Besides the fact that those tunnels have been sacred for a long time, I can’t take the chance they’ll actually listen to us. And I can’t risk them knowing who I am.” I squeeze Cam tight to me. “I have to get into the Academy and take care of Cam. They can’t know it’s me.”

  “Don’t they already know it’s you? Isn’t that why you had to leave?”

  “No, Kai thinks they put a tracker in some of the medicines he gave me. I was supposed to dump the packaging into the river yesterday.” I look away. “But with everything that happened, I forgot.”

  Cam tears away from me. I turn to see him running toward Kai. He jumps into Kai’s arms and wraps his long frame around Kai. Kai manages to stay upright, grinning as he hugs Cam back.

  Beside me, Rand stiffens.

  Kai disentangles himself from Cam, and with Cam shadowing him, walks over to where Rand and I are standing.

  Kai looks from Rand to me. “He knows?”