I have to grit my teeth to keep the tears at bay. I will not cry in front of the commander. “Thank you again, sir,” I finally manage to say.
Kai squeezes my hand as the commander leads us out into the morning sunshine. Speechless, the three of us climb onto the nearest bus. The short ride to the launch pad is a blur. I remember our classmates asking us what happened with the commander, but I don’t know if I answered them or if Kai or Rand did.
The rest of the afternoon goes by too quickly. Before we set up our ships on the small launch pads in the field behind the academy, the commander makes the announcement of our early graduation. The class is understandably pretty psyched after that. The rest of the day we work together to get our ships into space.
Our team’s ship does get off the launch pad, but as Tod predicted, was lost in the atmosphere. All of the other ships, including Rand’s team’s, come back down and safely land. We eagerly inspect each one to see how the recycling mechanisms worked.
“This is great,” says Rand next to me.
I look sideways at him. “Even though yours didn’t have the recycling bay?”
“It went up and it came down. It proved it can fly, so we know it could be successfully modified to recycle like the others.”
He grins as Katrina walks up to us. I notice she stands so close to him that their arms touch. I inwardly smile as I remember her telling me about her heartbreak with Josh the night we stayed up late and talked. These two will be good for each other.
Kai comes to stand next to me, and the four of us watch as the last of our classmates launch their spaceships into the afternoon sky.
_
I’m adjusting my new uniform when I get tackled from the side. I catch myself on the wall and spin around, ready to defend myself. Cam grins up at me. He finishes wrapping his arms around me and hugs me tightly.
“Cam, one of these days you’re going give me a heart attack,” I growl. But I hug him back, grinning from ear to ear.
“Love you too, sis.” And then he’s off and running back down the corridor to where Kai is standing with his parents.
I join them and we walk into the large auditorium together. Most of our classmates and their families are already here and finding seats. We’re about to sit down in one of the back rows when the commander gets my attention from up front. He waves us all toward him.
We continue down the aisle until we’re in front of the commander. He gestures to empty seats next to Rand, Katrina, and her parents. Kai helps his parents get settled, and Cam wedges himself next to Rand. I grin.
The commander puts a hand lightly on my arm to get my attention. “Miss Toland, if you please?”
I follow him off to the side where he hands me a small piece of metal. I turn it over in my hand, my body freezing in place. It’s a round metal pin with the space command logo emblazoned in turquoise. When I can speak, I say, “This is beautiful. Why are you giving it to me?”
“Although your story must remain classified, the President is grateful for all you’ve done for Kai’s parents, your classmates, and your country. This is a small token of his appreciation.”
I look up at the commander. “My country, sir?”
“This medal represents all the good you’ve done, despite the hardships you faced to earn it. You helped your fellow immigrants fight for a better-quality life, you saved Mr. Tang’s parent twice, and you set a higher standard for academy students. These actions all have a ripple effect outside of you and your friends. The President has given you this medal of honor to thank you.”
“I am very honored, sir. Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome, Miss Toland. Should we get this ceremony started?” He glances over as the board members and the rest of the professors line up on stage.
I grin and hurry to sit down next to Kai. I know we still have one more year before we officially can work in space, but I already feel like I’m part of the spacer community. I glance around at the crowd with a full heart as my friends walk toward the stage one by one and accept their Year One diplomas.
***
Year Two
1
Crash Land
It occurs to me that I could die today.
I tighten my grip on the harness as the Kagawa lurches. I swallow the bile creeping up in my throat and force myself to watch the vid screen. We’ve just broken through the atmosphere and patches of brown desert fill the screen.
“At least we’re still on course.”
I roll my head to glare at Kai. “That’s not going to do us any good if we can’t land safely.”
He places a warm hand on my knee and squeezes. “We’ll be fine. They’ll figure it out.”
I glance over at the former Earthlight Space Academy graduates. The two of them frantically run their hands over the spaceship’s controls. Red blinking lights decorate their consoles.
“Why don’t they tell us what’s going on?”
On the other side of me Rand glares at the pilots. His shoulders are tight, and the muscles in his jaw move as he grinds his teeth.
“They’re kind of busy,” I say. I wipe sweat off my forehead with the sleeve of my uniform.
Rand cuts me a dark look.
I just shrug and look down to watch the data scroll across the small vid screen embedded into the arm of my seat.
“According to the ship’s status, one of our nav systems failed.” I look over at Kai. “Does that make any sense? It feels more like engine failure.”
He shakes his head. “Not without running diagnostics. Once we’re down on the ground we can do a full system check.”
“If we survive,” growls Rand.
My grip tightens as the ship shudders.
“It’s just strange because this ship had a total upgrade before we left Jupiter Station.” Kai has his academy tablet out. He frowns as he scrolls through the data he’s transferring from the ship.
“This is the only ship of its kind. Maybe someone made a mistake?”
Kai’s deep brown eyes meet mine. “And you thought coming back to Earth would be so boring.” He gives me that million-dollar smile that still makes my stomach flutter. Every. Freaking. Time.
I manage a weak smile back.
My eyes dart to the large vid screen overhead. Forests and the patchwork quilt of farms come into hazy focus as the ship gives out a long shudder.
Kai squeezes my knee again. “Breathe, Anja.”
I don’t let my eyes leave the screen, but I do as he says, and I take a few deep breaths.
“Hang on,” shouts one of the pilots.
Pain shoots throughout my body as I’m pushed violently back into my seat. The view above us rotates slowly until the bleak desert is replaced by a dark, smoky sky.
The ship shudders and groans loudly. I feel as though I’ll be crushed by the G-force. I drag in shallow breaths.
Then we’re weightless, and the ship is eerily silent.
I glance from the view screen to the pilots. They stare at each other briefly before turning back to their consoles grinning.
“That’s got to be a good sign, right?” Kai asks as he nods to the pilots.
I relax and close my eyes for a second. “I sure hope so.”
An alarm sounds, and my eyes fly open.
“We don’t have full power. This might be a bumpy landing.” The pilots turn back around, but not before I get a glimpse of the worry on their faces.
“Not out of the woods yet,” growls Rand next to me.
Kai peels my hand off the arm rest and squeezes it.
The view rotates again, and I see we’re a lot closer to the ground than I thought. My pulse quickens as we skim over the tops of trees in the dusky evening light. Earthlight Space Academy is lit up straight ahead.
I squint at the view screen. Something doesn’t look quite right.
The ship tilts to one side, and I squeeze Kai’s hand. The twin towers of the academy are shrouded in fog, but its familiar outline is lit up bright as a
star.
My heart pounds as we descend. I realize that I’ve only been off Earth for a few months, but it feels like forever. Everything about this return feels off. Especially this landing.
I hold my breath as the large bay doors at the top of one of the towers slowly open. I shift to glance at the pilots. Both are concentrating on their consoles, their fingers hovering over the glass top. The ship shakes again, and I watch sweat roll down the back of their necks.
The academy tower soon fills our forward vid screen. I watch as the open dock comes into focus. I let out the breath I can’t hold anymore as our ship slips into the darkness and hovers.
The pilots’ hands frantically tap controls as we descend shakily.
Loud metallic screams fill the air as the ship sinks to the metal deck. The view out the vid screen is tilted, but the outer doors shut letting the dock re-pressurize.
Rand is the first to unbuckle. He checks the settings for the exit hatch. “Door controls are still functional.”
Kai and I unbuckle and grab our bags. Cool air washes over us as Rand opens the hatch and lowers the ramp. I reflexively reach behind my head for a helmet that isn’t there.
“We’re fine.” Kai grins at me as I lower my arm.
“Habit.” I wipe my sweaty palms on my new uniform pants. During the summer cruises most of us earned higher ranks, so our academy uniforms changed. Instead of the khaki pants and shirt we wore as Year Ones, Kai, Rand, and I wear black pants and white shirts. Thankfully, we also have blue jumpsuits to wear when working. But for traveling we wear our dress uniforms.
I straighten my shirt and follow Rand down the ramp into the familiar dock. I can see the outline of several people behind the opaque door that leads into the academy.
Not quite ready to get back to reality, I turn to study the ship. Kai and Rand stop next to me. I inhale the familiar scent of grease and ship fuel. Despite the ordeal we just went through I smile, glad to be home.
One of the ship’s landing struts is crushed under its weight, forcing a whole section of its body to touch the floor. I walk around the ship toward the back. One of the engines is a mess of burnt metal shards. I shake my head at the destruction.
“Wow.” Kai stands right in front of the cooling engine and stares into the mangled cylinder.
I stare at the flower-like pattern the shards make. “Looks like it blew out from the inside. I don’t think we were struck by an object.”
“You’re right. This was no accident,” Rand says darkly.
I turn to him. “Why do you say that? Something from inside the engine could’ve loosened and exploded outward. Right?”
Rand shakes his head and points to the edge of the blast site where black marks streak outward. “If part of the engine blew there would be even more residue. And it would be a wider blast area.”
I take my school tablet out and take pictures of the engine and remaining shards from every angle. I then continue around and take a vid of the whole ship. When I get back to where Rand and Kai stand, the two pilots have joined them.
“Ever seen anything like this?” I ask them.
They both shake their heads.
We hear the door behind us open and footsteps hurry toward us. We turn to see our classmate Philip hurrying toward us.
I grin and gather him in a hug.
“Great to see you, Philip.” He’s grown several inches over the summer.
“You too. That was a close one.” He nods to the ship behind us.
I grab my academy backpack where I dropped it on the cold deck. “Yes. Why didn’t the commander meet us?”
Philip frowns. “He said he was in the middle of something. He messaged me to come meet you. I’ve been at the academy a few days already.”
“Even though we almost died getting here?” Rand asks, his expression grim.
Philip shrugs.
We follow him out of the large dock. The pilots take a right to head to their quarters and we continue to the bay of lifts at the end of the corridor.
“We’re in this building now. As Year Twos.” Philip grins.
“About time,” growls Rand. He’s right next to me, leaning against the lift wall.
I elbow him and am rewarded with a loud “ooph!”
“You’ve been grouchy the whole flight. You going to tell us what’s going on? We hardly saw you at all the whole summer, even though we were based out of the same station.”
“It was a very large space station.” Kai winks at me, making my stomach flutter.
“Maybe later,” Rand answers.
The lift opens and Philip leads us down the corridor. We follow the blue strip lighting to a common room almost identical to the one we had as Year Ones.
Philip holds out his arms. “Look familiar?”
I look at Kai and Rand. “I hope we don’t have a repeat of last year.”
“We’ve already started off the year all wrong.” Rand frowns.
“Yes, what happened out there?” asks Philip. “Your ship looks like it was attacked.”
Rand snorts.
“We’re not sure what happened. We need to run full diagnostics on the whole ship. And we’ll need a mech crew to fix the hole in her engine and the broken struts.”
“Hole in the engine?” asks Philip.
I drop my bag to the floor and stretch out my shoulder. The soreness reminds me of the weighted backpacks for the zero-G running track and I grin inwardly. I ache to stretch my legs after a whole summer on a spaceship.
“There’s a hole blasted outward in one of the engines. Probably why the pilots had such a fight getting us down safely,” Kai explains.
I hand Philip my tablet and watch his expression turn to horror as he flips through the pictures and vid I took. “This is awful. There’s something very wrong here.”
“You think?” growls Rand.
We look at him. He shrugs and takes out his tablet. “I’m going to find my room and get some sleep.” He hesitates before one of the far doors and places his palm over the bio gel. Lights around the door flash blue and it opens quietly. With a quick glance back at us he stomps down the corridor into the dorm.
“I see his disposition hasn’t gotten any better over the summer.”
“Worse, I think. We have a lot to catch up on.” I stifle a yawn. “Tomorrow. Right now, I need some sleep. My body feels bruised all over. Meet for breakfast?”
Philip nods and hands me back my tablet. He nods toward the door Rand went in. “Kai, you’re in the same dorm as us.” He turns and strides across the room.
Kai gathers me up in a hug and I rest my head on his shoulder. Alone with Kai, I finally relax. I wrap my arms around him and enjoy his warmth.
“We need to get some sleep,” Kai says into my ear.
I reluctantly let go. He kisses me thoroughly, leaving me grinning as we pull away. I head toward the girl’s dorm. “Good night, Kai.”
“Good night.” He waits until my door opens before he steps through his own doorway.
I sigh as I follow the corridor past the shared bathroom and find my room. It’s a bit bigger than the room I had last year, but not by much. I stand staring at the wall opposite the desk. Instead of the single bed I expected, there are bunkbeds. I frown and look around. There isn’t anyone else here, so why install bunkbeds? I trace my finger over the shiny rivets holding up the top bunk. The installation is fresh.
The ache returns in my shoulders from the harness. I climb into the bottom bed and fall asleep fully dressed.
When my alarm goes off, I sit up and immediately regret the motion. I rub my head and glare at the offending metal rail above me. I need to find out what’s going on here.
I’m still on ship time so I’m up earlier than any of the other girls. I enjoy having the shower room all to myself and I take my time under the hot water. I then pull on an academy hoodie and pants.
Back in my room I open my academy tablet and message my friend Katrina. “Are you awake?”
She
didn’t come back with us on the Kagawa, and I hadn’t heard much from her over the last few weeks. Although we were both based out of Jupiter Station, Katrina and Rand spent weeks at a time on one of the huge, lumbering colony ships. Newly built, these ships’ mission was first to take short trips to the outer reaches of our solar system to debug their systems. In a few months they’ll be heading to the outer fringe of our galaxy to establish colonies.
Her response is quick. “I’m not there yet. I arrive today. Can’t wait to see you!”
I smile. “Me too,” I type quickly. I throw my tablet into my backpack and head out the door.
It feels familiar as I walk into the community room and see my friends lounging on the couches. I sit next to Kai, who is talking to our friend Alex. It seems we’re all still on ship time.
I study Alex as he winds down from a story he’s telling. He looks much happier than the last time I saw him, and he seems more animated. His shoulders are relaxed, and he’s grown out his bright red hair.
“Ready?” Kai asks.
I blink. “Yes?”
He laughs and pulls me to my feet. Everyone stands up and as a group we head toward the cafeteria. Since it’s not just Kai, Rand, and I, we sit in the middle of the room and take over several tables. I grin as our group grows as more Year Twos wander in. Quite a different beginning than last year.
2
First Day
Everyone wants to know what happened with the Kagawa. News of our near disaster spread fast throughout the academy. I let Kai answer the questions as I make notes on what to investigate first. I shiver when Kai describes skimming over the trees and our rough landing into the Earthlight dock.
The group is much quieter after that.
“Thought we’d at least get better food,” Rand growls.
I look over at him as he picks at his breakfast. “What’s eating at you, Rand? You’ve been in a foul mood since you came back from your last mission.”
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