He just shoots me a glare and goes back to picking at his meal.
The lights flash red and I don’t have a chance to argue with him. We get up and take care of our trays at the sani station.
Kai grabs my hand and squeezes. “It’s all so familiar.”
“The buildings are identical.” I smirk.
“Yes, but it’s kind of strange anyway.”
“True. It even smells the same.” I wrinkle my nose as we leave the sani station and its faint smell of bleach and old food.
The colored strip lights that run along the floor are lit up to show us where to go next. I frown as they lead to the bay of lifts going down instead of the lift going up to the auditorium.
Once I’m on the lift I squeeze to the corner and take out my tablet. I flip through my messages from the academy. Most of them are just welcoming us to Earthlight. I then open my schedule and see that we’re starting right away into our classes.
Kai leans over my shoulder to see what I’m staring at.
“Full schedule?” he asks.
“Yes. But what’s strange is we don’t have an opening assembly like we did last year.”
“Good. Then the commander doesn’t have a chance to put a target on our backs again.” Rand leans against the wall of the lift with his arms crossed tightly in front of him. Dark circles under his eyes make me wonder even more about his attitude.
“True.” I nod. Although I think it’s strange for the commander not to have some sort of welcoming event, I agree with Rand. Better to just blend in and get our classes done and not have to worry about the whole school thinking we’re favorites of the commander.
The lift stops and everyone piles out ahead of us. I step closer to Rand. “Josh isn’t here this year, so he can’t be the reason you’re grouchy. And you look like you didn’t sleep last night. What’s going on with you?”
Even looking exhausted, Rand is still very handsome. His blue eyes pierce me as he slowly unfolds his muscular arms and stands up straight.
Rand looks between Kai and me. “You guys aren’t going to leave me alone on this, are you?”
I glance sideways to see Kai shaking his head. My heart warms at that. Just over a year ago Rand was the new kid at school and hated Kai.
Rand blows out a frustrated sigh and walks out of the lift. We follow him.
At the door to our first classroom, Rand turns suddenly toward us. “Katrina and I broke up. Satisfied?”
I open my mouth to say something, but he turns and stalks into our classroom, claiming a seat in the very front.
Kai and I exchange glances briefly before hurrying to find seats. As we settle in together at the back of the room, I notice that the classroom is oddly full. Most of the students I recognize from last year, but there are a lot of new faces as well. Maybe transfers from one of the other academies?
When the lights flash red twice there are a dozen students still standing by the door. I check my tablet again to make sure I’m in the right class. Advanced Emergency Space Protocol. Yes, right class, but not really needed. During our summer cruise we were subjected to drills and lessons on every kind of emergency that could befall a spaceship. My brows furrow as I watch our professor calmly walk through the crowded room to stand behind the lectern.
“Good morning and welcome to your first day at the Earthlight Space Academy. I’m Professor Manda. I’m sure you have a lot of questions. I’m only authorized to give you the quick basics.” She glances to the doorway where two black-uniformed security personnel step inside the classroom. Their shoes squeak loudly on the tile floor as they take up posts on either side of the door.
The students standing closest shuffle away from the stony-faced men. My pulse increases as I see these ones are armed. Not regular school security. What is going on here?
“First, we’ll have more chairs brought in here in just a few minutes. And secondly, there will be no large gatherings of more than eighty students. Which means separate lunch times and no assemblies. The commander will welcome you in a vid message tonight after last dinner.” She holds up a school-issued tablet.
Rand glances at me as he turns toward the back of the room. I frown. None of this feels right.
“No one is allowed to leave Earthlight except on official academy business. There are extra guards at all the exit points.”
A girl next to Rand raises her hand. A few others do the same.
Professor Manda shakes her head. “You’ll just have to wait until the commander’s message tonight to get more answers concerning our extra security measures. For now, just realize that there’s a lot more of you this year, so we need to stay on track during class and with your assignments. Make sure you pay attention to your schedules as things are a bit different from last year.”
I look around the room. Everyone is wearing a confused expression, my friends from last year as well as the unfamiliar faces.
“Now let’s get to our topic. We have a lot to cover.”
My tablet vibrates and I glance down to see a message from Kai. “This is weird. Who are all these other students?”
“I have no idea. I wonder why the commander didn’t tell us this morning?”
“I was wondering the same thing.”
I frown as I go through the unread messages on my tablet. None of them explain anything about this strange situation. I pull up my schedule and see that they have indeed split the lunch times. Instead of one long lunch hour in between morning classes and sim time, they have four different lunch times.
I send Kai a message. “When is your lunch scheduled? Mine is first lunch.”
“Me too,” he replies back.
I look over at him and smile. “At least there’s that.”
Rand, Kai, and I find ourselves in the same morning classes. Each class is crowded like the first one. As we make our way through the congested corridor, I spot Katrina. She grins and heads toward us.
“I’ll meet you at our table,” Rand says and hurries toward the bay of lifts at the far end of the corridor.
Katrina finally makes it to us and wraps me in a tight hug.
“I miss you. Seems like you guys were gone so often,” I say as she releases me. We scoot up against the wall to allow the flow of students to pass.
“I was on a long-distance colony ship.” She gives me a lopsided grin. Her blond hair is now long enough to be pulled back into a loose ponytail.
I frown. “I know, it’s just you guys were only supposed to be testing out the ship’s systems.”
“Yes, but we had to test the engines too.” Her face practically glows.
“You enjoyed it, didn’t you? Being out there away from everything.”
“Yes. I mean it wasn’t all fun and games, but I felt like I found a place where I belonged.”
The lights flash red once and Katrina looks down at her tablet. “I’ve got to get to class. I’m second lunch. You?”
“First. We’ll catch up this afternoon. Ping me.” I hug her again and Kai and I make our way to the cafeteria. We grab trays and load up with food before joining our friends at our table. The familiar smells and sounds help me relax after a strange morning.
Alex is already there and in deep discussion with one of the new students. He looks up as Kai and I sit. “Hey guys. How was your summer?”
We’d messaged each other over the summer, but we were all very aware that our messages were monitored by the space net and the Space Intelligence Agency, or SIA. So, we didn’t talk much.
Especially since Alex’s father is the head of the SIA. We kept our messages fairly generic.
“We had a great summer. Although I thought I’d be more excited to be back here with everyone.” I lower my voice. “But so much has changed, I’m not sure what to think.” I study Alex as I talk. He seems more relaxed than I’ve ever seen him. I wonder if it has to do with all the changes on Jupiter Station, where the SIA are headquartered.
“I’m sure we’ll find out soon. Sean here was telling
me some interesting things about his hometown.”
I turn to see the new student sink back into his chair.
“Sean, these are my friends Kai, Anja, and that’s Philip joining us now.”
We turn to see Philip turn toward us with a heaping tray of food. He grins when he sees us and sits down on the other side of Kai.
“I was bummed when you got sent to Mars,” says Alex as he takes a bite of his lunch.
“I know, me too. But I ended up really liking it out there.”
“You worked on Mars?” Sean asks, his eyes wide.
“Yes. They had me assisting with the programming of the new domes.” He takes a huge bite of a cheeseburger.
“I heard that’s where our new government center will be located,” Kai says.
“What do you mean? For all spacers?” asks Sean.
Kai nods. “From what I heard those domes have enough room to hold all the heads of state on Earth. And their families and friends.” He glances over at Philip for confirmation.
Philip nods, his mouth still full of food.
“They’re going to move all the Earth governments to Mars? Why would they do that?” I ask Kai.
“I’m not sure exactly what they’re planning. But our news feed right before we came down here,” he holds up his school tablet, “said the domes are fully functioning and ready to populate. They’re trying to recruit students coming out of the academies to work there.”
I look over at Alex. He holds his hands up in mock surrender. “Don’t look at me. I know nothing. I was able to get a summer cruise far away from my father. I worked on the recycle project we started last year.”
“Recycle project?” Philip beats me to the question.
Alex looks around at all of us. “You mean you didn’t hear? They built a real-life space debris project around the drone ones we came up with last year. Instead of small, drone rocket ships, we’re converting existing jump ships into recyclers.”
“Cool,” Kai says.
I frown. “We were too busy working seven days a week on redesigning the Astoria to hear much about other projects.”
“Really? You didn’t mention you were working on the Astoria.” Philip opens a dessert as he looks over at me.
I glance at Kai.
“We weren’t allowed to tell anybody the details of where we were,” he answers for me.
“Seems there are a lot of huge space projects in the works. That’ll be helpful for when we apply for jobs after graduation,” I say.
Everyone nods and then falls silent as we eat.
I finish my lunch and look over at Sean, who seems to have relaxed a little bit. “So, Sean where are you from?”
His gaze skitters over to Alex, who gives him an encouraging smile.
“I’m from up north.”
“The lake area?” I try to encourage him to continue. “It’s gorgeous up there.”
“Used to be. We had to move farther up into the mountains. Near the Grandview military base.”
I frown and look over at Kai. “Isn’t Katrina from that area?”
“Yes, but I thought she said her house was right on the lake.”
“Not anymore. The lake is toxic now.” Sean seems to shrink in his chair.
“What do you mean toxic? Can’t they purify it?”
Alex jumps into the conversation. “Sean said it was too quick. It happened within a few weeks. It was easier to evacuate everyone than put resources into fixing it.”
“Evacuating a whole town? That sounds way more expensive than fixing a pollution problem,” I argue.
Sean sits up and glances around the table. With the most bravery I’ve seen him show in the last few minutes he asks, “Haven’t you been following the news down here?”
“We were isolated against the news up in space. Part of the whole summer cruise thing.” The deep voice comes from behind me and everyone turns to find Rand standing there.
He’s changed into his academy sweats.
Alex turns to look at Sean, who has gone pale. “Don’t be afraid of him. He’s always like that.”
Sean’s eyes dart between Rand and the tray of half-eaten food in front of him.
“Sean? What do you mean? What have we missed?” I ask gently.
Kai gets out his tablet. So does Philip. “There’s no off-campus access. Only the academy intranet stuff. That’s strange,” says Kai.
Alex nudges Sean, but he stays quiet.
“Let’s go back to the community room and talk. Maybe Sean will feel more comfortable out of the crowd,” I suggest. Rand, Kai, Philip, Alex, and Sean and I pile in one lift and I push the button to take us to our dorm.
3
World Domination
We’re silent as we ride up to the residential level. I watch the others try to get access on their tablets.
I turn to Kai. “What about Cam? How will we talk to him if we can’t call out?”
“They have certain days where they let you call home,” says Sean in a barely audible voice.
I study him. He seems about our age, but has the look of someone not accustomed to manual labor. Not a spacer though, so he probably lived by the lake his whole life.
“I don’t remember you from last year. Why didn’t they start you in the Year One class? Did you transfer from a different space academy?”
He shakes his head, his dirty blond hair dragging over his collar. “I tested high on more than half of the tests.”
“Half?” Rand snorts. “Why did they let you in if you couldn’t pass all the Year One tests? We all had to.”
“It was the Year Two tests they gave me,” Sean answers quietly.
Rand stares, speechless.
I hide a smile.
The lift door opens, and Sean clamps his mouth shut. We pile out and head to the community room outside our dorms. We settle into couches and chairs and find ourselves staring at Sean.
He fidgets on the edge of a chair by the wall.
Alex leans forward and gives Sean an encouraging smile. “Sean is super smart. That’s how we got to know each other. He’s in my advanced programming class.”
Sean nods but still looks miserable.
I clear my throat. “We aren’t mad at you or anything. It’s… well, it’s been very weird around here since we got back. We just want answers.”
He looks at me warily and sighs. “You were on that ship that almost crashed yesterday, weren’t you?”
“Yes. The Kagawa. You heard about it?”
“I’ve been studying spaceships for as long as I can remember. I’m fascinated with them. When I saw it on the incoming schedule, I looked it up on the academy intranet. I was there watching when you landed.” He looks down.
My pulse spikes and I lean forward. “You were? What did you see?”
“The commander told us not to speak to you guys until he was able to address you tonight.” Sean’s eyes are glued to a spot on the floor.
“He did? Why?” I look around at my friends, who look just as shocked as I am.
Sean shrugs.
“Then why didn’t the commander address us this morning then?” growls Rand. He stands up and paces the far side of the room.
“I wonder that too. But, Sean, back to the Kagawa. What did you see yesterday? Were you inside the academy when we landed?”
He nods vigorously. “Yes, we’re not allowed outside.”
Kai grasps my hand and squeezes. Our gazes meet and my already erratic pulse quickens. What’s going on here?
I force myself to focus. “Sean, what did you see?” I ask again.
“I’ve been watching all the ships land this week. I’ve seen the Kagawa make several dozen trips without incident.”
“Wait. How long have you been here?” Rand stops right in front of Sean.
Sean’s face pales further.
“Look, I don’t know what you’ve been through, Sean, but you’re safe with this group. Even Rand.” Alex smirks as he runs a hand through his already mus
sed red hair.
Sean studies Alex for a moment. “I’ve been here two weeks. They brought us in to get caught up to where you guys are.” He frowns and looks over at Rand.
“Just because I beat you at the most basic sim we have here doesn’t mean you’re a total lost case.” Rand relaxes his jaw and sits down.
“You guys were in the sims already?” asks Philip.
Sean holds up a finger. “My first time. I guess I didn’t do so well.”
“First time?” Rand leans forward in the chair. “I’m sorry about giving you a hard time then. We’ve all done sims for years.” Rand frowns.
Philip looks thoughtful. “So why are you here if you weren’t expecting to get into the academy?”
Sean’s mouth drops open. He looks around at all of us. “Seriously? You guys really don’t know?” His eyes land on Alex, whose smile fades.
“What don’t we know, Sean?” Alex whispers.
“Possible war. The attacks?” He turns to me. “The Second Migration?”
“What are you talking about?” I enunciate slowly as Sean’s words sink coldly into my bones.
“I’m not making it up. The world is falling apart outside. The commander’s going to be mad at me for telling you though.” Sean’s face freezes into an expression of fear.
I don’t know what to say. My heart stops in my chest as everyone jumps to their feet peppering Sean with questions. I can’t breathe. All I can think about is Cam. Out there in whatever is going wrong with our country.
Kai’s face pops into my vision. I blink. He’s kneeling in front of me.
“Anja? Are you all right?”
“Cam,” I whisper. I clear my throat. “We need to talk to Cam. He never said anything about this when we talked to him last.”
“He was probably trying to protect you. We were busy with intense training this summer.” Kai rubs my arms to get the blood flowing again. “We’ll figure this out together. Remember?”
I nod. “Thank you.” I take a few deep breaths and stand up.
“Quiet everyone.” Slowly they stop talking and turn toward me. Sean cringes far back in his chair with Alex hovering next to him. “I think we really need to hear Sean out. We can figure this out together. Just like we have before.” I squeeze Kai’s hand as he steps next to me.
Earthlight Space Academy Boxset Page 41