He grinds his jaw and nods, his shoulders tense.
The commander turns to Rand. “Once you’ve completed the rest of your courses and the last sim, ping me and I’ll get you in touch with the general. I’m sure he’d welcome you to his team.”
Rand points to the sim behind the commander. “This is the last sim I need. I’ll be done with everything by the end of the week.”
“Very well.” The commander turns back to the rest of us. “I need to go but remember we don’t know how much longer we can stay here. We need as many skilled academy graduates as we can get before we have to leave.”
We watch in heavy silence as he walks away.
Ms. Germain is the first to speak. “Since you’re here for the next hour, let’s work on the remaining sims you have.”
Next to me, Philip groans.
I turn to him. “Are you still behind on sims?” Our first year Josh had bullied Philip so much that Philip hadn’t progressed through the sims. We finally had to guard each sim so he could complete some of them.
“I still have fourteen and this last one in order to graduate.”
Josh steps forward making Philip flinch. Josh holds his hands up in mock surrender. “I’m not going to hurt you. I want to help. It’s my fault that you’re so far behind. If you can trust me even a little bit, I can get you caught up.” He looks wistfully over at the one-person sim. “I only have this one sim left, so I have time to help.”
Katrina beams next to Josh. I can see her faith is restored in him. My chest squeezes a little as I realize this is what we had hoped for Rand as well. I sigh.
Philip looks over at me, his eyes wide.
“Like the commander said, these are unusual times. I have to send messages to the other students, so it would be helpful if Josh could assist you. We’ll be right here with you.” I point to a cluster of seats in the middle of the sim room. If I have to wait my turn for the last sim, I might as well be productive.
“We can take turns, Philip,” says Katrina softly. “I’m a bit behind as well.”
Philip hugs his tablet tight and gives her a tight nod.
14
Virtual Assembly
Kai and I head over to sit in the padded chairs. I pull out my tablet and drop my backpack onto the floor at my feet. There aren’t any messages to read, so I pull up a blank one and stare at the white space. Now what?
Kai chuckles next to me. “The others will understand it better if the message actually has words in it.”
I elbow him in the ribs. “I just don’t know how much to tell them.” I frown and lean back in the chair to stare at the ceiling. “I’d never admit it to the commander, but he was right about the stress of knowing too much.”
“With all that we’ve learned the past few weeks, you’re handling it pretty well.” He grasps my hand and squeezes.
I lower my eyes to his face and smile. “But I have you. And our group of friends.” I wave my hand in the general direction they disappeared.
“And the other students have you and our group to lead them.”
I sit up in the chair. “That’s another thing. Why did the commander put us in that position? Instead of having a leader for each class?”
“Too many students?” He shrugs. “This whole thing is bigger than any class has ever dealt with. These aren’t normal times. He knew we’d need each other.”
I frown. “But what about the current Year One leader? Won’t they be upset at us?”
Kai grins. “Look who the Year One leader was.”
I pull up the class data. My jaw drops open. “Sean?”
Kai shrugs. “How do you think Alex got to really know him? Sean admitted to Alex the first day in their programming class that he was terrified of the leadership position.”
I study Kai. “Rand was chosen to be our leader last year before we even stepped foot into the academy. Working with the general on our mission to save your parents earned him that title. How did Sean get a leadership position?”
Kai’s expression gets serious. “That situation with the Purists attacking the towns around the lake. He leveraged his father’s special agent connections to get the people safely into the mountains. Then somehow got a message to the military who then came to rescue them and relocate all of them to underground bunkers.”
I smile. “He is very smart. We just need to get him out of his shell, so he has more confidence.”
“So, what are you going to tell the others?”
I look back down at the blank message. “I think I should tell them in person. Or at least by vid.”
“Good idea.” Kai leans back and holds his tablet in his free hand. He swipes open a message. “The commander says they’ve settled the new students into the dorms, and they should be done in the cafeteria within the hour.”
“That message was sent to just our group. The Earthlight Leaders’ Circle, he calls us.” I grin.
“I like the sound of that.”
We look up to see Rand standing there, sweat dripping down his face and chest. He’s grinning from ear to ear.
“Done?” I ask.
“Perfect score.” He claps his hands together and plops down into a seat across from us.
“You didn’t tell us you had decided on your career focus.”
He shrugs and spreads his arms across the backs of the chairs next to him. “I had several options in mind, but it just felt right at that moment to choose security.”
I lean forward. “You chose right when we were talking?”
Kai chuckles next to me.
“Yep. It’s not like I had other plans.” His grin fades and he looks away.
My heart pulls sideways. “I’m sure you’ll enjoy working with the general again.”
The lights overhead flash alerting us our time in the sims is over. I quickly type a message letting everyone know I’ll do a live vid at nine tonight. Kai, Rand, and I head over to the lift and wait for the others. As soon as everyone joins us, including Ms. Germain, we pile into the lift and head down to the residential levels.
We pile off, except Ms. Germain, who holds the door open. “I’ll see you up in the greenhouse tomorrow morning, Anja.” She gives me a sad smile and closes the lift door.
I frown as I stare at the closed door.
“What’s wrong?” Kai takes my hand and squeezes.
“The greenhouse is dying. The smoke and pollution in the air must be affecting the amount and type of sun rays that get into the dome. It’s just sad knowing that might be what it looks like outside now.”
Kai pulls me to him and wraps his arms around me in a tight hug.
We head toward the dorms.
Katrina smiles when she sees us and pats the space next to her on the couch. Kai and I settle in as the room fills up.
“Do you know what you’re going to say tonight?” Katrina asks. Josh leans forward to hear better from a chair across from us.
My pulse races. “I really hadn’t thought about it yet.” I frown and pull up my tablet. “I should probably make a few notes.”
Kai chuckles beside me. “You’ll do fine. You’re a natural at this.”
“But I still haven’t figured out how much I should tell everyone.” I gaze around the room at groups of students deep in various discussions.
“I don’t think it would be a good idea to tell them every detail,” Sean says quietly as he perches on the arm of the couch next to Kai. Alex sits in the chair next to him, and Rand stands behind them, his arms crossed over his chest.
“Why do you say that? Intelligence about what was going on helped you relocate your neighbors.”
He nods. “Yes, but a few of them we did share details with had panic attacks or breakdowns once we reached safety. After that we just told the others a general story, enough for them to take us seriously, but not enough to scare them.”
I bite the inside of my cheek. I look around the room again. Although everyone seems relaxed as they discuss assignments and our project, i
t doesn’t feel as calm as last year. There’s a ribbon of anxiety that runs throughout every conversation.
“You’re right,” I whisper to Sean.
The noise level suddenly increases, and we look over to the corridor where more students emerge. It takes a few seconds for the newcomers to realize we’re staring at them. They go silent, their eyes wide.
Before it can get awkward, I stand up.
“You must be the new students the commander was telling us about. Welcome to Earthlight.” I introduce my friends one by one as part of the new leadership group. Watching how nervous the new students are I try to imagine them being on a space station for the first time. My heart sinks.
We help them get settled into rooms and I check in with the other dorms to make sure the same is being done all over the academy. I feel a pang of guilt that all the leaders of our two classes are here in this room with me. I wonder to myself as I watch them make quick work of welcoming the new students, if our group should split up into different dorm levels. I quickly dismiss that thought, rationalizing that we’re stronger and more efficient together.
I slink into a corner and read the messages from the other levels. I smile as a handful of students have taken the initiative to stand up as leader for their level. Something I should’ve thought of doing. I take a few deep breaths as I see in the corner of my tablet that it’s almost nine o’clock.
“Ready?” Philip asks.
I look up. “I think so.”
He smiles at me. “You’ll be fine, Anja.” He points to the large vid taking up one wall of our common area. “I’ve programmed the vid to record from here. I’ll show you where to stand.”
I numbly allow him to lead me across the room and show me the vid recording controls. I stand where he tells me to and look around. The others are hurrying out of the dorms and crowding against the wall and around those that have already snagged seats.
“Just press record on your tablet when you’re ready,” Philip reminds me.
I lift my tablet so I can see where Philip has attached the vid controls. My hands shake. I frown as Philip moves away and a cold shiver goes through my body.
“You all right?” Kai’s warm arm slips around me, melting away some of the chill.
I smile up at him as my shaking subsides. “I am now.”
He points to the other side of me. “I’ll be right there.” He kisses my temple and sits down.
I swallow as the commander’s face appears on the vid above us. “Welcome new students to the Earthlight Space Academy. You’ve heard plenty from me today, so I’ll turn tonight’s update over to our academy student leader, Anja Toland. If you have any questions, message her or one of your professors. I’ll be busy keeping the academy safe from what’s going on outside.”
Murmurs can be heard around the room. The newcomers carry expressions of anxiety and exhaustion, whereas those who’ve already been here look confused and shocked by the commander’s vague statement.
It takes a heartbeat to realize the commander’s face has disappeared and mine is showing on the vid. Live.
I paste on a smile and glance quickly at the few notes I managed to take on my tablet. “Most of you know me already. I’m Anja Toland and I’m from the border lands. After surviving the Great Migration, I worked hard to get into the Earthlight Space Academy. Mistakenly, I thought I’d already been through the toughest times in my life.”
I swallow and glance over at Kai. He’s smiling up at me. I continue, “I’m sure those of you who were brought here today have many stories to tell us about what’s happened to you the past year and why you’re here at the academy. Historically, students at the space academies have trained for years before taking the tests to attend. But in the last few months our world has drastically changed. We’ve found ourselves not in the middle of border disputes like the Great Migration or when work on the Dragon Wall was started, but rather in the middle of what basically boils down to a world war.”
I pause as the students in the common room behind me whisper among themselves. I’m surprised a bit myself at my own words. Guess I’ve decided they can handle the truth.
“I’m not telling you this to scare you. I believe you deserve to know what’s going on around here and why we need to work harder than we ever have before. We must double down on our studies, our sim time, and staying fit and healthy.” I spread my hands out before me. “Honestly, I have no idea how long we’ll be here. I do know that one way or another we’ll be joining our families safely up in space. Moving off planet is no longer a privilege, it’s a necessity. This also means there’ll be more of us applying for the same jobs on the stations and spaceships.” I glance at Philip. “As well as on Mars and the habitats. This is our chance to learn as much as we can and get as many certifications as possible so we can have our first choice of careers.”
I pause to glance at my notes. “According to the commander we have until Friday to declare our first choices. Both Year Ones and Year Twos. Work on our class project will also take precedence this week and will have real-time implications on lives up in space. As I know more, I’ll send messages to everyone. If you have any questions, you can ask anyone on our student leadership team. Thank you.” I step back and wait until Philip cuts the live feed before taking in a deep breath.
“You did great,” murmurs Kai as he pulls me into a hug.
I hug him back until my hands stop trembling. “Thanks,” I whisper.
The room’s noise level increases again as everyone returns to their conversations. I tell Kai goodnight and I slip through the crowd into the dorms. I plug my tablet into the charger and fall wearily into bed. My body feels numb and wired with energy at the same time.
The sound of the door opening startles me, and I sit up, narrowly missing hitting my head on the top bunk.
“Hey there.” Katrina steps into the room and closes the door behind her. “I hope you don’t mind but I requested to bunk with you. I thought maybe with everything going on you could use a friend nearby.” She drops her bag on the floor.
I grin as she sits next to me and wraps an arm around my shoulders. I lean into her. “Yes, I do. Thank you.”
“Besides who knows how much longer we have here together.” Katrina’s perfect heart-shaped face droops.
“Right? I feel like we’re running a race and at any minute we’ll fall of the side of a cliff.”
She nods. “All the more reason to work harder, right?” She stands up and turns back toward me. “I also want to thank you for giving Josh a second chance. I know after everything he did to you and the others it was a hard decision.”
I lie back down on my bunk and pull the covers up. “Everyone deserves a second chance. We’ve all been through a lot. And I wasn’t going to let him go to Starlight Max after all that’s going on in the world right now. We need everyone to work together to survive this.”
She frowns. “Yes, I suppose so.”
I prop myself up on my elbows. “Rand’s had many chances, Katrina. Don’t feel guilty about what happened between you two. He’ll be fine.”
Her eyes glisten and she turns away. “Thank you.” She waves her hand over the light sensor and climbs up into the top bunk.
Listening to Katrina’s breathing get deeper as she falls asleep reminds me of the nights I spent crammed into a tent with my mother and brother. I smile in the dark as I remember Cam’s deep snoring during allergy season. Which is pretty much year-round when you work in the fields.
The next morning Katrina and I get dressed and are out in the common area before anyone else. I’m humming to myself as we wait for the others, my feet kicked up on a chair in front of the couch we’re reclining in. I’m answering messages from students when Katrina suddenly grabs my hand.
I look up to see the fearful expression on her face. I quickly look around the room but we’re still alone. She pulls me toward her. “I feel dizzy, like the last time,” she whispers.
I’m about to ask her what she�
�s talking about when I feel the room tilt and start shaking.
I wrap my arms around her and sink back into the couch as loose objects around the room crash to the floor. Screams start in the dorms as the rumbling is soon felt by the other students. A brief flash of just how many students are crammed into the dorms crosses my mind. But I can’t move as the academy groans and shrieks with the unnatural movement.
15
Heart Attack
The aftershocks fade away and students start piling out into the common area. They’re in different stages of getting dressed and look shocked and frightened. As I help Katrina stand up it hits me that most of the new students might not have gone through this before. If they were pulled from their homes before any attacks happened, they probably never felt one of the quakes.
Kai grabs me up in a hug. “That one felt worse than the others,” he whispers into my ear.
I nod and pull back so I can reach into my backpack for my tablet. “They’re getting closer. Hopefully the academy didn’t suffer damage this time.”
“I could hear stuff getting thrown around in the other rooms.” Kai frowns.
“When I check on the others, I’ll remind them to stow their stuff in their locked cubbies.” I type out a message and send it.
I hear the satisfying ping of my message being delivered to those in the room. I look down at my tablet and see I have a message from the general. I swipe it open.
My whole body goes cold. I numbly hand my tablet over to Kai. His expression turns dark as he reads it over twice. He meets my gaze and I can see something dark snap inside him. He grabs my hand and pulls me through the crowd until we’re hurrying down the corridor.
“Wait, Kai. Where are you going?” He keeps pulling me forward.
He goes a few more meters before stopping. He turns back toward me. His eyes are bloodshot, and tears roll down his face. “The general should’ve moved them before the attacks started.”
I close the distance between us and wrap my arms around him. “The general did say they were all right.” I feel anger radiating from Kai. It mixes with fear for my little brother and makes me feel jittery.
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