Earthlight Space Academy Boxset

by Heather Lee Dyer

  “It’s more complicated than that, but basically, yes.”

  “That’s why they can travel over short distances of water? They just need the physical tension.”

  Kai studies me. “Sounds about right. What are you thinking?”

  I point to his father. “Using that chair to get everybody to this side of the gap. I think there’s enough of the ceiling left below to repel the energy for the anti-grav unit on the chair to work.”

  “That sounds dangerous,” says Katrina.

  “Do we have any other options? This is the only way out for them.”

  Kai gets that faraway look and I know he’s running calculations in his head. I wait until he blinks and focuses back on me. “It might work.” He turns back to the people on the other side. “How many of you are there?”

  One of the students backs away from the gap and hurries back to the dorms.

  “Here’s the situation,” I say trying to sound as calm as possible. “We need to evacuate underground. The only way for you to leave this level is by these lifts behind me. There’s no other exit.” I glance sideways at Philip who nods, assuring me. I face Kai’s father. “Mr. Chao, we’re going to use that anti-grav chair to bring everyone over the gap. There’s enough building structure below this hole to keep the chair hovering right over it.”

  Mr. Chao looks at Cam and then nods. “I understand. Just tell me when you’re ready.”

  The student comes hurrying back with several others behind him. When he gets as close as comfortable, he yells, “There are fifteen of us. Most are hunkered down around the corner.”

  “Good. We don’t want to put too much weight near this end.” I take a step back and face my friends. “We’ll need to take them down in several groups. I need each of you to ride down with them to where the general is. Are you all right with that?”

  “Of course,” Rand nods and positions himself by the lift. “You just get them over here.”

  I turn back and grab Kai’s hand. “All right, take it slowly Mr. Chao.”

  He starts the chair forward and I hold my breath as I watch it cross the edge of the split on their side. He keeps going and the chair dips lower as it hovers directly over the hole.

  Kai gasps beside me.

  I squeeze his hand, unwilling to take my eyes off the chair.

  Mr. Chao continues, his face contorted in concentration. Pain in my chest blooms as his chair sinks lower as it inches toward us. I hear Cam crying on the other side.

  Kai and I take a few steps backward as Mr. Chao gets closer. I let go of Kai’s hand, falling into a ready stance, prepared to grab Mr. Chao if necessary. Kai does the same.

  Then the chair is fully on our side.

  I suck in gulps of air as I watch Kai gently help Mr. Chao out of the chair. He helps set him firmly on the floor near the lift. Mr. Chao closes his eyes and nods to Kai.

  Rand kneels down and opens a panel on the chair. He adjusts something and stands back up. “Programmed it to go back by itself.”

  He shrugs when I gape at him. “What? We had a lot of down time on the colony ship. I took just about everything apart and put it back together again.” He glances over at Katrina. “Almost everything.”

  I nod.

  We watch as it floats back to the other side. “It should hold two people at the same time. I upped the energy flow.”

  “Thank you.” I nudge him with my shoulder.

  “Welcome. Glad I can finally use all this knowledge to help.” He taps his head.

  I smirk.

  “Cam, you’re next with one other person,” Kai says.

  I turn back to watch the student who went back for the others climb into the chair. He then lifts Cam onto his lap and wraps his arms around him tightly. He nudges the chair over the edge. The cracks along the wall widen slightly and the floor groans.

  Again, I hold my breath as the chair sinks over the destroyed floor. They keep a steady speed and are soon to our side. I can breathe again.

  Cam jumps down and wraps his arms tightly around me. I hold him and watch as Rand sends the chair back. A few more trips and Rand takes Mr. Chao, Cam, and five students down the lift.

  By the time we get the rest of the students safely over my nerves are shot. My hands twitch as I push the button to the lower level. I lean into Kai’s warmth and close my eyes.

  The doors open at the lower level, and we’re greeted with the noise of over a thousand students crammed into two large rooms. I frown at the chaos.

  Kai gently pushes me to the side of the lift and maneuvers the chair in front of us. We use it to make a path through the crowd. We keep going to the next room and find the general standing on top of boxes of supplies. He sees us and nods toward the tunnel entrance. We head that way and find Mr. Chao and Cam huddled by the open door.

  We settle Mr. Chao back into the chair, despite his protests. I take my backpack off and hand it to Cam. “There’s protein bars in the side pockets. I’ll be right back.”

  Kai and I make our way over to the general. He jumps down from the boxes.

  “Did you get our message about the energy barrier failing?” I ask.

  “Yes. There’s no way to fix it now. Our sat images show that they’re already moving equipment to that location.”

  “What about the peace offer?” Kai asks, practically shouting to be heard over the noise of the crowd.

  “They’re in discussions.” The general frowns. “But our readings show that chasm upstairs is widening quickly. If that level collapses, it’ll take the other levels down with it.”

  “Like dominoes,” I say darkly.

  “And we’re right below all that weight.” Kai shivers.

  “We need to get everyone through the tunnel before that happens.” The general waves his hand at the crowd of students.

  “What’s at the other end? Will we be safe there?” I ask.

  “For a while. The tunnel comes up inside a large warehouse used to store extra grain. From there we’ll need to arrange transportation to the spaceport. But right now, that’s too dangerous.”

  “First steps.” I turn to Kai. “Can you do that whistle again?” I grin.

  He puts his fingers to his mouth and whistles twice. I forget to cover my ears for the first one and soon regret it as they start ringing. Kai mouths “sorry.”

  I shrug. At least it worked. The room is as silent as it can be with this many bodies packed together.

  We make our way back over to Cam while the general informs everyone about our plan.

  Mr. Chao and Cam lead the way into the tunnel, past the soldiers lined up on each side. When we turn the corner, we find the rest of the soldiers surrounding the grav chair that my father is strapped into.

  Goose bumps raise on my arms as we pass them. My father has bruises on his face and looks sedated. Just like driving by a pig farm in the border lands I hold my breath until we’re well past him.

  Cam leaves Mr. Chao’s side and walks alongside me. “He looks like he got beat up.”

  “He tried to escape again.” I shrug.

  Cam studies the dirt floor as we walk. “We won’t be free of him until he’s back at Starlight.”

  “No, we’re free of him right now. He’s not going to ever hurt us again.” My stomach twists. “Sean’s father will put an end to the riot and the general will make sure our father stays there this time.”

  “Really? What if he tries to escape again?”

  I glance back at the chair holding our father.

  “I think the general will keep him sedated this time,” Rand says as he joins us. “I’ll make sure he gets there.” He winks at Cam.

  “You’re going to Starlight Max?” Cam looks up at Rand with wide eyes.

  “Yep. First there to transport the prisoner, then to Jupiter Station for formal Space Command security training.” He grins over at me.

  “So, it’s official?”

  He shrugs. “This summer I was just trying to run away from my problems.” He gl
ances at Katrina, who is walking behind us with Josh. “It turns out that’s not possible. Might as well do something useful while working out my problems.”

  I chuckle. “How true. I thought by graduating from the Earthlight Space Academy and securing a job and life up in space that I’d be free from political and social problems on Earth. Now all of that is following us up there.”

  Rand lets out a dramatic sigh. “I guess we’ll just have to work harder to fix it all.”

  I reach behind Cam’s head to smack Rand on the shoulder. He pretends to be hurt while the rest of us laugh, releasing some of the built-up tension from the last few hours.

  It takes another half hour of walking before the tunnel finally starts the incline toward the warehouse. We open the double doors wide and step into the large empty space. It smells dusty and as we walk our shoes kick up loose pieces of grain that cover the wooden floor.

  We catch sight of the medic on the far side huddling over Alex. We hurry over and find Sean sitting on a crate next to Alex’s stretcher. He smiles at us as we surround them.

  “He’s doing better. Just a slight concussion and a few stitches.”

  Alex sits up with Sean’s help. “Good to see you all, but what’s going on?”

  We explain to him about the breach in the residential level and evacuating the academy.

  “Wait. All those students are coming here?” His eyes widen.

  The sound of the first wave reaches us, and we turn as they start pouring into the warehouse. Their expressions show how relieved they are to be out of the confines of the tunnel.

  “Are we all going to fit in here?” whispers Sean.

  “We don’t have a choice. With the barrier failing we’re basically waiting to see if the Purists take the peace deal.” I turn and sit down next to Sean. “And we don’t know if that level will completely crack.”

  “What if they don’t take the deal?”

  “Then we come up with plan B. We can’t stay here forever. They’ll eventually figure out where we are.”

  “Can’t they just send ships to come get us?” asks Cam. He’s let go of me and is leaning against Kai.

  I shake my head. “They’d be shot down before they could land.”

  “What about the Leviathan?” asks Philip. “I thought they were hurrying up to finish it. It has defensive capabilities.”

  I stand. “It does?”

  Philip turns his tablet toward me. I watch as the Leviathan’s specs scroll across the screen.

  “Impressive. I guess that’s officially plan B.”

  “I’m going to check with the general to see how things are progressing.” Rand waves as he hurries off and makes his way through the crowd.

  “Now what do we do with all these people?” Kai asks.

  “Figure out where the bathrooms are?” I hold up my hands.

  Everyone laughs.

  “You’ve got a point there, Miss Toland. Did most of them bring their tablets with them?” The medic comes to stand next to me.

  I look over at Philip.

  “I can ping them, just a second.”

  I grin. “You’re always there when we need you.”

  He blushes.

  We hear the sound of pings all over the room, even through the other noise.

  His blush fades as he grins. “I would say most of them have their tablets.”

  “Good. I’ll send you the specs of this warehouse and you can forward it to them. We’ve outfitted this place with all the necessities.” The medic frowns as she takes out her tablet. “Although if we’re here overnight we’ll be sleeping on the ground.”

  With that in mind I craft a message to all the students and attach the building specs. My finger hovers over my tablet as I watch the warehouse fill up with a sea of bodies. The sudden realization that I in some part am responsible for all these students presses in tight around me.

  “Something wrong?” Kai leans in, his breath tickling my ear.

  “When this is over, I officially don’t ever want to be in leadership ever again.”

  I press send.

  22

  The Leviathan

  Kai pulls me away from the others. “What do you mean you don’t want to be in leadership anymore? You’re a natural.”

  I gaze into Kai’s brown eyes. “I don’t like knowing that as leader of our class these students are relying on me to solve this.” I wave my arms at the chaos surrounding us. “To keep them safe.”

  Kai smiles and leans in until our foreheads touch. He wraps his arms around my shoulders. “Then what would you like to do?”

  “I just want to build spaceships. What if we work toward owning our own modified jump ships? We could have our own business recycling and engineering new ships. You’re amazing with structural and materials engineering.”

  “Our own business?” Kai grins down at me.

  The intensity in his eyes makes my heart race. I try to pull away, but he holds me tight.

  “Only if you want to,” I whisper.

  He kisses me firmly and full of passion. When he pulls back his eyes are twinkling. “Of course, I want to. That sounds like a perfect idea.”

  “Really? You’re not just saying that because of all this?”

  He moves both his hands to cradle my face. My heart flips in my chest.

  “You know I love you, right?”

  My whole body tingles and I can’t move. “I love you, too.” Kai kisses me and everything around us fades away. All the years of keeping our relationship a secret makes me appreciate and enjoy this moment with Kai even more.

  I open my eyes and find him smiling at me.

  “I could get used to this,” I say, enjoying the warmth of his hands on my face. He rubs a thumb over my jaw, sending tingles throughout my body.

  “Umm, guys?”

  Reality comes crashing back as we turn to see Philip pointing overhead, his expression terrified. Near the top of the walls of the warehouse are opaque windows. We watch in horror as a large, dark shape moves past them.

  “What is that?” I shiver.

  “The general wants to see you. I think those are planes flying over us. And the medic says they aren’t theirs,” says Philip as he points to where the general stands by the tunnel entrance.

  “Let’s go,” says Kai.

  We grab Sean, Josh, and Katrina on the way. The six of us push through the crowd toward the tunnel entrance.

  The general is frowning at his tablet when we finally reach him. He glances up and grunts when he sees us.

  “You noticed our unwanted guests above?”

  “Who are they? And what are they doing?” I ask.

  “The Purists. Trying to find us. Right now, they’re just using old crop duster planes, so they won’t have heat image tech to find us. But they will eventually.”

  “And anything on the peace deal?” I frown as another dark shadow passes overhead.

  “Still waiting. We might have to go with your plan B and hope for the best.”

  “The Leviathan’s ready? Cause that’s the only way I can think of to get this many people out of here.” I swallow.

  “As ready as we can get with the limited resources our team had up there. Most everyone was evacuated from that base when we closed the nearby towns.”

  “Although it has defensive capabilities, how would we get everyone loaded without getting shot at?” asks Rand.

  “Great question.” The general holds up his tablet. “We could land the Leviathan close to the main doors over there.” He points to two large doors that practically take up the whole side of the warehouse.

  “We’d be sitting ducks once those are opened,” argues Rand.

  “But we can’t get all these students out quickly enough if we don’t,” Sean adds, blushing slightly.

  “We don’t have any other choices,” says the commander. He steps close to the general. “The Leviathan is directly above us in the upper atmosphere. Its sensors show that the Purists are outside the war
ehouse, surrounding us.”

  The general frowns deeply as he stares at the sat images on his tablet. He shrugs. “Get everyone ready. Let’s hope the chaos of the Leviathan landing will be enough of a distraction to allow us to get everyone aboard.”

  The noise level dips lower as a shadow again darkens the warehouse.

  I chew on my cheek and turn in a circle as I watch a plane pass over the warehouse. It’s larger than the others.

  “They’ve upgraded,” I whisper.

  “The first ones could’ve been diversions until they had the larger ones running,” Rand says beside me.

  I stop in my tracks. “That’s it.” I turn to the commander “Show me the images from the Leviathan.”

  He holds up the tablet.

  “There.” I point to a spec on the image not far away from the warehouse. “In the border lands a storage warehouse like this was always within tractor distance to the biggest farms. We need to talk to that farmer.”

  The general taps his earpiece and barks an order to some unseen soldier.

  “What are you thinking?” Kai asks.

  I look between him and Rand. “Remember our diversion at the Wall? I think that’ll work here too.”

  Rand’s confused expression soon turns to a grin. “Perfect.”

  “How do you know they’ll have any still left in this area?” asks Kai.

  I point to the commander’s tablet. “Real time imaging. I can see them moving around. They’ve obviously been spooked by the explosions already.”

  “Can someone please tell me what’s going on?” Philip has his hands on his hips and is glaring at us.

  I laugh. “Cows, Philip. We’re going to use the local cows as a diversion while we board the Leviathan.”

  His mouth gapes open. “How are cows going to divert their attention from a spaceship the size of a city?”

  “They’re going to be too busy dealing with a stampede.” I smile evilly.

  Katrina laughs.

  Philip still looks confused, but he relaxes some.

  “We need to get over to the doors. Then we’ll send a message to everyone with an explanation of what we’re going to do. There’s too many of us to talk to everyone here.”