“Then what did you mean?” Despite the risk they had taken by showing this to the others, Yalena flourished in the type of group discussions they could have now. Being alone and stuck with the signal had been blocking her. She needed to have the others around, to work with them, not hide from them.
“I meant, we need to be all together and alone on a powerful new spacecraft model to do this. So, since we’re usually stuck inside here, studying, our only option is to do this on our first-year mission.”
“Perhaps you’re right, but even I don’t know what the mission assignment will be.” Eric didn’t seem optimistic. “It could send us in the exact opposite direction, and when the teachers see we’re going rogue, they’ll send someone to intercept us.”
“Yes, but as it turns out, I have been in the hidden room, and I know what awaits us,” Alec added contently as gasps and swearing exploded from all sides. “We should be so lucky.”
“What?” Yalena almost screamed in shock. “The commander said they caught you before you and Dave could see anything about the mission.”
“Oh, we saw plenty,” was Alec’s happy response. “He just made us promise to pretend otherwise.”
Eric puffed, shaking his head. “Are you sure they won’t change the mission?”
“Positive. The commander said we need to keep quiet because they’ve been working on this scenario for months.” Alec leaned back on his chair, enjoying this.
“Forget that. What was it you saw?” Heidi pressed.
“Well, first, the destination for our mission is an asteroid in Jupiter’s orbit.”
Eric opened his mouth, then closed it, evaluating. “That’s decent. It’s most of the way there, which means that when they see us going rogue, they’ll be too far away to do much to stop us.”
“We’ve got another problem,” Nico said, typing on the glossy screen of his Berry.
“You don’t say...”
“Fuel,” Nico continued like he had not heard Jen’s comment. “It’s a long trip, longer than the mission, so we won’t have enough with us to get there and back.”
“Can’t we ask for more, make up some reason why we need it, like a safety fail or a redundancy buffer?” Yalena asked.
“It won’t work. This is antimatter we’re talking about. Even a droplet costs way into the six figures,” Nico dismissed her.
“I may be able to help with that,” Eric said. In a breathless silence, the others shared quick looks, but he went on before anybody asked for an elaboration. “Let’s run the numbers and see how much we’ll need.”
Nico whistled before turning back to Alec to let him continue.
“It gets better. I saw the state-of-the-art Eagles they ordered for us. Such beauties!” Alec added with a grin so wide that it showed all his teeth. “Each of them is made for a team of ten.”
Eric scoffed. “How is that good? We’re only six.”
“Yes, but it won’t be hard to convince a few more people to go. I know Dave and Reid will be up for it,” Alec vouched for his friends.
“That’s a brilliant idea!” Heidi said. “Do you realize how hard it is to keep a secret like this from my own boyfriend?”
“But how do we make sure we get chosen on the same team?” Yalena pondered out loud.
“That will be the hard part, I think.” It was Eric who answered. “We need to find out how the teams will be chosen first, and then we have to find a way to get placed in a team all together.”
“I’m glad you know what you are doing, Eric.” Yalena frowned. “This kind of lives and dies with you.”
All eyes turned to Eric as he looked up again. “Cooper would know.”
Yalena tried to place the feeling she got from Eric’s blank expression. In her mind, that was the best news she’s heard in a while. Cooper should be easy to extract information from. “So, can you ask him?”
“It won’t work.” Eric shook his head. “He knows I’m under pressure to live up to the O’Donnell standards. He’s been under that pressure himself. He’ll suspect I’m up to something to prove myself, especially after they caught me eavesdropping at the welcome dinner.” He turned to Yalena. “I think you should try to get it out of him,” he added with a grimace on his face.
“Me? Why me?” Yalena countered the look of expectation he shot her. “I’ve only spoken to him when he was talking Chris up like some sort of a wingman.”
The memory rubbed lemon juice in the guilt scab she’d been nursing since the ball.
“What about the New Year’s Eve dinner? Wasn’t he the friendliest? I love Cooper, and he’s my uncle, but if we want to extract any information from him, we’ll need alcohol and a pretty girl. Or two,” he said and eyed Jen, anticipating her response.
“You’re trying to pimp me out to your uncle?” Jen said. Granted, Cooper wasn’t more than a few years older than her, but her angelic face was struck with horror.
“Don’t be dramatic, please,” Heidi jumped in, somewhat amused. “It’s called going after the weak link.” The statement made Eric chortle. “Just get him a few drinks, giggle, and let him brag. He’ll tell you more than he realizes,” Heidi continued with confidence, disregarding the slightly disturbed way that Nico and Alec looked at her. “Yalena and I will do it!”
“Seems like you have a good grasp on it all alone,” Yalena couldn’t resist teasing her.
“Oh, come on. I need a partner in crime,” Heidi pleaded. “It’ll be harmless. He won’t take us seriously. He probably just fancies the attention.”
“Plus, we’ll have the perfect opportunity. The Gala is just three weeks from now, and Cooper wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Eric added.
Yalena took a couple of deep breaths before nodding. “Fine, we’ll extort information out of the weak link.” She sought confirmation in Eric’s face, but he just arched an eyebrow and smiled.
“You’d better be very thorough.”
WITH THAT LOOSE PLAN in mind, Yalena did her best to act normal in the next few weeks. Placing the Gala and its implications out of focus, however, proved harder in reality than it had sounded in theory. Leading up to the event, the Academy professors scheduled one-on-one meetings with the top performers in each of their classes, providing them with some relevant alumni contacts to meet on the day. Even their homework included examples of the newest technologies, many of which had been originally developed at STAR Academy.
The spirit of competition buzzed around the class like a swarm of bees. The pilots fought an intense war inside the simulator and an even worse one on the outside—to book enough slots to practice until the end of the semester. Nico disappeared into his lines of code more often than before, and Natalia traded in her meddling and biting remarks for time in the lab. Even Yalena and Jen couldn’t escape the manic preparations—one of them extending her work with Dana to include lunch breaks, the other waking up hours before class to skim new law proposals.
With two weeks left until the Gala, the pilot leaderboard drew the eyes of everyone passing by the simulator. Heidi’s rise from number six to number four seemed to have rattled some of the others, but she said she didn’t expect it to stick. Regardless, over the next few days, she dragged Yalena there each morning before their first class to “check on it,” as if it were a living thing that needed regular care.
Yalena skimmed the notes she’d taken the night before with one hand and let herself get pulled by Heidi with the other.
“Holy stars,” Heidi cried out. “No, no, no, this can’t be.”
“You’ll climb back up, I’m sure,” Yalena said, before lifting her gaze from the tablet screen. But what she saw wasn’t a slip in Heidi’s performance; it was a glossy, dark, empty screen. Offline, or simply off.
“What happened?” Heidi gaped. “Where’s my fourth place?”
She whirled around, searching for the Martians. Alec, Reid, and Dave rushed over from the other side of the corridor.
“Babe, are you...” Dave said, but then his eyes
landed on the empty screen. Speechless, he wrapped an arm around Heidi’s shoulders, and she buried her face in his chest.
“I can’t believe it,” her voice came out muffled. “But I worked so hard.”
“They must be doing this on purpose,” Alec said, tension in his eyes. “They want to psych us out in the last months before the mission.”
“Don’t worry, babe,” Dave said, removing strawberry-blonde hair from her face.
“Easy for you to stay calm. You were ranked number two,” she huffed. “How am I supposed to know if I’ll make second pilot at all?”
“You won’t know. That’s the point.” Eric walked over from the scientist group that had gathered a safe distance away from the horror-stricken pilots. “It’s a test to see if you can remain confident in your performance, even if you have no objective way to measure and monitor it.”
Heidi swallowed, her eyes branded with sadness.
“How much of it comes from you, and how much from a number on that board?” Eric continued.
“It all comes from me,” Heidi insisted.
“Good.” Eric shrugged his shoulders. “Then nothing’s changed, has it?”
The question was addressed not only to her, but to the Martians as well. The four of them exchanged looks, crestfallen. Even Alec’s first place among the freshmen, which he hadn’t so much as wobbled from all semester, was erased from sight now. Symbolic or not, this action screamed, “All bets are off.”
Chapter 19. Spotlights and Lost Fights
YALENA TUGGED ON THE silky, gray fabric of her dress. She’d asked Adeline to send her something layered, but she wasn’t prepared for the low-cut bodice. Only thin spaghetti straps graced her shoulders, making her feel chilly in the constant, air-conditioned breeze on Unifier.
The Gala event hall was transformed in its official décor with blush tablecloths and floral ornaments. The usual bright green, red, and silver uniforms the students wore were now lost in a multicolored swirl, making it harder to find people.
“Are you ready?” Eric said as he came up to her and Heidi.
The girls nodded in unison. Heidi was already trying to spot Cooper. She moved the compact powder mirror in different angles, while pretending to fix the intense red lipstick she’d borrowed from Yalena to match the color of her puffy dress. As someone who’d seen a fair share of secret police manners in action, Yalena was impressed.
The evening seemed set to be exhausting for Yalena, and she couldn’t let loose. She exchanged small talk with the many guests from outside Unifier, but she was too distracted to engage in long conversations. As the evening progressed, she found herself surrounded by strangers more and more often, as her brave crew of six was scattered around, like Eric had suggested. The dark thought of being alone in this endeavor sneaked into Yalena’s mind as she kept an eye out for Heidi or Eric, but failed to spot them in the crowd.
“Hello, dear!” Cooper greeted, popping up next to her. He grinned as she turned to him. “Imagine how horrified I was to hear about you and Chris.”
“Oh,” Yalena just managed to say, finally spotting Heidi all the way across the room.
“I keep telling him, if you let her go, you’re going to have serious trouble finding anyone better,” Cooper kept piling it on, and Yalena’s complexion turned from intense pink to scarlet.
Thankfully, Heidi had found her way through the crowd, as if drawn by an all-powerful magical force. “Cooper O’Donnell, isn’t it?”
“In the flesh. And you are?”
“Heidi Valance. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, sir.” She blinked at him, eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings.
“Oh, please, call me Cooper, or you’ll make me feel old.”
“You, old? Never,” Heidi laughed.
“I was just saying it was really unfortunate Yalena and Chris broke up. Don’t you think, Heidi?”
“You took the words right out of my mouth, Cooper. I’m Yalena’s roommate, and I can tell you, she had such a wonderful glow about her before the ball,” she made something up boldly.
She’s good at this, Yalena had to admit, and even though she wanted to step on Heidi’s foot with her heel for the Chris-related lie, she smiled politely.
“So, Cooper, I was actually curious about the teams for the first-year mission?” Yalena decided to go for the golden prize now. The chances were slim that she and Heidi would manage to speak to Cooper alone again during the evening.
“Oh, you don’t waste time, do you?” He winked at her. “I am sworn to secrecy, dear. I couldn’t tell you a thing about the mission or the teams.”
Yalena laughed nervously under Heidi’s disapproving look, which seemed to say, “Not so aggressively.”
“Well, I just meant...” Yalena tried to correct her mistake.
“Yes, yes, you were just wondering if you’ll be on the same team as Eric. I hear things, you know. I approve. Just be careful, heartbreaker. There’s nothing worse than having an ex on your team.” And his eyes wandered across the room to a young woman with fiery hair and bright orange make-up. “Trust me, I know.”
“That’s not it. I was just curious what we could end up doing,” Yalena interrupted his distraction. “Can you at least tell us something to aspire to for the future? What was your most exciting mission, perhaps?”
“I can tell you that you will get to go to some really interesting places during your time at STAR Academy. And me, I’ve been many places, all the way to the edge of our world,” he rounded off proudly.
It was time for an overly admiring gasp from Heidi. “That is simply fascinating.” She beamed at him.
“Excuse me.” Commander O’Donnell appeared at Yalena’s side. “Could I steal you for a moment?” Without waiting for approval, he formally offered his arm to Yalena and said, “Walk with me.”
She took his arm, slightly nervous. Was it possible he had overheard them?
“How do you like tonight’s event?” he asked.
“It’s lovely,” Yalena replied immediately with an audible sigh of relief. “I admit I wasn’t aware there were so many different space stations and cities we could end up working at.”
“I promised to introduce you to someone who might be helpful in your career choices,” he said, waving over the girl Yalena had seen Cooper’s eyes drift to. “This is Jeannine.”
“Please, call me Jea.” Her bright orange eyelashes fluttered as she blinked. Quite distracting. “I hear you might be one of those rare few that don’t get scared when they see a hundred-and-eighty-page draft law.”
“There’s always tomorrow.” Somehow, looking at the bold colors, which seemed to suit Jea’s personality, Yalena felt braver—daring, even.
“You know,” the commander said, “students often feel space law is a headache, because each of our space habitats has different needs. Unifying the rules isn’t easy, yet we need a consistent system to live by.”
“But things aren’t fixed. They must be starting to change,” Yalena insisted.
“Interesting. Why do you believe that?” A small smile had started to show on his lips. He seemed to both evaluate and relate to her way of thinking.
“Because I’m here. We’re all here from different worlds, living by the same rules at the Academy. It’s a starting point we can build from.”
“I’m happy you see my efforts.”
“She’s a smart cookie,” Jea said to the commander, as if Yalena wasn’t there to hear her. “Send her to me on the Moon. She might pick up a trick or two.”
“Will do. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have one final thing to take care of tonight,” O’Donnell said. “Don’t wander too far off,” he added just to Yalena before heading to the big podium in the middle of the event hall, where the Academy professors had started to gather.
“What was that about?” Jen popped up behind Yalena’s back. In a combination of silver and yellow, she was as elegant as a movie star on the red carpet.
“Just talking,” Yalena said
, turning around.
“Did you get anything out of Cooper?”
“Nothing on the team composition,” Yalena said, scheming for a Plan B in the back of her mind. “I guess Nico will have to hack the system and place us on the same team.”
“It looks like they’re ready for the formal announcement,” Jen pointed out as she and Yalena neared the big podium and the huge screen behind it.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,” the commander addressed the audience after he’d called everyone’s attention. The crowd quieted in expectation.
“Dear STAR Academy students, professors, and alumni, this event marks the first milestone in this year’s freshmen’s careers. We have kept this a complete secret, as our students are distinguished from others by their ability to adapt and to persist in the face of the unknown. Every year, our freshman class embarks on their first mission, an assignment kept secret until the very end of this semester. It tests their ability to organize a team and manage a multifaceted situation. The way this is done can take a variety of forms. For this year’s mission, the team of Academy professors and I have decided to reveal one key piece of information, perhaps the most decisive of all—the organization.”
The screen behind the commander lit up brightly and showed two Eagle spacecrafts, so shiny that they must be brand-new. Yalena took a deep breath. They looked exactly like Alec had described them.
“These are the Eagles Apollo and Artemis,” O’Donnell announced. “Equipped with antimatter fuel storage cells and the technical ability to land in various conditions, these innovative spacecrafts are the future of space research missions. And they’re perfectly suited for a crew of ten.” The commander paused for the excited round of gasps and applause that followed.
Yalena’s mind was racing. On the face of it, they had been right, and this was good news, but it simply didn’t feel like that was all. The commander called everyone’s attention again, and it made Yalena nervous. Grasping Jen’s hand tightly, she looked around, but couldn’t find anyone else from her crowd apart from Alec, who was observing the commander, his bushy eyebrows furrowing.
The Unsound Theory (STAR Academy Book 1) Page 16