“Pudding?” Angel asked.
“Huh?” Ester said as she was ripped back into reality.
“Pudding. I asked if you wanted pudding.” Angel looked at her. “You know, Ester, you sure space out a lot. Here, I’ll make your mind up for you.”
Angel placed the brown dessert on her tray and continued down the line. Ester looked at it in fascination. She’d never had pudding before, but it was topped with a strawberry and that was a huge plus. Ester followed Angel to their table, where Fermit and Samay were already sitting.
“Oh my gosh, guys, today was so crazy,” Angel said as he sat down.
“Yes.” Samay nodded. “I’m not sure how I feel about Murk leading us…”
“Fuck him.” Fermit blurted, earning him a fair number of shocked stares. “S-sorry.”
“Don’t apologize,” Ester said. “That guy and his friends are a real pile of animal crap.”
Angel and Samay nodded.
“I mean where does he get off? He’s no more of an expert than any of us,” Ester said. “If anything I would listen to you, Fermit, more than him. At least you’ve done it before.”
Fermit sort of smiled, remembering that he was only here because he blew it the first time around. Ester reached out and patted Fermit’s back.
“Don’t listen to what Murk says. You’ve earned your place here,” Ester said.
Fermit smile widened as the others agreed.
“Oh my gosh Ester,” Angel said. “You have to try your pudding. It is totally amazing today.”
“It is.” Samay took the last bite of her pudding. “I love sweet treats so much. There’s a place back home that sells the best treats.”
“Really?” Angel said.
“Yes,” Samay nodded. “I used to go there a lot after school and grab a snack and watch live performances.”
“Ooo, so it was like a mini concert hall?” Angel said.
Samay shook her head. “Nothing big like that, more like a café with a small stage.”
“Ooo, Samay, do you ever get up there?” Angel asked. “Oo! Do they have karaoke? I love karaoke!” Angel bounced up and down.
“I-um,” Samay stuttered over her words but then nodded.
Ester finished up her vegetables and placed her fork down. “That’s so cool, Samay. So, do you like to sing?”
“A-a little. I’m not a pro or anything like that.” Samay tried to damper the spotlight on her.
“Yeah right, girl,” Angel said. “I beat you can sing.”
Samay shook her head, but Angel continued to shower her with compliments. Ester laughed as the stress of the day melted away.
“Wait a minute, guys,” Ester said as she pulled the spoon from her mouth. “This pudding is freaking amazing!”
“I told you!” Angel said.
“Why isn’t this a national dessert,” Ester wailed.
“Yes!” Samay clapped.
Everyone laughed and somehow their day didn’t seem so bad.
***
Over the next couple of days, the class practiced hard, but under Murk’s orders things were going about as smoothly as a cart on a bumpy road. No one dared challenge him because he and his band of bullies were quick to set them straight. Even Ester’s friends didn’t speak up. There was no point when it was just four against twenty-six.
“Well, I guess you guys want to fail and that’s fine with me.” Captain Pole said as he walked over to a stool and sat down. “I’ll still have a job, so it’s up to you if you really want it.”
The cadets groaned as they pushed through practice. At the barrel walk station things were not going well for the team. Fermit was tripping over his feet under the heat of Kiakit and Zime. The group walked back over to the starting point and lined up. Kiakit counted down to one, and the group of four sprinted towards the pallet, picking it up in unison. They worked as a team to move the pallet, but Kiakit and Zime were pushing the team too fast causing Fermit to trip backwards sending the whole thing crashing down again.
“Idiot!” Kiakit shouted. She fumed as she got up. “What is wrong with you!” She berated Fermit.
“I’m-I’m sorry.” Fermit whimpered.
“Sorry? Don’t be sorry! Work harder, you stumbling twill!” Kiakit shouted as she stormed away.
Kiakit Joy was a hot-headed girl, a part of Murk’s group. She along with Zime Luveir had been bossing everyone around at practice all day. There was no doubt they were strong, but they were relentless in their criticism and short on their patience.
“Jeeze, Fermit, could you be anymore useless?” Zime added. “And you, whatever your name is, you were off balance too. How did you even make the cut?” Zime rolled her eyes as she began gathered up the barrels. “Wait, what am I doing? You weaklings need to reset the pallet since you can’t seem to keep it up.” Zime walked away.
Ester watched in annoyance from the sidelines as her two classmates hustled to reset the pallet. She understood the point of the exercise. It wasn’t about who got to the finish line first, but about working together to safely transport the load. It was designed to make students trip and stumble, but Kiakit and Zime were too focused on winning to realize that. Fermit helped reset the pallet, but Ester could tell he was at his breaking point.
Meanwhile, Ester was having trouble with her own event. She was assigned to the puzzle, no doubt out of spite, and she hated it. For the puzzle, they needed to place themed or patterned pieces in the right order, but the pieces were spread apart. It relied on the team working together to direct each other to the right place based on the clues they received. This was all easier said than done, as she struggled to piece together the clues. Ester glanced down at her red and blue pieces in a daze. She struggled to find the connection.
“Purple, you twill!” One boy shouted behind Ester.
“No! It’s based on alphabetical order!” Another shouted.
Ester looked around. She thought she’d be better suited for carrying the pallet, but Murk’s yappy mouth convinced everyone to separate in this order. She could feel her fingers tingling as she over worked her brain trying to figure out the puzzle.
“No guys, the clue is ‘color’, meaning it’s about the colors, not the names!” Another cadet shouted over everyone.
It was pure chaos. The electricity started to build under Ester’s skin. This was getting them nowhere. She was tired of coming to class and arguing all morning during training. This wasn’t working, and she didn’t care what happened, she wasn’t going to put up with this any longer. Ester threw down her puzzle pieces and marched towards the sidelines.
“Samay!” Ester shouted. Samay jumped around and looked at Ester. “You’re smart right? Trade with me.” Samay froze as all eyes were on them. “I mean, you’re always answering all the questions in class. Trade with me.”
“Don’t you move.” Murk stormed over. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I don’t know anything about this stupid puzzle and neither does anyone else. Why can’t someone who actually aced the written exam be on this side?” Ester pointed out in frustration.
Some of the cadets stepped back as they watched Murk and Ester stare each other down. Murk could feel his eye twitch as the current pulsed through his veins.
“Why? Because I already sorted it out. It’s not my fault all that Adum dust is clogging up your brain!” Murk stood in the middle of the group as Ester fumed.
“I agree with Ester.” All eyes turned and faced the naysayer.
Murk hunted out the voice bordering on pure rage. It was Angel. He stood his ground, but his courage was weaning.
“I just think it’s smarter to let the people who are good at puzzles do the puzzles and let the stronger people do the barrel walk.” By now Angel’s tone shifted from strong to meek. Murk stormed towards him as Angel took a step back.
“You better watch it, shrimp.” He stood in Angel’s face.
“Time!” Captain Pole shouted from his stool. “I hope you guys like failure
because that’s what you are going to get arguing like that.” The class groaned as they headed back to the classroom. “Also, that’s two points off for fighting, but don’t worry, you can always re-apply if you fail.” Captain Pole shouted from the other side of the track as he watched his students walk back to the locker room in disdain.
Back in the locker room, no one said a word in the mist of all the tension in the air. Murk was boiling under his skin and could barely contain his anger. He fumed at his locker as his friends changed beside him.
“That bitch,” Murk slammed his fist into the locker, not caring who could hear him. “Here I am trying to raise this house to greatness, and that girl, that worm, she tries to under mine me.”
“Well, maybe the blond one does have a point. I mean she is pretty dumb, maybe,” Bue froze when he saw the sparks raise from Murk.
Kiakit got in between them and scuffed at Bue’s comments and turned to Murk. “Cool it, don’t let that girl get under your skin. She’s already cost us enough points.”
Murk stared Kiakit down, He hated to admit it, but she was right. He couldn’t allow himself to get distracted by his classmates. After all, he had come from a strong line of rangers. He had been raised in the ranger lifestyle, groomed to be the perfect solider. His pedigree alone proved that he was a natural born leader, and he wasn’t going to let anyone stand in his way.
Class ended for the day, and Ester, Angel, Fermit, and Samay walked slowly back to their dorm. Today had been a total disaster, and they were quite exhausted. Angel clenched his fists in frustration which made his platinum blond curly hair fill with electricity. Ester and the others noticed and wanted to laugh but were far too tired.
“I don’t see how we’re going to get anywhere,” Angel complained as he walked alongside his friends. “Murk and his gaggle of twills act like they run the place.” Angel placed a hand on his hip and stopped. “I mean, you get me, right?”
Ester nodded, and so did Samay. After all, Angel was right. The class was spiraling out of control under Murk’s rule. His group tried so hard to be right all the time that they pushed down anyone who stood in their way. Someone needed to take them down a notch, but no one had the courage.
“You know what guys?” Angel said. “I know what we can do to turn this day around.”
“What?” Samay asked.
“A trip to the sauna!” Angel said.
“A what?” Ester asked.
“A sauna, you know a steam room. It’s hot, but very relaxing. There’s a small one in the mini gym in the back,” Angel said.
“I forgot about that,” Fermit said as he rubbed his chin.
“Um, I don’t know.” Samay looked at the time.
“Aww, we have time. Let’s go, please,” Angel whined as he started jogging in place.
Everyone looked at each other. If they knew one thing about Angel it was that there was no saying no. They reluctantly agreed just to stop his begging and followed him back to the dorm.
***
Warm steam filled the air as sweat poured from their bodies. Angel was right, this was exactly what they needed. Ester leaned back as her friends chatted. Her shoulders relaxed as the tension washed away. The room was just big enough for them, and they were lucky to get there at this time as a pair of cadets left shortly after they arrived. Ester stretched out her toes and sighed. She could get use to this.
“This reminds me so much of my homeland,” Samay said.
“Oh? Where are you from?” Ester asked.
“I’m from Cha-la. We have something similar to this back home, but it’s more like a steamy bath. They are found in places called host shrines. It’s a place where you go to rejuvenate the body.”
“Nice,” Ester said. “I’m pretty sure Adum-la doesn’t have anything fancy like this.”
“That’s right, you are from Adum-la,” Fermit said. “That’s quiet far away.”
“Eh.” Ester shrugged.
“You’re from Ans-on, too, Fermit?” Angel probed as Fermit reluctantly nodded. “Yay, go Ans-on!”
Samay laughed. “There are a lot of Ans-on people in our house.”
“That’s because we’re the best,” Angel said.
“Yeah, right,” Ester threw a hand towel at Angel.
“Hey,” Angel whined.
“Still,” Samay said meekly. “It would be cool to meet other people not from Rean.”
Ester nodded. “Yeah! Honestly I’m really excited about that. Another perk of being a ranger, you actually get to meet other species. Now, if only they would come here.” Ester laughed.
“They do actually,” Angel laughed. “There are thousands of immigrants from other planets living here.”
“You’re kidding?” Ester said with her eyes wide open. She turned and looked at Fermit and Samay and they all agreed. “Wow, I guess I really do live inside a bubble.”
“It’s okay,” Angel laughed again. “They mainly come here for diplomatic reasons and anyone outside of that stick very close to the big metropolises.”
“Whoa,” Ester said.
“Have you ever met anyone from Labadora?” Samay asked.
Angel shook his head. “It’s not well known, but like people from Labadora don’t really travel here.” Angel lowered his voice.
“Why not?” Ester asked.
“We’re on bad terms, so to speak,” Angel said. “I mean, I don’t know the exact details, but something’s not right up there.” Angel nodded upward.
“Oh,” Ester said leaned back as the others continued to relax.
That night Ester laid in bed wide awake. She was tired, but her mind wasn’t quite ready to let her sleep. She never really thought that much about the giant green planet in the sky. She was aware that there was some kind of conflict, but she couldn’t imagine it being that serious that no one was allowed to travel. Ester pulled her covers closer to her, but she couldn’t escape the light of the moon. She looked up and caught a glimpse of Labadora in the sky, a planet in conflict. She felt a small shiver, but curled up into a little ball and fell asleep.
Chapter Eight
Captain Pole sat at his desk reading the news on his tablet as his students filed into the classroom. In just a few short weeks, the cadets had learned so much and were now focusing more on test preparation. The captain sat behind his desk, sipping his favorite Bex Se tea and came to life only when the clock struck zero seven hundred hours.
“Good morning,” he said in his usual lackluster tone. “I hope you slept well. Today’s lecture will be cut short. I’m sure you’d like to hear me talk about the history of CuCore development, but I think you’ll benefit from more training. Over the past couple of weeks, you’ve made some progress with training, but, of course, there is more.”
The class groaned.
“There’s always more.” The Captain finished off his tea and slowly raised himself up from his desk. He winced at every step but made no effort to sit back down. He pressed a button on his wristband and the holoscreen popped up. “As you know, your first test is a group activity spilt up in four parts. The first two parts are the barrel walk and the puzzle solver.” The holoscreen displayed information about the test as the cadets feverously took notes.
“Pssst, Ester,” Angel whispered. “Pssst, Ester.”
“Hmm?” Ester struggled to keep an ear open while she jotted down notes.
“Today during training, we gotta put Murk in his place.”
“Hmm hmm,” Ester murmured.
“I mean it,” Angel whispered with his head ducked down. “I’m tired of him, and I think it’s time we put a stop to that classless twill.”
“Johnson.” Captain Pole stared Angel right in the face. “Is there something you want to share with the class?”
“Um, no sir.” Angel straighten up as his face turned bright red.
Some of the other cadets snickered, as Captain Pole returned to his lesson. Ester caught Murk pointing and whispering amongst his friends. Ester glared. Angel
was right, something needed to be done. Captain Pole coughed, and the screen changed to a different slide.
“As I was saying, the final two parts will consist of an academic trivia round and a group race called links. I cannot stress enough that it is not important that you make it in first place. Although it does look good, you’re being tested on how well you work together, not on who finishes first. Your only competitor is the clock. All groups must finish within the time frame given.” The Captain turned walked back to his desk. “Finish the notes and the assigned chapter by ten forty-five hundred hours after and meet me at the track for training.”
The class got to work reading through their tablets, but Ester noticed that Angel was really riled up about Murk. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Murk whispering to his friends again. They snickered as they looked their way. Ester clenched her fist. One day, Murk would get what’s coming to him.
***
The clock showed ten twenty hundred hours and most of the class was finished with their morning work and heading to the gym. The weeks of their first semester were going by fast, and with that came the anxiety of their first exam. The group stepped outside. A cool breeze swept over the island. It was the end of summer and the weather was already starting to change.
“I’m kind of excited about the academic trivia round, though,” Fermit said as he walked next to his friends.
Angel nodded. “Me too! I love me some trivia.”
“Um, well you guys can have that, but I’ll stick to the other events,” Ester said.
“I think we should make a game plan and have everyone pick the events they want to do,” Angel said.
Samay rubbed her arm nervously. “But with Murk around.”
Angel jumped out in front of his group, making his angry face, which still made him look like a frazzled child. “Don’t you worry about Murk!” Angel hissed, pointing his finger at Samay. “We’re going to take care of him.”
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