Interstellar Academy by Kennedy Harkins (read books for money .TXT) 📕

August 30:

She doesn’t think I’m going to make it, I thought, slamming my numb foot into a nearby building. Every time I thought about Earhart, her speech, or this stupid school I kicked whatever was around me without really thinking about it. I didn’t seem to be able to control it, so I just enjoyed the temporary exuberation of hurting something before the pain crushed the feeling.  

“...thinks I can’t cut it...hasn’t got what it takes...I’m an Alkaev!” I mumbled to myself, thoughts surging forwards and then fading out just as abruptly. “...certainly not going to stay in a school...woman like that.”

“Astra!” Kavi came running up behind me. “I’ve been looking for you. We got a message that all students are supposed to report to the dining hall for start of the year announcements.”

I kept walking, not really registering the tiny, insignificant blip that was Kavi on my radar. I needed to get back to the apartment and call Igor. When he heard how that woman spoke to me....

What would he do? Find some other school to shove me off on? Somewhere else where I could coast by on my last name. I thought, that’s what I want, without very much conviction. It’s a low point in one’s life when they can’t even lie to themselves. And I’ve always prided myself on being a galactically renowned liar.

I realised Kavi was still at my heels. I spun around to face him. “I don’t think I’ll be attending the meeting, Kavi. Infact, after the encounter that I’ve just had with Miss  Earhart, I’m not sure whether I’ll be attending this school.”

His eyes widened, and he took a step back. “What did she say to you?”

I turned my nose up. “Nothing that’s any concern of yours.” 

“Oh.” He seemed to accept that at face value. For most people, it was no fun kicking someone who didn’t fight back. I didn’t have those hang ups. “But I thought you loved it here.”

I opened my mouth to tell him to shut his, but then I stopped. An hour ago, when I could still feel the weightlessness of the no gravity, I would have said hell yes. When I first exited the shuttle and saw all the magnificent buildings, each one a different challenge to be had, it’d seemed too good to be true.

And now I was going to let some shrew through me off the trail of my new adventure.

“Not in this lifetime,” I said.

“What?” Kavi asked.

I tucked my arm around him. “Don’t worry about it, Kavi. How about you show me the way to this dining hall?”

He grinned, nodding enthusiastically. “So you’re staying?”

I smiled, but mine had a hard edge. “Looks like it.”

_____

The dining hall wasn’t far from the arena--which, in my opinion, looked like gladiators were going to sprout from it at any moment. It wasn’t really a hall or a building, but an expanse of trees and plants in the shape of a triangle. Path’s crisscrossed through the area, but they were the only interruptions in a sea of pure nature. Instead of tables and chairs, students sat on the ground eating off trees (of all different colors and nationalities) that had been grown at a peculiar angle. They looked like they were bending over, bowing down, so the students could eat off their backs.

The next thing I noticed was that, unlike the sleeping arrangements and the transportation here, the seating order was completely random. No one was sitting only with their roommates or fellow tenants. It was like a cafeteria in any high school on Earth; kids choice where they wanted to sit. And a pattern formed from that behavior.

“Isn’t this supposed to be a segregated school?” I asked Kavi, a faint smile tugging at my lips.

“Sure. Don’t you see all the different species? There’s a bunch of Syreni over there, some Tundrians just past them--”

“Yes, yes.” I rolled my eyes. “Let’s just sit.”

Kavi flittered around a large bed of flowers and stepped in some mud, but I didn’t bother, trampling over them. They were easily replaceable, and, looking up at Earhart’s beaming face (a giant holo resting several feet above the heads of all the students), I wasn’t in the mood to be merciful.

“Drusus and Maeve are right over there. Are we--”

“I’d rather die.”

I plopped down at the available seat next to Kai, the junior I’d met on the shuttle. Like the rest of his kind, his scales didn’t cover his whole body, but were spread out in patches that faded into skin in places. Kai had a large spot of vibrant, blue scales on his left cheek.

He turned away from his friends--all Syreni-- and looked at me. “Astra, right?”

“For the past fifteen years.”

Kavi sat down on my other side, not saying anything to the older kids at the table. If he’d been a wild animal, he would’ve been burrowing into my side for protection against the predators that might decide to eat him. I smiled. Yes, this was exactly like high school.

“You’re a bit late.” He nodded to Earhart. “She started the announcements over twenty minutes ago.”

Right after I left her office, I thought. It would’ve been all too easy for her to tell me about the meeting, to send me in the right direction. My blood boiled, and the steamed out of my ears like in an old cartoon. She wanted me to quit, alright. Sooner rather than later.

Kai continued. “You’re lucky an AI didn’t notice. Tardiness gets you demerits.”

Or maybe she wanted the pleasure of kicking me out herself. I was used to people taking a sudden dislike to me-- jealousy, mostly. But now the roles were reversed. This woman had power where I had none. It made my stomach uneasy to think that she could kick me out even if I wanted to stay. I didn’t like the sensation.

I forced a smile. “Thanks for the heads up.”

Kai shrugged. “No problem. You’ll learn pretty fast that almost anything can get you a demerit around here.” He laughed, turning back to his fellow Syreni juniors. “Or you won’t.”

One of his friends, a girl with dull, green scales, jumped in. “Then you get to see your mommy for Christmas, and every day in between.”

“Cadets!” Earhart’s voice boomed throughout the clearing. “Now that you have finished eating, we will continue with the beginning of the year announcements. First of all, I would like to welcome you all again and convey my sincerest hope that you will all succeed in this coming year.”

I snorted and incurred a funny look from the Syreni girl that had told me about being home for Christmas. I wasn’t about to be goaded like Kavi. That just didn’t happen to Alkaevs, simple as that. I smiled back at her with all teeth.

“For the freshman, there are many rules and regulations here, so many that it could make your head spin.” She handed out a compassionate glance. “I won’t explain each one in great detail now--that would be painful for everyone. Just follow the example set by the older students, and you’ll make it through just fine.

Your class schedules will be posted in your rooms when you return. Any questions you have can be directed to myself or any faculty member before September third, which is the start of term. All students are required to participate in extracurricular activities. Most choose more than one such as dueling and art or zero-grav Tak Raw and debating. It is, however, only required that you do one. Sign up sheets will be available right back here by the end of the week  Additionally, all students are automatically enrolled in battle classes and flying courses--no exceptions. Don’t bother bringing me a note that says you’re allergic to sweat and the sun.

Lastly,” she paused, looking over every face. “We expect nothing but the best behavior here at the Interstellar Academy. Any foolishness or rule breaking will be met with harsh punishments--or possibly expulsion. Leave the monkey business at home, because you will be caught. Remember, anything you could think of trying, I invented.”

She let that sink in for a moment. “Also, as I’m sure most of you freshman have noticed, the entire campus is run by AIs. It’s been this way for years, and they seem to hold a certain allure to children. Under no circumstances are any of you tamper with an AI. They are delicate pieces of machinery and can be compromised very easily.

Enjoy the rest of your meal and have a wonderful year here at the Interstellar Academy.”

AIs spread throughout the clears, holding multiple plates of desserts. Most were from Earth and Parvu-- the only worlds that had dessert--, but there were a few dishes from the other planets as well. I saw a plate of raw meat sprinkled with some kind of red powder. It wouldn’t have looked too awful if it hadn’t been for the strange, greenish color to the meat. Still, I saw a Tundrian happily digging into it.

One of the sleek, metal AIs placed a pile of seaweed in front of me. It was varying hues of greens and purples. The artificial light reflected off the slimy residue covering the plants. I pushed the plate back, not about to put some second rate, gag inducing dish into my mouth. Eyeing the squishy looking texture, I wasn’t even sure if I could swallow it.

Kavi, on my left, was sporting a large piece of chocolate cake. I didn’t want to take it from him, really. But survival of the fittest and all that. I switched our plates. He watched me do it, not stopping me. Which was why, in the wild, he’d have been worm food, and I’d be leading the pack.

He dug into the seaweed platter enthusiastically, his dainty, green face beaming up at me. “Thanks, Astra. How did you know I liked calpi?”

Never make an enemy when you can put someone in your debt.

“Lucky guess.”

August 30:

A lucky guess had led me to the dining hall when I’d exited in the opposite direction from my aunt’s office at the arena. I was especially glad I’d found it when I realised I wouldn’t have to sit with the dregs from other planets. The next few hours passed at warp speed, and, all too soon, Mae and I were busing our dishes and saying goodbye.

The students eventually wandered away from the dining hall as the artificial lights started to dim, signalling the approach of night and our curfew which was when the lights went completely out. The campus would be in complete darkness until a couple hours before classes were to start, and anyone caught out of bed during that time would receive enough demerits and detentions to last them through four years here.

Though I hadn’t seen them all day when Mae and I made to leave, the human girl and Kavi were suddenly right behind us. We didn’t exchange pleasantries. I had