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

That hand was all the ammunition someone would need to search the rest of my things and find the one fourth of the way completed map. And then I’d be gone. Back to Tundris without finishing...anything. I couldn’t let that happen.

“What to bring, what to bring,” the human mused from the bunk across from mine and Mae’s.

The Animarian on the top bunk hung himself over the side, peering at the girl while upside down. “We’ll only be gone a couple of hours. You don’t need to bring anything.”

The anti-gravity was on, making me float silent above the mattress, meaning Kavi didn’t crack open his skull when the human pulled him down. ‘Have I taught you nothing? You never go on an adventure without supplies. Unless you’re in a hurry. Or it’d be more fun without them.”

I shook my head, heading into the private bathroom and pulling off my night suit in favor of my school suit. Unlike the ones for everyday activities, this one was thicker, completely insulated against the chill of space. It also had a metal rim that would connect with our space helmets.

Upon entering the room, Mae looked over at me from her perch on the top bunk with open animosity. Her arm, though healing quickly, wouldn’t be ready to come out of its cast for another week or two. Meaning she had to sit out the field trip, as the suit material was too tight and unwieldy to get over the arm without risking further injury. She’d been having to sit out of a lot of things lately, and it hadn’t improved her mood.  

“I’ll bring you back a holo and in depth notes of everything we see,” I promised.

She didn’t say anything, choosing to sulk instead.

Only the first years taking the young Professor Talib’s Basic Technology Studies were going on the trip to Keskus, the technological capital of the galaxy as well as the geographical one of the world Parvu. We were taking a shuttle, so we’d been told to meet in the arena. Excitement racing through our veins, the Animarian and I practically ran all the way there. The human skipped.

When we got there, I was surprised to see my aunt was there, tapping her foot. Professor Talib, a lanky former Academy student, was right next to her, looking excited if a little green around the edges. He adjusted his glass, and I found myself thinking that he was alright. For a human.

“Alright, class,” he said, he motioned to the bulky shuttle. “Everybody onboard.”

A little less than one hundred of us started piling on the dated looking ship. It didn’t have the clean lines of a Cruiser, or any kind of camouflage capabilities. It was as flamboyant and ugly as the giant, green, Earth school bus we’d been shuttled to the school on at the beginning of the semester.

My aunt stopped Professor Talib when he would’ve boarded with us. “Dorian, I just don’t feel comfortable--”

“Relax, Profess-- uh, Eidel,” he stammered with a smile. “I passed all my flying examinations. You made sure of it.”

I hung back to hear what else was being said.

“Still,” she said. “I’d feel better if there were more chaperones for this.”

He shrugged. “Me too, but they can’t be spared. Everyone is teaching class, and we can’t stop the other grades’ progress. Earhart sent us a dozen AIs as well.”

My aunt stepped back, allowing Professor Talib to pass, but her face said that was the opposite of what she wanted to do. “That’s not nearly the reassurance to me that Isra meant it to be,” she said quietly.

I let the crowd push me through the hatch, walking to my seat next to the girl and Kavi and buckling in with numb fingers. The fact that school AIs were coming with us was no comfort to me either.

Flexing my calf, I shook off the feeling that hand was still gripping it. It was fear, plain and simple. And I wouldn’t allow that feeling into my heart. Those body parts had been an isolated incident. Two incident, I supposed, if you counted the attack that led to Mae’s broken arm.... But I wouldn’t let that turn me into some child afraid of his own shadow.

Professor Talib wasn’t my aunt by any means, but at least he wasn’t the human girl, either. We got up into the air without issue, and passed through the gravity field with only minor hiccups. Glaring, I watched my bunkmates giggle and bounce around with the bumps.

The ship was already parked on the outskirts of Parvulian space, so the ride didn’t take long. Professor Talib shifted into warp, the shuttle gave a great jolt, like we were splitting in two, and then sped off through the free space.

Unlike when anchoring to a colony, which is just a immobile ship a couple cities wide, the Academy ship couldn’t just go right up to the surface of the planet. The amount of power needed to land without crushing the city we were docking at and then rise back into the sky was more than the ship possessed at any time. But we weren’t on the ship, and the smaller shuttle didn’t have those limitations.

A few minutes made long by Kavi’s and the human’s babbling later, we were entering the atmosphere. Even with the sun shields on, the heat and illumination was almost unbearable. The planet looked like giant, circular san storm. There was no vegetation on the surface, very few animals either. It was all desert as far as the eye could see.

The sun was closer and more potent than on other planets. Particularly Tundris, whose sun was farther away than most, giving us our icy climate. I longed for the sharp bite of the wind now against all this muggy heat.

“Stick together, students!” Professor Talib called over the buzz of kids getting off the shuttle and swarming down the sheltered dock.

AIs were stationed on ours sides and at our flanks. Strategic points, but it made me feel trapped rather than secure. I wished Mae was here, instead of the girl and the Animarian, to have my back. Though, it was probably better that she wasn’t. Mae was running out of arms.

We were covered by yards of steel, insulation, and air conditioning units, but, since the docks, unlike the civilization, were on the surface of Parvu, it felt like someone had stuck me in an oven and welded it shut.

I took a pressurized tube down to the upper level of Keskus. A couple hundred foot drop with the two bumbling idiots was not pleasant, but, out of sight of the AIs, I felt my heart lift with elation. I was in the capital city of Parvu, where all the greatest tech in all the galaxy has come from in the past couple hundred years. I wondered what kind of weapons they were working on and whether we’d get a look.

Our tour guides, tiny specimens like Professor Iqbal the math and science teacher, took us lower, to one of the factories. What we saw there was no simple assembly line, but a craftsman’s workshop. There were scanners, 3D printers, and other machines so alien I had no idea what their functions could be. At least a hundred small, snouted Parvulians were working tirelessly on their projects.

One of them was wearing some kind of formal attire with drapes and shawls instead of suits similar to the school’s uniform. She came over to us, smiling and trying to quiet a hundred kids in a candy shop. Obviously, she was not a teacher or a worker.

Professor Talib whistled loudly and directed our attention to the small woman.

“Hello, boys and girls,” she said slowly. We each had been issued mobile translators, but they weren’t as sophisticated as the ones the Academy gave us, just earpieces coded to our origin language. “My colleagues and I are very excited to share with you the process of invention. Professor Talib has told me you are all part of his tech class, so hopefully this won’t be too foreign.”

She smiled again, and I came to the determination that I didn’t like her. “You’ll be splitting into groups--”

Professor Talib interrupted, “--with your roommates. Each group--except for mine--will be issued an AI escort.”

My blood ran cold, and I didn’t hear what else they said. I didn’t like to pray to my gods for the small things. Mother said that was a good way to invite trouble, but I found myself clenched my fists and saying their holy names, hoping against hope they’d hear me and put us with Talib.

While I was doing that, one of the AIs came to stand by us. I flinched away from it before I could stop myself, earning me a scrutinizing look from the girl. Baring my teeth at her, I straightened, showing the spine I’d worked hard for all my life.

“Each group will be going to a predetermined station.” Talib smiled at our confused faces. “The AI knows where. We’ll rotate stations after twenty minutes until each group has been to every one. Questions?”

Is it too late for me to wait on the shuttle?

“Good.” He tapped something into his holo. “Your time starts in three minutes. AIs, take your students to their first destination.”

The girl followed the AI without hesitation despite our recent encounter with the robotic body parts and their shop. Clearly, she had less intelligence than I’d originally pegged her with, which didn’t seem possible.

The corridors were steel and had no decoration, much like the ones on Tundris. The Academy halls had lots of pictures and bright colors, which had annoyed me at first. Now, I wanted those distractions back, because I was having trouble keeping track of how long we’d traveled.

“Is it much farther?” I asked the AI.

It didn’t turn back or answer.

The three of us were silent for a moment, walking side by side. It was an odd feeling, closing ranks with these two. I guess even a human and an Animarian are better backup than a super strong and intelligent robot that could turn on you at any moment. Still, I’d be glad when I could go back to hating them openly.

“I demand to know where we’re going,” the girl said in a haughty voice that could only belong to someone of the upper upper crust.

No response.

The girl lapsed into shocked silence. It was probably the first time someone had disobeyed a direct order from her. Snorting, I thought how glad I was to be here to see it.

The Animarian, strangely, spoke up next. “I have to go to the bathroom,” he said with more firmness than I would’ve thought him capable of.

The AI made a sudden turn and stopped right in front of a door. We all stared at it for a moment, and then the robot motioned Kavi inside.

“Bathroom acquired,” it said.

“That it listens to,” the girl muttered as Kavi sheepishly slipped inside.

I walked over to the door on the opposite hall. It seems we’ve come to an edge in the construct. The small window hole shows nothing but darkness, but its labeled with the Parvulian word for emergency exit. Stepped closer, I attempted to get a better look at the shoot, though it was pitch black.

“So this just sucks you up and out?” the girl asked, suddenly right beside me.

I nodded. “Yes, but it goes to the surface, which is heavily irradiated. I’d rather risk whatever is down here than certain, painful death up there.”

“More fun that way, anyway.”

I hadn’t been paying attention to the AI, a rookie mistake that I thought had been