Nick James - The Pearl wars

It took several minutes to find the nearest entrance to the elevators. He stepped inside the open chamber and descended to a curved corridor at the bottom level, joined by a handful of quiet travelers. He suspected the rush didn’t start until late morning.

He’d be traveling by school-chartered sky taxi to the Academy, set to depart from Docking Bay Seven. If he had taken the right elevator, it’d be just around the corner.

He checked his suit’s inside pocket for the small pouch containing the three pills Madame had given him back at the infirmary. As if he didn’t have enough to worry about, he had to consider the possibility that the incident in his dorm room would repeat itself, that coming close to Jesse Fisher would trigger the fires again. It was a possibility he couldn’t risk.

He passed Bay Six and continued until he came upon the next open door. Confirming he was in the right place, he entered and looked around for the school shuttle. Last night, the parking area had been abuzz with activity. It had been almost impossible to move. This morning, the shuttles lay silent in rows before him-a graveyard of commuter vehicles.

Then he spotted it. Alone in the far left-hand corner, framed by a blanket of early morning sky, stood the school taxi. Letters on the side of its long, thin body read SkyWave 557. Smooth and flat, it was little more than a giant white rectangle with landing gear-built for simplicity rather than power. It was probably cramped inside too. He wondered how long the ride would be. And if any babies would be onboard.

He trudged toward it, careful to act like a normal, clueless student. A few kids had already gathered around the front end of the taxi with their parents. A man in a navy, buttoned-up uniform stood next to the entrance with a clipboard.

Cassius felt several pairs of eyes latch onto him as he approached. He had to remind himself that nothing about him stood out. Nobody knew he was from the Surface. Still, he kept his face low as he walked. When he was within striking distance, the driver glanced up from the clipboard.

“Morning,” he yawned. “Identification, please?”

Cassius nearly thrust his hand forward to show the man his Surface ID code, but caught himself and removed the doctored passport instead.

The driver flipped the passport open, comparing the picture on the inside cover to the boy standing before him. After a moment of consideration, he nodded and returned it.

“So you’re Michael, our late registration.” He checked off a box on his clipboard. “No parents, siblings, or relatives with you today?”

“No,” Cassius responded. “No parents.”

“Very well. I’ll take your bag and you can have a seat with the others while we wait for everyone to show up.”

Cassius gripped tightly to the strap of the pouch. “Is it okay if I take it on with me? It’s just a small school bag. There’s some reading I want to go over on the way.”

The driver frowned, then craned his neck to glance behind Cassius’s shoulder. “Fine. It’ll fit below the seat. You’re okay.”

“Thank you.”

Relieved, he stepped to the side of the shuttle and moved toward a red-headed boy. The kid was engrossed in a book held inches in front of his face. Only four students had shown up so far. One girl and three boys, counting Cassius. He kept the bag close to his body as he sat on the ground next to the kid, avoiding eye contact.

The boy shut the book immediately. “I’m Colin.”

Cassius groaned inwardly. He should have brought earplugs.

Colin scooted closer. “You just registered, yeah?”

He nodded, looking at the ground.

“So’d you just find out about the Horizon College recently or something?”

“Yeah,” he whispered.

“What’s your focus?”

He turned around and met the kid’s eyes for the first time. “My what?”

“You know, what are you into? Philosophy? Literature? Art criticism?”

“Oh,” he started. “Philosophy, I guess.”

“Me too!” Colin grinned. “I hear Horizon’s the best. So as a fellow academic, I’ve gotta ask, who’s your favorite?”

Cassius stared at the kid’s pasty, overeager face, wondering if he should even attempt a response. Philosophy was one of the Wasted Subjects on the Surface. Didn’t do anybody any good.

Colin leaned closer. “Sartre? Descartes? Hypatia?”

He could have been making up words for all Cassius knew, but he realized he had to play along. “Yeah,” he started. “He’s good.”

“Who? Hypatia?”

“Sure.”

“Hypatia’s a woman.” Colin frowned.

Cassius cursed mentally, but didn’t miss a beat, summoning the best fake smile he could. “Of course she is. It’s a joke.”

“Oh.” Colin scratched the back of his head. “Funny.”

Cassius bowed his head, sighing. He had a suspicion the entire flight was going to be “funny.” He hoped he wouldn’t be tempted to use the pistol in his bag before landing.

“Hey,” Colin grinned. “We should be seat partners.”

Cassius sighed. The pistol was sounding pretty good right about now.

I wake with a sharp yelp as something hits the back of my head. In a panic, I realize that I’m sitting at my desk in the middle of Mrs. Dembo’s class. She pauses her lecture mid-sentence as everyone turns to stare at me. Did I really just yelp in the middle of class?

Barely concealed snickering spreads from the back of the room as Mrs. Dembo’s dark eyes latch onto me. I keep my head inches from the top of the desk. Teacher stares are the creepiest things ever. The longer they do it, the creepier it feels. This stare is like a marathon.

After thoroughly inspecting me, she throws a death glare at the gigglers in the back of the room and continues her lesson.

It’s not like she can blame me for falling asleep. After all, it’s her fault that I didn’t get any quality shut-eye last night. Her and the other teachers.

When Dembo’s not looking, I spin around to meet August Bergmann’s smirking face. He sits at the desk behind me, a rubber band spinning around his finger. Congratulations, moron. You managed to humiliate me for the umpteenth time.

“No girls around to protect you now,” he whispers.

I glare at him, though it’s not like I’m gonna do anything. I’d just get in trouble. After all, he’s not the one who fell asleep in the middle of class. He’s not the one all the teachers are secretly watching. “Leave me alone.”

He shoots me an I’m-so-much-better-than-you-times-a-million look. “You and me Fisher, tonight outside the rec room.”

“Wait,” I smirk, “you asking me out on a date?”

“You come alone,” he sneers. “We’ll see how tough you are without Rodriguez there to save you.”

I turn and lay my head on the desk. It’s the first time the two of us agree on something. Eva Rodriguez is officially banned from being my friend, if she ever was in the first place.

They’ve got thirty of us crammed in here. Normally we’re in smaller pull-out groups, spread around the Academy, but today we have to look all prestigious for Visitation. That’s why I’m wearing this irritating, too-tight-in-the-shoulders suit and the whole classroom’s decorated with artsy posters and fake writing assignments and schedules. All of us kids are crammed onto the sixth floor while the adult agents get to lounge around in the lower levels. Our visitors won’t see any more of the Academy than Alkine wants. Of course the way I’m feeling right now, I might just jump on my desk and holler like a madman. “We steal Pearls from the government, kids! Come join our top secret organization-so secret that the teachers will lie to you, too!”

That’d show Alkine.