Nick James - Skyship Academy

“Jesse!” Eva shouts behind me, tugging my arm. “Get in the tunnel!”

I ignore her, transfixed by the bright jewel in the sky. Skandar jumps through the trapdoor. Eva positions herself halfway down, pulling at my ankle. “Jesse, the oxygen will disperse if it hits!”

Her words are muted by a ringing in my ears-not from the alarms, but from the Pearl itself. It’s like I can hear it piercing the atmosphere as it draws closer. My heartbeat increases, thumping faster and faster the nearer it falls.

I stretch out my arm, pointing two fingers and shutting one eye until I’ve framed the Pearl between my fingernails. My hand buzzes with static. The hair on my arm stands on end.

I blink.

The Pearl rockets to the side, shoved off course by some invisible force. I watch as it shoots to the left and disappears beyond the row of trees bordering Lookout Park.

Seconds later, the alarms shut off. I drop my arm to my side.

Eva crawls out onto the grass, scanning the skies and muttering something in Spanish. “What were you doing?” She swallows, whispering to herself. “Pearls don’t change course.” I rub my fingers. The electricity leaves my arm.

She’s right. Pearls aren’t like antigravity balls. I’ve never once seen one move even the slightest inch from its predetermined path.

Eva shakes her head, blinking twice before breaking from her stunned trance. “I don’t… I… ” She pauses. “I’m going to the library.” She lays a hand on my shoulder before heading to the nearest staircase. Skandar’s already retreated to the emergency bunker below the grass, along with everyone else. An uncomfortable silence falls over the park as I stand in the middle of the field, alone.

I sit down, cross-legged, and pick at the grass. Every once in a while I glance up at the sky, wondering if I imagined the whole thing. After a few minutes, people start filtering back up to the park-August and his friends, a group of adults jogging along the outer perimeter. I trace the lines on my palm, feeling for anything out of the ordinary. It’s a coincidence, that’s all. I just happened to blink when the Pearl shifted course. Yeah.

Could happen to anybody.

Clutching Avery’s well-worn note, I punch in the six-digit code to unlock the transparent door to the library. It’s secured after six o’clock, but now that I’m an official trainee I can get in whenever I need to for studying. Not that there’s going to be any studying going on tonight. I hope.

I think back to what Skandar said at Lookout. She’s gotta have a reason for wanting me up here so badly. Considering all of the different possibilities kept me going through Dr. Hemming’s two-hour History of Pearls lecture in astronomy this afternoon.

Half of the lights inside the circular room are turned off. A few adult agents huddle around a table by the computers playing chess. They glance up as I enter, probably wondering why a kid would want to spend his evening in the library.

I walk past a display of black-and-white Surface photographs. Heavy wooden tables sit neatly arranged on the main floor in front of me. Circular staircases hug the walls, leading up to the second and third levels, the highest of which juts up into Lookout Park like a secret underground house. They poured a lot of money into this place. Too bad I get mass distracted whenever I come in here to work. Maybe if they forced me to study in a white room with no windows or furniture or anything I’d actually get something done and ace a test for once.

I peer down the rows of bookshelves, looking for Avery. Other than the group of agents, the place is deserted.

Someone grabs my shoulder and spins me around.

“There you are, stranger.” Avery grins.

I stare at her in silence for a moment before holding up the piece of paper. “I got your note.”

“Crumpled.” She smiles. “Is that what you think of me, Fisher?”

“No, no.” I lay it against my knee and attempt to straighten it out. Instead, I end up ripping off the corner. “Oops.”

“Cute.”

I wince, stuffing the pieces back into my pocket. “Where did you come out from? I didn’t even see you.”

She shrugs. “I was hiding behind a shelf. Thought I’d sneak up on you.”

I try to keep a straight face but it’s hard. She’s too weird. “Okay, then.”

She grabs my hand, sending sparks through my skin up to my chest where they explode like fireworks. “Come on. Let’s get going.”

“Where are you taking me?”

“Oh, just wait. Tonight’s the best yet. I’ve got something to show you.”

I sigh. During the past year, Avery and I have covered every inch of the Academy together. She loves sticking her head where it shouldn’t be. And she asks more questions than any person I’ve ever known. No wonder they didn’t make her a bonafide agent.

She pulls me through the library over to the glass doors. Her death grip doesn’t ease up until we’re out in the hallway. Not that I’m complaining.

“Did you hear about the Pearl that almost smashed into us this afternoon?” she whispers as we walk out toward the canteen.

“I was there.”

“You were at Lookout?”

“Yeah, it happened right after August Bergmann almost pounded my face into the ground.”

“What a creep. We should’ve done the chili thing last night.” She shakes her head. “Don’t worry about him. Remember, being the big, flaunt agent is overrated.”

I shrug. “After today, I’d rate it a million percent.”

She rolls her eyes. “I don’t think you can go over a hundred.” She leads me through the canteen, grabbing an apple from a basket on the counter as we go. “They said it was a false alarm. The Pearl, I mean.”

“I think they’re lying.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” she mutters. “You saw it, then?”

“It was headed straight for us, definitely. Then all of a sudden it changed course, curved to the side.”

She spins around, pulling me closer and blocking the exit. “Changed course? You been falling asleep during Dr. Hemming’s lectures again, Fisher?”

I shrug. “Yes, actually. But it happened, I swear. I was standing right in front of it.”

She flashes me an inquisitive look. “Do you have a death wish or something?”

“No.” I sigh. “It’s not that. It was just… interesting.”

She turns around, leading me out into the curved hallway along the perimeter of the ship toward the staircase. “Sure. Interesting until it smashes into you.”

The last remnants of daylight stream up through the windows, creating a soft glow around Avery’s face. I can’t help but stare. Luckily she doesn’t notice, too busy chomping on the apple.

“So tell me where we’re going,” I say. “I can’t get in trouble again.”

She swings her arm around my shoulder. “You won’t get in trouble. Promise.” She bites into the apple. “I’ve made an amazing discovery and tonight’s the night to test it out.”

“Why tonight?”

She pulls her head closer to whisper. “Alkine’s having one of his closed-door staff meetings.”

“So? They always do that before Visitation.”

“We’re gonna bash those doors down.”

I look around to see if anyone’s listening. “That sounds dangerous.”

“Nah,” she says. “Not with my discovery.”

“Let me guess. You invented an invisibility potion.”

“Nope.” She bounds down the stairs and pushes me into a hallway leading back toward the center of the ship. We make our way past dozens of closed doors and two befuddled-looking agents before stopping outside Room 514.

“Isn’t this just a maintenance room?” I try the doorknob. “And it’s locked, anyways.”