I leaned back in my chair and waited for the bell to ring. Class was getting out earlier today since an Admiral was coming over to visit. I looked over at Janea. She was slouched over her PA it looked like she was writing something. I looked back over the teacher making sure she was not looking and leaned over towards her.
"What are you writing?" Janae looked up and quickly looked over at the teacher and shoved her PA onto my desk. I took it and read the title. Two mysteries. I looked back over at her.
"What's with the title?"
"Keep reading" I looked back at the PA and kept reading.
One of the mysteries I feel I will figure out faster than the other one, when I went to sit down. I heard Ollie say "We will see" about my species getting mad easily. I have a feeling that he is up to something but I don't really know what at the moment. Mysteries two is what happened to the Explore. What can make a whole ship disappear? And what can be so important about a storm in an unknown location that would risk the life of so many people? Included below is the mail I received today from ESD about the mission of the Explore.
"We have gotten some more information that has been approved to send to you at this time. Your parents were sent to scan and scout out a new strom where the storm was and why they were sent is classified at this time sincerely ESD" I have a feeling that there is more to this story that ESD is not letting out, and that if I try to take a look it would be like digging a hole in the ground with a plastic spoon.
I looked back at Janae. I could guess what Ollie could be up to most of the time. We sometimes think that bullies are not so smart kids. But Ollie was cunning and he would figure out a way to get Janae set up or sent to the principal's office. Janae was looking at me but she quickly turned and looked down at her own desk. I looked up to see Ms. Deobgle walking down the aisle towards us. I quickly turned the PA screen to something else. Ms. Deobgle turned and started walking back. I looked down to see I had opened a drawing app. In it I saw an almost complete, realistic drawing of the ship Explore docked at the Deep Space 1231 Refuel Space Port. The bell let out a loud ring letting everyone know that school was over. I slung my bag over my shoulder. I stood up, careful not to get run over by kids wanting to get to the gym fast to get a good seat. I walked out of Study Hall and merged into the traffic of kids. Janae walked up beside me.
"Can I have my PA back?" I handed it back to her.
"What's with the whole mystery questions?" Janae looked at me and moved closer to get out of the way of a group of boy's running against the flow of kids.
"I have a feeling an uneasy feeling you could say that something is wrong but I don't know what"
"Ok one thing is Ollie may be up to something so we can keep a lookout but the other one trying to find out what happened to the Explore should be kept to actual ESD people were just kids"
"Leo my parents where on that ship Andi's brother your cousin was on that ship I not going to be satisfied with just "they were out exploring a storm" something is up their not telling us something and I want to know what it is"
"Maybe they don't know what happened? Maybe they have as much information as you do?"
"Maybe…" Janae trailed off and stopped walking. I stopped and backed up to where I was standing in front of her. A couple of kids pushed past us, casting us a look. I grabbed Janae's hand and pulled her off to the side away from the flow of kids.
What?" Janae looked up at me.
"What if they don't know?"
"What if who don't know what?"
"ESD what if they don't have all the information about the Explore…" Janae started walking again. I followed.
"You mean like someone is keeping the information to themselves?"
"Exactly"
"That's crazy keeping information like that can be considered treason"
"Right…but what if someone is keeping ESD in the dark trying to give them very little information about what happened?"
"So they can hide what they did or what they are doing?"
"Yes which is why I feel there is more to the story then what we or maybe ESD knows"
"I'm not quite following you on that one" Janae opened her mouth to say something but closed it again. She waved at someone across the way I turned to see Andi walking this way. Janae turned and whispered.
"Well talk later" She walked away and linked arms with Andi. Andi gave me a look then began to talk in a low voice to Janae. I shook my head. What Janae was saying could not be correct. Right? I mean who in their right mind would hide anything from ESD I mean doing so would result in being fired from a really good carrier and also result in having your resume marked forever.
"Hey slow poke! I want to get some seats up front, come on!" Andi reached over and linked arms with me. I slid my arm out from Andi's but kept pace as she nearly broke into a run pulling Janae along. When I got closer to the gym I finally reached out and grabbed Janaes hand so as to not get pushed apart by the crowd of people. She looked back and smiled at me, her hand tightening around mine. I nearly lost my footing as Ollie and Varmen shot out of nowhere and ran into the gym. Andi mumbled under her breath something about bull's and a china shop. I walked into the gym still keeping the pace Andi set up only to slow down to a crawl as I saw just how many people were already there. The first two rows were filled but the third row had some seats left if we were lucky to get them. A sea of kids and teachers flowed in around us as we made our way to the third row.
"Well drat looks like we can't get the first row" Janae moved across and found three seats not taken yet in the middle.
"Well the third row will do beside sitting in the first row means you have to crank your head up high" Andi sighed and pulled her face into a pout. I moved passed her and moved next to Janae. Andi walked in and sat down still pouting. I turned to her.
"Come on lighten up we can't always sit in the front row all the time"
"I know I just like the front row"
"Well think of it this way sitting here saves us from neck cramps later toda-" I was cut off by a loud thunk and a gasp. Andi and I turned to see Janae sitting on the floor. I looked up to see Ollie holding Janae's chair.
"Op's was this your chair? I had no idea" Ollie put on the best innocent face he had. Janae stood up and brushed her pants off.
"You know full well that I was taking that seat" Janae glared at him then turned and started walking to a section of chairs. "If you wanted that one you could have just asked for it I would have gotten another one" Ollie glared at Janae and whispered.
"I will get to you" Ollie picked the chair up and started walking away as Janae took another chair she walked across the aisle then stopped to let Ollie walk by. As he did she jerked the chair and Ollie and the chair went flying forward the chair made a rattling sound as it hit the floor Ollie soon followed with a loud noise. Janae bent down.
"Oh I am so sorry I did not know this chair had a string attached to it" Janae put the chair back and picked up the one Ollie took.
"I guess I have to keep this one" Janae leaned it against another chair and bent down again.
"Your gonna have to ice that knee and elbow that fall looked like it hurt" Janae leaned father in and lowered her voice she whispered something that I could not hear but by the look of it Ollie heard it pretty clear. Janae stood up and smiled at him.
"I would help you up but I have to get this chair back to where it belongs" She turned and walked back to us. Andi was smiling really big.
"Wow, that was amazing!" Andi threw her arms around Janae and hugged her. I looked back at the chair that had the string attached to it.
"How did you know that the chair had a string attached to it?" Janae struggled out of Andi's hug.
"Easy the chair's are soft cushioned for in the first to the third row Ollie of course wanted it but what he did not know that the row's in the middle are reserved for the teacher's so they are tied together so that no one will move them"
"Well, are these reserved for the teachers?" Andi looked around. Janae shook her head no.
"No, they are reserved for ones who get here on time and want to sit as close as possible without getting a neck cramp." Janae sat down and I joined her. I leaned over and whispered in her ear.
"Ollie won't let you get away with making him look like a fool he will find a way to get back at you" Janae looked at me, her purple eyes shining with mischief and understanding. I gave her a confused look. Janae smiled at me.
"I'm counting on it" with that she looked forward and watched as the Admiral walked in from the back exit to start the meeting. I watched as he sat down and the principal talked to him then walked up to the mic.
"Good evening, thank you all for coming. Today is a special day. Let's give a very warm welcome to Admiral Hova!" Cheers erupted from the crowd as Admiral Hova stood up and joined the Principal.
"Thank you " The Principal nodded and took a seat "I must say there are more people here today then I thought there would be" a few people laughed.
"Who here is a 9th grader?" I raised my hand along with a few other people.
"You guys are getting a chance of a lifetime to enter ESD Academy at a very young age you could be done with the Academy when you would have been done with highschool" more cheers erupted "Most of you have family in ESD so you might have a jest of what to expect but ESD Academy has changed many of its rules" the Admiral looked around the room. "Many of you might already know what you want to do. Underneath each of your seats should be a PA. Pull it out and you will find a test loaded on it" moans filled the gym. The Admiral laughed a little bit. "Don't worry this one is not graded, it's a test to see what you like and it will give you suggestions on what department you might enjoy" I bent down and found the PA I took it off the straps and clicked it open. It was already on the test. I rolled my eyes and flipped through the questions. The first question was wanting to know why you wanted to join ESD. I closed the PA and stuck it back under the chair. I already knew what I wanted to do. I always wanted to be an engineer. I looked over at Janae and Andi. They were both busy working on the test. After a while the Admiral spoke again.
"If you have not finished the test it is fine it's just to see what your interest are now usually every one wants me to give you the long history of ESD but I won't do that today" Admiral Hova looked around the gym "But I will say this ESD believes in exploring the unknown searching for what's else is out there because of that ESD Academy is not to just on earth anymore it's on many planets. On your PA their should be an mail sent out to you you will have the rest of the day to fill it out apply to what Academy you wish to join use the code HovaESD it will allow you to get into a select few Academies which are Vira, Memphia, Ceiries, Blorg, and Xivers." Janae looked up from her PA she looked over at Andi and whispered in her ear. Andi giggled and whispered back. Andi leaned over to me and pointed to Mephia on her PA.
"Mephia is where we want to go. It's got new technology and better programs Janae got an inside view at all the academies" I nodded. Mephia was also Janae's home planet. I knew ESD had plans to build a new academy there I guess they finally did.
"Mephia is also Janae's home world right?" Andi nodded and clapped her hands together.
"I always wanted to see Mephia! to live on another world other than the one that looks exactly like the planet you were born on" I laughed to myself and shook my head. Andi's family never really went on vacation to any planets; they mainly stayed where they were and as a result she never got to see other planets besides in the Holodeck.
"Well you're gonna love Mephia! It's so pretty there" Janae linked arms with Andi "And if we do get into the Academy I want to show you guys my favorite spot there" Andi's smile grew even wider.
"Great!" a teacher leaned over and taped us on the shoulder. I looked over and she held her hand up to her mouth and said.
"Shhh!" Andi clapped her hands over her mouth and sat back staring up at the adermial. I almost laughed at what she did but got a hold of myself. I looked over at Janae. She winked at me then looked forward again. I looked up at the Admiral who kept going on and on about ESD and how great it was, and I knew I was gonna be in for a long boring hour.
I looked down at my PA as the Admiral walked off the platform and out the exit. The test I took sayed that I would be good for security. It sounded interesting. I flipped through the different things it said a security person does:
A security officer helps protect the ship
They are the first line of defense if the ship is ever boarded
Some officers may go with the away team on unexplored planets to help in case of emergency
All officer's have top level clearance and must know how to solve cases
I sighed and leaned back in my chair. I had signed up for the academy on my planet along with my friends. I stood up and Andi tapped me on the shoulder.
"Yeah?"
"Where gonna meet after school to see if we got into the school. Can we go to your house? Mine gonna smell like paint leos gonna be noisy"
"Uh yeah I'm at 4245 fifth street winders grove"
"Thanks" Andi walked away heading to her next class Leo waved goodbye and headed to his. I turned the PA off and placed it back under the chair. When I stood up Ollie was standing there. He was looking down at his PA with a puzzled look on his face. He looked up at me and opened his mouth like he was gonna say something but then closed it.
"What?"
"Uhh…I know you probably won't tell me…or lead me in the right way ... .because of what I did…but…I don't know what academy to join…I thought about asking you" I looked at him. He was probably right. I could lead him to the worst academy and let him pay. But I also knew my parents would hate what I did, and I was not like Ollie. He, like many others, wanted to get into one of the academies and I was not gonna stop him even if I regretted what I was about to say.
"Miphia is the best one its brand new and has all the latest stuff"
"Oh really? Thanks!" Ollie turned and walked away. I stopped myself from rolling my eyes as I walked out of the gym. Had I really just done that? Had I really sent Ollie, the school bully to the same academy as me? Leo and Andi will probably have a fit about it. But what was I supposed to do? Tell him nothing, tell him the wrong one on the list on purpose? But if I did that I would become a bully myself. My dad always told me that if you want to get rid of a bully you can't be a bully back but be a friend. I never understood what he meant until now. I never went to school and I never met bullies until my parents disappeared. I made my way to my last period and sat in the back row hoping Leo would not tell me to take the front. I had enough front rows for a lifetime. Thankfully Leo never said anything.