Rem wanted that more than anything in theworld. He had spent his whole life preparing for this day, and heintended to savor it. There would be other days too—the day hevindicated his father by proving that Elena Quito had lied in hertestimony against Aengus Stone. The day he would regain thepresidency for the Stone family. Those would be amazing—
But for now, this was the day thatmattered.
“We’ll begin with the award for superiorpiloting skills,” the dean said, his voice resonating with pride.Then he opened a sealed envelope and gave a knowing grin. “TheMedal Exemplar goes to Jeremiah Stone. Rem? Come on up here.”
A thundering cheer erupted from the cadets,and Rem flushed as he stood and turned to face them, bowingslightly to honor them first before he strode toward the steps thatwould lead him to the stage. He was dimly aware of the sounds fromthe bleachers—some hearty shouts of congratulations, a few boos,but mostly, polite, somewhat bewildered applause, signalingconfusion at the sound of the Stone name being honored after allthis time.
Forget about that, he warned himselfas he made his way onto the platform. They only know whatthey’ve been told—that Dad betrayed them. Someday they’ll know thetruth—that it was Zia’s mother who dishonored this country and thepresidency. For now, it doesn’t matter. This is the first publicstep in rehabilitating the family name, so just handle it withdignity.
He walked up to the dean and shook his hand,accepting his congratulations proudly. Then he turned to Zia,reminding himself that she wasn’t really an enemy, just a nuisance.And a pretty one at that.
Then he looked into her golden eyes and felta stab of anger and humiliation so sharp, he had to struggle not toback away. Sure, her smile was warm, but her gaze was vacant andslightly out of focus—the look of a girl who had partied too hard,too recently.
She’s loaded, he fumed to himself.Today of all days! This is just a big joke to her.
“Congratulations, Lieutenant Stone,” Zia saidin a soft voice. “Your grandfather would be proud of youtoday.”
“Would yours be proud of you?”he demanded under his breath.
She drew back, visibly offended. Then sheshrugged and held up the red-and-blue ribbon from which hung thegold medal. “Ready?”
Rem inclined his head toward her and shelooped the ribbon over it. Then he turned away from her and facedhis classmates, who were applauding wildly again. It reminded himwhat this moment was about—all the work, all the pain, all for thisslice of glory. Why let a spoiled, semi-stoned brat ruin it?
Grinning, he gave the cadets a wave of hishand, then started back toward the steps, but the dean stopped himby announcing into the microphone, “Cadet Stone? I think you’dbetter wait a moment.”
Rem turned, immediately apprehensive. Had thedean heard the insult he’d muttered to Zia? Had someone objected tothe award going to the son of a traitor?
But the dean was smiling as he explained.“It’s unprecedented in the history of the academy for the samecadet to win two Exemplars, but as you can see . . .” He waved anopened envelope. “The medal for outstanding accomplishment as amarksman goes to Jeremiah Stone. Congratulations, Rem. Looks likeyou’ve set a new standard for us today.”
There was a moment of dead silence, then thethrong of cadets jumped to their feet, stomping their feet andcrowing in thunderous appreciation of their friend andcolleague.
Rem took a deep breath, surprised and alittle giddy at the news. He had done well in weapons class, buthadn’t consciously competed, choosing instead to focus completelyon piloting—the area where Quito the Great had excelled.
Again, the dean shook his hand. “We’re proudof you, son.”
“Thanks, sir. I’m honored. Surprised, buthonored.”
Turning to Zia, Rem noted that her smile nowlooked a little strained, as though the prospect of awarding himagain was a bit disorienting. For some reason, that pleased him,and he actually managed to grin at her.
“Congratulations,” she murmured, motioningfor him to lean down again. Then she slipped the ribbon over hishead without further fanfare.
“Thanks, ZeeZee,” he whispered, using thename the vid press had invented for her. He suspected it wouldannoy her, but she barely reacted. Instead, she stared out over thesea of faces in the audience and smiled vacantly at them.
I think you’ve been dismissed, Remtold himself, still cheerful over the unexpected award. Time forsomeone else to have the honor of her fogheadedness.
He was chuckling as he headed again for theedge of the stage, but froze in shock when the dean’s voice stoppedhim again. “Cadet Stone? You’d better stick around for anotherminute or two.”
Rem turned to stare into the dean’s laughingeyes, and the entire audience began to buzz. Then the cadets wereon their feet again, shrieking and clapping, then jumping on theirchairs and throwing their caps onto the stage while waving theirarms and cheering with all their might.
And this time, it wasn’t just the cadets. Thespectators in the bleachers were erupting with a frenzy ofexcitement too, applauding and stomping their feet as they shoutedRem’s name.
He stood there, stunned and disbelieving, asthe chant rose up, powerful, rhythmic, almost hypnotic: Stone,Stone, Stone, Stone . . .
He couldn’t have prepared himself for thismoment. Would never have believed it possible. Not yet, at least.The name Stone, once so revered, but more recently so despised, wasbeing honored again.
And all because of him.
“We’re all proud of Cadet Stone,” the deanannounced into the microphone, motioning for the crowd to settledown. “Let’s give him his medal, shall we?”
The cadets and onlookers laughed andapplauded again, but only for a few moments, then their silenceindicated they were anxious to witness history being made.Again.
“Rem?” The dean stepped up to him and shookhis hand a third time. “For your outstanding navigational skills,you’ve earned yourself a permanent place in history as the onlycadet to ever win all three Medals Exemplar. Congratulations, son.Your country is proud of you, and so am I. I only wish yourgrandfather could have been
