His words sit in the air, detached. I can’t tell if they were supposed to be a statement or a question, so I keep my mouth shut.
He sighs. “For god’s sake, straighten up in your chair. You look like you’re about to drip onto the floor.”
Amazing. He’s managed to put into words exactly how I feel inside.
“So you lost the Pearl.” He clasps his hands in front of him. “Big deal. It’s happened before, it’ll happen again. It’s only training.”
My shoulders relax. Maybe I’ll get away with this after all.
He clears his throat. “Do you want to be an agent, Jesse?”
Crap. I give my best fake nod, wondering if he can see through it.
“Then you’ve got to focus. And work hard.” He pauses. “What’s on your face?”
I touch my cheek, still tender and warm from the brick wall. “It’s
… uh… a burn.”
“Clumsy,” he replies, shaking his head. “I regret that I haven’t been able to play a more active role in your life, Fisher.” He scoots closer to the desk. A shiver runs down my neck at the thought of Captain Alkine wanting any part of my life, or even thinking about me at all with the hoards of trainees running around up here.
He sighs. “Your parents would have wished for you to realize your full potential, you know. I’m concerned that without a steady guide things are becoming… stagnant.”
I look down at the table at the mention of my parents. I can count on one hand the kids at the Academy without family. No need for Alkine to remind me.
“I never thought I’d be taking care of children up here,” he continues, “but let’s face it, children are our greatest hope.”
I nod, unwilling to make eye contact.
“The Tribunal’s been on my back about getting all of our medical reports in order. There are some additional tests I’ve arranged for you at the beginning of next week, things you’ve missed.”
I groan inwardly. It’s been the same since I was a kid. The Academy loves its checkups. Something about the Tribunal wanting to make sure trainees are in tip-top shape, they say. All I know is that I hate needles, especially when they’re poking into me.
He pauses, waiting for me to say something. I keep my eyes on the table.
“Aside from losing the Pearl, how did it go today? Did it feel different being on the Surface?”
My mind flashes back to the rooftop. Falling off. Living.
“Hotter,” I reply.
He smiles. “Yes, yes of course. That certainly can’t be helped with the Unified Party in charge.” He laughs, though it’s more like a grunt. “ Unified. What a joke. Unified in vengeance, maybe. It’s ironic, you know? In fighting their so-called terrorists they’ve only become more like them. Secretive, scared-a silent dictatorship. They’re like a bug turned over on its back, wiggling its little legs, lashing out at everything else in hopes of flipping back around.” He chuckles. “If the Tribunal gave me the go-ahead I’d be down there right now, with a big boot to squash them before they turn themselves over. Sometimes I feel ridiculous up here, running this school. I’m not a teacher. I’m a soldier.”
I want to point out to him that an illegal training base isn’t technically a “school,” but I keep it to myself.
“Did I ever tell you I served in Operation Blackout?”
“Several times, sir.” In fact, during school lectures he never shuts up about it. The defining moment that turned the tides of the Chinese-American War, he says.
Alkine nods, crossing his arms. “Best days of my life. I guess some of us are just born for battle.”
I glance at the door. Some of us were born to get out of this room.
“We came so close to a nuclear war,” he continues. “Thirteen years later… we thought it was all over and bam!” He pounds his fist on the desk. I jump in my seat. “Guess that’s what you get for turning a blind eye. Never look away, Fisher. Never.”
Taking the cue, I meet his eyes for a moment and keep my attention glued to his face. Well, more like his shoulder. The face is too threatening.
He laughs. “I remember this one night on the Chinese border, decades before we nuked them. There was this kid, couple of years younger than me at the time. Come to think of it, you remind me of him. Not a soldier in the strictest sense, but the potential was there.
“Anyway,” he continues, “the two of us were on a rendezvous assignment… guy from inside the country was meeting us with schematics, stuff we’d need to get in and out of their facility alive. It was a simple mission, just waiting around to grab a bundle of papers. But as you discovered today, simple missions are never as easy as they sound. Turns out someone tipped off the border patrol. We were outnumbered. But worst of all, we were unprepared.”
My eyes stray back to the table. “What happened to your friend?”
He frowns. “Died. Round of bullets right through his chest. Wasn’t quick enough.”
I fidget in my seat. And this guy reminds Alkine of me? “Sir, do you… uh… want something?”
He blinks twice. “Am I boring you, Fisher?”
“No, sir,” I mutter.
“Well, you’re getting to that age where decisions must be made. I don’t want you to end up with a round of bullets through your chest. Your peers and teachers are all well and good, but I want you to feel free to come to me if anything’s wrong.”
“What would be wrong?”
“Nothing, nothing,” he says. “I just… well, I know how it can be, growing up with the pressure you kids experience. It’s a rotten card you’ve been dealt some days, being born into the program. I also know that Mr. Wilson isn’t particularly impressed by the limited progress you’re making. Frankly, neither am I. It’s important that you have a strong male influence in your life. I’m trying… that is, I would like to be that person.”
I look up. A lopsided, uncomfortable smile sits on his face. It’s worse than his frown.
This is majorly screwed up. Alkine doesn’t interact with students. He leaves that for the teachers. He said it himself. He’s a soldier. “Does that mean that we’d have to, like, spend time together?”
He sighs. “Jesse, what I’m trying to say is: if you have a problem, you come to me. Should I make that an order?”
“No, sir.”
“Okay.” He slaps the top of the desk. “Then go join your friends. Get something to eat.”
Without waiting for him to change his mind, I jump out of my seat and head for the door. He doesn’t call after me, thank god. Forcing me to listen to old war stories is punishment enough.
I head out into the hallway, traveling double speed. Trying-to-be-nice Captain Alkine is ten times scarier than normal Captain Alkine and the fact that I’m on his radar at all is yet another thing to add to my list of reasons why I’m getting out of here as soon as I turn eighteen.
5
Cassius’s eyes parted to see Madame’s flawless face staring down at him.
She perched over his bed, her lips forming a grim frown that took a few seconds to fade into something less disconcerting.
“Cassius.” She smiled. “You’re awake. Thank goodness.”
He blinked several times to make sure it wasn’t a dream. His skin felt tingly and raw, like he’d been submerged in a bath of ice for the past week.
He sat up in the bed and analyzed the spare white room. A counter ran along the wall beside him. A chair stood vacant in the opposite corner with a freshly pressed uniform hanging over the armrest.
An infirmary recovery room.
“We were very worried,” Madame continued. “A couple hours longer and you may have required serious medical attention. It’s lucky you’re such a strong boy.”
