Star Runners (11 page)

Austin grinned. "Thank you, sir."

"Keep up with your studies. School is only going to get harder." He smacked his hand on Austin's knee and turned to walk away. "It's probably time for you to get back to class, is it not?"

Austin stood. "Yes, sir. And sir?" Nubern turned to face him. "Thank you."

*****

Austin finished writing the letter and gave it a look. He signed it and folded it into the envelope. Mom always liked to get a handwritten message. He included a copy of his midterm grades. His only correspondence since Stetson's expulsion had been to Mom and Kadyn. Kadyn's emails had been short and sweet. She missed him, but said she loved exploring Savannah.

A cool wind moved in through his dorm room window screen. Papers fluttered across his desk and he slapped down to keep them from blowing off. The sound echoed in his room. Beyond his window, a female student holding a duffle bag lingered near the Tizona Sword statue at the edge of the Grand Lawn. Austin shook his head.

Another drop out.

In a few minutes, Javin Sharkey pulled up in the golf cart. He hurled her bag onto the cart and the two of them drove into the dense swamp on their way back to the welcome center.

After the initial round of cheaters had been caught, other students disappeared in the middle of the night. Some of his classes dwindled to less than ten students. Six students attended calculus. Two left on their own last week.

He laced his shoes and walked toward Terminus. He zipped his uniform to the neck as the cold air nipped at his skin. The sun had started its ascent and peeked through the trees, splitting rays across the Grand Lawn. The side door of the Terminus Building shut behind him, the sound echoing through the halls. Austin hurried to the mail room and dropped Mom's letter in the slot for outgoing student mail. 

He had fifteen minutes before his first class.

He walked to the main room. Two students at opposite ends of the room hunched over books and held their heads with their hands. Austin settled in at a computer and logged in. As the computer started, he stared at the high, coffered ceiling. Sunlight beamed through the windows as the day began. More students filtered into the hallways as conversations shattered the silence. Soon, Terminus would be alive with activity.

Austin opened his school email address and found Kadyn's last email.

He smiled as he thought of her brown hair flying as she drove away from their high school with the windows down, the music blaring and the wind howling through the car. He missed her smile. He missed her constant support when things got weird at home or school. He missed her soft voice on the other end of the telephone, announcing she would give him a ride to school.

After he sent a brief note to Kadyn, he turned his attention to Josh. His best friend had been silent on the email front since Austin arrived in Tizona. He typed Josh's name and started an opening sentence, but hesitated. The last time they spoke, Josh prepared for some mission trip and the connection ended. So much had happened since that time.

Josh,

Hey buddy, hope you're well. Drop me a line when you get a chance. I hope the trip went well. We have a lot to catch up on.
You take care of yourself.

Austin

He stared at the screen.

Shaking his head, Austin sent the email and glanced at the clock. He still had five minutes until his first class.

He checked his
Star Runners
account. Despite the fact it had been several weeks since he had logged in using Stetson’s laptop, his account still worked and the load screen flickered onto the screen. He smiled at the image of Trident fighters locked in mortal combat with Tyral Pirates in the midst of a thick asteroid belt. He sat up in his seat and closer to the screen in case others walked behind him. He logged into the elite server and waited.

The numbers and statistics popped up on the screen. His call sign, Rock, remained at the top of the leader board. Some of the stats changed below his name, but he still boasted the highest kill/death ratio on the server. The top three remained Austin, Scorpion and Josh. He clicked on Josh's call sign, Razor.

Josh had not logged in since the summer and had not even recorded a match. He used to love this game and now it seemed he had outgrown it. Austin longed for the days of playing online late into the night and into the early morning hours. He remembered when the next online match was the most important thing to him during those long summer nights.

The electronic bell signifying class change interrupted his thoughts. Students rose from their desks in the main study room and hurried down the halls. Austin grabbed his bag and rushed to calculus, weaving through the mass of students piling into the Terminus Building.

When he reached the classroom at the end of the hall, Austin sat near the window facing the dorm. The sun had finished rising above the tree line into the cloudless sky and now bathed the campus in the golden light of fall.

Professor Heath, clad in a corduroy jacket and dark slacks, strolled into the class. He pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose and stood in front of the class with his hands in his back pockets. He shifted his weight. "Good morning, class."

The class responded with its usual moan.

"We have something a bit different today," Heath said. "There will be an announcement from President Pierce in a few minutes that will be broadcast in all of the classrooms."

He turned around and searched the top drawer of his desk. Heath rummaged through staplers, calculators and pens before he produced a small remote control the size of a cell phone. He pointed it at the ceiling. After a moment, a section of the ceiling slid away and a screen dropped down and covered the chalk board. The screen looked space age in the otherwise classic classroom with nothing more modern than Heath's laptop on the dark oak desk.

The students looked at one another. Connor King, a tall student from a midwestern town Austin could never remember, stared from the seat next to him, his eyebrows raised. Austin shrugged and fiddled with his pen.

"Did you know that was there?" David Keller, the giant student everyone called "Bear," whispered from the back of the class.

"Yes, I did," Heath answered.

Austin glanced at Bear whose face burned a deep red.

"You whisper louder than some people talk," the professor said. "Everyone please be quiet." 

The screen flickered to life. An image of the Tizona sword on the dark blue background dissolved into view. The sword transitioned to President Pierce sitting at his desk.

"Good morning to all of you," Pierce said, his voice booming the same way it had when he first addressed the class in the mess hall. "Today is a special day, one that will change your future enrollment here at the Tizona School of Excellence."

As Pierce paused to sort through papers on his desk, Connor and Austin exchanged glances. What could this be? Pierce had only been seen on campus a few times in the past twelve weeks and he had not made a school announcement since the first week of class.

"Please pay attention to the following list of names," Pierce announced.

Pierce read off names, some of them familiar. Austin counted the names. Ansley Thompson. Christine Burrows.

Christine sat at the front of Austin's row. She inhaled and jolted forward in her seat as if something pushed her. She glanced around the room for answers, but found none as the other students shrugged and threw their hands in the air.

The names continued.

Zac Paul. Philip Gripes.

Austin replayed the names in his head and counted on his fingers.
One, two, three, four
.

The names continued on and, for a moment, Austin wondered if Pierce was going to call roll on the entire school.
Eight names. Ten. Twelve
. How many more was he going to call?

Eighteen. Twenty-two
.

Austin held his breath.

Pierce cleared his throat after he read off the twenty-third name. "If your name has been called," he said in a softer tone, "I respectfully request you return to the dormitory and begin packing your personal items. You are being transferred to our sister facility in Savannah to continue your studies for the remainder of the semester. When the semester draws to a close, your scholarship will be terminated and you will be free to transfer your earned credits to another institution. It has been an honor having you at Tizona. On behalf of the faculty and staff, I would like to wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors. If you have any further questions, Chief Sharkey will be awaiting you at the dorms for transport back to the main gate."

Pierce blinked and continued in his standard, booming voice. "The rest of you may wait in your classrooms until the others have left at which time you will continue your studies. That is all."

Austin closed his eyes and drew a deep breath. He had made the cut. His scholarship would continue.

Christine slammed her calculus book shut. "Did you know that was about to happen?" she asked, staring at Professor Heath.

"They do this every semester."

"What a joke!" Christine hurled her belongings into her bag and stormed out of the room.

Austin glanced at Connor who offered a crooked smile.

Twenty-three names were called out of the remaining students. Austin wasn't sure of the exact number, but there couldn't be much more than twenty left at the school. He knew it would be competitive, but he wondered if his experience at Tizona would change.

Two other students, Zac Paul and Ansley Thompson, stood and dragged their feet as they moved out of the classroom. Heath nodded at the students as they left the room. Ansley turned and looked at Austin before she disappeared into the hall, her face drooping as she brushed a stray hair away from her eyes. She glared at him. His eyes darted to the floor.

Outside the window, three golf carts pulled in front of the dorm. Sharkey and four security guards hopped out of the carts. As Heath continued class to the remaining six students, the summoned students loaded into the golf carts. Sharkey, typing into his tablet, strolled between them like a drill sergeant inspecting his troops.

By the time class ended, the loaded golf carts took the twenty-three students away from the dormitory. On the last cart in line, Christine Burrows sat with her shoulders slumped.

Austin sighed.
That could have been me. I could have been on my way back.

*****

Skylar raised her fingers in the air and dropped them on each student as she counted. She mouthed the numbers, her rose red lips moving in silence. She raised off her seat and pushed her blonde hair away from her forehead.

"Twenty-two," she whispered, sitting back down at the table.

Austin looked over his shoulder. "What are you being quiet for? It's not like there's anyone to hear you."

They laughed and continued their lunch. Even though he had been making jokes all morning about the mass expulsion of students, his stomach rolled like a washing machine. His mind raced through the possibilities. Half the class had been expelled, transferred or had dropped out at the twelve week mark.

"We might have been on to something when we talked about sophomores," Skylar said as she tore off a piece of bread.

Austin blinked. "What? You mean the fact there are no students from other classes?"

"Right. Maybe they all couldn't cut it and got kicked out."

"That couldn't be true could it?"

Skylar shrugged. "I really have no idea. What would your parents say about all this?"

Austin flinched. "Well, my Mom is just glad I made it to college."

She eyed him. "Your Dad's not around? You've never told me that."

"Yeah. He passed away a few years ago. It's just me and Mom."

"Oh," she said. "I'm sorry."

"Me, too," he said, tearing apart a napkin.

Near the end of lunch, Jonathan Nubern and Javin Sharkey marched in the back of the mess hall and stepped behind Austin. The remaining students ceased eating and stared at the two faculty members.

"Attention!" Nubern yelled when he spun around. "I'm only going to say this once: when I say attention, you will stand at attention!"

Austin stared at Skylar, who stood promptly. Austin followed her lead as others around the room did the same.

"Good," Nubern said with a nod. "Fast learners. That's part of the reason you are here today. Chief Sharkey and I are here to let you in on what could be the last five weeks of your enrollment at Tizona if you don't listen up."

Austin swallowed.

"From this day forward, PT is going to change. You will now be monitored and coached through your exercises. All of you will be issued new uniforms to be worn on campus during class times and an exercise uniform as well. A new policy on hair regulations will be enforced starting tomorrow. Men will have their hair cut neat and women will be required to wear hair in a bun. Sharkey here will be enforcing the details. Questions? Ask him later."

Nubern paced the front of the room.    

"Your PT will increase in intensity for the next three weeks," he continued. "Some of you won't hack it, and will be transferred off campus to finish the semester. Nothing more will be said of any who do not make it. You should be honored to have made it this far. Your afternoon PT will include a new class of survival training. In the event you are ever lost in the woods or stranded because of a vehicle failure, this additional training could save your life."