A.M. Scott's Blog, page 8

Quinn of Cygnus–Chapter Eight

This is an unedited draft. While the main story won’t change, you may find some awkward phrasing, typos, and some fine details will be missing. I’ll also be adding additional background for people who haven’t read the Folding Space Series.  I’ll publish a new chapter every week. Enjoy!

See Chapter One here.

Chapter Eight

Quinn woke to a chiming sound. Without an e-torc, she had no idea what time it was or when she was expected to be ready. After a remote delivered her dinner last night, she’d inspected her entire room, but found no way to control the large viewing screen or anything else in the room. After discovering the door was locked, she’d spent a very boring evening fruitlessly searching for control panels and singing kid’s songs to herself. With nothing to do, she’d finally given up and gone to bed. Despite the extremely comfortable bed, she hadn’t slept well.

For one, the topical painkillers applied to her tattoo and tracker insertion point wore off, so her only comfortable sleeping position was on her right side. And that wasn’t particularly comfortable either. Quinn pleaded for pain relief pills in the sani-mod but got nothing. Either no one was watching, no one cared, or she was missing something.

The most obvious thing she was missing was an e-torc. Quinn desperately hoped she’d get one today, as Medico Natali claimed.

The chime kept ringing, so Quinn said, “Acknowledged.” That didn’t help. “Understood.” Nope. “I’m getting up already!” She sighed and rolled out of bed, gasping at the pain and grabbing her lower belly, making the pain worse. She wiped away the tears. “Ow.”

The stupid chime just kept going. Was it the door? Quinn took the few steps over and opened it. A woman stood there. She had the too-familiar Familia look—dark brown hair and eyes, olive-toned skin, and a slightly beaky nose. Medium height and girth—much bigger than Quinn but who wasn’t?—she was dressed in a dark gray shipsuit similar to the ones in Quinn’s sani-mod and seemed to be young, but not a child. She wore subtle makeup.

“Why aren’t you dressed? It’s time for your orientation, Trainee Quinn,” the woman snapped.

“Because I have no idea what time it is or what I’m supposed to be doing!” Quinn whined. “Nobody’s told me anything!”

“It’s on your schedule.”

“What schedule? I don’t have a schedule!”

The woman’s gaze finally narrowed in on Quinn’s neck. “Oh.” She sighed. “An e-torc was supposed to be delivered last night with your dinner.”

“Well, it wasn’t.” Quinn stomped her foot like a little kid.

“I see that. Go shower and dress. Wear one of the shipsuits and black shoes like these,” she pointed at her feet. “I’ll send a remote with breakfast and I’ll return when I find your assigned e-torc.”

“Thank you,” Quinn said, truly grateful. The woman turned to go. “Hey, what’s your name?”

“I’m Net Technician Paola. You can call me Tech Paola.”

“Thank you, Tech Paola.”

Paola nodded and closed the door between them. Quinn didn’t bother to check; she was sure it was locked. Instead, she did as she was told: showering and dressing. But rather than the black shoes, she wore black boots. She wasn’t armed and had little hope of protecting herself against anyone larger than she was—which was almost everyone—but the boots gave her a small edge.

She finger-combed her hair to the best of her ability and brushed her teeth. At least the shower and toothbrushes weren’t net-enabled. Although, she suspected the shower controls could be adjusted with an e-torc. She hoped so, because being blasted by every nozzle in the shower at full strength was a bit much, especially on her stomach and the insertion site on her back.

Quinn slumped in the chair, trying to wait patiently. It was the only thing she could do—moving hurt too much.

The door chime sounded and Quinn forced herself off the chair. Tech Paola was there, holding out an e-torc.

“Thank you!” Quinn said, placing it around her neck. She immediately spun through the menus, looking for her room controls.

“Come now, Trainee Quinn. We’re late.”

“Wait!”

Paola turned back. “What?”

“I need some pain meds.”

“I can take you to the medico.”

“They said they’d prescribe me some.”

“Ah, then into the sani-mod you go.” Paola shooed her that way. “When you enter, your e-torc will automatically bring the controls up. Look for the medico menu and select ‘my medications.’ It will dispense inside the cabinet above the sink.”

Quinn hurried into the sani-mod, watching her e-torc. Sure enough, the controls appeared and she selected the ones specified. When she opened the cabinet above the sink, a slot opened, and a pill waited. She pulled it out and took it. Her e-torc sent her an alert and she selected it. Another medication? She looked at the slot. A small tube this time. The instructions said, “Apply topically every eight hours.” Quinn shimmied out of the top of her shipsuit, letting it drop, and pulled the cap off the tube. It was a spray, so she sprayed the tattoo and the insertion point for the tracker. Ah, relief.

A gasp sounded loud in the sani-mod. Quinn looked up to see Paola’s eyes wide, staring at the ugly tattoo, her hand covering her mouth. Quinn pulled her shipsuit up and fastened it. When she looked at Paola again, the technician’s expression was neutral.

Quinn scowled. “I didn’t ask for this and nobody asked me. They just did it.”

“I see. Well, Trainee Quinn, let’s go. We’re behind schedule.” Paola turned and marched away, Quinn scrambling to keep up with her. Paola stopped just outside the door. “Your e-torc should bring up your compartment menus when you near the hatch. But if it doesn’t, you’re looking for ‘My Compartment Controls.’ Is that clear?”

“Yes, Tech Paola.” This was a ship, so it made sense they’d call the rooms compartments.

“Please review all emergency procedures by tomorrow morning. If there’s an emergency, stay in your compartment or workspace. If you’re in the dining hall, fitness facility, or a lounge, follow the instructions on your e-torc. All personnel compartments are vacuum-rated. If a compartment is holed, that means the shields have been breached and it’s unlikely any of us will survive.” Paola flipped a hand. “That’s extremely unlikely. The Chief Justice’s ship has never been attacked. Nobody wants to offend the Justice. That’s a quick trip to a big black hole.”

They came to the lift tube Quinn used yesterday. There were a lot more people around this time. Most wore plain shipsuits in subdued colors, but some wore bright patterns or jewel tones. Quite a few wore mostly black, but the shipsuits also had barely noticeable vertical white stripes, and the top gaped open. Bright white shirts showed beneath, with an odd, thin strip of material hanging from their necks down the center of the shirt in many different colors and patterns. Everyone stepped aside for the black-suited people, so Quinn assumed they were Enforcers.

“Come, we are rising to level seven. You’re on four. Most of us are housed on level six, but you’re a special case, I guess.” Paola stepped into the lift tube and Quinn followed, hoping she timed it so she didn’t run into anyone. She wasn’t used to these things.

She followed Paola off the lift tube and into another corridor. This one looked much like the rest, with wood-like plas flooring and neutral walls, art hanging on the walls. The paintings in this passageway were modern, much of it abstract, but it still looked genuine, not like mass-produced prints. Although, Quinn didn’t know enough about art to know if that was true.

They passed doors—no, wait, they were on a ship, so they’d be hatches—all unlabeled. “There’s a map on your e-torc. We don’t put visible markers on hatches, just in case attackers board us.” Paola shrugged. “But of course, no one would dare.” Finally, they stopped at a hatch just before another lift tube, the corridor continuing beyond it. This ship was huge!

The door—hatch—slid open and they walked in. The room—no, compartment—contained four workstations; all but one occupied. Each workstation had a very comfortable-looking chair, three, four, or more screens in front of each chair, a side table with bev-tainer holders, and a set of cabinets below the seat. Each workstation had an oval canopy above it, the screens mounted on a pole coming out of the canopy; it was rather like a chair sat inside a giant egg with a hole in one side.

Paola turned to her. “This is the net trainee’s room. The empty workstation is yours. On the left is a sani-mod; on the right, a small galley with drinks and snacks. You’ll see you have two bev-tainers and a keep-warm mug in your storage area. You are responsible for cleaning those. While there is a cleaning staff, everyone is responsible for keeping this compartment tidy. If you leave a mess, expect to be assigned to cleaning the dining room for a week or more.”

At Quinn’s skeptical look, Paola snorted. “This room is under surveillance and your fellow trainees aren’t good enough to subvert the vid. Whoever makes the mess will clean. We expect you to focus on your assigned training. You are all assigned to different subjects. If you have questions, ask your mentor—that’s me—not your fellow trainees. We do encourage you to have meals together and other recreational activities. Hazing is not acceptable. We all have one goal on this ship—help the Chief Justice to perform her mission. Anyone attacking others, physically, mentally or otherwise, is not contributing to the mission and will find themselves assigned to other, less pleasant duties, off this ship. Don’t do that. Report any attempts to me immediately.”

Paola turned to Quinn and stepped close. “And I do mean immediately. My comm is always open to you, Quinn.” She stepped back again. “Trainees, this is Quinn Cygnus, a new trainee. Introduce yourselves on your next break.” She lowered her voice. “Take a seat. Your training will start with properly configuring your workspace, then you’ll be tested on various subjects. Do your best, but don’t randomly guess. Informed guesses are allowed, encouraged even. We need people who are willing to extrapolate when an unknown situation occurs. Once your testing is complete, which will be a full day or more, you’ll be assigned to an area. You’ll work with me and other mentors, but you will be doing very basic work. If you’re good and patient, you’ll be assigned more interesting jobs. Do your job. Don’t snoop. Capisce?”

“Yes, Tech Paola.”

“Good. Get started. If you need me, call.” She turned and walked out of the compartment.

Quinn scanned the other trainees but they were all immersed in their jobs. Or pretended to be immersed. She walked to the empty seat and sat down. Immediately, three screens lowered from the top of the egg and lit up with a “Welcome, Trainee Quinn,” banner. A button with “Ready to get started?” appeared, and she shrugged and selected yes. It would be nice to have some breakfast, but she guessed that could wait. Hopefully, this introduction would tell her what was available and where.

Two hours later, Quinn swept the screens off, and they slid up and away. Her stomach rumbled unhappily, so she pulled her bev-tainers out of the cabinet below her seat and took them to the small snack area. There was a sink, so she washed them all thoroughly, filled one with water, another with a fruit drink and the keep-warm with coffee. When she turned back, she was surrounded.

She stepped back so her back was against the cupboards, dropped her containers on the counter, and faced them.

All the trainees smiled, took a half-step back, and the one right in front of her held up both hands, palms out. He had the typical Familia coloring, but the wrong face shape, with a round face and wide nose. “Don’t worry, we’re just introducing ourselves. We’re not going to attack you. None of us want any trouble. Just tell us who you are and we’ll reply.”

Quinn nodded but remained wary. “I’m Quinn, I’m from Cygnus Secundus. I was at Adzari Net School, but they brought me here after just a year.” She wanted to make sure her fellow trainees underestimated her skills.

“I’m Giovanni, call me Gio, I’m from Valenti, but my family isn’t important in Familia. I got here after I finished Valenti Net School on scholarship.”

The second boy said, “I’m Mario and the same deal.” Mario had the Familia coloring, but like Gio, the face shape was wrong. His was more of a heart shape than a long oval and his nose was short and upturned.

“Hey.” The only girl in the compartment waved once. “I’m Aurora. I was at Adzari too, but I graduated last year. Had a family emergency but that’s,” she swallowed hard, “over now. So here I am.” Aurora didn’t look like Familia. Her skin was deep espresso, her eyes almost black, her hair curly, shorn short on the sides, and waving in a five-centimeter long strip on top. She was striking but not classically beautiful.

“I’m Fabriano and I’m from Sirius. Net school there, got picked up for a job here.”

Quinn didn’t believe him for a second and from the side-eye from the others, they didn’t either. He had the classic Familia look and an unconscious arrogance that said rich kid. She’d seen enough of it at Adzari to know the mannerisms. All her fellow trainees were older than she was by at least three years, but Fabriano was probably ten years older than Quinn.

Gio said, “Since you’re new, we’ll give you the quick version. We take a ten-minute break every hour, and an hour for lunch, kind of like school, but if you need to use the sani-mod, just go. Nobody’s watching that close. They don’t care what hours you work but how much you work. You know, can you get your work done and done right, or do you need more training or are you a goof-off?” He held up a warning hand. “Don’t be a goof-off, you won’t like the results.” He shivered slightly. “Don’t forget where you are. Ever.” He smiled, and it was like a supernova, bright, and blinding. “But you won’t, I can tell.”

“Don’t expect to do anything exciting, even after you finish training,” Mario added. “You’ll be doing basic-level stuff for a long time. After a while, someone will mentor you in their specialty. Paola is our mentor’s supervisor, so you must be a special case.”

Quinn grimaced. “Yeah, special. Lucky me.”

All four snorted or laughed ironically, but said nothing.

Aurora said, “Are you a net gamer? We play most evenings.”

Quinn grinned. “You bet! Which games?”

“It depends on everyone’s mood and what’s been released recently, but there is a nominal schedule. Search for the Net Tech Gaming Schedule, you’ll find it all laid out. You can bounce between the groups and games or stick with one.” Aurora shrugged. “Whatever works for you. Be aware, it’s not limited to just net techs.” She raised her brows. “Anyone can join. Some of the first-person shooter games are very popular with the Enforcers.”

An obvious warning. “Cool, thanks. I’ll look.” They were way over ten minutes. Quinn picked up her bev-tainers.

“Hey, don’t forget snacks,” Fabriano said. “You’re skinny. I’ll bring you some.”

She forced a small smile. “Thanks.” She returned to her workstation and settled in.

“You’re welcome.” Fabriano shoved a stack of five different packages and some sort of fruit between her bev-tainers on the little side table.

Her stomach growled and Fabriano grinned. “Thanks again,” Quinn told him.

He nodded and returned to his workstation.

Quinn chose a protein bar of some sort, ripped the veg plas open, and shoved it in her mouth while she continued watching the orientation.  Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all.

#

“You want me to do what?” Quinn kept herself from screaming, but it was close.

“Tech Paola.” She tapped a toe.

“What?”

“You forgot my title, Trainee. Don’t forget it again.” Paola glared.

“Yes, Tech Paola. Sorry, Tech Paola.”

“You aren’t, but you should be, and you will be in the future.” Paola turned and left.

“What’s the big deal, Quinn?” Fabriano asked. “Too good for inventory?”

“No.” She stamped her foot. “But I just finished checking every built-in console to make sure they were automatically updating firewalls and anti-virus. I could have done inventory then!”

“You had to document all that, right?” Gio asked. “So why not use the same tracker and just reorder the columns?”

“Because she wants the model numbers too and the identity trackers have to be scanned. Argh!” Quinn threw up her hands.

“Hey, at least it gets you out of here,” Aurora said. “I’d love to be doing something other than checking firewall logs—again.”

“Maybe you can trade?” Fabriano said slyly.

Quinn and Aurora snorted. “Right.” Neither of them was dumb enough to do that. Refusing an order got you some nasty tasks. Trading was considered a refusal.

Quinn filled her bev-tainer and grabbed the net tech cart. She’d learned it was slow and a little wonky, but it was better than carrying everything. Sure, she should be able to scan everything with her e-torc, but in reality, her trainee-level e-torc got over-tasked quickly and slowed to a crawl, especially when interfacing with any other net program. Quinn leashed the cart to her e-torc and walked out the hatch, waving at her friends.

Aurora was right, though. Walking busy work was better than sitting busy work. She’d had plenty of both over the last month. Either way, she’d almost kill to get down on a planet’s surface, feel the wind and the sun. Or even rain. Both were preferable to the perfectly controlled atmosphere of Indomito. She knew it wouldn’t happen though. No one would ever let her off the ship.

Quinn looked at her list. She started with the closest consoles, those in the lounge level, open to everyone on board. Hardly anyone ever used them. Why would they? Everyone had an e-torc. But the e-torc net could go down, or a local net could be temporarily overwhelmed, so the physical consoles stayed. She started on Alpha side, working toward Beta. This huge ship was built in a square, with the four sides labeled Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta, and each level was numbered, so you could generally find your way around, even without any labels on the hatches.

By the time she got halfway through Bravo, she was wishing she’d taken Gio’s suggestion. Maybe Paola wouldn’t notice the missing model numbers? Right. Sure she wouldn’t. Quinn sighed and moved to the next console, halting abruptly. A woman sat at the console. She was using it, even though she wore an e-torc. Quinn blinked, unsure what to do, then realized she was being silly. She’d simply go to the next console and leave this one for later.

“Did you need something?” The woman asked her. She seemed very old, with a wrinkled face and gray hair. But her eyes were lively.

“No, Mistress. I’ll come back later. I have plenty to do.”

“Nonsense. You’re here. I will get a cup of tea.” She stood with some difficulty.

Quinn, worried the woman might fall, asked, “Can I get you that cup of tea instead? You can stay right here.”

“That’s all right. I can do it and leave everything open for you.”

“No, no, I insist. I’ll get the tea. How do you take it?”

“Lemon, please. Get yourself a cup too.”

“Yes, Mistress.” Quinn hurried to the auto-bev, selecting quickly. She couldn’t spend too much time here or Paola would be on her like a sand flea on a desert rat. She trotted back and put down the cup in the slot on the console.

“Did you get a cup?” she asked.

“Mistress, I can’t stay. I have a job to do.” She smiled. “I’ll come back and get this console later.”

“No, no. I insist. Pull up a chair and join me. I’ll let your supervisor know you’re with me. What’s your name, child?”

“Quinn, Mistress. I’m a net technician trainee.”

“You seem a little young to be working. Who’s your supervisor?”

“Net Technician Paola, Mistress.”

The woman very obviously looked up Paola. “She doesn’t have any real authority. How did you come to be on this folder?”

“Enforcer Trevi brought me from Adzari Net Academy, but I don’t think it was her decision either.”

“No?” The woman’s head tilted. “What makes you say that?”

“I don’t think she was very happy about the trip, Mistress, but I might be wrong.” Quinn shrugged, putting a clueless look on her face. Making an enemy of Trevi might be very bad.

“I see.” The woman nodded. “Well, I am Kathe, that’s an ‘e’ on the end, not a ‘y’ or an ‘I’ and I am pleased to make your acquaintance.”

Quinn smiled. “Pleased to meet you, Mistress Kathe. I apologize for not knowing who you are. My e-torc isn’t authorized for facial recognition or tagging.”

“Really? How odd. And none of this ‘Mistress’ nonsense. I’m just Kathe.”

“I don’t think I’m allowed to be that informal.”

“I just said you were. Don’t contradict me, Quinn.”

“Sorry, Mis…Kathe.”

“Give me just a moment…” Kathe held up a finger. “Ah, yes. Tech Paola, I require Quinn’s company for the rest of the day. I’m sure you have others who can do whatever ridiculous task you have her doing right now. Traipsing about the ship looking at things? What kind of net do you run? Don’t answer that. And don’t bother the girl for this, I told her, she didn’t ask.” Her finger swept to the side, clearly sweeping the connection to Tech Paola off and then came back, pointing at Quinn. “You tell me if you get in trouble for this. I won’t have it.”

“I’m sure it will be fine, Mi—Kathe. Tech Paola is smart.”

“Good. Now, tell me about yourself. From birth to now.”

“I’m not that exciting.”

“Neither is my usual life. Talk. Wait.” She turned the seat around. “Let’s sit over there on those nice soft chairs. This thing isn’t comfortable.” Kathe rose, slowly.

Quinn bit her lip. “Can I assist you?”

“No, I’m fine, just slow.” Once she started to walk, Kathe wasn’t slow for long. Quinn grabbed her teacup and followed. They settled in soft chairs set at a slight angle toward each other, so they mostly faced the main walkway, but could also see each other easily. “Now, tell me all about yourself.”

“Okay.” Quinn shrugged and told Kathe her life story. She left out some details of the attacks on Cygnus Gliese, but she hadn’t known those until later, and who transported them to Cygnus Secundus. Lightwave didn’t need attention from Familia. She simply said lots of folders responded to the crisis and she was on one of them. Which was true. Quinn really didn’t remember most of it. She remembered hiding in the Sister’s compound from the armed attackers, escaping on a shuttle, and being on a huge fold transport in very crowded conditions for what seemed like a very long time. Then living in crowded, muddy conditions for an even longer time while they built the Secundus compound. Kathe didn’t seem to care about the lack of details, and much of it was public record, thanks to the tunnel worms.

“Did you go into the tunnels?” Kathe asked.

“No, I was too young.” Quinn shrugged. “I didn’t know a lot of this until later.”

“You’re still very young.” Kathe frowned at her. “Stay that way.” She tilted her head, her eyebrows raised in the middle. “But not as young as you look. You’re smart.” Kathe sniffed. “Don’t tell anyone. You’re safer being young and dumb.”

Quinn bit her lip and her heart rate sped up.

“I’m not telling anyone either. I like you.” Kathe nodded her head slowly. “When I need a companion, you’re it. I’ll send appropriate clothing and shoes.” Kathe sneered slightly at Quinn’s boots. “Those are practical but not fashionable. Now, what do they have you doing?”

“I’m doing inventory, Kathe.” Was being a companion good or bad? Or both?

“Inventory? Aren’t all these terminals on the net?”

“Yes, Mistress Kathe. Sorry. Kathe. But sometimes things happen, I guess. I don’t ask questions.”

“Discouraging questions about work is a poor supervisory technique.” Kathe grimaced. “I knew our net leadership wasn’t great, but this is ridiculous. Hmph.” She shook off her frown. “Other than net work, what do you do?”

“Well, I play a lot of net games.”

“And?”

“I train for extreme athlete competitions.”

Kathe scanned her up and down. “It’s hard to tell under that ugly shipsuit, but you do seem to be in excellent physical condition. I’m not familiar with this particular competition.”

“They’re not terribly popular. It’s easier to show you than tell you. I have a vid of my instructor if you’d like to see it?”

“Excellent. Let’s go back to the terminal.”

“Um, Kathe, I don’t want to overstep, but why do you use the terminals when you have an e-torc?”

“E-torcs make me dizzy and I can’t see them. They’re too small.” Kathe shuddered in revulsion. “I leave mine on voice only.”

“I can adjust it for you and show you how to adjust it further.” Quinn did lots of adaptations back on Secundus. The Sisters cared for lots of kids with brain and eye injuries, either from abuse or the dangerous environment. Or both.

“I’ve had people try to explain but I just don’t understand it.” Kathe scowled.

“It’s not the easiest thing to adjust sometimes, but I’ve done it a lot. If you’ll give me temporary access to your settings, we can work on it together.”

Kathe tilted her head, inquiringly. “Well, then, let’s see what you can do. Tell me how I give you access.”

Quinn walked her through the process but Kathe didn’t give her temporary access. No, she made it permanent. Quinn took a deep breath. This had to be a test. “Kathe, you should select the time-limited option. We’ll be done in less than an hour.”

“No. I don’t want to do this again and I’m sure we’ll have further adjustments. Now, let’s get started.”

“Okay.” Quinn brought up her e-torc’s settings and took control of Kathe’s. “Close your eyes for a minute while I put some initial settings in, please.”

Kathe did as she requested and Quinn went through the laborious process. If she only had a decent e-torc.

“Why is this taking so long?”

“My e-torc is slow. There’s a lot of security and not enough memory.” Maybe she shouldn’t have said that?

“Well, this is unacceptable. Authorized for Quinn Cygnus, by my authority.” Kathe took her e-torc off and handed it to Quinn. “Make your initial adjustments, then I’ll test it.”

Quinn removed her e-torc and placed Kathe’s around her neck. She closed her eyes at the sweep of screens. “Wow, something is really set wrong on this thing.” Quinn put her hand up and made very slow, very small movements. She reset all the visual settings to standard, then made some initial adaptations for normal aging and the protocols they used for brain injuries. Using those, screens didn’t shrink and sweep away to the side when no longer needed, they simply disappeared. There were a few other adaptations as well. Quinn handed the e-torc back to Kathe. “Try this.”

Kathe put it back on and raised a hand. She seemed uncharacteristically tentative.

Quinn held back a smile. Funny how quickly she’d placed Kathe in a certain category. She had to watch those kinds of assumptions. She hadn’t forgotten Enforcer Trevi’s warning—Quinn was on a ship of killers. Kathe might be old and a little slow, but she might still be an enforcer. There had to be a reason she was on this ship. Maybe being elderly was a good cover story? She could get very close to a potential target without being suspected.

“Ah, I see. This is much better. Thank you.”

“Of course. Yours was set very oddly. If you go into the setting menu, you can adjust the brightness, size, and speed on your own. Or if you need more changes, I’m happy to do them.”

Kathe glared at Quinn’s e-torc, still on her lap. “Not with that thing. I’ll fix that too. Hmph.” She smiled slightly at Quinn. “Now, let’s see that vid. I want to see one of you, too, Quinn.”

“Certainly, Mis—Kathe. Whatever you want.” Quinn brought up the vid of Instructor Switz’s last competition and swept it over to Kathe. She was happy to sit here and talk, rather than traipse about the ship doing inventory. She could learn a lot from this woman.

But what was Kathe learning about her?

#

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Quinn of Cygnus Copyright © 2020 by AM Scott. All Rights Reserved.

Quinn of Cygnus–Chapter Seven

This is an unedited draft. While the main story won’t change, you may find some awkward phrasing, typos, and some fine details will be missing. I’ll also be adding additional background for people who haven’t read the Folding Space Series.  I’ll publish a new chapter every week. Enjoy!

See Chapter One here.

Chapter Seven

 

“Student Quinn, you’ve made good progress. Keep it up.” Instructor Stefano walked to the next desk.

She sighed, feeling ten times lighter. Praise from Stefano was hard to come by, but she’d worked so hard on her first-year capstone project. At least all her efforts to learn every bit of net expertise she could and the extreme fitness program kept her too busy and tired to brood.

Despite that, with every class and project she completed, the confines of Adzari Academy seemed to grow smaller, like someone was watching, waiting to pounce and she had nowhere to run. Which was unfortunately true. There wasn’t anywhere for her to run. Vehicles were restricted to instructors and administration, messages went through the central hub, and after the efforts to arrange everything, she’d heard nothing more on her secret message system. The Academy was physically isolated, so even if she managed to escape the grounds, her chances of making it to a spaceport were just about zero. The Sisters should know there was something wrong—Quinn used the right codes and phrases to tell them—but that wouldn’t help her. It only kept them from sending anyone else to Adzari.

Selena kept sending them gifts full of delicious food, little games, and pictures of her high-society events, but after the initial joy, it just reminded all of them that an entirely different life existed outside Adzari. That life felt very far away.

They were starting their second-year studies soon, but the feeling of entrapment grew faster than the feeling of accomplishment. Especially when Quinn knew their class wasn’t being taught some critical net skills. She’d asked for clarification and additional information on several net techniques and was told those were advanced-year concepts. But they weren’t. Some of the friendlier second-year students confirmed it in casual conversation. Quinn watched and learned what she could from them, but she couldn’t just come out and ask without those students getting in trouble. She did receive extra tutorials from Instructor Stefano, but they stuck to the same subjects they were being taught now. Good thing she had excellent spying skills; Sister Ani had taught her well.

After Selena left, her class was no longer allowed to do group projects either. All their work was done alone. Sure, they all helped each other, but that wasn’t the same as learning how to work as a team. They didn’t even present their projects in class—the instructors graded them and gave them written feedback. The leadership and management courses the second- and third-year students got weren’t taught to them either. Quinn overheard enough conversations to know that.

Someone was keeping them in the dark, trying to deliberately limit their skill sets. From the little she knew about Familia, it made sense. They didn’t want their net techs able to stage an effective rebellion or takeover. No, they would compartmentalize their skills and permissions, confining them to a subset of abilities to keep them under control.

Well, they could try. Quinn sniffed. She’d learned more than most of the Academy instructors intended and once she got out of here, she would learn more still. The one thing they couldn’t keep from teaching was how to learn. And even though they weren’t taught leadership and management, she’d learned the basics at the Sisters and had plenty of good and bad examples of both in front of her. She’d keep watching and learning. Quinn smiled. And spying. She was good at that—people underestimated her all the time.

Instructor Stefano returned to the front of the room. “Students, you have all done very well. I’m pleased with your projects. The other instructors agree: all of you are ready to move on to your second year.” He scanned the room but didn’t meet Quinn’s eyes. “It’s been a pleasure working with all of you. You have been excellent students. Thank you for the opportunity to teach you. I wish you all luck in the coming year.” He cleared his throat. “However, many of you must speak to the administrative staff about the state of your accounts before continuing your studies. I don’t know the particulars, but it seems there are some payment issues. Stay here, you’ll be called out individually.” He whirled and stomped out of the room.

And there it was, dropping like a rock into a Secundus mud puddle, splashing nasty muck everywhere. After House Mistress Vormer told her about the new contract for studying here, Quinn looked for that contract in every single one of her student files and official messages from the administration. She found nothing. But she’d expected the Academy to spring it on them at graduation, not at the end of their first year.

Quinn bit her lip. This couldn’t be good. She sat and listened as name after name was called. All her friends except Issa and Zara left and didn’t return.

“Quinn Cygnus, report to Conference Room Ten,” a voice said over her e-torc. Conference Ten was on the third floor; they were on the second.

She sighed and rose slowly. Turning slightly as she walked from the room, she waved to her friends and they waved back. Trudging up the stairs, she wondered how she could get out of this. Exiting the stairwell, she jumped at the presence of personnel in soft armor. She hadn’t seen someone armed and armored like that since the evacuation of Cygnus Gliese. What was the Academy expecting?

Taking in a deep breath, she walked down the hall to the right room and entered.

“Ah, Quinn Cygnus. Have a seat.”

A woman with the too-familiar Familia “look” sat at the end of the table. She was pretty, but Quinn was fairly certain she was older than she looked. She wore expensive-looking, fashionable clothing and a sweetly flowered scent drifted through the room. A huge person in soft armor stood just behind her, clearly a guard. So, this was someone important. Quinn sat, leaving a chair between the two of them.

“I am Trevi, an investigator for the organization that owns Adzari Academy. We have recently completed a review of the accounts here at the Academy and found several serious issues.” She smiled, but it was a threat, not happiness. “Your account is in arrears. The few payments that have been made are completely inadequate.”

Quinn had to object, even knowing it would do little good. “Investigator Trevi, that isn’t correct. I have the receipt from Adzari Academy, sent to the Sisters of Cygnus before I left, showing my schooling paid in full after the scholarship was applied.”

Trevi sniffed. “Unfortunately for you, all scholarships were canceled when the Academy was purchased. Not only that, but it was only an academic scholarship. It did not pay for your uniforms, food, or athletic training. You also have a significant medico bill.”

“The medico bill is the Academy’s fault. That is not my bill to pay!”

The woman smirked. “You’d think so, but unfortunately for you, it’s not so. No, you owe a significant number of credits and your Sisters have refused to pay. Therefore, you will be working off your debt. You have a term of three years. You will accompany me now to Indomito, your new home for the foreseeable future.”

“But—”

“Quinn Cygnus, do not fight me on this. You are going. You can go on your own two feet or I’ll have Nunzi here stun you.” Trevi tossed her head back toward the armored figure and smirked. “I don’t care about you or your little friends here. No one is coming to your rescue.” She got up and sauntered to the door. “Come. Now.”

Quinn swallowed hard and followed the woman out. She had no choice. In the hall, the second and third students stared, eyes wide, and jumped out of their way. Her friend Amaya, pushed back against the wall, mouthed, “good luck” and waved, but it was clear there was nothing she could do. If only Quinn could say goodbye to her friends…but it wasn’t going to happen. At least Amaya could tell them she was being forced to leave. Quinn waved back, but couldn’t smile.

They walked down the stairs, Trevi muttering about backwater planets without proper grav lifts, out of the building, and into one of the administration’s small lift vehicles. Quinn was pushed into the back seat, squeezed in next to the huge guard.

They practically flew down the roads to the farthest reaches of the Academy grounds. A shuttle waited there, hatch open and ramp down. Trevi left the lift vehicle without a word and Quinn followed, Nunzi the guard hulking behind her. They entered the main cabin of the shuttle, a pilot and co-pilot already strapped in. Trevi sat in a seat right behind the pilot and pointed at the seat next to her. Quinn sat and strapped in. Nunzi sat behind them.

“Ready for takeoff, Enforcer Trevi,” the pilot said over her shoulder. “Just need final clearance from Omicron control.” He swept what appeared to be their flight path up to the display screen in the shuttle.

“Let’s go,” Trevi replied. She glanced at Quinn’s body, checking the harness. “We’re ready.”

Guess Nunzi was expected to take care of himself. Quinn’s mouth twisted. What was an “enforcer?” She almost heard the pilot capitalize the title.

Some muttering from the pilot and co-pilot, then a muted roaring, and Quinn’s body grew heavy for a second until the grav generators kicked in. Quinn sat in silence, watching them fly and glancing around the shuttle. This wasn’t cheap plas and cerimetal like the Grus shuttle or her faded memories of Lightwave’s shuttles. This was a luxury transport. The cocoa-colored cover on her seat was soft and smooth and the padding cradled her in a firm cloud. The tan floor was soft and springy, but smooth. The walls of the shuttle were slightly textured and colored a warm beige. The kitchen was outfitted with expensive automated appliances. Even the hardware on the emergency hatches looked expensive and the labels were understated, in an elegant script. It even smelled expensive—a combination of coffee, warm spices, and citrus. On the big screen in front of them, a representation of their shuttle crossed into orbit.

The co-pilot, an older man, turned to them. “You may now walk about the cabin, but we prefer you stay strapped in when possible. We’re not anticipating trouble, but you never know. The cabins, sani-mods, and galley are available for your use. We’ll prepare a meal in a few hours. Your seats recline fully if you’d like to sleep here. We will arrive at Indomito in nine hours and ten minutes.”

Trevi’s lip curled. “That long?”

“Sorry, Enforcer.” He shrugged. “We were instructed not to draw attention to ourselves. Omicron is crowded. Outgoing is always slower.”

Trevi sighed. “I need to speak with Quinn in private. I’ll use Cabin One.”

“Of course, Enforcer.” The co-pilot pointed the opposite direction of the sani-mod and kitchen.

“Yes, thank you.” She unbuckled. “Come, Quinn, let’s go.”

Quinn unfasted the straps and followed Trevi to the hatch marked Cabin One. She noticed hatches to the right marked Cabin Two and Crew Quarters. Once inside Cabin One, Trevi shut and locked the hatch, and pointed at the bed on the right. The room was long and narrow, with two beds, a narrow aisle separating them, and a hatch marked sani-mod beyond. Quinn sat down, and scooted back, leaning against the wall. No reason not to get comfortable.

Trevi did something with her holo and then exhaled with a little “ah” sound. She sat on the bed opposite Quinn’s, also so the wall supported her. “Isn’t this cozy.” She sneered at the space, which seemed rather large for a shuttle to Quinn. “Ah well, in nine hours it won’t matter.” Trevi frowned at her. “From your records, it’s clear you aren’t stupid. I don’t think you’re very attractive, but nobody cares what I think. Pay attention, Quinn, because this is your only chance to get some real information. Don’t waste my time with useless protests, or I’ll stop talking. Capisce?”

“What?” Quinn swallowed. She didn’t understand any of this.

A heavy sigh. “Capisce is a question. It means, ‘do you understand?’”

“Oh. Yes.” Quinn understood Trevi’s words, but the real meaning? No, she didn’t understand anything. But Quinn knew she was lying to herself—she understood far too much.

Eyebrows raised. “Yes, Enforcer.”

“Sorry. Yes, Enforcer.” Now the Academy’s emphasis on calling everyone by a title made a lot more sense.

“Good. So, here’s the bottom line. You’re in debt to Familia. Not only that, but Head Enforcer Enzo has taken a personal interest in you.” Trevi scanned her from head to toe. “I don’t know why, but he has. You are fourteen standards now, correct?”

“Yes, Enforcer.” Quinn’s breathing sped up and she bit her lip.

“Your medical records show you are generally in good health, but you might be older. Why is that?”

“Because I was abandoned as a small child, Enforcer. No one knows exactly how old I am.” Quinn shrugged. “No one cares.” She tried to regulate her breathing. Panic did no good.

“Ah. Well, either way, Head Enforcer Enzo has no interest in children, but he is waiting to see what you look like when you are older.” Trevi smirked.

Quinn mashed her lips together to keep from screaming and clenched her fists.

“Ah, I see you guess what this could mean. Let me tell you how to make this as easy as possible, for us and for you.” Her mouth turned up on one end and she shrugged. “Not that any of us care about you, particularly. Do your job and do it well, no matter what they tell you to do. Don’t complain. You can make friends, but any hint that any of them, male or female, might become a lover will end in their death. And your life will become significantly worse. No sex for you.” Trevi held up a finger and wagged it at her.

“Do whatever Enzo requires and do it quietly. And as you’ve probably guessed, those three years of repayment for your Academy schooling are only the beginning.” Trevi jabbed a finger at her. “You’re Enzo’s until he says otherwise. If anyone on the ship ever touches you with sexual intent or intent to harm, report it to me or another enforcer immediately. If it’s an enforcer, go straight to Head Enforcer Enzo. Everyone should be smart enough not to mess with you, but there’s always a few who think they can get away with stupidity. Even on the head Justice’s ship.” Trevi tilted her head. “Capisce?”

“Yes, Enforcer.” Quinn’s forehead hurt and her mouth and eyes were dry. She blinked and rolled her shoulders, trying to relax. Fight or flight were both useless here and now.

“Good. Now, a little background. Indomito is Justice Fatima’s ship. The Justice mediates disputes between Familia. Enzo is her Head Enforcer and my boss. Enforcers carry out the Justice’s orders, which are quite often fatal, for people and businesses.” An ironic smile flashed. “In other words, you’re on a ship of killers. Capisce?”

“Yes, Enforcer.” She couldn’t escape the Academy; her chances of escaping Indomito were even worse. Quinn gulped.

“I’m sure you’ll be put to work as a net tech. Don’t snoop. You’ll be caught. Do your assigned work and nothing more. There is a fitness facility on Indomito. You’ll be assigned a time slot. Continue your current training. Fitness Instructor Switz will send you training plans. Vid from the fitness facility will be sent to her. It’s not ideal, but the best we can do.” Trevi snort-chuckled. “We all train, but not for those skills. Do not ask to learn our skills.” She sneered. “Don’t try it on your own, either. You’ll fail, spectacularly.”

“Yes, Enforcer.” At least she’d have that outlet to burn off stress.

“Anyone who says they want to help you is lying. Don’t believe them. They’re only out to help themselves. Familia works on favors. Do someone a favor, they owe you one.” Trevi snickered. “But anyone who asks you for a favor is really asking for a favor from Enzo. Do not put him in debt. Likewise, anyone saying they’ll do a favor for you is actually doing one for Enzo. Again, don’t put him in debt. Every time you do something he doesn’t like, life will get worse for you. It gets worse for the rest of us too. So just don’t do it. And anyone who says they can help you escape is lying. No one escapes Familia, except through death. Capisce?”

“Yes, Enforcer.”

“Good. Now, I’ve done what I can for you. Behave. Do not make me punish you. You will not like the results.” Trevi stood and again did something to her holo. “I suggest you get some sleep. The Indomito is on a different schedule from the planet, so you’ll have to adjust.” Trevi shrugged. “I have no idea what schedule you’ll be assigned to either. It’s not my problem.” She glared down. “But misbehave and you become my problem. Don’t. You will not like the results.” Trevi turned on her heel and left the room.

Quinn slid down the bedpost to lie flat on the bed. The covering was slightly fuzzy, warm, and soft. The mattress was heavenly. A message flashed above her bed: “Strap in before sleeping,” with a diagram. She felt along the edge of the bed with her left hand and found a bar. She lifted it across her body and it snapped into place on the right side of the bed near the aisle. The straps were a slightly stretchy net, loose now, meant to hold her in place in case they lost gravity or some other emergency. Quinn released the bar, letting it retract, sat up, and took off her shoes. Then she wriggled under the covers and put the net back over her.

She brought up her e-torc interface, but it wouldn’t connect to the shuttle’s net. Quinn bit her lip. She couldn’t get it to connect manually either. She could dig further, but Trina just warned her not to snoop. Well, sand fleas. With nothing else to do, she may as well nap.

Composing herself, she monitored her breathing and relaxed, knowing she’d feel better if she slept or at least meditated. She’d still have plenty of time to process all this information when she woke, and the meditation would calm her panic.

#

The pilot and co-pilot talked softly as they neared Indomito, then both put their hands on their armrests. Quinn watched as the shuttle docked, the almost imperceptible thunk of the shuttle clamps not as loud as the thunk of doom in her heart. On the planet, she had a hope of escape. In space? On this ship? None. She swallowed hard.

The pilot turned. “Enforcer Trevi, we’re securely docked. Medico staff are waiting for the girl.”

“Excellent.” Trevi turned to her. “Let’s go, Quinn.” She walked away, obviously sure Quinn would follow her. If she didn’t, Nunzi loomed over her, ready to pick her up and carry her away. She’d managed to ignore the man until now, but it was no longer possible.

Quinn unbuckled and stood. “Thank you, pilot, co-pilot, for the meal and the flight. Safe folds.” They both seemed rather startled but nodded in return. Quinn followed Trevi into the airlock, which opened into another airlock. Nunzi at her back, the hatch closed with a thunk, and the final hatch slid aside. Biting her lip, Quinn stepped into Indomito.

Trevi faced two people in medico green shipsuits. “Medico Marcello, this is Quinn Cygnus. Did the Academy send her medical records?”

The man, with the now-familiar espresso-dark hair and eyes and olive-toned skin, said, “Yes. I will give her a thorough examination immediately.”

Trevi raised a brow. “And the other matter?”

Marcello grimaced just slightly, but said, “Of course, Enforcer Trevi. As Head Enforcer Enzo specified. Technician Natali will take care of that.” He nodded sideways at the woman who stood slightly behind him. She had the same hair, eye, and skin color as the man, but her smile seemed genuine. Like most people, both were taller than she was.

“You don’t approve.”

“It’s not my place to approve or not, Enforcer. I will do as I am required to do. But such things can cause health problems in some people.”

“I’m sure Head Enforcer Enzo understands that.”

“I’m sure he does. Do you have any further instructions, Enforcer?”

“No.” Trevi turned and walked away without saying anything else. Medico Marcello walked the opposite direction. Before Quinn could wonder, Medico Natali said, “Follow me, please.” She turned to follow Marcello, walking quickly until she was right behind him. Quinn trailed along, aware Nunzi was still shadowing her.

They trod a long corridor with dark wood-look plas flooring and roughly textured beige walls, art hanging on the walls. The pictures appeared to be real paintings, not simple prints or screens—pretentious still-life and fancily-dressed humans. Eventually, they reached a lift tube and went up three levels, stepping off into another luxuriously appointed corridor. They immediately turned and entered a room with a few chairs and a small beverage station. They didn’t stop there but kept walking through a hatchway and stopping a closed hatch.

Marcello said, “Let me know when she’s ready.” He walked away.

Natali motioned to the hatch. “This is a changing room. Take everything off and put the gown on, opening in the front, then come out here.”

Quinn nodded, put her hand on the hatch, and walked in after it slid aside. As the hatch closed, she heard Natali say, “I’m sure we can handle her from here if you have other duties.”

Hopefully, Nunzi did, because Quinn didn’t like the thought of being practically naked around the thuggish guard. Or anyone, but she didn’t have much of a choice. She peeled off her school uniform and put on the gown. The gown wasn’t horrible. The material was substantial cloth, not cheap veg plas, and it overlapped and tied securely. She left her clothes behind in the tiny room.

“Good,” Natali said. “Follow me.”

Quinn did, happy Nunzi had found something else to do. His lack of expression made her shiver. They trod down the hall and entered a room marked “Exam One” with a large, white medico bed. Usually, these beds had mechanical arms hanging all around them, but this one didn’t. They must be stored away until they were needed, so they didn’t freak out the high-status patients. Although, with a ship this large, Quinn wouldn’t be surprised if they had separate medico beds for crew and passengers. Maybe she wasn’t entirely considered staff? She bit her lip. She’d rather be a nobody.

Natali poked something in her holo, and privacy shields popped into place between the door and the medico bed. “Take the gown off and lay down on the bed, face up. The medico will take your vital signs and do blood analysis.” She tilted her head with a wry smile. “It’s also going to do a full pelvic exam, so when it tells you to put your legs in the stirrups and hold still, please do so. This medico is top-of-the-line and very gentle, so don’t worry. It will be over before you know it.” Natali sniffed. “Trust me when I tell you it’s much better than a person doing it. Just hop on, I’ll be just beyond the privacy screen. If you have questions or need something, let me know.”

“Okay.” Quinn did as she was told. As soon as she was settled, a holo appeared above her face, asking if she wanted no information, normal patient information, or full medico information. Quinn selected the medico version, figuring she could always ask for clarification of things she didn’t understand. She also assumed the programming was smart enough to start with the simple patient version and then give more details as the patient wanted. Once she made the choice, various arms came out of the machine, doing all the things she expected. Medico Natali was right—the pelvic exam was gentle—Quinn hardly felt anything. She lowered her legs back to the bed, relieved that part was so easy.

Then straps snapped around her waist, thighs, ankles, and wrists. “By the Mother, what’s going on?”

Natali came through the privacy screens and sighed. “I’m sorry, Quinn, but this is part of our instructions. You’re to be marked and tagged. Please don’t fight the machine. It will be far more painful if it has to be redone.” She poked at her holo and retreated.

Quinn squeezed her eyes shut. Marked and tagged like a herd animal? Sand fleas, every one of them. A stunner buzzed and a spot just above her left buttock went numb. Then something stabbed her, hard enough to jolt her against the straps. It wasn’t painful, exactly, because the area was numb, but she felt the force and the size of the thing. It wasn’t small. The probe retracted and she heard a hiss—probably sealant. That was going to hurt later.

Another stunner buzzed across the stretch of skin below her belly button, covering the area between her pelvic bones. An arm came out and a fine needle stabbed her, over and over, leaving a line of black across her skin. Quinn watched in horror as an elaborate scroll pattern appeared, the name “Enzo” emblazoned in a fancy script in the middle, all in thick, black lines. It was ugly.

Quinn sniffed but blinked back her tears. She was not going to let these people see her cry. Then she remembered what Instructor Stefano said, the only person who had treated her kindly at the Academy. “You’ll do much better if you whine and cry and carry on. He hates crying women. If he sees you like that, he’ll leave you alone.”

She sobbed, letting all her fear and terror come out. She cried during the rest of the tattoo, not even looking at the finished product, and continued to bawl as the machine cleaned the blood and excess ink from her skin. A sprayer hissed and she glanced down to see some sort of shiny medical sealant being applied. She kept crying even after all the medico equipment and straps released.

Natali appeared again, frowning. “Stop crying. You’ll dehydrate yourself and have to stay here longer. Get the robe on.” She spun on her heel and walked back through the screens.

Quinn did as she was told, putting the robe back on. The privacy screens disappeared. Natali handed her tissues and she blew her nose and wiped her eyes. She kept one, intending to keep sniveling wherever they were going next.

“Sit there. Medico Marcello will be in shortly.”

Quinn plopped down in the chair, acting like the sulky teen she wasn’t. The younger she could make herself seem the longer she’d be left alone and underestimated. Hopefully, she’d learn more too. Enough to escape this place—a folder. Now, she had to learn piloting along with net skills. Suddenly, she wasn’t acting anymore. How was she going to do all that without any help at all? Because she couldn’t trust anyone.

Medico Marcello entered and sat. “Net Technician Trainee Quinn. I see in your records that you are an extreme athlete, and you were treated for malnutrition due to mistreatment by staff last year. Your recovery seems adequate, but I do not approve of your previous medico’s treatment. The return to intense athletic training was far too fast for someone of your stated age. I am ordering strict limits on your training and ordering time for sedentary recreation, such as net games. This should allow your body sufficient time to recover while you are maturing. Young humans should not be over-trained. This can delay maturation and cause medical issues later in life. Do you understand?”

Quinn swallowed hard and allowed her lower lip to pout. “But training is the only time I had any fun. You’re mean!”

Marcello sighed. “Didn’t you hear me? I’m prescribing fun for you. You will have at least two hours a day when you can participate in non-physical fun. Games, net simulations, and no work of any kind. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Medico.” Quinn lowered her eyes and stared at her lap, wiping her nose. “Is there anyone else on board my age?”

“Not as young as you. You will be allowed to participate in some net simulations and games with the adults on board, and if we’re near an approved station or planet, on the net there. Only approved games, Trainee Quinn. Nothing for adults only, capisce?”

“Yes, Medico.” She kept her eyes down, carefully remaining meek, and sniffled.

“Technician Natali will take you to your assigned compartment. You will remain there until tomorrow. I suggest you read the care instructions for the tattoo you just received. Failure to follow these could result in infection and scarring. When you are done with that, study the folder’s layout, so you understand where you are allowed to go and what levels you should avoid. Pain meds will be dispensed for you and food brought to you. You will meet your supervisor tomorrow morning; they will escort you to breakfast. Do you understand all this?”

“Yes, Medico.”

“Good. Pay attention and obey your orders. I do not want to see you here again.” Marcello stood and left the room, Natali coming in before the door shut.

“Let’s go.”

“But what about my clothes?” Quinn whined.

“You’ll be issued new ones, they’ll be in your compartment. Come.”

Quinn followed Natali out of the Medico area, down one level on the float tube and into another corridor with the same dark wood-like plas flooring and sand-textured walls, a shade lighter than the first corridor they’d entered. The artwork here seemed more amateurish, but it was displayed in pretty frames, similar to the ones she’d seen before.

At the very end of the corridor, Natali stopped. “Put your hand on the sensor and stare at the eye sensor. You’ll get an e-torc from your supervisor tomorrow. Follow Medico Marcello’s directions and you’ll be fine.” Natali grimaced. “Good luck.”

Quinn followed the directions and the door slid to the right. Fancy. She entered the room and stopped, surprised. She’d been expecting a dorm room with bunk beds and a tiny closet, but that wasn’t what she saw here. It wasn’t a big room, maybe four meters by three, and the bed took up most of the space. But there was also a comfortable-looking velvety green plush chair near a fold-down desk and a sani-mod at the back. She walked in and the door slid shut behind her. She sank into the dark brown carpet under her feet, so she kicked off the flimsy slippers. Soft and plush, it cradled her slightly swollen toes. Too much sitting on the shuttle she guessed.

She sat on the edge of the bed. Somehow firm and cushy, the sage green cover was soft, poufy, and light. It was probably nice and warm. Quinn was tempted to just curl up and sleep, but she needed to check out the rest of her cage. As she put her hand to the sani-mod door, it slid aside. Very fancy. Inside, the floor looked like some sort of natural stone tiles in swirls of beige and brown. She stepped in. Warm underfoot, it was probably plas, but expensive plas, and heated too. The sink was set in a meter-long cabinet, with storage underneath. She opened the main doors to find plush brown towels, with shampoo and other toiletries that looked expensive. Above the sink, there was a mirror and a cabinet. The cabinet contained something called a “Beauty in a Box” and a “Style-Net 2500.” Neither one seemed to have a control interface, so she’d need an e-torc to use them. A large shower enclosure stood next to the sink. Quinn opened the frosted plas door to find multiple showerheads and an option for a sonic shower. A small door beyond the shower revealed the toilet. Her brows raised—super fancy and super pricey.

Behind her, the wall was covered with more cabinets. Opening them, many were empty. But there was one with plain, dark gray shipsuits, another with workout clothes, including the kind she needed for the extreme challenge, a smaller one with underthings and sleepwear, and a lower cabinet filled with various boots and shoes.

The last cabinet contained a bewildering variety of fabrics and colors. Biting her lip, she pulled a hanger with something pink and sparkly. It seemed to be a dress, but it wasn’t like any dress she’d ever seen. The top was sheer and long but had a bra-type thing built-in that wasn’t see-through. The skirt was short and fluffy, with lots of layers—it looked a little like a flower. Eww. Quinn’s lip curled. She wasn’t wearing that. She pulled out hanger after hanger, seeing fancy clothing that covered very little of her body, but in a very childish style.

These outfits were a huge danger sign.

The Sisters taught them about the various kinds of human predators across the universe. Some of the worst went after children, girls, and boys who should be too young for any kind of sexual relations, but those horrible beings didn’t care—they only cared about themselves. The Sisters warned them about people who gave extravagant gifts, especially gifts that were too mature for their age. Quinn took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She shouldn’t show her revulsion—there might be vids in here. Too bad she hadn’t considered that earlier. She carefully hung the clothes back in the cabinet and closed it firmly.

If there were vids in here, where could she change? Maybe the toilet? Quinn sighed. If someone was absolutely determined to watch her, there was little she could do about it right now. She’d be patient, learn the net, then figure out how to fool the vids in her rooms. Until then, she’d change her underwear in the toilet, and do her best to believe no one wanted to watch her pee. She didn’t have any other options that wouldn’t give her away.

The safest thing she could do was make them believe she was ignorant and naïve. Otherwise, they’d start wondering if she was trying to escape. She couldn’t take any stupid chances at escape either. She had to lull them into complacency, make them believe she was compliant, and grateful for the opportunity to live like this.

It was luxurious and far better than anything she’d expected. But a gilded cage was still a cage. Quinn wondered exactly what songs she’d be expected to sing. Especially for Head Enforcer Enzo.

#

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Quinn of Cygnus Copyright © 2020 by AM Scott. All Rights Reserved.

Chapter Six — Quinn of Cygnus

This is an unedited draft. While the main story won’t change, you may find some awkward phrasing, typos, and some fine details will be missing. I’ll also be adding additional background for people who haven’t read the Folding Space Series.  I’ll publish a new chapter every week. Enjoy!

My apologies for last week’s error. I had the post scheduled, but something went wrong. As Dave D. said on my FB page, the clocks must have needed maintenance!

See Chapter One here.

Chapter Six

 

Quinn leaned wearily against the sani-mod wall. Although her first-year classmates hadn’t made further coordinated efforts to sabotage her, they studiously avoided any contact with her. So did all the other students. Tiber wasn’t even apologetic anymore. No one talked to her—she was a pariah. Between the worry and the work, she wasn’t getting much sleep. The only bright spot in her life was training for the extreme challenge. During that, she could work her body so hard she no longer had room to worry or even think. Instructor Switz’s all-business approach was a welcome relief from the subtle and not so subtle barbs from some of the other instructors. Over the last month, Quinn had become stronger and faster than she’d ever been. And Switz ordered the kitchen to provide her special nutrition, so her food was better too. Quinn sighed. She’d be happy to share if anyone was brave enough to be her friend. But no one crossed Gianna.

Every time it was Quinn’s turn to clean, she made it very clear she wouldn’t tolerate vandalism. Her classmates finished their morning routines and turned to stare at her. Quinn gripped the mop tight, ready for an attack. She wouldn’t survive if they all seriously ganged up on her, but she’d make as many of them pay as she possibly could. All the showers turned on, and one of the girls, Lise, jumped up and slapped something over the vid lens above the door. Lise tried to step into her personal space. Quinn blocked her with the mop handle.

Lise scowled and held up both hands. “Just talk, okay?”

Quinn nodded. But she kept the mop handle between them.

Lise came in close and whispered in her ear. “Look, none of us, except maybe Suzette, want to do any of this. But Gianna runs this dorm. Our failure to make your life miserable is making all of us miserable. We can’t take her down—she’s the daughter of some important person in…the organization that runs this place. So, let’s work together to make it look like we’re beating you down, okay?”

“As long as it’s not real.”

“You’ll still have to do the work, but we will all help, I promise. We’ll just be careful about it. Tomorrow, get ready and leave early. We’ll mess up the place again, just towels and water. You’ll get in trouble and have to clean tomorrow, but we’ll clean the rest of your punishment time. Then, on the last day, we’ll do it again.”

“We can’t do the same thing again or the staff will catch on. We’ll have to do something else next time.”

“You’re right. We’ve got at least seven, maybe fourteen days to figure it out. We’ll make sure you get some sleep and decent food too. Okay?”

“Okay. But if you are doing this to set me up, you won’t like the results.”

“Understood.” She jumped up and pulled the cover off the vid. “You’re so pathetic, little girl.” She shoved Quinn lightly, but Quinn stumbled back like it was an all-out effort. Lise winked at her and swept out, followed by the rest of the girls, all sneering at her.

Quinn leaned against the wall, emotionally exhausted if not physically. She hoped this was a genuine offer because she couldn’t take much more. She started cleaning. Maybe she should just give up and go home. She could contact the Grus and get a ride. They’d been happy with her work, she might even find more work from their friends. But how long could that last?

But she probably couldn’t leave. All messages were routed through the central messaging system. The academy might not let her message go through. Besides, what would she do on Secundus? Lashtar was right—she didn’t fit in there any more than she did here. The academy might be a hostile environment, but she was learning real skills.

What Quinn didn’t understand is why Gianna was targeting her. Gianna was finishing her final year and she probably had a guaranteed position, because of her connections, if not her skills. So why pick on poor little Quinn? Just because she was the newest? It didn’t make any sense at all.

Quinn started mopping again, aware of time ticking away. Could she ask? Should she ask? The students wouldn’t know, but an instructor might. Maybe Switz or Hawke? Would either of them be sympathetic enough?

No matter who she might ask, she’d have to find a non-obvious question, a way to lead the conversation that way gradually. She couldn’t afford to raise suspicions.

She finished cleaning, cleaned herself, and ran down the stairs. In the kitchen, a warm box waited for her with a note “for Quinn” on the top. Could she trust it? They might make her sick or poison her. Well, at least she’d get out of the work. Or die, then it would all be over. Quinn shrugged. What did she have to lose? Quinn opened the box. An egg sandwich. She pulled it apart, but it looked and smelled normal. Good even. She gobbled it, grateful to have real, hot food, but aware she was cutting the time close. She left the box in the autocleaner and ran to class.

Getting to her seat just before Instructor Stefano entered, she breathed a sigh of relief. That relief was short-lived. Stefano entered, glaring at her. What did she do to him? Quinn couldn’t take much more of this. The next two hours passed like eight. Every question was aimed at her and Stefano’s biting wit was on full display. She’d cry, but she refused to give him the satisfaction. Even the students who hated her the most seemed sympathetic.

“Student Quinn, stay. The rest of you are dismissed.”

The other students ran out the door, jamming it up in their hurry to leave the tower of anger and impatience the normally even-tempered Instructor Stefano had become.

Quinn stood by her desk, straight and tall. She wouldn’t let this man intimidate her.

“My office, Student Quinn.”

Uh oh. She followed him out the back door of the classroom, almost jogging to keep up with his long strides. She’d never been back here—it was off-limits to students unless escorted by an instructor. Stefano marched down the narrow hall, passing many closed doors, all with nameplates of classrooms, then instructors. He opened one door, motioned her inside, and slammed it shut behind her. Quinn stayed by the door, in case she needed to make a quick escape. She’d never gotten any truly creepy feelings about Stefano, but some people were better at hiding than others.

Leaving her standing there, he walked behind his desk and sat. “Student Quinn, I do not understand what you are doing here. You seem to be incapable of answering the simplest questions or studying enough to answer those questions. You are wasting my time.”

Quinn stared straight ahead, unwilling to let this man see her pain. Catching glimpses of him sweeping through screens and doing something on his desk as he ranted at her, she tipped her head down slightly to see better.

“Ah. Prerecorded vid in place.” Stefano’s voice was calm. “Have a seat, Quinn. Sorry about that, had to make it clear to the administration that I was falling in line with their plans.”

Quinn sat, but considered him warily. It could be a trap.

“Yes, this could be a trap. But at this point, what do you have left to lose?” He quirked his lips and brows.

“Nothing.”

“Except you do. Your life and your freedom.” His face and voice were grim. “You must be wondering why everyone is targeting you, right?”

“Yes, Instructor Stefano, I am.”

“Unfortunately for you, you arrived at exactly the wrong time. As I’m sure you have guessed, a Familia organization bought this school about two months ago. Since your arrival, you have attracted the attention of two powerful individuals. One is Gianna. She’s not just a student here, but the daughter of a very high-ranking individual in Familia who spoils her. She’s a terrible person. You’re much better at everything net related than she’ll ever be, and you’re pretty in a way she will never be, because you’re kind, and that gives you inner beauty. Also, you don’t back down. All of that makes you a perfect target for her.” He snorted.

Stefano shook his head. “You have a much bigger problem, though. You’ve attracted the attention of Familia’s Head Enforcer, Enzo. He has a lot of power. In disputes between Familia, he’s the one who punishes the loser. In many cases, that means death, for a lot of people, and the destruction of businesses and organizations. He’s told the staff they must test you, push your limits, so he can see what you’re made of beyond your extreme fitness challenge performances.”

Shock jolted through Quinn. People were watching her train?

Stefano scowled. “I hate to tell you this, but your determination is your downfall. You’ll do much better if you whine and cry and carry on. Enzo hates crying women. If he sees you like that, he’ll leave you alone. And if Enzo isn’t interested in you, then Gianna might not hate you quite as much either.” He shrugged. “Or so I hope. Either way, at this point you have little to lose by trying the whining and crying route because your fortitude is backfiring. Quinn, you must break down. Whine, cry, sob. Do it all and often, then they might leave you alone.” He shook his head, glowering. “Maybe. It’s your only chance to survive.”

Quinn bit her lip. “If I do, it might become real.”

“I’m so, so sorry. You’re smart and you’re good at net work—really good. I know this situation is horrible, and under normal circumstances, I would never advise you to take this course, but it’s the only solution I can see for now.” He sighed. “And to make everything worse, this is the only time I can do this, Quinn. If I try to talk to you in private again, I’ll probably end up dead.”

Stefano closed his eyes and dropped his head, rubbing his eyes for a moment. Then he looked up, straight into her eyes. “If you get the chance to leave this school, such as a trip to town, do it. Don’t hesitate. Run, far away, and don’t come back. Don’t return to Cygnus either. You need to hide, somewhere Familia can’t find you easily. Do whatever you have to do to survive. I’ll make sure you get extra lessons, so you can get ahead, and if I ever hear that you are going on a trip outside the Academy grounds, I’ll do my best to get a clean e-torc and a credit chip to you, but I can’t promise it will happen.”

He swallowed hard and stood. “Now, leave. Break into tears and run. If you run to the end of the hallway, you’ll end up outside, near the dorms. You’re already late for your next class, so just run to your dorm room. Tell them I said you were terrible at this, you have no talent, no drive, no ability. Cry and whine when you get in trouble. Understood?”

Quinn dropped her head and sniffled. “I don’t want to, but I will.” She looked up at him again. “Thank you. May the Mother bless you.”

“Take care, Quinn. Safe folds.” He swallowed hard and blinked rapidly, then turned away, doing something on his holo.

She squeezed her eyes shut, thought about how she felt today during class, and let herself feel the fear and despair. A sob broke loose, surprisingly loud. Quinn fell into her emotions and bawled. She stumbled to the door and opened it, and ran down the hall, one hand on the wall because she was crying so hard she couldn’t see. By the Mother, she hated everything about this place.

Scrubbing the tears away enough to see, she ran back to the dorm and up the stairs, slamming into her room and plopping down on the bed. Quinn cried, wailed and sobbed until she was dehydrated.

Her door hit the wall with a bang. “Student Quinn Cygnus, you have class,” House Mistress Vormer snapped. “Why are you here? What is this unseemly display?”

Quinn ignored her and kept blubbering.

A hand clamped on her shoulder and rolled her over, then shook her. “I asked you a question, Student Quinn.”

She blinked up at Vormer. “Why?” she wailed. “Why bother? They all say I’m terrible, I’ll never succeed, they all hate me, so why?”

Vormer dropped her and stepped back. “Why? Because you have a duty and a debt. You are here, you are a student, you will go to class, study and do your chores, or you will not like the results.”

“What debt? I’m here on scholarship and the Sisters paid for half of my school.” Quinn wiped her eyes and blew her nose.

Vormer snorted. “Your scholarship is repaid by service. You owe three years of work for every year here. The tiny amount your precious Sisters paid is nothing, it doesn’t even cover the cost of your food.”

“What?!” Quinn stared up at Vormer with real horror. “That’s not true. I read every word of the paperwork. It was a scholarship, not an indentured servant contract!”

“That was under the old owners. The updated terms are right here, in your files, Student Quinn,” Vormer sneered, sweeping a link to her e-torc. “It’s stated very clearly. If you didn’t bother to read these, that’s not my problem.”

“I read everything! This wasn’t here!”

“It certainly was. Student Quinn, calling me a liar will not end well for you.” The narrow-eyed glare promised retribution.

Quinn stared up at the harridan. Suddenly recalling Stefano’s advice, she dropped her head and started wailing again.

“Student Quinn, stop this nonsense immediately. You will control yourself, clean up, and go to class. Now.”

Quinn kept crying and wailing. She wasn’t faking it—indenture was one step up from slavery. In most cases, it was slavery, because somehow, the terms of the contract were never completed. How would she ever get out of this? Especially with Familia.

“Totally unsuitable.” Vormer turned on her heel and spoke over her shoulder. “You are confined to quarters. A meal will be brought to you. You will keep both bathrooms and the public areas on this floor sparkling for the next seven days.” At the door, she turned back. “After that, you will conduct yourself properly, or the next punishment will be worse. Do you understand?”

Quinn just cried harder. Now, she wasn’t faking it. All alone, no hope of rescue, enemies everywhere, nothing but a cleaning drudge, and the possibility of worse? Why not cry? There was nothing else left to do.

#

Quinn stood in the girl’s bathroom with her mop. Suzette sneered at her and shoved her, hard. Making it look like part of her stumble, Quinn wacked her ankle with the mop handle with a loud crack. Suzette wailed.

“Sorry,” Quinn muttered from her half-collapsed position against the wall. “It was an accident.”

One of the other girls helped Suzette limp out and the others glared on their way out.

When they were gone, Quinn started cleaning. Most of it wasn’t too bad, but it took a long time. Probably because she just didn’t care. Why go fast? She was stuck here all day, doing nothing but cleaning. Her access to everything else was cut off. The only thing that came over her e-torc was school-wide announcements and messages directly to her—assignments she couldn’t complete because she wasn’t allowed access to the student net.

She finished that sani-mod and started on the next. When she got back to her room, her only meal of the day waited—a plain plas package with a single emergency ration. She wasn’t hungry, but Quinn swallowed a glass of water and ate it slowly. She’d learned if she didn’t eat it all, the rest disappeared. After she finished, she drank another glass of water, hoping to stop the renewed rumbling of her partially-satisfied stomach. Then she started cleaning the hallway. She wanted to sleep, but she wasn’t allowed to. Even at night, she only got an hour or two at a time, alarms ringing at unpredictable times. After six days of cleaning, the entire place sparkled. And her head swam if she stood up too quickly.

Polishing the baseboards with a cloth, she stopped when a pair of feet appeared. Looking up, she saw the face of Fitness Instructor Switz. “What, by all that is holy, are you doing?”

“Cleaning, Instructor Switz.”

“Why?”

“Because that is my assigned task.”

“Stand up!”

Quinn climbed slowly to her feet, putting a hand on the wall when black dots spun around her.

“What in—Vormer! What are you doing to this child!” Switz yelled into her holo.

It must be in privacy mode because Quinn couldn’t hear Vormer’s reply.

“She’s about to pass out, you idiot,” Switz snarled. “She was muscle and bone six days ago, now she’s just bone. She was an extreme athlete. She’s cannibalizing her muscles to stay alive. You could survive such a thing just fine, but she cannot. She was a growing child and you’ve just set that growth back, significantly. Stupid woman.” She swept the holo away, glaring. “Come, Student Quinn, let’s get you to the medico.” Switz wrapped an arm around her and half-carried her down the stairs. “Stupid, stupid, stupid.”

Quinn wasn’t sure if Switz meant her or Vormer. She didn’t care. Finally, they reached a medico station, the sharp smell of disinfectant rousing her. Switz settled her on the med float. Appendages appeared and attached themselves, including a clamp around her arm, followed by a needle and fluid. Switz waited until the diagnosis appeared, read it, and stomped away.

Quinn read the diagnoses on the holo above her. Electrolyte imbalance, sudden weight loss, muscle tone atrophy, possible sleep deprivation, poor physical condition overall. Without treatment, death by starvation was possible. Assess for eating disorders.

Quinn tried to laugh, but couldn’t. Was not allowed to eat considered an eating disorder? Unintelligible, strident voices penetrated the medico walls, growing from two women to a third and a couple of men. She didn’t feel sorry for Vormer, not one little bit. Vormer deserved verbal abuse and more for her stupidity.

The medico chimed. Electrolytes and glucose would be administered slowly in a warm solution, to avoid shock. The patient was counseled to sleep, but medication wasn’t recommended due to possible unintended side effects. Quinn closed her eyes against the pain of sudden hope. Not willing to consider a foolish notion, she concentrated on her breathing and prayed to the Mother for oblivion.

A chime sounded and Quinn woke. Blinking, she tried to wipe the sleep away from her eyes, but she couldn’t move her arm. She looked down her body, seeing her right arm was clamped to the bed, an IV flowing into it. Oh. Now she remembered. She was in the medico—she’d gotten up to use the sani-mod a couple of times, then dropped right back into sleep. She looked at her left arm; it was free. Quinn swiped at the holo above her for her patient status. Electrolytes and fluids back in balance, feeding protocols prescribed, bed rest for another day, then a slow return to activity.

The question was, would the Academy actually allow her to slowly recover? She probably shouldn’t have taken Stefano’s suggestion to such an extreme. Quinn snorted. Like she’d had a choice. But she’d learned a valuable lesson: she was vulnerable in a way she hadn’t previously considered. And reasonable reactions sometimes created unreasonable reactions.

“Ah, Student Quinn, you are awake.” Despite her medico-green clothing, the woman who entered had the Familia look and Quinn’s heart sank. “Excellent. Since you were deprived of adequate nutrition and rest for a relatively short time, I think your recovery will be relatively short as well and you’ll be back to normal activity soon. I’ve put together a schedule for you, based on your previous student schedule.” The woman’s heavy dark brows formed a deep V. “I have reviewed your records and many vids of your experiences. Changes are being put in place to avoid further issues between students. This kind of harassment is not appropriate. Additional staff training has been mandated as well.”

She held up a hand. “I understand you may not think this will be in your best interest since others are bound to blame you for their poor behavior. I have recommended you be enrolled in a different school, but I hear this isn’t possible. So, I have made it clear the medico community here at Adzari will be monitoring you often and at random times. I believe some of the administration will also be monitoring you. While I would normally tell a student to ignore bullies unless physical harm results, in your case, you will notify me immediately of any and all issues. Is this understood?”

“Yes, Medico…” Quinn winced, knowing she couldn’t name the woman.

“Medico Lucia. You’ll get your e-torc back shortly.” Lucia did something and the needle on her arms was withdrawn, a sealant sprayed on, and the clamp withdrawn. “Your clothes are there, on the chair,” Lucia pointed toward Quinn’s feet. “Let’s get you up, slowly, and then you can get dressed.” Lucia helped her sit up and get out of the bed, waiting until Quinn was steady.

The room didn’t spin, nor did black spots appear, but she did feel weak. “Medico Lucia, how long have I been here?”

She chuckled. “About forty-eight hours. Most of those, you were asleep. Trust me, you needed it. Follow my prescriptions, Quinn, including the full amount of sleep, and you’ll be back to extreme athletic pursuits soon. Then Switz will get off my back.” The last was muttered.

“Thank you, Medico Lucia.”

“You’re welcome, Student Quinn. By the way, Student Gianna will no longer be a problem. Her family found they needed her at home. Hopefully, she’ll be doing something better suited to her talents.” Lucia’s nose wrinkled. “Most of her instructors tell me she won’t be missed. Student Suzette has been moved to a different school since her inclinations seem to run more to business than net. I’m sure she’ll do well there. Take advantage of this time, Student Quinn. Try to forge some connections here so you’re not alone when the next bully pops up because you know one will. Oh, and try to avoid the third-years, boys and girls.” Lucia scowled. “Gianna was quite popular.”

Great. Like she could do that easily. But maybe with Gianna gone, some of the first-year students would be friendly. “Thank you, Medico Lucia, for your care.”

“You are welcome. Don’t waste it.” The door shut on Medico Lucia’s frowning face.

Quinn got to her feet and left the small medico facility. If she remembered correctly, the rest of the academy wasn’t too far away. She set off down the path at a slow walk but had to rest at the next bench. A float bike zipped by her, then turned back. “Student Quinn, what are you doing?”

“Going back to the dorms, Instructor Stefano.” She stood, unwilling to give the man who, unwittingly or not, engineered her downfall any kind of advantage.

“I am certain you are not supposed to be walking any great distances yet, Student Quinn.”

She sighed. “Well, I have to get back to the dorms somehow, don’t I?”

“You should have called for a ride.”

“I don’t have my e-torc.”

His head dropped to his chest. “Of course.” He huffed and raised his head. “Because it’s on my desk for reprogramming. Your health will now be monitored continuously.” His mouth twisted and he shrugged. “Get on.” Stefano pushed his thumb over his shoulder. “I’ll give you a lift and bring your e-torc to you after that.”

“Is that allowed?”

“I don’t care, Student Quinn, because I’m not letting you collapse and relapse. Get on.” He spoke staring straight ahead.

Quinn sighed and climbed on the lift bike. She had no choice but to put her arms around the instructor, so she did, lightly.

He started forward gently and gradually gained speed, but not much. Riding along the paths, it was only a minute or two before they reached the dorms.

“Thank you, Instructor Stefano, for the ride.”

“You are welcome, Student Quinn. I’ll send your e-torc over shortly.” He zipped away without a glance. He didn’t like being near her but wouldn’t leave her to stumble along either. Maybe this is what having an older brother was like? Stefano was probably as close to it as she’d ever come.

Taking a deep breath, Quinn entered the dorm. No one in sight. She started up the stairs, resting at each landing, and made her way down the hallway to her room. Entering her room, she was relieved to see nothing had been touched or moved. Good. She didn’t feel like cleaning, that was for sure. She didn’t really feel like staying here, either, but right now, she had no choice. She laid back on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

A knock sounded. “Come in.”

Lise stuck her head in. “Can I come in?”

“I said so, didn’t I?”

She shrugged. “Yes but…” Lise flicked her fingers. “It doesn’t matter. Here’s your e-torc.” She held it out to Quinn. “Instructor Stefano asked me to give it to you.”

“Thanks.” Quinn took it and slid it around her neck. She didn’t feel the relief she’d normally feel. No, she felt trapped.

“Quinn?” Lise asked plaintively.

“Yes?”

“Can we start over? Now that Suzette and Gianna are gone, I’d like to see if we can be friends. We all would.”

Quinn forced a smile. “Sure, we can try.”

“Oh, good. Why don’t you come to dinner with us tonight?” Lise’s relief seemed real.

“Okay.” She nodded. “Thanks.”

“Of course. I’ll come get you.” Lise shut the door quietly.

Quinn pulled up her e-torc interface. A medico alert waited, so she brought that up first. Oh, her recovery schedule. This didn’t look too bad, except asking for special meals at the dining facility was bound to bring unwelcome attention. Nothing to be done about that, was there? Something seemed different about her interface. She swept through the screens and files. Well, it was faster for one. And…interesting. A privacy mode? She never had that before. Quinn bit her lip and pulled it up. A message waited, but it didn’t have a “From” field filled in.

Well, what did she have to lose? Quinn selected it. The message flashed and said, “Identity confirmed. Standby.” Dread warred with hope. Finally, the message came up. “Quinn, this is a message for your eyes only. Only access this messaging system while you are out walking or jogging the farther reaches of the campus. Or the Adzari garden, never in your room or any academy building. Next time you access this system, you will be asked for a passphrase, a six-digit personal identification number and to hold up both hands for printing.”

Quinn shrugged. Why not try?  If it was a trick, they wouldn’t spring anything on her for just accessing it; after all, it was on her academy-supplied e-torc, recently inspected by Instructor Stefano.

“Once you have completed this task, the system will let us know. If someone other than you uses your e-torc, this message and system will disappear. We’ll find a way to get it to you again. Hang on. Help is coming.”

Quinn took a breath, hope lightening her thoughts, but it crashed quickly. It was a trick, that was all, just a mean trick. She swept it away and decided a nap before dinner was a better idea than trying to make it down and back up the stairs again for a minuscule chance of help. She locked her door and slept.

#

Lise set a tray down in front of Quinn. “Yours looks better than ours.”

“Thanks. Trust me, you don’t want to do what I did just for better food.”

“No, I suppose not,” Selena said. “Besides, I’m not an athlete. If I ate that, it would go straight to my hips.” She giggled softly, drawing the attention of the boys at the next table. Not that she needed to giggle—she was beautiful. Warm tan skin, long, thick, dark brown hair, big milk chocolate eyes, and lush lips, curved in a secretive smile, Selena was a boy’s favorite dream. “I have enough trouble with the fitness instructors.” She frowned at her salad.

“You have good reflexes, Student Selena, you should try tennis or handball,” Zara said. Tall and thin, with espresso-dark skin and eyes, Zara was elegant and ran like the wind.

Selena shuddered. “Balls whizzing at my face? No, thank you.”

“When you put some effort into it, you can dance,” Issa said. Isabella was Familia; she claimed it proudly. She had been a competitive dancer until an ankle injury prevented her from serious training.

“That’s my only saving grace,” Selena said. “I shake my hips and they all lose their minds.” She laughed and wrinkled her nose.

“They’re sexy hips,” Tai said. “I wish I had hips or any shape at all.” Tai’s heritage looked similar to Quinn’s: black hair, tilted dark brown eyes, and umber skin. Tai was a little taller than Quinn, but not by much.

“Me too,” Quinn told her.

“You two are tiny,” Mariah said. She was tall and broad, light-skinned with pale blue eyes. A powerlifter, she’d been ranked at the constellation level, but decided she hated it when she hit puberty. Her parents weren’t happy with her decision and shipped her off here, but she loved net work, so it had worked out well from her perspective.

“They might grow still.” Amaya shrugged. “They’re still young.” At sixteen, she was the oldest first-year student. Cinnamon-brown skin, dark chocolate eyes, heavy, dark brown hair, and eyebrows, with a rather beaky nose, Amaya wasn’t conventionally pretty, but she seemed nicer than most of the girls. Maybe because she knew what it was like to be shunned. She said her family sent her here over religious differences.

“I doubt it,” Tai replied. “I look like my aunts. Student Quinn looks a lot like some of the other families on Hiro, so I doubt she’ll grow either.”

“Shh. Don’t say that,” Issa hissed.

“Why not?” Lise asked. “It’s pretty obvious.”

Issa shook her head almost violently. “No, it isn’t. So, Student Selena, why not dance for your fitness?” she asked in a much louder tone.

“Because they all lose their minds!” She flung her hands up. “Dance is supposed to be fun. They make it work.” Selena pouted.

Quinn and the rest laughed. Switz and the other fitness instructors did have a way of sucking joy out of their workouts. It seemed odd to Quinn—they were in a net school, not in some university where they could compete at a constellation level. But everything was odd here and it was getting stranger by the day. When she went looking for the documents Mistress Vormer told her about, committing her to repay her schooling with service, she found nothing. Quinn was sure they’d spring it on all of them right before graduation.

Don’t think about that right now, Quinn! She pasted a happy smile back on her face.

“Students should be eating, not chatting,” Vormer sneered. “Especially you, Quinn. You must recover quickly.”

“Yes, Mistress Vormer,” Quinn said meekly, the others chiming in. Quinn ate, trying to enjoy the unusually good food, but it was hard with Vormer glaring at her. Vormer blamed Quinn for the mess she’d created with her starvation work plan. Quinn wanted to glare back, but her life was miserable enough. She didn’t need to make it worse.

“After dinner, Selena, you will accompany Quinn while she does her prescribed walking. You need to exceed your step count requirement.” Vormer stomped away.

“Cow,” Selena muttered. Lise punched her arm and Selena rolled her eyes. “She needs the exercise more than I do.” She huffed, exasperated, at their attempts to shush her. “It will be my pleasure to accompany you, Student Quinn.”

“Thanks, Student Selena. I’ll be happy to have company.” She kept shoveling food in her mouth until she couldn’t eat another bite. “Ugh. Too full. You guys have the rest.”

“Are you sure? You’re supposed to eat all of it,” Amaya said.

“I really can’t. I’m stuffed.”

After casting a few glances around, the girls made short work of the rest.

“Oh, that is good,” Selena moaned. “Good thing there isn’t more.”

Quinn smiled. They might be forced to include her, but at least she could sweeten the deal a little. “Are you ready to get the mandatory walk done?”

“Sure. May as well get it over,” Selena said.

“We’ll see you back at the dorm,” Lise said.

“Sure.” Quinn got up and Selena joined her, walking out of the dining hall and down the path away from the dorms.

“How far are you supposed to go?” Selena asked.

“Just a kilometer today, two tomorrow, three the next. Then I can add in some jogging.” Quinn grimaced.

“Ugh. That sounds horrible.”

“It’s depressing. I could sprint a kilometer and easily run ten before all this.”

“I don’t understand why this hit you so hard and so fast,” Selena said. “I know you’re thin and small, but still…”

Quinn grimaced. “They said it’s because I was under so much stress and training at a very high level. Most people would be just fine after five days of almost no food, but not me. Aren’t I lucky?”

Selena shrugged. “Actually, you are. You could be dead. It’s a good thing Instructor Switz came looking for you because all of us were too scared to say anything.” She sighed. “I’m really sorry about that. We were scared, but that’s not a good excuse for letting someone almost die.”

Quinn sighed. “I get it. I really do. I think we’re all scared. If I wasn’t so scared, I would have confronted someone or asked for help. Instead, I convinced myself I was worthless. I know I’m not, but after weeks of being told that…”

“And I get that. I am truly sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Quinn scanned the area. “Hey, the Adzari garden is right there. Want to come with me for my mandated rest period?”

“Ugh. I have two more kilometers to walk than you do. How about you go rest, I’ll walk and come back and pick you up? You have plenty of study materials to catch up on, right?”

“Yes. Great idea. See you in a bit.”

“Half an hour or so,” Selena said, sauntering off.

Quinn snorted. At the pace Selena was walking, it would be more like an hour. One of the second-year boys jogged up to her, then fell in next to her. A giggle floated back. Quinn chuckled. Maybe even longer.

Quinn walked into the Azari garden, looking around. It was beautiful, but it would be very easy to hide multiple vids in here. On the other hand, this is one of the places the message said was safe. Quinn sat on a bench and brought up some of her net homework. Working through it, she finished it quickly. She brought up the next homework assignment, but also brought up the message.

If there were vids here, and someone inside the school sent her the message, then they should have enough vid of her sitting here, working, to loop it and fool the casual observer.

“Set a passphrase, a six-digit personal identification number, and hold up both hands for printing.”

Quinn said, “Passphrase: Ferra is a sand flea.”

“Passphrase saved. Six digits?”

“170142.”

“PIN saved. Hold up both hands, and stare straight ahead, please.”

Quinn did so.

“Security complete. You will be notified over the normal messaging system. The sender will be Administrator Swan and all security items will be required to decrypt the message. System entering dormant mode.”

Everything disappeared except for her homework. Huh. Well, she’d have to wait and see what happened, if anything. Quinn started her next homework assignment, determined to learn as much as she could no matter what happened.

#

Quinn laughed with Selena. Poor Mariah was so easy to tease. Unlike Selena, who would keep a joke going long after it ceased to be funny, Quinn couldn’t stand to see anyone unhappy for long. “We’re just kidding, Mariah,” Quinn told her, sweeping the real net program she’d written into the shared student space.

“Ohh, you two!” Mariah glared. “Why did I save your ungrateful hide?” She looked shocked for a moment and clapped both hands over her mouth.

Quinn stared at her, astounded. Mariah was the one who told Switz Quinn was in trouble?

Selena laughed long and hard, with her entire body, and then got up and danced around the room. “Fooled you! Hah. You’ll always save my sexy self, Student Mariah. You just can’t help yourself, because I’m that awesome.”

Quinn laughed with Selena, her laughter sounding far more forced than Selena’s. Thank the Mother for Selena, because her quick reactions had saved them from unwanted attention several times.

Mariah glared at her. “Yeah, yeah. This better be perfect, Student Selena.” She turned back and started working to incorporate their parts of the program into her framework. “I know I don’t have to worry about Student Quinn, but you…”

Quinn let her laughter die and went back to working on the documentation for the program. Documentation was the worst. So boring. But she knew it was important because part of their lessons was attempting to use the net programs the other groups designed. Sometimes, that was practically impossible because the instructions were so bad. A clever interface couldn’t make up for everything.

They’d been warned that in future lessons, they would need to incorporate all the small group efforts into a larger whole, which meant finding and correcting the mistakes of others. None of them wanted to make that difficult, because their class rank depended not only on their individual efforts but on their willingness to be team players and their leadership skills.

Quinn concentrated on her task because she knew her face gave away her thoughts too easily. If she let herself think about Mariah’s statement, she might cry. She’d always wondered who tipped Switz off; Switz herself told Quinn she’d been left a written message saying Quinn’s life was in danger and she had no idea who wrote or delivered it. Mariah made sense because she used the same part of the fitness facilities Quinn and Switz did, but Quinn had always thought Mariah barely tolerated her, let alone liked her enough to risk disobeying Vollmer.

But, Mariah’s sense of right and wrong was very black and white. She followed the rules until she thought they were wrong, then she fought them long past any hope of winning or even stalemate. She’d been threatened with expulsion several times, but it didn’t seem to bother her much. Probably because her parents still loved and supported her, despite Mariah crushing their hopes and dreams of making her a Universe-wide sports star. Mariah had brothers who were already stars, and she planned to support the family business with her net skills. She didn’t need to graduate for that; she was good enough right now.

Quinn dropped some hints, but it seemed most of the other first-year students hadn’t been threatened with the changed school contract. Whether that was because President Rias Bel was going to spring it on them later, just before graduation, or because some of them had powerful parents, Quinn didn’t know. She did know that Lise, Zara, Tai, and most of the first-year boys were in the same boat she was; poor and dependent on scholarships, mostly directly from Adzari Academy.

She didn’t trust any of the students fully. Any one of them could be reporting on her to the administration, willingly or not. The altered scholarship contract had appeared in the special messaging system, then disappeared after she read it. She hadn’t seen any other messages come through, and she still didn’t know if the people running the system were really trying to help her or if it was all a sick game on the part of the Academy.

Quinn finished off the documentation. “Done.”

“Good,” Mariah said. “And great job on the program, too. Student Selena, you’re a pain but when you actually work, you do a good job. I’ve integrated all of it, and it’s running smoothly. If you two want to test it, I’ll review the documentation.”

“Of course, Student Mariah.”

“Sure,” Selena said. “Then it’s dinner time! Finally.”

Quinn laughed. Trust Selena to concentrate on the important things.

#

“Come on, Quinn, you have to have some fun,” Selena said.

“Student Selena, that’s Student Quinn to you,” Vormer’s unpleasant voice said.

“Oh, of course, House Mistress Vormer. It won’t happen again,” Selena blinked up at her innocently.

Quinn kept her face straight with some effort, but she managed it. Selena said, “it won’t happen again,” time after time, but the Administration’s efforts to change her were useless. Last time she’d been punished, restricted to her dorm room, her father, a popular politician here on Omicron, showed up for a visit and took her away for three days. When Selena came back, her family brought a big party along with them: food, drinks, and a dance band, setting up everything in a big tent on one of the sports fields. They also brought local media along to vid Selena’s father making a big donation to the Academy’s scholarship fund—President Rias Bel’s jaw was so tight, Quinn thought she might break teeth.

No one knew how Selena was getting word to her family, but Quinn suspected code words similar to hers. Every week Quinn sent a message back to the Sisters, including the code words telling them not to send anyone else. She had no idea if her messages were getting through—she’d only gotten one back from the Sisters shortly after she got here. Quinn wouldn’t even bother sending more, but the Administration insisted.

“Well, Student Quinn?” Selena asked archly. “What else are you going to do? Sit in your room and study? So boring. Come on, it’s not like we’re going dive hopping in the spaceport; we’re going to my family’s compound on North Island. It’s very safe and secure.” Selena tilted her head and tapped her lips. “I know! What if I let you talk to the security guys on the compound! You can ask them all kinds of questions and stuff. But!” She held up a finger. “You have to make time for me and enjoy yourself. You only get an hour a day with security.”

Quinn bit her lip. “Two.”

“One and a half.” Selena raised a single brow.

“Deal.”

“You’re so ridiculous. This shouldn’t even be a discussion!” Selena threw up her hands. “Who else turns down a chance to relax someplace beautiful?”

Someone who won’t be allowed to leave the Academy? The question was, how badly would it impact Selena’s family?

“But…”

Selena scowled. “But?”

“Only if the Administration allows it. If they don’t, please don’t fight it. Please?” Quinn widened her eyes pleadingly.

Selena narrowed her eyes in return. “Agreed. I understand. My father has fought the Administration enough lately.”

And she was sure Selena understood more than Quinn knew.

#

Unfortunately, Quinn was right. At the shuttle pad, Selena hugged her. “Get out of your room, girl, even if I’m not here to drag you out.” She stood back and took Quinn by the shoulders. “Take care. Best of luck.” Her expression was mournful and Quinn knew Selena wasn’t coming back. Selena hugged her tight again, then let her go.

“You too, Selena.” Quinn forced a smile. “May the Mother bless us both.”

Selena walked to her father, sliding an arm around his waist, and he pulled her in close, his arm around her shoulder.

What would it be like to have someone care that much about you? Someone willing to fight Familia for you? Selena and her father waved at her from the hatch, then the Quinn had to leave the area. The shuttle took off, taking her best friend with it.

Well, at least she had other friends here. Selena was the most fun, but the rest of them still had each other. And she knew Selena was safe—that was worth the pain of losing her.

#

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Quinn of Cygnus Copyright © 2020 by AM Scott. All Rights Reserved.

Chapter Five — Quinn of Cygnus

This is an unedited draft. While the main story won’t change, you may find some awkward phrasing, typos, and some fine details will be missing. I’ll also be adding additional background for people who haven’t read the Folding Space Series.  I’ll publish a new chapter every week. Enjoy!

See Chapter One here.

Chapter Five

 

Quinn woke to her alarm—a harsh clanging from her e-torc—and swept it away. Ow. Moving that quickly was a mistake. She put her arm down and took stock of her body. The outside of both arms were bruised and achy. So were her legs and buttocks. A few other, lesser bruises too, but nothing critical. She could sleep another half hour, but she was awake now, so she’d be better off getting up and using the bathroom before the other girls showed up.

Rising slowly, she ran through a series of gentle stretches and a warmup then took clean clothes with her to the sani-mod. Quinn entered cautiously but there was no one else inside. She picked the very last stall and put her clothes where she could see them, just in case someone decided to try and take them. Fortunately, she was finished and dressed before anyone else entered. Returning to her room, she studied the rules until ten minutes before breakfast. Exiting her room, she found all the other first-year students were also leaving. None of them would meet her eyes. Despite that, Quinn greeted every single one of them by name, determined to show them she had no hard feelings and that she wouldn’t be cowed so easily. They all walked to the dining hall together, lining up for food in a group. So, lesson learned, first-years went through the line first, letting the upper classes sleep in. Would third-years eat first or last for lunch?

She got her food—some sort of egg pie with root vegetables—and looked for Tiber, Ekon, or Bran. She found them at the same table at the back of the room and walked over, unsure if she’d be welcome. As she neared, they gave her tight-lipped glances and small shakes of her head. Message received. Quinn sat at a table by herself and ate quickly. Even though she could feel the hostile gazes, she refused to cower or scurry away. She knew displaying weakness made bullies bolder and more persistent. But Quinn also knew that sometimes, bullies got worse no matter what. If she was going down, she’d go down swinging.

Finished with her food, she pulled up her schedule and walked to the testing center, which was on the first floor of the lab building. Quinn didn’t try to enter the room, not knowing if that would violate some protocol or not. She found a small area outside the rooms with hard chairs and sat, studying the rules.

Many of the rules were unfortunately contradictory. That was undoubtedly on purpose, so the instructors could twist them whatever way they chose.

Quinn chuckled to herself. Weirdly, she had to thank “Mother” Ferra and the evil Inquisitors for the idea. Ferra, as the former leader of the Sisters of Cygnus, knew the rules inside and out and twisted them to make dissent almost impossible. The Inquisitors, the vicious exploratory miners supporting themselves by pillaging the surrounding communities, had no real rules, except the strong survive by force and caring about anyone else was a weakness. Those final weeks before they escaped Cygnus Gliese were terrifying. At the time, she was too young to understand fully, but later, the Sisters made sure they all knew exactly what happened and how people could manipulate and abuse others, both subtly and obviously. Ferra’s machinations were a study in expert-level abuse of power.

If Quinn had come to Adzari Academy straight from her previous, comparatively sheltered life with the Sisters on Gliese, she’d be completely overwhelmed and bewildered. But now Quinn knew, in a place where the rules were everything, knowing them inside and out was her best defense. Knowing she was utterly alone, she had to maximize her defenses. Offense would have to come later when she discovered Gianna’s weak points.

She also had to remember Gianna wasn’t her only enemy. Some of the instructors, and certainly the house master, possibly the house mistress, might be enemies, or at least not fair advocates. Quinn was sure they were all expert manipulators. And they made the rules, and wouldn’t hesitate to change them if necessary. They’d have all this down to a science, Quinn was sure.

Would she be better off just leaving? Feeling so abandoned and alone made it hard to think, but she had to fight past that feeling. She didn’t know if everyone was against her; she only knew Gianna didn’t like her. She might be blowing all of this out of proportion. Being dumped with the Sisters as a baby predisposed her to assume she’d been discarded, but she knew the Sisters cared and her friends there cared. She might make friends here too. Maybe it would just take time.

She studied the rules and regulations until five minutes before the testing period, then tried the door. It opened, so she walked in, hoping that was the right thing to do. The rule book wasn’t clear on testing protocols—or anything else.

In the room, two rows of desks, all separated by clear plas dividers waited, empty. A man sat in a chair behind a desk at the front of the room. The man appeared rather old, with wrinkles and thinning, gray hair. His skin was pale, with some light brown splotches, and his hand shook slightly.

“First-year student Quinn Cygnus?” the man asked.

Quinn nodded and hurried to enable the tagging function again. “Yes, Instructor Hawke.”

“Early. Good. You’re in testing cubicle one.” He pointed, his tremor noticeable. “I can’t answer any questions. I’m only here to fix problems with the testing system. If it’s not working correctly, please let me know. Give me your e-torc before you enter the cubicle. Once you start, you’ll be given a break every hour for ten minutes. Work as quickly as you can, but don’t guess; wrong answers will count against you. This test will last all morning, possibly longer. If it goes longer, lunch will be brought to you. You cannot leave this room until you are finished. There is a sani-mod in the corner. Is this all clear?”

Quinn gave him a half-bow. “Yes, Instructor Hawke, thank you.” She pulled her e-torc off her neck and placed it on the desk, within his reach. If he was going to do something to it, good or bad, she wouldn’t make him work harder than he needed to. The tremor worried her. Most of these kinds of things were easily fixed even on Cygnus Secundus; there must be a reason he was suffering through such a thing. She had no reason to make his suffering worse.

“Time will start when you hit the start button inside the cubicle. Use the facilities now if you need to.”

“Thank you, Instructor Hawke.” Quinn did as he suggested, then entered the testing cubicle, closing the door behind her. It snapped shut with an ominous click. She sat, pleasantly surprised by the supportive comfort of the chair. In front of her, a curved one-eighty view screen, a keyboard, and a stylus. Interesting. Good to know they allowed manual input as well as virtual. Or maybe it was required, in case they were at a facility where virtual input wasn’t allowed?

Well, it didn’t matter now. It was time to start. Quinn adjusted her seat and desk so her feet were flat on the floor and the input devices at elbow height, then she reached out and hit the start button. A vid began, “Welcome to the Testing Center” and a long list of rules.

Quinn took a deep breath and concentrated. She planned to do well, but not great. Whether the testing protocol would allow that remained to be seen, but she’d try.

#

A chime sounded and the screen went dark. Quinn blinked, then shook herself. That was intense. She had no idea how she performed or even what the scale was. The door to the testing cubicle unlocked and she suddenly realized her bladder was painfully full and tummy was rumbling. She walked quickly to the sani-mod and took care of business, then returned to the front of the room, halting in front of the Instructor Hawke.

“Well, Student Quinn, it looks like we’ll be eating lunch together. Pull that chair over there up here and have a seat if you’d like.” He pointed to a chair stuck in the corner.

Quinn pulled the chair over, but asked, “Do you mind if I stretch and walk around a little until lunch arrives?”

He smiled. “Not at all. Please do. Sitting for so long can be difficult, especially for someone as young as you are. Fourteen standards, right?

Quinn opened her mouth to agree, then remembered. “No, Instructor Hawke, I’m only twelve standards.” She grinned. “Almost thirteen! But I was abandoned as a baby, so no one knows for sure.” She shrugged. That was true and had the advantage that she wasn’t telling a complete lie, just a partial one. Hopefully, if the Instructor’s questions were part of the testing protocol, he wouldn’t pick up on the prevarication, or if he did, her answer covered it. Quinn started walking, swinging her arms gently, trying to warm her stiff, bruised muscles gently.

“Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter. We got you here before you could be trapped into a terrible life on your dirt-poor planet.” His tone was flat, like he didn’t believe what he was saying.

“I am very grateful for the opportunity to learn, Instructor Hawke.” Quinn meant that but hoped it didn’t mean staking her life.

A person dressed in all white entered and put two containers on the Instructor’s desk. He said, “Thank you very much, Jons. We appreciate it.”

“Yes, thank you, Gentle,” Quinn said. The man nodded and walked out without a word.

“Please, Student Quinn, have a seat. Eat. Testing will begin again in no more than thirty minutes.”

Quinn did as he suggested. Opening the container, she found it contained a much better-looking meal than dinner. There was pasta and sauce, but with some sort of breaded protein patty; a salad, a vegetable, and a roll, along with more Tira.

“Well, this looks…hearty.” Instructor Hawke sighed. “I can’t talk about the testing process, but do you have other questions?”

Quinn debated but decided to ask. “I understand the Academy recently changed ownership. Are the new owners from this system or elsewhere?”

Instructor Hawke frowned but answered. “I believe they are headquartered in Vela, specifically Valenti. Don’t worry, they are very well qualified to run an educational academy. They own and operate many in a variety of disciplines. This is their first net school, I understand.”

His answer, both more than she asked and with a lot of real information, was heartening. What wasn’t heartening was the system involved. Everyone knew Familia ran Valenti and most of Vela. Oh! Suddenly, the common “look” of the administrative staff made sense. Dark hair, olive skin, brown eyes, long oval faces—these were hallmarks of Familia. Instructor Hawke must be part of the previous staff.

“Are you from here, Instructor Hawke?”

A smile flickered. “Yes. My family has been here since Omicron was colonized. Or invaded, according to the environmentalists.” He shrugged. “They have a point. Tetzlaff Forest is the only remaining native vegetation and plant life on this continent. There are a few native islands left elsewhere on the planet, but that’s it. Omicron’s soil is perfect for Old Earth vegetation and contains all the minerals and micronutrients needed for humans. Old Earth plants thrive under the blue-white sun. No one starves on Omicron unless they’re too old or decrepit to work the soil.” His ironic expression seemed to imply he was in that category, which might explain why he was still here.

“I see. Life on Cygnus Secundus is sort of similar. If you can get rid of the native vegetation, Old Earth plants grow very well and there are plenty of animals humans can eat, although humans are poisonous to the native animals in large quantities. The original colonists found that out the hard way. But beating back the native vegetation is a constant battle. It’s a hard life.”

“Thus, why you are here.”

Quinn nodded. “Partially. There’s not a lot of call for net experts on Secundus either. The Sisters wanted to make sure I had options.”

“I see.” He frowned.

Maybe she shouldn’t have said that? Quinn bit her lip. But it was easy enough to find out. Secundus was a subsistence-level, fringe-of-the-universe planet, despite the riches of adventure-planet Deneb practically next door. There just wasn’t a lot on Secundus. But she should change the subject.

“What else do you teach?”

“Ah, I teach history. So, you will see me again.” He nodded genially.

“I’ll enjoy learning more about the universe, that’s for sure.”

Another grimace. Had they changed what he was allowed to teach? “Well, Student Quinn, I see you have finished your food. You may have what remains of mine, or restart your testing.”

“Thank you, Instructor Hawke, but I don’t want to overeat and be sleepy. I’ll just start again and hope I’m done soon.” And that was no lie. She’d found out her so-called net expertise was pretty slim and her knowledge of events important to the universe at large—by the standards of this academy—was very small. She hadn’t even heard of half the historical and political events they asked about so she definitely didn’t know the answers to any question about them. She supposed some of the events might be fakes, to see if she was guessing after being warned not to, but they couldn’t all be phony. Those after-lunch history classes might not be so boring after all. If nothing else, Instructor Hawke seemed to be a nice man, especially in comparison to the House Master and Mistress.

Three rest periods later, Quinn was thrilled to see the “Test Complete” banner on the screen. Thanks be to the Mother! She let herself out of the test cubicle and walked to Instructor Hawke. “Thank you, Instructor Hawke, for your patience and your company at lunch.” Quinn bowed. “I appreciate it.”

He smiled at her. “You are welcome. Here is your e-torc. You are excused from any classes you were scheduled to attend now.” He grimaced. “However, House Mistress Vormer wants a word. Evidently, there is some issue at the girl’s dorm. Good luck. I’ll see you in class.”

Heart sinking, Quinn took her e-torc, noted the summons, and left the testing center. Fortunately, it was right in the middle of a class period, so there weren’t any other students around. She passed a few workers on her way back to the dorm, and greeted them on her way, a little dismayed their names weren’t displayed on her holo. The workers nodded in return but said nothing. Was that natural inclination or instruction from the new owners? None of the staff looked happy.

Quinn made her way to Mistress Vormer’s office and stood at the open door, waiting for her acknowledgment.

After a good five minutes, Vormer looked up and motioned for her to enter. Quinn walked in and stood in front of the desk.

“Student Quinn, did I not say you would be partially responsible for one of the bathrooms on your floor?”

“Yes, House Mistress Vormer, you did.”

“Then why does that bathroom look like this?” She pushed a vid over to Quinn’s holo.

The vid showed towels and toilet tissue strewn everywhere, puddles of water on the floor, and something smeared on the walls. Quinn swallowed hard. “I don’t know why, Mistress Vormer. When I left this morning it was clean. Who did this?”

Vormer scowled at her. “It does not matter who did it, Student Quinn. The schedule shows that you were responsible for cleaning this bathroom today. You should have stayed to make sure it was clean before going to breakfast. You will clean it now and you will keep it clean for the next seven days. If it is spotless every day, then the regular rotation will start again. Is this clear, Student Quinn?”

“Yes, Mistress Vormer.”

“Good. Dismissed.”

“Thank you, Mistress Vormer.” Quinn turned and walked away. She wanted to sulk, whine, and curse, but she wouldn’t give that awful woman or those horrible girls the satisfaction. Stopping in the kitchen, Quinn shoveled down some protein bars, fruit, and juice, then ran up the stairs to make sure she made it to the top floor before class got out.

As she ran upward, she realized—the school had vids in the girl’s bathrooms! Eww. Who could see those and what did they do with the vid? From the angle, that lens must be right over the entry door. Hopefully, they didn’t have vid of the individual stalls. Quinn shuddered violently. While she cleaned, she’d be checking very carefully, and figure out a way to block the vid lenses casually.

For the next seven days, she’d also be eating breakfast from the kitchen downstairs, because she’d need to leave last. She only hoped she could grab something and not be late to class because she wasn’t sure which option would be worse. She’d also have to go to bed late, or someone could destroy the place before she went to bed, and raise a fuss in the morning. Hmm. What if she took vid when she was done cleaning and posted it someplace public?

Quinn snorted at her ridiculousness. She was surrounded by net experts. They could alter the vid and the timestamp without her knowing. Quinn would record what she did on her e-torc, but she wouldn’t bother posting it anywhere.

One way or another, if the upper-class girls were determined to make her into a target, she’d be one. All she could do was minimize the impact and the amount of work she had to do. Walking into the filthy bathroom, a wave of homesickness washed over her like an afternoon deluge in the jungles of Secundus. Cleaning the bathroom, even the mess they’d made, was nothing in comparison to mucking out stalls or doing a dozen other nasty chores at the Sister’s compound. But none of the Sisters would have tolerated this kind of nasty, cruel behavior.

She got the cleaning supplies and went to work.

#

That morning, Quinn slept in until forty-five minutes before breakfast. She left all her things in her room, went to the sani-mod, grabbed cleaning supplies, and stood just inside the door but out of the way. She greeted every girl that came and left by name, with a cheery “Good morning! Lovely day, isn’t it?” followed with a fierce look. Most of the girls looked ashamed or guilty. Quinn knew it wasn’t fully their fault; the upper-class girls made them do it. One or two of her classmates tried to leave a mess, but Quinn stopped them in their tracks.

“Oh, Student Suzette, I’m sure you didn’t realize you accidentally smeared feces all over the toilet, did you.” Quinn stepped into Suzette, pushing her back into the toilet enclosure by stepping on her toes. “Since it was clearly an accident, here, I’ve brought you cleaning supplies to help you.” She shoved them into Suzette’s stomach hard, pushing her on to the toilet, right into her own mess. “Oops. So sorry. Here you go.”

“Gosh, Student Quinn, thank you so much,” Suzette said through gritted teeth. “I’ll be sure to repay you adequately.”

“I’m sure you will try, Student Suzette, but there’s no need.” Quinn bared her teeth and snapped them together.

Suzette shrank back. Quinn heard snickers beyond the toilet cubicle. When she slammed the door on Suzette, no one remained in the bathroom and it wasn’t destroyed. Quinn got to work sanitizing it to the stated specifications. When Suzette slammed out of the bathroom, her toilet stall sparkled as well. Quinn grinned. Hopefully, this would put an end to her own class ganging up on her, but probably not. She knew many of the girls had no choice: make Quinn’s life miserable, or someone would make all their lives miserable.

Quinn did her cleanup, dressed, and ran down the stairs, grabbing two power bars and some milk. She’d eat them on the way to class and hope it was enough to tide her over until lunch. She was looking forward to this class and hoped the instructor was one of those leftover from the old academy. Entering the auditorium-style classroom on the first floor, her heart sank. No such luck. Instructor Stefano had the “Familia look” that was too familiar by now.

A notice popped up in her holo. She was assigned to a seat right at the front and center of the room. Lucky her. Pasting a smile on her face, she entered and stood by her seat. She noted Tiber, Ekon, and Bran were also in this class, seated at the back.

“Have a seat, Student Quinn,” the boy next to her sneered.

“Oh, thank you so much for the invitation, but you know I can’t do that until the Instructor says so.”

The boy glared. Someone behind her shoved her between her shoulder blades. She took one step forward but stopped herself on the desk.

“Student Marco, that was rude and potentially dangerous. Report to me after class.” Instructor Stefano snapped. “Students, have a seat.”

Quinn sat.

“Now that we have our final student, welcome to the Introduction to the Adzari Academy Student Net,” Instructor Stefano intoned. He glared around the room. “Do not attempt to access any other net, here on the grounds of Adzari or anywhere on Omicron. Your attempt will be discovered, and you will not like the consequences. Is this clear?”

“Yes, Instructor,” Quinn and everyone else replied.

“You will use only the net storage you are assigned. If you need more, request it from any instructor. You are forbidden to access other student’s net storage areas. There are shared file systems for joint work. You will not use the skills you learn here to get around, counter, or change any Academy policies, procedures, rules, regulations, or security measures. This includes intruding on, harassing, or harming other students. Is this also clear?”

“Yes, Instructor,” Quinn and the class agreed. The stipulation against attacking other students via the net was obviously not followed, or whoever trashed her room would have been caught.

The lecture on rules and regulations continued for another twenty minutes. Quinn kept herself upright and engaged by attempting to guess what the Instructor was going to say next. Some of the other students didn’t—Quinn learned Instructor Stefano was fond of slamming his open palm on the desk of drowsy students, jolting them awake.

“All right, now that the official rules are over, let me tell you what I expect.” He glared at each of them. “I expect you to act like decent beings. To the instructors, the staff, and all the other students. You will not use your skills to attack anyone on the Academy or the planet in any way, shape, or form. You will use your skills for good, not evil. You will be helpful and kind. Is that clear?” Another glaring survey.

Quinn nodded but knew the instructor was either willfully blind or purposefully misleading them. She’d have to wait and see which was true.

“And if you decide to be otherwise, remember that everything you do on the net can be seen by the instructors and academic staff. Attempts to hide such things are futile.” He sniffed derisively. “For example, I know that Student Quinn’s dorm room was broken into yesterday and her room disturbed. I know who did it. The attempt to hide such a thing by a third-year student was truly pitiful. I’ve recommended, based on this poor attempt, that this student be held back a year.”

Quinn listened with growing horror. Instructor Stefano must want her dead. Gianna would not take that well, even if the staff ignored his recommendation, which they probably would. They had to be aware of Gianna’s predations and might even be encouraging them. Not only that, but there were vid lenses in her room? She got dressed in there! She shuddered.

Instructor Stefano glared around the classroom, his glare turning to puzzlement, then realization. “Ah, no. Your rooms are not under vid surveillance. The hallways, however, are.” He returned to glaring. “Any attempt to take advantage of the lack of vid surveillance in your room will be one, punished, and two, rewarded by the installation of surveillance. Is this clear?”

Quinn nodded a little frantically, seeing everyone else around her doing the same.

“Let us get to the real intent of this class: an introduction to the local net. Many of you have been using it already, in some cases, extensively. None the less, pay attention. I’m going to show you some things you haven’t discovered, and some tricks and tools to make your daily lives easier.” A twist of his lips. “Don’t fall asleep.”

Quinn pulled up a note-taker, determined to push away her personal problems, at least for now. She’d do everything she could to learn, hopefully, more than the Academy realized. It might be her salvation.

#

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Quinn of Cygnus Copyright © 2020 by AM Scott. All Rights Reserved.

Chapter Four — Quinn of Cygnus

This is an unedited draft. While the main story won’t change, you may find some awkward phrasing, typos, and some fine details will be missing. I’ll also be adding additional background for people who haven’t read the Folding Space Series.  I’ll publish a new chapter every week. Enjoy!

See Chapter One here.

Chapter Four

 

“Student Quinn? Student Quinn—”

Quinn jumped up and out of her chair, almost colliding the person who’d called her name, but he’d stepped back just in time.

“Are you all right?” The boy’s face showed concern with an undertone of fear.

Quinn swallowed hard. “Sssorry about that. A little jumpy.”

A smile flickered. “That’s okay, I understand.” He huffed. “We’re all a little jumpy these days.” The boy grimaced. “Do you need help?”

He seemed genuinely concerned, but Quinn wasn’t sure she could trust anyone. The boy was only a few centimeters taller than she was, with short hair the color of toasted bread, eyes a shade darker, and cinnamon-brown skin.

Quinn shook her head. “No. I’m just…a little overwhelmed. This is all new to me.”

“How new? I mean, I know you just arrived today, but what part is new?”

“All of it.” Quinn spread her hands out. “I’m not used to big cities or any cities. Or fancy uniforms. Or net at that level.” She tossed her chin to the classrooms.

He snorted. “You’re new. Those are Third Years. If you knew that stuff, you wouldn’t be here. Speaking of things you don’t know, did you enable the tagging function in your e-torc?”

She looked at him, chagrinned. “I forgot. Thanks.” Quinn scrolled through the settings, found the right one, and toggled it on.

“No problem,” First-Year Student Tiber Rios said. “I’m not much further ahead of you. Got here thirty-two days ago. The recent change of ownership has been a bit…chaotic.” He glanced around, clearly wary.

So the bad editing of the welcome vids was a good clue. The takeover wasn’t that long ago. “I can tell. I’m sorry you had to experience all that…chaos.”

Tiber widened his eyes and put on a very fake smile. “Oh, it was fine. So much better now. All good. Perfect.”

“Of course. So, why are you out here?”

“I’m moving to my next class. I’ve only got a few seconds left. Look for me at dinner. I’ll introduce you to my roommate and a few of the guys, okay?”

“Sure. Thanks.”

He jogged away, a hand raised above his shoulder.

“Oh, look, the new girl’s got a boyfriend already.”

Quinn turned slowly to face the group of girls she’d attracted. Mean girls, she was sure. They seemed to be a fact of life, perhaps of biology, because they were always some. The Sisters didn’t let them get far at home, but from the stories some of the older girls told, that wasn’t the case in most schools. Lucky her, to attract their attention on her very first day. She didn’t say anything to them, knowing they’d pounce on anything.

One of the three girls towering over her wagged a finger in her face. “New girl, it’s rude not to greet your betters. Rudeness isn’t tolerated here at Adzari.” She was tall, with the same dark brown hair and olive-toned skin the administrative staff had, and she was beautiful. Long, flowing hair, big, heavily lashed eyes, a small pert nose, and a wide generous mouth gave her the face of a siren. Her body was the same—she’d clearly matured early and was proud of it, wearing a sweater a size too small.

The auburn-haired girl standing next to her snatched Third Year Student Gianna Ricci’s hand out of the air and pushed it down. As she whispered in Gianna’s ear, her nasty smile flattened. Gianna pulled her hand away and sneered at the redhead, but she didn’t say anything else to Quinn. All three of them turned and sauntered away.

Maybe showing up right after the takeover wasn’t such a bad thing. The mean girls were just as worried about the new rules—and rulers—as the rest of them. Quinn decided one close call was good enough and retreated to the second floor. Listening to the classes there, her lack of knowledge was thoroughly confirmed—she officially knew nothing. She was totally and completely unprepared for this school, even without the threat of the new owners. Quinn glanced at the time and decided to check out the athletic facilities. Maybe there was something there she could be good at without giving away her background in self-defense.

On her way to the athletic training facilities, she noticed small areas of trees or flower gardens were scattered across the campus. Depending on vids, those might be good hiding places for things—or herself. On one of the big fields, students played some sort of team ball game.  They threw the odd-shaped ball from person to person but didn’t run with it except away from what must be the goal. The referees kept stopping play, but Quinn couldn’t figure out why—the rules seemed byzantine.

Quinn kept walking and found the swimming center. Entering, the sharp scent of chemicals made her nose wrinkle. Following the signs, she made her way to the viewing stands. There was only one person in the pool, a dark-skinned man swimming laps. It was a huge pool and had a separate, smaller pool, evidently for diving, and an even smaller pool that bubbled next to that. She would like to learn to swim, more so she wouldn’t drown than a desire to exercise that way. Perhaps there were beginner swimming lessons?

She left the aquatic center, and turned back towards the dormitories, detouring to enter the gymnasium. Inside, her virtual campus guide offered directions to the locker rooms, the large ball court, smaller ball courts, weight room, aerobic machines, gymnastics, martial arts, and an extreme challenge room. The last option was intriguing, so she followed the guide upstairs. On the third floor, she found clear plas walls keeping any passerby from intruding on the athletes, but allowing a clear view. There was a martial arts and boxing room, the gymnastics room, and finally, the extreme challenge. Lucky for her curiosity, someone was using the extreme challenge equipment.

Quinn watched the woman, tallish and thin, but with muscles like the fiercest Sisters, throw herself from obstacle to obstacle. She climbed tall walls, swung from ring to ring, ran along a rolling log while avoiding big, padded arms swinging at her, and a dozen more challenges. Now that—that looked like fun. She might even be good at it. Quinn pulled up the person’s tag: Fitness Instructor Katherine Switz.

Well, Instructor Switz had finished her run, so maybe she could ask? She opened the door and the woman’s head turned her way. A scowl formed. “No Academy uniforms in the fitness rooms, Student! You should know this!”

“I’m sorry, Instructor Switz. I haven’t read all the rules yet.”

Switz marched to her. “Do so. Quickly.” Her accent made her a little difficult to understand, but that was crystal clear.

“Yes, Instructor Switz, I will. I just wanted to ask if I could learn to do this?”

Switz stopped abruptly. “You want to learn this? There is no fame or fortune here.” She motioned to the course behind her.

Quinn shrugged. “I don’t care about that. I have to pick a sport, and this looks challenging and fun.”

A lopsided smile started to form on Switz’s face. “I see. Well, then, perhaps. You are…ah, Student Quinn Cygnus, arrived today. Interesting.” She sniffed and mopped her forehead with a towel. “Well, then, Student Quinn, we will see what the results of your fitness tests say. Do you have a background in fitness?”

“Not anything like this.” Quinn shook her head slowly. “This is amazing.”

Switz examined Quinn from her head to her toes. “You are in decent physical condition, especially for a net worker. But this,” she motioned to the apparatus, “takes strength, flexibility, reflexes, speed, balance, and a good sense of timing and depth perception. It also takes fortitude; the ability to keep going even when it’s painful. The ability to push your limits. You have to want it very badly to be successful.” Switz examined her again. “You are very petite. You might be good at gymnastics too. There’s a class starting now. You should go watch. I will see you in two days. Then we’ll discover if you can be taught.” Switz turned away, returning to the apparatus.

Quinn watched her for a few more moments, then walked down the corridor to watch the gymnastics class. Girls and one boy in tight athletic wear worked on skills at various stations. There were parts of these kinds of events in the hardest y’ga routines, so she might be good at it. But, the reason for performing these motions was entirely different and had different timing. In a crisis, Quinn didn’t want to sit back and wonder if she’d picked the right reaction. No, the extreme fitness challenge looked like a much better idea. There was nothing there that would trip her up, make her second guess when she needed to act, and no skill level to hide.

She wandered the rest of the facility, but nothing else really interested her except the martial arts studio. And she didn’t dare train there or her only advantage, surprise, would be gone. Well, now that she’d looked at everything, Quinn could find a quiet corner and read some of the student manual and the rules and regulations while she waited for dinner. She walked back down the stairs, thinking about the boy she’d met.

Quinn hoped Tiber Rios’s invitation was for real, not a cruel joke. She didn’t get that impression from him, but she’d been wrong before. Look at everything that happened at the Sisters of Cygnus while they were still on Gliese. She was totally clueless about evil “Mother” Ferra, Nat’s willingness to attempt a hijacking to save her friends, the men on Lightwave’s crew being nice rather than evil, Chef Loreli, all of it. Sure, most of the Sisters were blind to Ferra’s machinations; who would have thought the stalwart defender of the faith and orphaned children would try to sell them out for mere credits?  Still, Quinn’s judgment was worse than most of the Sisters. She had to get better, fast, or she might not make it out of here.

Needing the wide-open, Quinn blew through the doors and ran for one of the small gardens she’d spotted earlier. Surrounded by tall trees, it looked like there might be someplace to sit inside. She found the narrow walkway into the group of trees, and abruptly stopped, her troubles forgotten.

The garden was beautiful. Flower beds sported colorful flowers, the colors not matching, but harmonious, the plant heights increasing further back in the beds so each type could be admired while pollinating insects buzzed about them. Several sweet, flowery scents wafted to her. Birds hopped in the trees and some little animal scurried away. In the center, a small pool with a fountain, the edge of the pool the perfect height to sit on. Quinn walked to the fountain and around it, enjoying the slight spray in the bright sun. She reached a shiny plaque: In Memory of Allana Adzari, Co-Founder of Adzari Net Academy.

How sad. Quinn shrugged. Or maybe it wasn’t. Gentle Allana may have lived a long and wonderful life. She probably wouldn’t be happy with what was happening to her Academy now, or maybe she wouldn’t care. No matter what, Quinn was grateful to find this quiet refuge. It probably had vids like the rest of the Academy, but at least it was out of sight.

Quinn set an alarm for ten minutes before dinner and pulled up the Student Guide. She had to learn everything about her new environment—her survival depended on it.

#

Her head spinning, Quinn entered the dining hall and got in line with all the other students. Unfortunately, she’d timed it all wrong and was surrounded by third-year students. Fortunately, they studiously ignored her.

Without asking, a tray with a plate of some sort of pasta and red sauce was dropped in front of her. So much for the “wide variety of eating options” the vid talked about. But she wasn’t used to variety, so it didn’t matter. It smelled decent and rather like some of the herbs the Sisters grew. She picked up a few other items that looked edible and a layered dessert that seemed downright delectable. Filling a glass with water, she picked up her tray and searched for Student Tiber Rios.

A hard shove sent her stumbling forward. She managed to keep her feet and save her tray from falling, but her water splashed all over her food.

“Move out of the way, first-year,” a low voice snarled.

Quinn didn’t look back, she kept walking as if nothing happened. She checked the student tagging function in her holo and selected “find”—Tiber was at the far end of the room. Keeping her head high, she skirted the tables, not getting close enough for anyone to trip her, and watched her rear holo carefully. No one else approached her. She stopped next to Tiber.

“Hey guys, I mean, fellow students, this is Student Quinn, the new girl,” Tiber told his small group of friends. He smiled up at her. “You’re welcome to join us.”

“Thanks.” Quinn put her tray down and sat next to Tiber.

The boy across from her had long bright red hair, tied at the back of his neck, and pale, freckled skin. “Hi. I’m Bran. Nice save with the tray. You’re fast on your feet.”

She smiled. “Thanks. Guess I’ll get plenty of hydration with my food.”

The boy next to him, with black coffee skin and ebony curly hair, snorted. “I’m Ekon. You’ll need plenty of water to choke it down and it won’t change the taste, that’s for sure.” Despite that, he shoveled the food in. But he seemed to be twice the width of Bran and Tiber, so he probably needed the energy, no matter how bad it tasted.

Tiber said, “I’m sure you read we’re not allowed to talk with our mouths full, right?”

“Yes, thanks.” Quinn spooned up the pasta and sauce. Watery tomato, gluey pasta, and some sort of ground meat or meat substitute. Well, she’d had worse on Cygnus Gliese. None of the food was particularly good, but it was filling. She ate what she needed and left the rest. Expecting disappointment, she took a bite of the layered cake. “Oh!”

The guys chuckled. They’d already finished. “Yeah, that stuff is good,” Ekon said. “But they’ll only give you one piece.”

“Most of us can’t eat more than one,” Tiber replied.

“But they serve it every. Single. Day,” Bran moaned. “Tira is good, but so is variety.”

“You’re not complaining, are you, Student Bran?” a voice sneered above Quinn’s head.

Bran jolted and jumped to his feet. “Of course not, Master Jonstew. Just missing home.”

Jonstew sneered. “What exactly do you miss, Student Bran? Starvation, destructive weather, solar flares? Do tell.”

“Just my family, Master Jonstew.” Bran dropped his head.

Jonstew snorted. “Well, don’t bite the hand that feeds you.” He walked away.

Quinn figured her eyes must be the size of moonflowers. What a horrible man. All three boys gave her narrow-eyed looks of warning and she nodded. “Can I ask where you’re from?”

Bran’s mouth twisted. “I’m from Dschubba. Our sun is going supernova.” He shrugged. “It hasn’t gone yet, but the solar flares are intense, and everyone who can is leaving. My family applied for this scholarship—one less person to find transport credits for. But I miss them.”

“I’m sorry, that’s horrible.”

Bran shrugged. “I hope they can all find a way off-world soon, but if not, I hope they can hold out until I can get a job and send them the credits. Where are you from?”

“Well, I’m from Cygnus. I was from Cygnus Gliese, but Galactica Mining Corp kicked everyone off the planet, so now I’m from Secundus.”

“Oh, the giant tunnel worms!” Tiber said, his eyes wide. “Did you see one?”

Quinn snorted. “I saw bones, like everyone else. A real tunnel worm has yet to be found.”

“She’s part of a religious cult, a weirdo, just like you three,” Gianna sneered, peering down on them.

“The Sisters of Cygnus aren’t a cult, Student Gianna,” Quinn said evenly. “They are reclusive, and women only, but women are allowed to come and go as they please. And they take in lots of girls who would otherwise be homeless.”

Gianna sniffed. “A cultist’s spawn, that’s all you are.”

Quinn shrugged. “What you call me doesn’t matter. I know who I am.”

The boys were wide-eyed, giving her little headshakes.

“Oh, it matters. When no one will partner with you for projects, it will matter a lot.” Gianna sauntered away, her followers on her heels, giggling.

Quinn scowled at her. “There’s always one.”

“One what, Student Quinn?” Jonstew’s nasty voice said behind her.

“One student who’s too beautiful to be a net worker, Master Jonstew.”

Quinn felt the breeze generated by his turn. The boys gave her big grins and subtle head nods, but all three sobered quickly.

Ekon glanced around the area. “Be careful. She’s one of them.”

Quinn gave him a puzzled look.

“Later.” Tiber waved a hand. “Do you have your schedule already?”

“Yes, it’s mostly testing the next two days.”

“Those aren’t fun, but necessary.” Bran shuddered. “You don’t want to get into the wrong class. Failure is not an option.”

Quinn nodded slowly. She could understand that caution. When in doubt, play dumb—better to be bored in class than be overwhelmed.

“Well, Student Quinn, it was a pleasure having dinner with you, but we,” Tiber motioned to the three boys, “need to do our homework. Also, you’re aware boys and girls aren’t allowed in each other’s dorms, other than the lounges on the ground floor?”

“Yes. Thanks for asking me to join you, Student Tiber. And yes, I read about that restriction.”

“Good. So, if you partner with a boy for a project, you’ll need to use a public area for work outside of class time.” Tiber raised both brows.

Oh, good warning. “Understood, thank you.” In other words, partnering with another girl was better, because they could work after official curfew hours, until lights-out. Quinn grimaced. She’d better get to the dorm and see if she could meet some of the other first-year students.

“Most of the girls have been here for months, too, so you might have to partner with one of us,” Bran said.

“Thank you for the invitation,” Quinn told him.

“You’re welcome. See you soon, Student Quinn.”

“See you soon,” she replied. They split outside the dining hall doors, her for the girl’s dorm, them to the boys. A curfew at twenty-hundred and light-out at twenty-two hundred seemed awfully early to her, but those were the rules. She could stay outside for another hour, but she had to meet some of her year mates, or she’d be fighting off a giant Secundus lizard without a rifle. Right now, she’d feel a lot better if she had a rifle. Or just a stunner.

Quinn entered the dorm and trod slowly up the stairs, her footsteps echoing. She should practice walking quietly—she had a feeling that skill would be important in the future. But right now, everyone was aware of the “new girl” so she didn’t want to raise suspicions. She passed the third-year floor and breathed a sigh of relief.

Turning the corner on her way to the second-year floor, Quinn learned her relief was too early. Gianna and her friends appeared in front of her, others thundered up behind her, hemming her in. She bit her lip. Nothing to do but survive this—even if she went on the offensive, she couldn’t prevail against ten or more girls.

Her e-torc was yanked off her neck and they all stared at each other. “Clear!” a voice said from behind her. Gianna punched her in the stomach, hard.

“Oh!” Quinn doubled over, gasping for air, not faking it at all.

“New girl, this is your only warning,” Gianna said. “I run this dorm. You do what I say when I say it, or there will be a terrible accident. It would be so easy to send you flying down the stairs right now. Or, I could simply push you out your dorm window—oh, so sad, little Quinn couldn’t handle the pressure. Is this understood?”

“Yes,” Quinn gasped.

Hands grabbed her hair and pulled her up. “That’s yes, Third-Year Student Gianna, cult scum.”

“Yes, Third-Year Student Gianna,” Quinn said, feeling hair ripping from her skull.

Gianna dropped her and she collapsed to the stair. Girls left, some of them kicking or hitting her on the way, all of them careful to only hit uniform-covered body parts that would bruise, rather than break. Quinn cowered and survived. Finally, her e-torc dropped in front of her. “Don’t lose it again, Student,” a different girl’s voice sneered.

Quinn waited until the footsteps and laughter faded, then she used the handrailing to pull herself up. She’d be a mass of bruises, but nothing seemed broken. Slowly, she climbed to the first-year floor and entered the hall. Closed and locked doors greeted her. Obviously, the rest of her fellow first-years were told to ignore her.

She entered her room, finding that as expected, anyone could enter. All her clothes were strewn about, the bed was torn apart and the frame turned over, and one of the sheets torn right down the middle. She sighed and started picking up the mess. Some of the clothes had mud and possibly other things smeared into them, so those she piled to the side. Quinn moved deliberately, trying to stretch a little as she cleaned up, hopefully minimizing the muscle damage. Some of those hits had been terribly hard. She made her bed as well as she could, placing one of the sheet halves in her pillowcase, using the other to “make” the bed. A half-sheet was better than no sheet. She’d be in trouble for damaging school property, but that was the way things went.

Picking up her soiled clothes, she found the autocleaner closest to her and set it on the highest setting. She’d be cutting it close, but the cycle should finish before lights-out. But only if the other girls would leave her things alone. Quinn started a stretching routine, keeping her movements a little awkward and slow, carefully not using more advanced y’ga stretches. Hopefully, this would help. She’d set her alarm for extra-early tomorrow, just in case she needed the medico station. Although, by the time she made it down three floors of stairs, she might have loosened everything enough to walk.

Finishing her stretches, she pulled up the rules and regulations. If everyone was against her, she had to know the rules perfectly, so she could use them to her advantage. Since Gianna and her girl-gang were third-year students, they might not know the new rules or be inclined to study them. They’d have more leeway with the instructors, Quinn was sure, but using the rules against them the only real advantage she had. Right now, this was more important than net work—it was her life.

#

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Quinn of Cygnus Copyright © 2020 by AM Scott. All Rights Reserved.

Chapter Three — Quinn of Cygnus

This is an unedited draft. While the main story won’t change, you may find some awkward phrasing, typos, and some fine details will be missing. I’ll publish a new chapter every week. Enjoy! Chapter Two is here.

Chapter Three

A notice flashed in her holo: “You are leaving the Tetzlaff Forest. We hope you enjoyed your stay. Report any health changes occurring over the next week to your local Medico.”

And that wasn’t ominous at all. Quinn shuddered again.

The straps around Quinn tightened momentarily as the lift van made an abrupt turn to the right. A narrow road appeared in front of them, cut off by a solid black gate. High fences traveled left and right from the gate, razor wire glinting at the top. The lift van slowed and the gates swung open.

Another vid appeared in Quinn’s holo, and she selected it immediately, rather than delay as she wanted to. “Welcome to Adzari Academy,” scrolled across the vid, showing the view she had now, only the gates were fancy, decorative things with the Academy’s name and the fencing had no razor wire. Orchestral music began, with an overhead view of what she assumed was the Academy.

A disembodied voice said, “Welcome to your new home away from home. We know you will love it here! Adzari Academy is a large campus with many amenities. First, a short introduction to the grounds. The roadway you are on parallels the Tetzlaff Forest. While it is fenced, if you choose to walk or run along this roadway, please keep an eye out for native animals. If you see one, do not run, back away slowly, and notify staff immediately. This is a rare occurrence because the fence is charged, but it does happen. Do not touch the fence or you will receive a severe shock. We will travel several kilometers into the grounds before the Academy appears. You are free to use this area at any time for recreation. It, and the rest of the Academy, is planted with human-safe vegetation.”

Tetzlaff Forest was to Quinn’s right, a large, open field with scattered trees to the left. The vid’s voiceover had odd jumps and stutters, like it had been badly edited. What was edited was telling—they’d taken out all specific distances and possibly the shock level of the fence.

“The Academy’s campus is spacious and mostly self-sustaining. Food for the Academy is raised on site. Many of the farm and ranch workers are local students learning their trade. Thank them if you have the opportunity—the food here is delicious! Allowances for dietary restrictions are no problem; you will find a pleasing number of choices for every meal. You may eat as much as you like, but please don’t take more than you need. We are conscious of the environment here and try to minimize waste.” Pictures of gardens, greenhouses, and pastures came and went, all with happy workers.

“We have two dormitories, split by the dominant human sexes and separated by year level—three, nominally, although some will stay longer or shorter periods as necessary. Students may self-identify as either sex. A warning: sexual relations are strictly forbidden for students, including between students.”

The dormitories appeared to be four stories high, in some sort of native stone with a chalky appearance. The windows on the ground level were tall and wide; the three stories above narrower and shorter, but still generously sized in rows of six. Assuming those were rooms, and students were two per room, that meant at least twelve students per floor, maybe a few less depending on the number of bathrooms. If there were two rows of rooms, twenty-four students per floor. Or more if they put three or four in a room.

The warning about no sex was another bad edit, so this was another recent change. The Sisters themselves were chaste but didn’t enforce the restriction on their charges or associates, instead relying on extensive education about sex in general and emotional relationships. Quinn paid attention but had no interest in romantic entanglements. From what she saw of her classmates and neighbors, romance and sex caused a lot of problems and often kept people from reaching their goals. Quinn’s only concern here at the Academy was to become a net expert. And it looked like she had to become the very best or she wouldn’t leave this place.

“The dining hall is right behind the two dormitories. Mealtimes are strictly enforced, but there is a selection of healthy food and drink available at all times.” A long, single-story building, in the same stone, also with lots of windows. The vid entered the large, double doors, flying into a large open area with rows of long tables and a cafeteria-style serving bar at the end. There were seats for at least a hundred people, maybe more.

“Classrooms are all held in the Academic Building, located beyond the dining hall.” Another four-story building, the same chalky-white stone, lots of windows. The vid flew through large, auditorium-style rooms, more familiar classrooms with rows of seats for twenty or so, and small rooms, with one or two larger tables, chairs around the outside. “As you can see, some classes are lectures and some are more participatory. As an upper-class being, you will have the opportunity to lead some projects. The meeting rooms can be reserved by students for these projects.”

The vid swept out of the Academic Building and over to another building, almost the same size and type, but labeled as the Net Lab. The vid flew inside. Two rooms with rows of desks, students at the swiping away at holos. The upper floors had smaller rooms, mostly set up as classrooms. The very top floor contained three large, open areas, with a variety of seating options and what appeared to be a small kitchen.

“The Net Lab building is set up for practical training. Some will be done in a group setting, some in smaller groups as projects, and some individual efforts. Healthy snacks are available on the third floor. Also on the third floor, underclass beings will find upper-class beings willing and able to advise them on individual and group projects. Mentoring lower class members is part of the graduation requirements.”

The vid flew out of the building and up to a bird’s eye view of the area beyond the classroom and lab. “As you can see, there are a number of recreational opportunities. Gymnasiums for athletic training and team sports, pools for swimming, fields for team sports, and running tracks are all available, as are other enjoyable outdoor pursuits. Explore these options at your leisure. We hope you enjoy your time at Adzari Academy!” Orchestral music crashed and swooped again.

The lift van halted in front of a building helpfully named Administration. Two stories tall, the same chalky-white stone as the rest, with wide windows. The driver exited his compartment and grabbed her luggage float. Quinn hurried to unstrap herself and hop out.

Coll pointed at the Administration building. “Go through the doors. They’re expecting you.” He turned away and got in the lift van without waiting for her reply.

Quinn took a deep breath, attached her luggage leash again, and walked up to the doors. One opened in front of her and she walked in, fully aware her life was about to change forever.

She just hoped she survived this change as well as the last few changes.

Quinn entered an open area, with soft seating in beige, accented with blue and green. Soft music tinkled and a light, flowery scent wafted to her. A girl, a few years older than she was, waited. Taller by a good ten centimeters at least, she had blond hair, blue eyes, and a blandly welcoming expression. She wore what must be the Adzari Academy uniform—dark pants with a bright green sweater and what seemed to be a white shirt underneath. A single red and white stripe slashed diagonally across the forearm of the sweater.

“Quinn Cygnus?”

“Yes.”

“I am Freya Helmi. I’m your mentor for the next week. Welcome to Adzari Academy. Come, let’s get you checked in.” She turned away and crooked a finger over her shoulder.

Quinn followed. Freya’s tone was machine-like; was she a real person? They passed rows of offices, all separated by clear plas walls, men and women working on holos or talking to them. Everyone wore predominately black clothing, although there were touches of bright colors in scarves, shirts and in one case, a hat. At the end of the hall, a door labeled “Student Administration” opened in front of them. They entered a room with a long, chest-high counter running the length of it. A woman stood behind the counter, also dressed in black, dark hair pulled back tight against her skull, a look of disdain plastered across what might have been a pretty face if she’d smiled.

“Logistics Mistress, this is Quinn Cygnus,” Freia turned away and walked to stand at the end of the counter.

“Your luggage and e-torc, Student Cygnus.” The woman held out an imperious hand.

Quinn swallowed hard. “Can I keep my pics in some form? A few hardcopies?”

The woman glared. “No. Students and rooms will be neat, tidy, and standardized. Now, Student Cygnus.” She pushed her hand toward Quinn.

Biting her lip, Quinn pulled off her e-torc and handed it to the woman, then disengaged her luggage leash and pushed it to the woman. Her luggage float rose over the counter and disappeared behind it.

“Any jewelry or other adornments?”

“No.”

A hand smacked the counter. Quinn jumped. “That’s no, Logistics Mistress. Understood?”

“Yes, Logistics Mistress.” Quinn stumbled over the name and title. How awkward.

“Proceed to the dressing booth,” the woman pointed to Quinn’s right, “take off all your clothes and stand inside the circle on the floor. Your measurements will be scanned and the appropriate uniforms delivered. Additional uniforms and physical fitness uniforms will be delivered to your room shortly. Understood?”

“Yes, Logistics Mistress.” She turned and walked to the door, opened it, and entered a small room, only a few meters square. Quinn swallowed again, and took off all her clothes, standing in the circle as ordered.

“Scanning,” a male voice said. “Raise your hands over your head.” Quinn did so. “Lower your hands, separate your feet by at least ten centimeters.” Quinn followed that direction and the rest. “Scan complete, stand by for clothing delivery.” A small hatch slid open in front of her and Quinn pulled out the clothing. It included undergarments and shoes. “Place all your clothing, including shoes, into the hatch. These items will be stored with your luggage.” Quinn did as she was told, feeling ice-cold even though the dressing room itself was warm. She pulled on the garments she was given, shivering slightly because the clothes were chilly. They were nicer than her old ones, though, made of a smooth, slightly stretchy material that fitted her almost perfectly. The shoes were better too, with firm soles that almost cradled her feet and stretchy uppers.

Quinn left the dressing room and returned to the counter.

“We understand you are a child from a subsistence farming world. Is this correct?”

Close enough. “Yes, Logistics Mistress.”

“You will have enough clothing to change every day. Do so. This uniform is for classes and net work. You will receive athletic gear for sports, a more casual version of this uniform for after class hours, and sleepwear. You will keep all of it clean and in working order. There are autocleaners on each floor. If you tear, stain or damage the clothing, you must return here for replacements. Depending on how the damage occurred, you may be charged for these replacements. If you outgrow the clothing, return here for a new scan. Is this understood?”

“Yes, Logistics Mistress.”

“Good. Here is your student e-torc. Do not lose it.” She turned to Freia. “Take her to House Mistress Vormer for a room assignment.”

Freya bowed her head. “Yes, Logistics Mistress.” She turned and exited the room without waiting for Quinn.

Quinn slid her new e-torc around her neck and stumbled after Freya, who immediately turned left, striding down a long blank hall and out a door at the end. She turned left again, following a plascrete walkway, and one more left, bringing Quinn to the dormitories.

Freia entered the dormitory on the right. They entered a large, high-ceilinged room with soft seating in shades of brown, with accents of pink and yellow. “This is the women’s dorm. Mistress Vormer’s office is right here.” She motioned to the right. Clear plas walls created a small room. Two chairs, a desk, and Mistress Vormer waited, seated behind the desk. Freya stopped at the door and entered when Mistress Vormer waved. “House Mistress Vormer, this is Student Quinn Cygnus.”

“Thank you, Student Freya. Return to your studies for now. I will have Student Quinn message you if necessary.”

“Thank you, Mistress Vormer.” Freia bobbed her head again and left, leaving Quinn alone with Vormer.

Vormer scanned her up and down. “You are tiny. Did they not feed you?”

“The Sisters fed me sufficiently, House Mistress Vormer. It may be genetics.” Quinn tried to find the line between defending her family and not offending her…keeper. Captor? She’d have to wait and see what Vormer really was. The chill in her spine was spreading.

“Did you watch the introductory vids, Student Quinn?”

“Yes, Mistress Vormer.”

“Good. Do you have questions right now?”

“Only when do I start, Mistress Vormer?”

A slight upturn appeared on her lips. “Excellent. You start tomorrow—I have sent your schedule to your e-torc. You are on the upper floor, in room eight. As of right now, you do not have a roommate. We anticipate further arrivals soon, and you will receive a roommate or perhaps two. With your background, I am sure this will not bother you. Neither will the shared bath, two on each floor. Since you are in room eight, you are responsible for cleaning Bathroom Two, along with the students in rooms five through seven. If any of the students are unwilling to fulfill their responsibilities, I expect to be notified. Is this clear?”

“Of course, Mistress Vormer.” Right. Because that’s the way to make friends so they’ll help you with projects. Quinn kept her face impassive.

“For the remainder of today, you should explore your new home. Do not enter any of the classrooms, or intrude on any organized activity unless invited, but you may watch, both visually and on your e-torc. If you wish, the student net has a tagging feature you can enable. This will ensure you know everyone’s name and address the instructors and staff appropriately.” The smile that wasn’t a smile appeared again. “Infractions against other students and especially staff are not tolerated. There is a rule book in your e-torc, I suggest you study it carefully. Punishments run from mild to severe. None of them include any kind of physical damage, but some of the more severe will be painful. Do not make me administer any of these. I do not enjoy it.”

That might actually be true. Her distaste was obvious. It could be fake, though. Quinn didn’t know this woman’s tells and quirks. She’d have to tread carefully. She was pretty sure the boy’s house master enjoyed the pain of others.

“We expect you to write or vid home now, with news of your safe arrival and at least once a week while you are here. We want your family to know you are healthy and happy.” Now she did smile, but it looked painful. “All messages are sent from a central Academy message center. Just send your message there and it will be forwarded. Now, if you have further questions, ask Student Freya. If she cannot answer, message me for an appointment. If you have issues with another student, message me immediately. We cannot have anarchy at this academy. It has an impeccable reputation and we will maintain that. Do you have any questions?”

“No, Mistress Vormer. Thank you.”

“Excellent. You are dismissed.” She turned away to fuss with something on the shelf behind her. Quinn took the opportunity to leave the dragon’s lair immediately. Pulling up a directory on her e-torc, she searched for a map of the building and found one immediately. Here on the ground floor, there was the common area, a small kitchen, two medico units, and two stairways to the upper floors. She headed for the closest one and started climbing.

The stairway was brightly lit and her footsteps echoed slightly. The next floor was marked “Third Year Students Only” the following “Second Year Students Only” and the final one “Third Year Students.” No exclusivity here, which meant the other classes could bother them at any and all times. Having lived in a similar environment all her life, she knew it was almost guaranteed.

Quinn walked down the hall looking for room six, her assigned room. It didn’t take long for her to find it—the walls were plain beige and the doors plain brown wood so the large numbers on each door stood out. Room six was at the very end of the hall. There were 12 rooms on this floor but, as she suspected, two of them were bathrooms. So, if there were two students per room as Mistress Vormer implied, then there were 10 students per floor, which meant up to thirty female students and thirty male students.

Of course, they probably could shove more people into each room. Quinn opened door number six, her new room, and entered. Again, the room itself was very plain. Beige walls, beige blinds on the windows, two narrow beds, one on each side of the room, and a large storage cubby on each side of the room, presumably for the issued uniforms.

Both beds had pillows and linens piled on them. One of the beds also had a stack of the same uniform Quinn wore now, plus many other clothing items. So, the Logistics Mistress had already delivered the clothing she was promised. Quinn walked the few steps to the bed. Underneath, shoes waited, similar to the one she wore now. Plus, sandals probably for the shower and for swimming, and athletic-type shoes. There were also two kinds of boots. One appeared to be plain black plas, presumably for muddy conditions, and the other appeared to be dress boots, the shiny black uppers rising to just below her knee.

Quinn sorted through the clothing. The athletic wear included long tights, shorts, and both long and short sleeve shirts, along with a hooded, heavier-weight shirt. There were also rain jackets, both a sporty one and a more formal plain gray one, probably for the class uniforms. The uniforms, four more of them, were exactly the same one she wore now. There were also five sets in the same colors as the uniform but more casual; the sweater had buttons, the shirt was a plain white t-shirt and the pants were a little softer and stretched more. Probably the after-class uniform the logistics Mistress spoke of. There were also thin long pants and shirts, presumably for sleeping in, and a stack of towels.

Moving quickly, Quinn placed the uniforms in the cubbies on “her” side of the room. When she got to the bottom of the stack, she noticed one of the Academy uniforms was fancier than the others. A dress uniform? She looked for, and found a narrow area for hanging items, and carefully hung the dress uniform and the jackets.

She made the bed, making sure the corners were crisp and sharp. Then, wanting to explore a little more virtually before venturing out on the campus, Quinn pulled up her new e-torc menu. There was indeed a student guide. Would it be updated for the new Adzari Academy or was it still using the previous owner’s version?

But first, Quinn looked at her new schedule. Breakfast was at a local time of zero-seven-hundred, lunch at noon, and dinner at eighteen hundred. There was a note that athletic wear was not allowed in the dining hall for dinner. Good to know—she’d hate to run afoul of the rules before she even got started.

Tomorrow, her entire day was assigned to testing. They must want to test her level of net expertise before entering her into classes. Why did she do all the tests back on Secundus then? But despite the test results, her classes the following day were already assigned. Her first class was at zero-eight, an introduction to the local net. That was scheduled for two hours. The next class was an Introduction to Net Security. Then lunch, followed by a History of Omicron and Canis Majoris. Oh boy, history right after lunch. Quinn’s nose wrinkled. Whose bright idea was that? Hopefully, the instructor was good, or she’d fall asleep. Then Introduction to File Structure and Co-Working, whatever that was, followed by Introduction to Viruses, Malware, Net Riders, and Other Tools of the Trade and at the end of the day, Math for Net.

When was she supposed to do the required physical fitness? Quinn looked at the following day’s schedule. Oh, different classes, and the afternoon was dedicated to athletics. She was assigned a testing period for that too.

Which made her think. She knew a lot of self-defense through her study of y’ga. But, if she needed to physically defend herself at some time, which seemed likely, she’d be better off pretending she knew nothing about martial arts. That way, her reaction would be a surprise to any attacker. The first time, anyway. She’d been trained to react, rather than think, but she’d try to remember to use the minimal force and skills possible, so she could claim a “lucky hit” or something. After two or three, though, it would be obvious she wasn’t just lucky.

Well, she’d have to do what she could to avoid confrontations. And, if she didn’t want a confrontation with House Mistress Vormer, she’d better leave this room. The woman told her to observe, so she’d better. Her stomach growled. Quinn snorted. She should feed herself something before that.

Leaving her room, she noticed it secured with her e-torc. With a school full of net experts, that probably wasn’t very secure. If she ever had something to hide, she couldn’t hide it in her room. She’d be on the lookout for a good hiding spot, just in case. It would have to be something she could get in and out of quickly because she was sure the e-torcs had trackers. The instructors and staff undoubtedly had access to visuals from their e-torcs as well. She’d be careful not to vid herself or others when they were undressed or in the shower. Quinn shuddered. That could be misused so easily.

Hopping down the stairs, she found the small kitchen. Bev-tainers for water waited, a couple of pitchers of some sort of fruit juice in the cold storage, along with what she assumed were fresh fruit and vegetables, although the colors were unfamiliar to her. Because of the blue-white sun, perhaps? On the shelves, plas packages of various kinds of snack and meal replacement bars, tea and coffee packs, packaged soup, and dried fruit. No sweets of any kind. Quinn wasn’t used to those, but she’d heard stories and had hoped to try some. Well, a protein bar and fruit would probably be her best bet, since she’d missed lunch.

She picked two at random and started to walk away when her e-torc buzzed. Bringing up the notice, she shivered slightly when she read it. “A reminder—students may not have food or drinks other than water in their rooms or in the classrooms.” Also a reminder they were watching. Or maybe it was an automated message? Quinn sat in the lounge area, finished her snack, and carefully checked to make sure she didn’t leave so much as a crumb. House Mistress Vormer was sitting right there. She gave no sign of noticing Quinn, but she could be watching on a vid someplace and Quinn would never know.

Taking in a deep breath, Quinn forced herself out of the dormitory. Since class was in session, she’d go watch. Walking outside, she winced when her e-torc didn’t respond to the bright sun. Stepping to the side of the walkway, she found the settings and changed it to automatically adjust for brightness. Wonder what else she’d have to adjust with this new e-torc? She walked to the Academic building and let herself inside. The auditoriums on the first floor didn’t have plas windows, so she walked up to the third floor, thinking the smaller sessions might be easier to watch.

Enabling the ‘display location’ setting in her e-torc, she saw the first class was an advanced net security class. Quinn selected the “live classroom feed” but quickly swept it away. The class was evidently working on some sort of project and it was well beyond anything she knew. She put a hand over her stomach—the bar wasn’t settling well. The next two classrooms weren’t any better. Quinn found a chair and breathed, trying not to panic. Here she was, trapped in a strange place, with beings who were definitely not on her side, and she’d just learned how pitiful her hard-earned skills were.

How could she survive this place when she knew nothing?

Quinn of Cygnus Copyright © 2020 by AM Scott. All Rights Reserved.

Quantum Fold — Chapter Two

This is an unedited draft. While the main story won’t change, you may find some awkward phrasing, typos, and some fine details will be missing.  I’ll publish a new chapter every week. Enjoy!

See Chapter One here.

Chapter Two

“Safe folds, Quinn Cygnus,” Co-pilot Keyser bowed deeply. “We’ve enjoyed having you onboard. Thank you again for your help securing our net. You have travel credit with us.”

Quinn returned her bow, just as deeply. “Thank you for making my first fold transport so easy. I enjoyed working with you and hope to do so again. Safe folds.” She turned away and hopped down the stairs, enjoying the slightly lighter than standard gravity. Quinn followed the arrow in her holo to the arrivals lounge. Thank the Mother she’d spent a lot of time studying tourist guides to Canis Major and Omicron or she’d be sprinting back to the shuttle right now.

Even though she’d immersed herself in a tourist simulation, nothing could have prepared her for the reality of a major spaceport in a big city. Quinn didn’t want to blink—she might miss something. Shuttles of all sizes and types waited on the port, and the port itself was surrounded by tall buildings, with huge holo displays showing advertisements for a dizzying array of products. She had no idea what most of them were or did. And under all the new sights, smells and sounds was the terrifying realization that she was completely on her own.

Quinn stumbled and looked around a little wildly. She should probably pay attention to where she was going rather than trying to see everything all at once. But it was hard to focus with everything going on around her—and the fear. Forcing herself onward, Quinn strode to the large, low plain beige building marked “Arrivals” in Trade and entered. A long line of clear booths waited, green circles with “open” on some of the doors, beings of many species occupying the ones with a red square. She entered the first green one she came to, tugging her small luggage float into the tiny room behind here.

“State your name and business on Omicron and put your hand on the DNA sensor,” a female voice said. “You will be scanned.”

She put her hand out, wincing at the bite of the sampler. “Quinn Cygnus, Academy Adzari student.”

“Do you have anything to declare?”

“No.” And she didn’t. Clothes and her e-torc were all she owned.

“Proceed.” The door clicked and slid open. “Welcome to Omicron, enjoy your stay.”

“Thank you.” Quinn left the small room, entering a huge, high-ceiling space filled with hundreds of beings all hurrying somewhere, the chatter and hum deafening and the clashing scents slightly stomach-turning. She backed to the wall, waiting until she got a little more accustomed to the noise and bustle. Then she reengaged the navigation program. She had to go straight ahead, then take a slight left to the local pickup zone. A reminder pinged, and she messaged the Academy she’d cleared customs. A reply came almost immediately. “Pickup in five minutes. Look for Adzari lift van. Driver is Gentle Vincenz Coll. Human. Ask for his identification.” A pic of Gentle Coll followed. A heavy-browed, olive-toned round face, with small, deep-set dark brown eyes, topped with short dark brown hair, sat on top of a thick neck. A rather thuggish face, but no one looked good in identifications pics.

Quinn sent back an acknowledgment and took a deep breath. Blowing out, she stepped into the noisy, slightly chaotic crowd and wove her way among the beings. Most were human, but there were a substantial number of other species. The ones that stood out the most to her were the RRs. Short, bright orange cylinders with big goggles shading their eyes and high, squeaky voices, they seemed to travel in packs.

“Out of the way, station scum,” a large, dark brown fur-covered being rumbled, mowing down a couple of the RRs.

“Hey, leave them alone!” Quinn said, helping one of the RRs back to their feet. Or whatever it was that propelled them below those cylindrical bodies. “Go around.”

“Mind your own business, human,” the hulk of fur bellowed, pushing her aside too.

Quinn stumbled but kept her feet. What a rude being.

The RR she’d helped bowed to her and skittered off to rejoin its pack, meeping and beeping madly. Quinn smiled and got back on her path to the pickup zone. Finally, she left the massive transit room and stepped out to a bewildering plethora of roadways and walking paths. She followed the green arrow in her holo, grateful to have a guide—this place was huge and confusing. At least it wasn’t raining. She glanced up—rain wouldn’t matter; tinted, translucent panels covered every walkway, probably to alleviate the impact of the very bright blue-white sun.

Vehicles of every kind waited and drove or flew past, and beings of many species traveled the walking paths, some towing huge trains of luggage. Or maybe trade goods. The air still smelled of dozens of perfumes and strange scents, with a dry, dusty undertone that reminded her of the deserts of Cygnus Gliese just a little. Even with the shades above the walkways, the blue-white light was very bright, but her holo darkened it enough she didn’t have to squint. The shadows seemed very dark, and everything had a slight bluish cast, but her holo gradually adjusted for that as well. She glanced past the roadways. What seemed to be vehicle parking structures and office buildings blocked any view of the city beyond. Eventually, Quinn reached her pickup point.

Only a few moments later, a lift van with dark plas windows pulled up and a tall, bulky human with dark brown skin and hair, dressed in all black stepped out. “Quinn Cygnus? I’m Vincenz Coll,” he rumbled. He flicked something to her from his holo.

Quinn pulled it up in her public space. Identification as Vincenz Coll, employed by Academy Adzari, and an Omicron registration for the lift van too. It could undoubtedly be fake, but the name and face matched the ones the Academy sent her. “Yes, thank you, Gentle Coll.”

“Just Coll. Is that all the luggage you’ve got?” He pointed at her small case.

Before she could answer, he was tugging it away to the van. Quinn hurriedly released the tow tag from her holo and followed him into the van.

He put her luggage in a bin. “Strap in.” He pointed to the seats behind the driver’s enclosed area at the front. “It’s an hour or so to the Academy, depending on traffic. There’s guides to the city waiting, they can answer all your questions. Once we’re out of the city, we’ll be crossing a protected forest area. Use that time to look at the Academy introduction so you know what to do when we arrive.” Coll swung into the driver’s seat and closed the door, leaving her alone in the big van.

Okay then. Quinn sniffed. Guess she’d do what he suggested. She pulled up the guides and picked one that allowed her to select specific sites, rather than a general narration as they traveled. She’d studied the tourist guides, so she knew all the basics, but specific, detailed information about some of the sites might be interesting. She also needed to watch where they went, so if she had to get back to the spaceport, she’d know how without relying on her e-torc.

They joined the stream of vehicles leaving the spaceport, traveling crowded roadways packed with every kind of vehicle from single-seat lift bikes to massive bulk transports, all of them within a meter or two of the next. Since Coll didn’t have his hands on the controls, the traffic here must be all net controlled, something Quinn knew about but had never seen. Every time a new vehicle appeared next to theirs, Quinn jumped, sure they would collide. But they never did and gradually she relaxed. About the time she did, the bulk transporters mostly swung away to other roadways, and the huge buildings became smaller, so she could see the city clearly.

The spaceport was on a huge, flat plain below the city, which enveloped a small mountain in front of her. The buildings alongside the vehicle way became smaller and shorter, finally becoming what must be houses for one or two wealthy families, surrounded by flowers or gardens. As the city ascended the hill, the buildings became bigger and taller, the buildings crowning the mountain lancing up in crooked, angular spires of translucent plas and cerimetal, like demented, shiny metal and glass stalagmites or hoodoos. They seemed to defy physics, but maybe the lighter gravity allowed that? According to the guide, they were lit with bright colors at night. Quinn couldn’t really imagine what that would look like, but she was sure she’d get to see it someday.

The lift van seemed to head straight into the center of the city, but as Quinn watched, they turned left, merging on to a major roadway that encircled the city. She stared, mesmerized by the huge structures holding millions of beings. Suddenly, they turned left again, and the city was behind her. The buildings became smaller and smaller, gradually turning into houses for the wealthy again, with lots of security surrounding them.

Then, the dwellings stopped and dense, dark growth began. Quinn brought up the entry from the guide. Tetzlaff Forest, the only remaining native growth within five hundred kilometers of Omi city. Contact with the indigenous flora and fauna was risky and potentially dangerous—humans were allergic to much of it. Dangerously so for some humans. Access to Tetzlaff was restricted and controlled. Researchers were required to wear isolation suits; most opted for soft armor because some of the wildlife was vicious and apt to attack upon sight or smell. Stunners didn’t work on most of the fauna either. The road twisted and turned, going around critical habitat, so the travel time was much longer than the straight-line distance would imply.

Sister Lashtar’s warnings in mind, Quinn brought up a map. Tetzlaff Forest lay between the Academy and the spaceport, extending for many klicks in all directions. If something went wrong, and she needed to escape, she’d need a vehicle and/or armor. That was a complication she hadn’t considered when she did her research—she’d been reassured by the relative proximity of the school to the city. Quinn’s fingers itched to immerse themselves in code, allowing the fear to fade away, but her training wouldn’t let her do anything that stupid. She had to discover everything she could about her surroundings so she could escape if necessary.

After staring into the tangled growth for ten minutes, Quinn quickly decided it wasn’t a good use of her time. If she had to travel this on foot without armor, she was dead. The driver said there was an Academy introduction document she had to review, so she should do that. Quinn scrolled through the public offerings on the lift van’s net and found it immediately—it was marked as important—and she pulled it into her e-torc.

A vid started and Quinn groaned. She hated sitting through these ridiculous things. A simple document was so much faster and easier. As an aerial view of the Academy appeared with orchestral music, Quinn searched for a way around the vid but found nothing obvious. Hmm. This was a net school. Was she really supposed to sit through this, or hack her way around? She smiled. Why not start now? Discovering what she was up against now was smart. And a lot less boring.

As the vid continued to play—a campus tour—Quinn tried the obvious net tricks first, looking for root access and backdoors. Unsurprisingly, everything was well secured. Quinn wrinkled her nose. Maybe come at the vehicle’s net from outside, rather than in the Academy’s file system? She brought up a new window, trying various tools. Again, she got nowhere.

The vid flashed, a bunch of bright-colored blanks screens, accompanied by a hooting, blaring noise, bringing Quinn’s attention back to it. A human female’s face appeared, dressed in a plain black top with a severe decorative jacket over it, also black. The woman’s hair was the color of black coffee, her skin tan with olive undertones, her eyes also dark brown, surrounded by lush lashes. Her lips were a dark red, and her teeth blindingly white, rather like Omicron’s sun. She could be thirty standard years old—or body-modded to look that way. “Now that you’ve made your predictable attempts to break into Adzari Academy’s net, please pay attention to the rest of this presentation. We expect a certain level of respect from our students. That includes respecting the instructors and staff, and the rules and regulations of the Academy. The first rule is: you are not allowed access to any net except the student net.” The woman’s eyebrows pinched together slightly. “Any attempt to access the instructor or household net will result in termination of the student’s enrollment and immediate expulsion. There are no exceptions to this rule, no second chances. You will be dismissed from school. I hope this is very clear.”

The woman’s lips turned up, but it wasn’t a smile. “I am Academy President Rias Bel. As a student, you will not see me often.” The non-smile twisted. “If you do, neither of us will be happy. So, follow the rules. Obey your instructors. Behave with dignity and pride. Study hard. If you do these things, you will be successful here and in the future.” Bel’s non-smile showed again. “Academic classes, other than introductory sessions, are taught on a rotation basis, so students can enter a class at any time, learn those lessons, then continue the class and complete the rest. Net skills are almost exclusively learned in a lab. You are set a problem and expected to find a way to complete it. Both cooperation and competition are encouraged here. The very top students will be given the best positions, so study hard. I now turn you over to Adzari Academy’s House Managers, House Mistress Vormer for the girls, and House Master Jonstew for the boys. You will meet your instructors as you begin your classes.”

Quinn shivered. Whatever she was, Rias Bel wasn’t a pushover and she meant business. Quinn’s next net access attempt had to be successful—and it probably would not occur soon. She had a lot to learn. More importantly, though: who are these people? These were not the same names or faces she’d researched.

A human male and female appeared on the vid, sitting side by side, but not close like a couple. They had the same complexion as Rias Bel and Coll, dark brown hair, tan olive skin, and brown eyes. They also both looked older, maybe fifty standards with stern visages, rather prominent noses, and also dressed all in black, but plain white shirts.

The man spoke first. “Greetings students, I am House Master Jonstew. You will address me as Master Jonstew. This is House Mistress Vormer, you will address her as Mistress Vormer. We are here to ensure the safety of all students. If you have a problem with another student, you must come to one of us, me for the boys, Mistress Vormer for the girls. Do not go to an upper-class student.” Jonstew scowled. “In the past, the upper classes were allowed to govern the lower classes. This led to abuse. We will not tolerate such. The upper-class members know this, but sometimes have trouble remembering. You will be assigned a room with one to three other students, which you must keep clean. The bathrooms are shared and all students share the responsibility to keep them clean. The dining hall has posted times for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and there are healthy snacks available at all times. Students take turns cleaning the dishes and dining hall.” He turned to the woman. “Mistress Vormer?”

She nodded regally to him. “Thank you, Master Jonstew.” Facing the vid, she continued the lecture. “Good manners are a must here. In the past, net students have been allowed rudeness because of their talents. This is unacceptable. All beings must exhibit a basic level of consideration for others. Proper address will be used at all times, as will the words ‘please’ and ‘thank you.’ Timeliness is required as well. We keep strict hours for classes, recreation, and sleep. These times will be enforced.” Vormer’s lip curled for a second. “Proper hygiene will also be enforced. There is plenty of water on Omicron, so daily bathing is required, along with bathing after strenuous physical activity. Students will be clean and your uniforms will be clean and neat. You will be issued uniforms and those are all you will wear. Accommodations may be made for non-restrictive religious garments. Your rooms will be kept neat and tidy. Inspections will occur daily and randomly. Physical activity of some kind is required. Team sports are encouraged, but solo pursuits are acceptable. Strong minds require strong bodies. If you do not participate in a physical activity, one will be assigned. Master Jonstew?”

Jonstew sneered into the vid. “Upon arrival, your possessions, including your e-torcs, will be placed into storage and secured. You will be issued everything you need for success here. Do not attempt to hide any private net gear. It will be found. Punishment will be severe.” A smile flickered.

Quinn shivered. This man enjoyed punishment. What kind of punishment? What had she gotten into? Good thing she’d already memorized the code words and phrases Sisters Lashtar and Ani insisted on. And net addresses for them, Lightwave, and the Grus folder. Both Jonstew and Vormer spoke about past allowances and rules—was the academy’s leadership new? Quinn was relieved she hadn’t missed something critical, but the relief was overwhelmed by the fear that whoever these people were, they weren’t going to provide the safe, comfortable environment she’d researched.

“You will also receive several inoculations against local diseases. There is just enough overlap with our basic Old Earth DNA that humans are very vulnerable to both viruses and bacteria here. Please inform us of any allergies you have when you check in with the Academy Medicos.”

She didn’t have any allergies. Well, except for a bunch of Secundus native plants, but all humans did. Should she fake one? Probably not. She wouldn’t be able to research what to fake without giving it away, because the only net available was the Academy’s on the lift van. A shiver ran down her back. Quinn would have no way to know what they were really injecting into her body. Unfortunately, she knew they spoke truly about the diseases—she’d found that out during her research.

“You will be allowed to send messages to your home.” Jonstew’s lips lifted in a parody of a smile. “It’s mandatory, actually. We want your parents or guardians to know you are thriving. We are sure you will thrive here. We’ll make sure of it.” He sniffed. “Mistress Vormer?”

She repeated Jonstew’s non-smile. “The lift van will drop you off at our Administrative Center. We will assign a student to escort you through the onboarding process. They will also mentor you for the first week. Again, if there is a personality clash or the mentor oversteps, come to one of us immediately for reassignment. We will not allow any physical or mental abuse from other students.”

Vormer didn’t say anything about staff abuse, though. The shiver down her spine became an electric current. Well, guess the Sisters prepared her for just about everything, didn’t they? Quinn would keep her head down, be obedient, just a little dumb, and very, very naïve. The Sisters just became a more remote, cloistered, and strict society than they’d ever been, even under Ferra’s control. She’d learn what she could, survive, and when she got the chance, she’d escape. But until then, she’d have to act far more obedient than she’d ever been in real life.

She snorted softly. She’d wanted a challenge—she got one. Quinn desperately hoped it was worth it.

#

Quinn of Cygnus Copyright © 2020 by AM Scott. All Rights Reserved.

Quantum Fold – Chapter One

This is an unedited draft. While the main story won’t change, you may find some awkward phrasing, typos, and some fine details will be missing.  I’ll publish a new chapter every week. Enjoy!

Chapter One

 

Sweat poured down Quinn’s body like a Cygnus Secundus afternoon thunderstorm and every muscle in her body trembled. She wouldn’t break—she’d never break. But holding this stance—standing on her right leg, bent forward with her left leg raised behind her, and her arms out to the side was agonizing. As it should be—there was a reason the Sisters of Cygnus called these punishment poses.

“Release,” Sister Lashtar snapped.

Quinn gratefully lowered her left leg to the floor, pulling her arms into her sides, and stood upright.

“Recover. Ten minutes.”

Slowly, Quinn lowered herself to the floor, folding her legs below her body and lowering her forehead to the mat. Ah. Eventually, she got up the energy to turn flat on her back. She breathed, slowly and evenly, concentrating entirely on her breathing. The fading remains of resin-laden incense was sharp in her sinuses, but soothing all the same, as was the silence.

“Penitents are released to drink and eat. In silence.” Sister Lashtar’s voice was as cold as a Cygnus Gliese winter night. “Quinn, my office after the meal.”

Quinn heard the rustle of clothing but stayed where she was, unwilling to move. She knew the others were gathering bev-tainers and y’ga mats, more than ready to leave the Sister’s meditation room, but if she moved, she’d have to think, and she didn’t want to do that yet.

Something hit the bottom of her foot. When Quinn ignored it, the tapping continued, getting harder and switching feet randomly. Quinn sighed and opened her eyes.

“Finally,” Nat hissed, scowling. She held out a hand. “Come on. We need water and calories.” She glanced at the door, obviously hoping Sister Lashtar didn’t hear her.

Quinn took Nat’s hand and stood. Her head swam so she focused on a single spot on the wall and clung to Nat. Finally, she let go, and gratefully accepted the bev-tainer Brin handed her. Drinking slowly, she followed the group of girls out of the meditation room, down the hall and into the dining hall. They lined up at the kitchen window, muttering, “Thank you, Sister,” as they took trays with stew, bread, and water. As usual, the smell of baking bread permeated the huge dining hall and the clatter of hand-thrown clay pottery seemed loud in the silence.

Sister Navarr stood and intoned, “May the Mother bless the food we are here to share. May the Mother bless our efforts to praise her. May the Mother bless us.”

“May the Mother bless us,” echoed back from every corner of the room, Quinn joining in. She was blessed to be here, but sometimes boredom drove gratefulness and common sense right out of her head. Then she’d find something she wasn’t supposed to see, and anger wiped out thought like a lightning strike shattered a tree.

Sitting at the small punishment table at the front of the dining hall full of her fellow orphans, Quinn concentrated on eating her simple stew slowly. Why bother looking up? She’d only see the rest of the girls pointing and laughing at them, a practice the Sisters ignored, hoping peer pressure discouraged further bad behavior.

Too bad for the Sisters that it didn’t work. Quinn smirked. She could care less what the “good girls” thought. She ate, trying not to think about what she’d found. But it was hard to concentrate on a negative. Still, she did so, until she finished eating. She stared down at her bowl, watching the Sister’s leadership out of the corner of her eye. Finally, the leaders stood, bringing everyone to their feet, and they waited while Sister Navarr announced the work assignments. The leaders left, followed by everyone else, the youngest first, the punishment table last.

Quinn reluctantly followed the rest, Nat shooting a half sympathetic, half accusatory look at her as they split, Nat and Brin going to the kitchen to clean. Quinn trudged up the stairs to Sister Lashtar’s office and knocked quietly.

“Come in.”

She sighed and entered the dragon’s lair, standing in front of Sister Lashtar’s desk, looking straight ahead.

“Well, here you are. Again.” Lashtar’s voice was dismissively disappointed. “Despite defining your limits, you insist on exceeding them, prying into things you have no right to know. Why?”

Why? Isn’t it obvious? Or is this a trick?

“I asked a question, Penitent Quinn.”

Well, she had little to lose. Why not give her the real answer? “Yes, Sister. After Ferra’s betrayal for credits, how can you ask any of us to trust you?”

A sharp inhale followed by silence. Quinn risked a glance. Sister Lashtar’s eyes were closed, mouth clamped shut. Uh oh.

Sister Lashtar exhaled ever so slowly and took in another deep breath. “Penitent Quinn, we have outlined the processes and procedures we have put in place to ensure no one person has control of the Sisters. Full Sisters are given full access to everything. You are not a Sister. I sincerely doubt you will ever be a Sister of Cygnus.”

Quinn gasped. Not be a Sister? What else would she be? She’d lived with the Sisters her entire life.

“Look at me.”

She lowered her head reluctantly, examining Lashtar’s expression. Quinn found nothing.

Lashtar said, “I didn’t say that to hurt you, Quinn. But the women who become full Sisters aren’t prone to constantly breaking the rules, questioning every word. Nat and Brin tried to talk you out of this, didn’t they?” It wasn’t really a question.

“Yes,” Quinn admitted.

“I thought so. Nat is a natural leader, as are you. But she’s a leader by the book. You are not. The Sisters who thrive here need rules and consistent leadership according to those rules. If you stay, you and Nat will clash constantly. You will stress everyone in leadership. You will be more stressed than anyone, because you’ll never really fit in here, Quinn.” Lashtar said the last in a gentle voice. “And besides that, your talents aren’t well suited to the Sisters. We’re an agriculturally-based subsistence lifestyle. We teach net skills, y’ga and other security skills so those who choose to move on can support themselves. Net skills aren’t useful here.”

Quinn clenched her fists at her sides and clamped her lips together. She wasn’t sure if she would laugh, scream or cry, so she didn’t say anything at all.

“Again, Quinn, I’m not saying this to hurt you. I’m telling you this because you already know it’s true, you just aren’t willing to admit it.” Lashtar tapped sharply on the desk, once. “Or maybe you aren’t ready to admit it. Either way the restrictions of the Sisters chafe you, like a too-tight set of boots. Even though you’re younger than Nat and Brin, you’ve outgrown this place.” She swept an arm, clearly indicating the entire compound, not just Lashtar’s office.

Quinn swallowed hard and bit her lip. Where would she go?

“At fourteen, you’re younger than I’d like to send folding across the universe, but the net academy Katryn attended has a partial scholarship available.” Lashtar snorted. “And this is where your rule-breaking will come in handy. The scholarship’s upper age limit is thirteen standard years. You’re not a big girl, and I don’t think you’ll ever be big, not with your obvious heritage. You can easily lose a couple of years.” Lashtar’s mouth twisted.

That was probably true. Quinn had more in common with Katryn Phazeer than her net talents. She was tiny, with hair so black it was almost blue, big, slightly tilted brown eyes, and a pointed chin. She looked like Katryn’s little sister or an anime action figure. Quinn bit her lip, trying to hold back her growing excitement.

“It seemed like a suspicious stipulation, but the academy assures us they are trying to reach disadvantaged girls before they are trapped into a life of servitude and poverty. Katryn attended the same academy. She did very well and had no problems.” Lashtar shrugged. “Well, until she went out on her own and decided to go up against Galactica Corporation. So, part of your punishment detail is this: you will investigate the academy, make sure it is what it says it is, and you will create documents supporting your new age.” Lashtar snorted again. “Not that you will have any trouble with that since none of you have real documentation by core standards.”

Quinn took her first real breath since arriving in Lashtar’s office. Off world? To a net academy? It was a dream come true. A slightly scary dream, but so exciting! She’d get away from all these ridiculous restrictions, the religious trappings, the steamy, sodden jungle of Cygnus Secundus. And she’d be on the net all day, every day. No more weeding, shepherding, building fences, clearing jungle, none of that. Learn more and more about the net, and how to infiltrate it and secure it, and—

“Quinn!” Lashtar snapped.

She jumped.

“Don’t skimp on this research. Don’t assume you’re better than a school full of net experts. Your life is at stake and you should know by now there are worse things than death.” Lashtar pointed a finger at Quinn. “Just because it was safe for Katryn doesn’t mean it’s safe now. That was a long time ago. And there’s no way for us to come to the rescue if everything goes wrong.” She narrowed her eyes. “We’ll be sending you with a list of codes and phrases. You will check in. If you don’t, we’ll be asking Lightwave and others we know to check on you, but there’s no guarantee anyone will have the time or the ability. You will be alone and unafraid out there. Do the work.” Lashtar’s expression was an odd combination of worry, pride, and sorrow.

“Yes, Sister, I will.” Quinn would do the research all right—she’d heard too many horror stories of slavery from the Sisters not to—but she wasn’t going to squander this opportunity either. Even if this school wasn’t the right one, there had to be another one out there. Net talents like hers were rare and she knew it. Plenty of beings wanted someone with her talent and would pay to see it grow.

Sister Lashtar was right—Quinn didn’t belong here.

“And Quinn?”

“Yes, Sister Lashtar?” She kept herself from bouncing around the room with joy, but it was hard.

“The research is part of your punishment.” She smiled, a slow, rather evil smile. “You are still obligated to all the others, including kitchen duty.” The smile grew. “You’re late. Go!”

Quinn spun and sprinted out of Lashtar’s office. Even though the nasty job of cleaning the kitchen’s grease traps waited for her, she was too excited to walk. Off world! To a net academy! All day, learning net skills.

She couldn’t wait.

#

Brin squeezed her tight. Too tight. “Can’t breathe.” Brin’s arms loosened but didn’t let go.

“We’ll miss you.” She set Quinn away from her at arms-length, hands on her shoulders, and shook her a little. “You’d better write.”

Quinn smiled. “Of course I’ll write. I’m going to a net academy. I’ll have way better connections to communications than we do here. Getting it here, to Cygnus Secundus, that will be the problem.”

Nat pulled her away from Brin and into a slightly gentler hug. “I’ll miss you, Quinn.” She let go. “I won’t miss the trouble you cause, but I’ll miss you.” Her smile trembled.

“I’ll miss you too.” She looked around the group of girls and women. “I’ll miss all of you. Stay safe.”

Sister Ani walked her to the shuttle’s short stairs. “Safe folds. You’re always welcome to come back.”

Quinn laughed. “Thanks, Sister. I’ll be fine. How could I be anything but fine? You trained me.” She forced a chuckle. Now that her foot was on the first step, climbing up seemed to take far more effort than it should. She blinked back sudden tears and bowed. “Thank you for your teaching and patience.” With effort, she smiled. “I’ll succeed and make you proud.”

Ani nodded deeply in return. “I am proud, Quinn. Whether you succeed or not, I’m proud of you. Don’t you be too proud to come back if you need to. This is your home and you truly are more than welcome to return. May the Mother bless you and keep you from harm.”

Quinn sniffled, but couldn’t say anything or she’d burst into tears. Ani gripped her shoulder, nodded with clamped lips, then turned Quinn’s body to the stairs and urged her up. She climbed, turned back and waved at the hatch, unable to see through her tears, and forced herself inside.

“Come, Gentle Quinn, all will be fine.” The co-pilot, a Grusian named Keyser, led her to a seat and strapped her in. “It’s always hard leaving home.” Keyser turned away, strapping into her own chair. “Ready for launch.”

The pilot, another Grusian named Hout, looked over his shoulder, “Small surge, then normal gravity. Sit back and enjoy the ride, Gentle Quinn. It will be approximately seven hours and ten minutes before we arrive at Fold Transport Frederick.” He flicked something in the holo in front of him. “Initiating thrust, now.”

Quinn’s body pressed into the seat and she gasped, but the pressure let off before she even finished the breath.

“Do you want to watch?” Co-pilot Keyser asked. Her dark blue skin, bald head, and big eyes marked her as alien, but Grusians were essentially human, DNA-wise. Or humans were Grusian—nobody knew why human-type bipedals were so common across the universe. “We’ll be at the folder in approximately seven hours and six minutes. You can move around the cabin, use the galley and the sani-mod—but be ready to strap in if necessary.” Keyser chuckled. “I doubt it will be necessary, there’s not much traffic here.”

She nodded. “Yes, I’d love to watch our flight.” Quinn wiped the tears away with her hands. She didn’t want to miss any of this.

Keyser pushed a screen over to her and Quinn accepted it into her e-torc’s public holo. A navigation display, showing their shuttle’s orbit in relation to the planet and a view of Secundus, receding rapidly. Before long, Secundus was just a marble of blue and green. Quinn sighed and swept the visual of the planet away, concentrating on the shuttle’s flight path to the fold transport.

All the Sisters said she was welcome to come back, but Sister Lashtar was right—Secundus and the Sisters of Cygnus held nothing for her. She’d look forward and move forward, be bold. With great risks came great rewards and Quinn was determined to earn her share of rewards.

 

 

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New snow surfing video

This is raw footage from Lost Trail. I had no idea The Amazing Sleeping Man was so close to me!

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