Frontier: Book One - The Space Cadets (10 page)

But there was something wrong. The
ship was flying much too predictably, in a wide, fast arc around
the cylinder and back towards the hangar. It was easy for Ronaldo
to see her and chase her. Calculating her trajectory, he headed her
off with a tight beam laser.

Aisha flicked on her heads-up
display, and Soo-Kyung
’
s ship was so
bright with heat that it washed out the rest of the
display.

She peered through the cockpit,
but both ships were too far away. What could she do? Her hand
hovered over the radar button. She could send out a ping, and
positively identify the ships. That would allow her to get a lock
on Soo-Kyung
and
Ronaldo, so whichever one survived would be
at her mercy.

Something didn
’
t feel quite right. She looked out the window again,
seeing that Ronaldo was almost in firing range. She had to
act.

Taking a deep breath, Aisha
activated her radar. She instructed the computer to lock onto the
results. It beeped back at her, and she quickly deactivated the
radar. Ronaldo had Soo-Kyung in range and was opening up with his
laser.

He had her with a direct hit. But
something was wrong. There was no kill sound on her display. She
looked at it again, and--

Boom! She was
hit, hard, with both bullets and lasers, and at almost point-blank
range. A clear kill; she was dead. What had happened? Craning her
neck, she turned around to see Soo-Kyung
’
s ship only feet behind
hers.

She could see Soo-Kyung smiling,
and giving her a thumbs up. Aisha sighed, not believing she could
have been fooled so easily. She wasn
’
t
even sure
how
she
’
d been fooled.
Soo-Kyung
’
s ship moved slowly, ever so
slowly toward her. The nose of her ship connected with
Aisha
’
s just behind the cockpit, and began
to
push
her.

That
’
s
how she had fooled everyone! When someone pinged with radar,
she
’
d know where they were. But when they
used the heat sensors, they were fooled by the proximity of the
ships. She
’
d push one ship onto a path,
and shut down her own ship. While her opponent chased the bait, she
could zero in on it. In this case, she used Ronaldo as the bait to
get Aisha to turn on her radar and give away her
position.

It was genius.

Ronaldo was still shooting his
laser at the decoy, so Soo-Kyung pushed Aisha
’
s ship in his direction, burning what must be the
last of her fuel to get enough speed to be a burning glow on his
heat scanners. When she was close to laser range, she boosted away
from Aisha, effectively pushing herself slowly in the opposite
direction. Ronaldo opened up with direct hits on Aisha
’
s ship, the bullets racketing against her hull,
splattering red paint all over it.

Then, from behind, she saw
Soo-Kyung
’
s ship light up. Her beam hit
Ronaldo
’
s ship, straight and true, killing
it instantly.

The lights came back on in
Aisha
’
s ship, and she was able to regain
control. Simms’ face appeared on her screen. “Nice work, Miss Kim,”
he said. “And not bad, Parks and Ronaldo. The rest of you...that
was a shambles! You are a
disgrace
to your species. Get the
heck back here, now!”

May there be peace with you
always, my dear girl. May you understand what peace is, and the
difference between peace and victory. When we win a war, we like to
call it declaring peace, but it isn’t, it’s just postponing future
war.

Peace only comes when we work
together for a common, agreed upon goal. There’ll be a chance for
you to do that in the new world. Don’t forget. Work towards this
peace, and make it not just yours, but everyone’s…

Silently, they returned
to their apartment. Most of their classmates were
jealous at Soo-Kyung
’
s prize of no homework for a week.
“
It
’
s not like homework is
hard
for you
anyway,
”
grumbled
Ronaldo, shaking her hand in a concession to her victory. He smiled
and winked.
“
Just
kidding,
”
he had
said before going to join his friends.

They entered the apartment, and
Soo-Kyung kicked off her shoes and put her slippers on as always.
Quietly, she sat on one of the sofas and looked out at the
stars.

“
Nice work, Soo-Kyung.
I
’
d love to know how you were so good, so
quickly,” said Aisha, finally, unsettled by the silence.

The answer surprised her. “Really?
You assume a lot. I couldn
’
t have just
learned it on the spot, like you did? I had to know something
already, is that it?”

“
What do you mean?”

“
Oh come on, it
’
s been days now since you spoke with those boys, and
I
’
m sure they told you all about me.
You
’
ve been on-edge around me ever
since.”

“
That
’
s
not it, they--”

“
Am I supposed to believe you?
They hacked into my records and found out all about me, and you
believe
them
over me? I thought I was your
friend
.”

Aisha was aghast. “You
are
my friend.”

“
But you believe
them
over
me
?”

“
There
’
s
nothing to believe. They told me nothing.”

“
What? Then why are
you--”

Soo-Kyung stopped, and looked into
Aisha
’
s eyes. Aisha glared back. If
Soo-Kyung were to read anything it would be righteous anger. She
turned away from Aisha, and sat, putting her head in her hands for
a moment before looking back.

“
Sorry,” she said, quietly. “I
know I
’
m over-sensitive about this, and it
made me jump to the wrong conclusion.”

Aisha sat down beside her and told
her of the entire conversation with Patrice.

“
He was on the verge of telling me
something. Something not just about this place, but about...I
don
’
t know,
everything
. But I blew
it. I got angry and flew off the handle.”

“
Go on.”

“
But he did tell me about open
enrollment. He and Seamus and some others have their little
conspiracy going on up here. They thought that the opening of the
school to the general public might yield some kind of clue as to
the true purpose of the school.”

Soo-Kyung raised an eyebrow.
“And?”

“
And, it turned out that there
were two students that came in who are very special. You and
me.”

“
What makes us
special?”

“
For you, I have no idea. Seamus
said he read your files and that they
‘
blew his mind
’
, but other
than that, they told me nothing. I wanted to hear it from
you.
Despite what you said earlier, I
am
your friend,
and I care about you deeply.”

Soo-Kyung smiled a little, and
Aisha was surprised at how much she meant it. “I really do,” she
repeated. “And I know there
’
s an air of
secrecy about you. That there
’
s something
terrible that you carry alone. And you don
’
t have to. Not anymore.”

Soo-Kyung opened her mouth to
speak, and then closed it. It was like she was unable to find the
words. Finally, she spoke. “So, has my silence been the thing that
bothers you?”

“
Yes!” Aisha reached towards
Soo-Kyung, and rested her hand on her shoulder. “And, no,” she
said, knowing that she needed to be honest with Soo-Kyung. “There
was something more.”

“
What?”

Aisha told her about her own file.
That it had been sealed and encrypted so deeply that Seamus
couldn
’
t break it.

“
Yet he was able to break
mine?”

“
Yes.”

“
Curious,” Soo-Kyung
said.

“
So what did he read?”

“
Probably the cover
story.”

“
Cover story?” Aisha
asked.

“
I’
m not
exactly what I appear to be.”

“
He said that
nobody
here
is exactly who they appear to be.”

“
He is very wise,” she smiled a
little. “And cute.”

Aisha wasn
’
t going to let her change the subject. “Just who are
you, then?”

“
According to the files,
I
’
m one of the children that were
hand-picked by the regime in my country to go through the best of
training in everything. Science, technology, martial arts,
languages, piloting, strategy…a list as long as your
arm.”

“
According to the
files?”

“
Yes. That was planted to explain
how I can do the things I do, and to distract from the truth about
who I am.”

“
Who are you?”

“
My name is Kim.”

“
Yes. I know. It
’
s a common name in Korea.”

“
It
’
s also the name of the family that
have controlled the Democratic People
’
s Republic of Korea since its
founding over a hundred years ago. How else do you think I survived
the nuclear war?
”

Aisha sat for a moment. The family
that had controlled the country. That had brought it to war with
the West. A war that had claimed the life of her own father. She
felt anger growing.

“
I wasn
’
t a part of it,
”
said Soo-Kyung.
“
I am as much a victim
as you.
”

The pit of Aisha
’
s stomach went cold. That war had killed her father.
Soo-Kyung
’
s family was
responsible.

“
You could judge me for what they
did,” she said. “But you
’
d be wrong to do
so. You can
’
t hold me guilty by
association.”

Aisha sighed. Anger
wasn
’
t right. She didn
’
t want to blame Soo-Kyung. Finally, she said, “You
sound just like Patrice.”

“
Patrice?”

“
Smith.”

“
Oh. First-name terms now,
huh?”

She wasn
’
t going to let Soo-Kyung change the topic. “I
don
’
t know what to say.”

“
Well, nobody else knows who I am.
Only you. If you want to report me, I am at your mercy.”

“
But the files show you are
someone else.”

“
Files, which in your case, are
locked. If
you
were to report something it would probably be
believed. They clearly hold you in high regard.”

“
So, why?”

“
Why what?”

“
Why come up here?”

Soo-Kyung looked thoughtful for a
moment, like she was searching for the right words to say. “For a
new start. If I were to stay on Earth, someone somewhere, would
recognize me, and my life would be ruined, or I
’
d be killed. I want that fresh start, Aisha. And I
beg you, as a
friend
, to let me have it.”

“
I want to be mad, I really do. I
want to blame you for--”

“
Then do so, I
’
ll understand.”

“
No,
”
said Aisha, reaching out her hand.
“
You
’
re right. Fresh start. Let us not
hold each other accountable for the sins of our
fathers.
”

“
Your
father, at least,
didn
’
t sin, did he?”

“
I don
’
t
know,” said Aisha. “But my files are locked for a
reason.”

“
And I think they put us together
for a reason. I wonder if those reasons are related.”

Soo-Kyung looked thoughtful for a
moment. She walked to the glass windows, overlooking the stars. “I
haven
’
t ever been able to trust someone as
a friend,” she said finally. “Because of the family I come from. I
have trusted you tonight.”

She turned and held out a hand.
“Friends?”

Aisha looked at her hand for a
long moment before holding it in hers and shaking it. “Friends,”
she nodded, first smiling, then grinning, and finally embracing the
Korean girl in a giant hug.