Frontier: Book One - The Space Cadets (15 page)

“
Sorry? Why sorry? From what I
heard if you hadn
’
t stopped that guy it
would have been a lot worse.”

“
But it
’
s
my fault he was there.”

“
He
’
s a
good boy, a smart boy,” said Anderson. “I
’
ve encountered him many times. If he was there, he
was there because he
wanted
to be there. Don
’
t go looking for blame. Just try to get
better.”

***

She must have slept after that,
because suddenly he was gone. She turned in her bed, and saw
Soo-Kyung and David sitting beside her. Soo-Kyung was asleep, head
drooped down over her chest.

“
Hey,” said David.
“You
’
re awake.”

He elbowed Soo-Kyung and she woke
instantly.

Aisha was never happier to see her
roommate. “Hi,” she croaked.

“
Hi yourself,
”
said Soo-Kyung, smiling
broadly.
“
How are
you feeling?
”

“
Confused. How long?”

“
It
’
s
been about twelve hours,” said Soo-Kyung. “But the doctor told us
you were awake a few hours ago. You need your rest, so just relax,
okay?”

“
Patrice?”

“
He
’
s not
awake yet,” said David, sadly. “But I heard what you and he did for
me, and just really want to thank you.”

He reached out a hand, and she
took it in hers. She tried to grip him, and only then realized how
weak she felt.

“
Friends forever,” he said. “If
you ever need anything, and I mean
anything
, I am at your
service.”

“
A caf
é
latte would be nice,” said Soo-Kyung.

“
Not
you
,” laughed
David.

“
Doesn
’
t
her roommate count too?”

“
Not this time.”

“
Boo!”

They laughed a little, and Aisha
couldn
’
t help but smile.

“
Everything
’
s going to be okay, isn
’
t
it?”

“
You know that was out loud,
don
’
t you?” Soo-Kyung smiled and
winked.

“
Uhh.”

“
And yes, it is,” she continued.
“Everything is going to be fine, but please, just get some
sleep.”

She wanted to say
‘
okay
’
, but her mind slipped
away again, and before she knew it she was drifting off to sleep
once more.

***

It took a few days before they let
her out of bed, and the first place she went to was
Patrice
’
s room. He was still out
cold.

“
It
’
s not
exactly a coma,” said the nurse. “It
’
s
just like a long sleep. He has woken up once or twice, and spoken a
little gibberish.”

Aisha sat by the bed, and when the
nurse left, she reached out and grabbed his hand. Lowering her head
onto the bed, with his hand against her forehead, she whispered.
“I
’
m so sorry, Patrice. I should have
followed your advice. I should never have gone there. Please wake
up, so I can tell you to your face. There are so many things I want
to tell you. There
’
s so much that I want
you to know. Please just wake up.”

My mother always made me read the
Bible. Every day or every night, I had to do it. As a child it was
really hard to understand everything in it. I focused on the
stories, like Job and his suffering, or Jonah and the Whale. She
insisted it was a ‘big fish’, and not a whale, because that’s what
the Bible said. She liked to take it literally, at face value, not
realizing that such an approach to the book led to most of the
inconsistencies.

But one thing I remember reading,
because it hit me at the core of my being, was this advice: “Let
your yes be yes, and your no be no, anything else comes from the
Evil one.”

That became a cornerstone of my
life, and it, more than anything else, allowed me to become the man
I am. And I pass that down to you, my dear daughter. Integrity
comes from what you say as much as what you do. Let your yes be
yes. Let your no be no. Speak the truth, and handle the
consequences...

She visited the hospital
every day, but still there was no sign of life from Patrice. He
just lay there, sometimes with his eyes open, looking at the
ceiling, sometimes with his eyes closed and an expression of
supreme peace on his face.

She spoke to him more in this
condition than she had ever spoken to him when he was
awake.

It was the end of her free period,
and she had flight training next, a class that she
couldn
’
t miss under any circumstances. She
squeezed his hand, and wanted to kiss his forehead, but
wasn
’
t sure if it was the right thing. So
she just gently touched it, and wished him well.

“
See you soon,
”
she said.
“
And we
’
ll have
Soo-Kyung
’
s
famous noodles.
”

She left the infirmary, padding
her way down the corridors towards the ladders that would take her
upwards toward the hub of the station.

An adult was waiting for her.
“Cadet Parks?”

“
Yes, Sir.”

“
You are wanted in Colonel
Carter
’
s office, immediately.”

Colonel Carter? The brash man that
had welcomed them to the school. It was only a few weeks before,
but it felt like a lifetime ago.

“
What does he want?”

“
No idea, Cadet. He just wants you
there, double speed.”

“
But I have flight
training!”

“
Are you disobeying his
orders?”

“
No, Sir. No. Sorry.”

The soldier nodded and went on his
way.

She had no idea where the
principal
’
s office even
was.
She
called up her link, and it directed her towards the first wheel of
the station. Logically, it would be where administration was set
up, because it was the first section put in place.

Not wanting to miss a lot of her
class, she jogged to the first wheel. Then, climbing up to one of
the inner sections, she was guided to his office.

It was spartan and functional.
Much like him, she imagined.

She knocked.

“
Come!”

She opened the
door and entered.
“
Sir, you wanted to see me, Sir.
”

“
Yes, Cadet Parks, come
in.”

“
Sir, I didn
’
t realize you were the principal too,
Sir.”

“
I’
m not,
I
’
m just using his office.”

“
Sir, yes, Sir.”

She stood, mimicking military
attention as best she could. He smiled slightly.

“
At ease, Cadet.”

She relaxed a little.

“
Do you know why I called you
here?”

“
Sir, no, Sir.”

“
Yes you do.”

“
Sir, I can only speculate,
Sir.”

“
Then speculate.”

“
Sir, it
’
s about the incident in the dojo, Sir.”

“
You speculate correctly. Do you know what
you did to that boy?
”

“
Sir, do you know what he did to
David? To Patrice? To me? I was only defending myself,
Sir.”

“
You didn
’
t answer the question.”

“
Sir, sorry, Sir.”

“
Well you don
’
t know what you did to him, because nobody does. So
I
’
ll tell you. You damaged his leg so
badly that he
’
ll be lucky to ever walk
again. He
’
s quite useless in weightless
conditions, so I had to graduate him early.”

“
Sir, graduate him early,
Sir?”

“
As in, send him back to Earth.
He
’
s been back before for bad behavior,
but his father fixed things up with the regents so he could return.
Now, there
’
s no point in him returning.
He
’
ll never be able to be a cadet
again.”

“
Sir, yes, Sir.”

“
That
’
s
all you can say?”

Aisha didn
’
t know how to respond. It was clear that Sebastian
was a problem, not just to her, but to the Academy as a whole. She
had almost done them a favor.

“
Good,
”
he said.
“
If you have nothing smart to say,
say nothing at all.
”

She stayed silent.

“
Okay,” he continued. “Take a
seat. Off the record, tell me what went on between you two. Spare
no details. This is important.”

“
Sir, off the record,
Sir?”

“
Yes, and you can drop the ‘Sir’
for this.”

“
Sir, thank you, Sir.”

He smiled. “So, spill the
beans.”

She told him about the incident on
the way up, the way he had been snotty with Soo-Kyung, and how
Soo-Kyung had blanked him. His cold, icy, reaction afterwards had
her fearing his behavior.

Then, she told him about the
encounter in the cafeteria, and his attempt to intimidate her. How
she had remained resolute, and then how she finally broke when he
taunted her with racism.

Finally, the incident in the dojo
-- where he had engineered a situation that would get her on the
mat. His brutality with David aside, he was clearly gunning for
her. And when Patrice jumped in to save her, how Sebastian attacked
him.

It left her no option but to
finish the fight.

“
What did you say?”

“
I had to finish the fight. I have
always learned to never start the fight, but always finish
it.”

Carter almost smiled when he said,
“Go on.”

“
I knew that if he was going to be
this brutal
in front of an audience
, that if he was foiled
this time by, say, adult intervention, that the possibility of him
being much nastier in private was a distinct one.”

“
So, you stopped him.”

“
The only way I knew how. I knew it would
probably get me kicked out of here,
”
she said, tears flowing
involuntarily from her eyes,
“
but if that
’
s the price I had to pay,
that
’
s the price
I have to pay.
”

Carter leaned back in his seat,
regarding her thoughtfully. His next action surprised her. He
touched his link and spoke into it.

“
Heard enough?”

“
Yes,” came a gravelly voice on
the other side. “I
’
m coming
in.”

The door behind her cracked open,
and she turned to see a man walking in. He took a seat beside
Carter, and despite herself, she gasped.

His kindly smile made his brown
eyes light up, and his greying hair was in deep contrast to his
dark brown skin.

“
I
’
m Ezra Higgins,
”
he said in his deep voice.
“
Pleased to meet
you.
”

She reached out and shook
hands.

“
I’
m
Principal of this Academy.”

And there’s where I end my letter
my dear daughter. There’s where I have the last words that I will
ever say to you. Someday, I know you will read these. Someday, I
hope you understand them and take them to heart.

Don’t obey these words because I
wrote them. Take them as guidance in finding your own way around
what is right and what is wrong. Choose your own path, and stick
with it.

Once you’ve done that, I’ll know
that my life was lived fully, and that I can rest happy, knowing
that you are going to be the only thing we can ever be: A good
person.

Your loving Father.

She realized that her
mouth
was hanging open.

“
Is it so unusual that a black man
could be Principal?”

“
No,” she replied, hesitant.
“It
’
s just that I thought
he
was.”
She pointed at Carter, and then, unsure of herself, added,
“Sir.”