Sirius Academy (Jezebel's Ladder) (22 page)

“But . . .”

“We added hours to each day to add
to your stress. In three hours, the airlock will open.”

“Why are you all wet?”

“I came in through the escape hatch
in your floor. Clever of you to stockpile extra water there.”

He shrugged. “In case it got shut
off altogether. No one could drink that much tea.” Zeiss threw her a towel from
his drawer. “But you’re not here to tell me how clever I am. What’s wrong,
boss?”

“I’m not here as boss. I’m here as
Trina and a shoulder.”

He swallowed. “Mom’s letters?”

“She was in a coma all week. She
passed an hour ago. I’m so sorry you couldn’t be there.”

Trina held him, stroking his hair,
and singing in German until he fell back asleep. Once she heard the airlock
open, she waited till the commotion subsided to depart.

Unfortunately, the Japanese heiress
was still collecting her clothes from where Red had scattered them: the oven,
the fridge, the shower, under men’s mattresses, and in the toilet. Kaguya
caught Trina sneaking out and adjusting her damp uniform and hair. “Well that
explains why he wouldn’t take my offer.”

Trina locked eyes with her. “Yes,
gentlemen
prefer blondes.”

Rumors spread like wildfire. Only
Red knew the truth. Daniel laughed himself silly when he heard and refused to
let them explain to the student body. “This improves my cover and gets rid of
those gay pedophile rumors. If you thought Z was a hero before, this is going
to make him a legend.”

In September, a few days before Red’s Sophomore year began, Zeiss’s
plane stopped in Tokyo. Since the layover would be several hours, he texted
Kaguya Mori and she agreed to meet him in the lobby of a hotel near the
airport. “Bring a chaperone,” he insisted.

Kaguya arrived in a modest school
uniform, with two narrow braids that confined the rest of her tresses. A tall
Anglo woman in a red skirt followed her like a bodyguard. After they stepped
into a conference room for privacy, the fortyish woman frisked him thoroughly.

At one point, Zeiss stood on his
tiptoes and muttered, “Usually the doctor asks me to cough at this point.”

The older woman noted, “The suit is
new and custom-made. I had to be certain.”

He smiled briefly. “Daniel-san paid
for it. My old one didn’t fit through the chest anymore.”

“What did you wish to discuss?”
Kaguya asked without inflection. The guard behind her looked ready to rip out
his throat.

He bowed his head. “I wished to
apologize for my unprofessional behavior in the isolation chamber.”

She tilted her head. “To what
behavior do you refer?”

“I was upset and used some
unflattering language.”

“I’m listening.”

“Kaguya, we both know you’re more
than what you seem. You’re driven, intelligent, and many things your public
image is not. You proved that by volunteering for isolation. You’re good at
heart. But your actions are taking you down the wrong path.” Without him
seeing, the female chaperone palmed a syringe from her purse.

“This sounds more like criticism,”
said the young woman, icily.

“I was flattered by your offer; however,
we both know it would have been wrong. After your speech about Chang’e, I
realized how important it is for you to be on the Sirius landing team.” He held
out a wooden box with a grid on top. “Do you recognize this?”

“Go?” Kaguya said, knowing full
well it had belonged to Solomon. She braced herself to hold the man’s mouth shut
while he died. She swallowed. She honestly liked the man and didn’t want to see
it end this way.

“This is for you, to remind you. My
mother was an intelligent woman as well—master level at this game. She’s the
one who taught me to play. She never finished her graduate work because she had
to get married. Girls your age never recover from scandal and spend decades in
regret. Please accept this as a gift and a reminder of your potential.”
Stunned, the young woman received the gift and handed it to her chaperone. “Life
is a game of patience, and you are the prize.”

“Shouldn’t you give this to that rude,
little girl you were teaching?”

“I intended to, but then I realized
that she’s far too competitive. Now she’s using Sojiro to help her design a
team to rival yours. I’ve shown her too much favoritism of late. You were the
intended target of that attack, and I didn’t consider your feelings as I should’ve.
Your father’s generous acts have increased my shame. If you need anything as a
mentor or a friend, don’t hesitate to ask.”

The chaperone spoke up, “You are a
kind and brave teacher, and our daughter has spoken well of you.”

He bowed realizing who the ‘guard’
was. “Forgive me, Mrs. Mori. It was not my intent . . .”

“There is nothing to forgive.
Although I haven’t heard the tapes, my husband assures me that nothing you said
was untrue or improper.”

“To be heard properly, such words
should’ve been in private and kind,” he insisted.

“Private wouldn’t have been wise,”
the mother admitted. “My daughter fears that once her school is concluded, my
husband will bind her to the reins of his boring business for the rest of her
life. She wishes to live these years to their fullest, hoping to make the joy
echo for years. In a man, this would be encouraged as sowing his wild oats.”

“I would use the term tolerated,”
he countered. “But Kaguya-san can excel in any male-dominated field she puts
her mind to.”

The girl blushed and the mother
laughed.

“I didn’t mean . . . I shall depart
before I dig myself deeper. Am I forgiven?” he asked.

“Of course,” said Kaguya.

Once he was gone, her mother put
away the syringe. “I see what you mean about not knowing if he’s going to slap
you in cuffs, screw you, or both.” She pushed a button on her phone, “Cancel
the plane crash.”

“Mother!”

“Think about it; you could do
worse.”

“I meant, why did you schedule his
assassination? I thought we agreed.”

“You failed to seduce him, and the
opportunity to deny the enemy his talents was too much to pass up. However, that’s
before I suspected he genuinely cares for you.”

Kaguya rolled her eyes. “He only
wants me for my mind and to save me from my
wicked
ways.”

“He apologized to you after you put
him in the hospital. That means he either has incredible moral fiber or likes
being spanked by girls. Either way, he’s good husband material, not like your
normal groupies.”

“He’s poor.”

“Now. Daniel is grooming him for a
high post in Fortune Aerospace, maybe even his heir. It would be a profitable
union, and the grandchildren would be gorgeous.”

Kaguya shrugged. “I’ll keep the
option open if he’s properly repentant.”

Her mother tapped the gift box,
“This is both invitation and instruction manual. It means he wants you to reel
him in slowly and methodically. But when he finally turns, the whole board will
be yours.”

****

The supper club, plus the newest
members Green and Park, waited for Zeiss on the runway. He seemed subdued as he
approached the team, exchanging hugs and handshakes. “We missed you,” said Red.
“The whole Academy was out-of-sorts when you didn’t come back.”

“I had a house to sell and a
lifetime of possessions to dispose of.” Zeiss handed two suitcases and a box to
the team members to carry. “This is all I have left. It’s kind of liberating.”

“No more crutches,” Red observed.

Zeiss flexed his leg by way of
demonstration. “My knee still twinges a little on stairs, but everything
works.”

“Are you going to be teaching in
this suit?” Sojiro said, admiring his new outfit. “Hoo! I
like
.”

The TA smile briefly. “No. I had to
do some recruiting, pick Solomon’s replacement and a couple of others.”

“The ‘do is stylish, too,” Sojiro
noted, running his fingers through the blond hair.

“Yeah, the guy on the island only
knows how to shave mils.”

“Use the women’s hairstylist like I
do,” the Japanese student said, modeling his own 80’s hair plume.

“We’ll see,” Zeiss laughed.

“You’ve lost weight again, Z,” Risa
whispered, “and not in a good way.”

“When I went to bury my mom, they
wouldn’t let us in,” he explained. “It was a church graveyard and the plot was registered
as Heinrich Zeiss and wife. Dad wanted it for his new wife, so he got an
annulment for his marriage with Mom. I had to arrange for a last-minute
cremation.”

Risa balked. “They can’t do that.”

Herk, holding her hand, said, “They
can, but it means that Z here is retroactively illegitimate.”

“That’s wrong,” Sojiro insisted.
“They got divorced because he slept around. How did he spin that so the church
was on his side?”

“She didn’t tell him she was
‘genetically defective’; she tested positive for early-onset Parkinson’s before
they got married. Then he had a church wedding with the woman he cheated with.”
The group booed. “It’s okay; I don’t have any part of him in my life anymore.
I’m starting fresh . . . with people I value.”

Sojiro and the ladies gave him a
group hug.

“But that didn’t take the whole
time,” Red pressed. She was interrupted when a crew member hauled a metal keg off.

After Zeiss signed for the keg, he
announced, “To show I value you all—except Red who isn’t old enough yet—I
brought back my favorite bock beer. I entrust this nectar to my good friend
Herk who did in one semester what I failed to do all year.”

“What?” asked Red.

“You didn’t tell them?” Zeiss asked.

Herk shook his head. “Sworn to
secrecy.”

“This hero found the explosives
hidden on our island,” Zeiss said, clapping the Polish man on the shoulder. “Thanks
to him, we’re safe.”

Risa jumped a foot and threw her
arms around Herk’s neck from the other side. “You sneak!”

“It was mainly the mils and the
Mori team,” Herk insisted.

“You defused it,” the TA countered.

Risa’s eyes got big. “What?”

“Not a big thing,” Herk rumbled.

“Share the reward with anyone you
like,” Zeiss said. “You’ve earned it.”

Herk offered, “Stop by and we’ll
lift one to your mom.”

“Much as I’d love to, once I cross
that threshold, I’m a teacher again.”

Clearing her throat, Red asked, “Did
anybody
else
get a present?”

Everyone laughed. Zeiss answered, “Yes.
My mom’s last job before she got sick was making chocolate for the tourists.
These are from her shop. I wanted you all to have a piece of how special she
was, to remember her by.” He handed out chocolate-dipped fruit to everyone,
extra portions to Sojiro and the ladies.

Red saw that hers was sealed in a
metal lunchbox with an evidence label over the latch. “A Han Solo,
Millennium
Falcon
lunch box?”

“It’s all I had,” Zeiss explained. “Do
you want it or not?”

“I’ll take it,” offered Auckland.

“Back off. Mine,” she growled.

“They smell wonderful,” Risa said,
opening one. “Orange?”

“Soaked in rum and sugar until it
crystallized, then covered in the best chocolate in the world.”

“You’re evil!” the hefty Latina moaned.

“Have one, and I’ll walk the two
klicks with you,” said Herk.

Zeiss looked at Red for an explanation
of the behavior, but she locked her lips with an imaginary key.

“Let’s go get my man unpacked,”
Sojiro called, and everyone but the lovebirds began carrying gear back to his
room.

“Red, I’ll work on your schedule as
soon as I get back to my office,” the TA promised.

“Already done,” she replied,
walking behind him with a smile. “Daniel helped. I have gravity theory,
navigation class with you, aerodynamics, and ethics.”

“You’re eating your vegetables
without help, now,” Zeiss said warmly, laying a hand on her arm. “I’m proud of
you.”

Red experienced the same lift she
had when her father said the same words when she got into Mensa at age ten. “To
be honest, Dean Stanton insisted after the latest scandal. I need it for
leadership training anyway.”

“Turning a negative into a
positive. You’re maturing, Mira.” She felt glowing for a moment until Zeiss
added, “Before I forget, you have a new team member arriving tomorrow.”

The TA rummaged through his bag and
found a dossier, handing it back. Auckland intercepted the file because Red’s
arms weren’t moving. The doctor said, “Yvette. She’s French?”

“Yes, a nurse-practitioner I
recruited from Lyon.”

“Wait. This is
my
team,” Red
protested.

“Don’t be so hasty, she’s
cute
,”
said Toby, looking over his friend’s shoulder. “She likes rock climbing, camping,
and sky diving—sounds like astronaut material to me.”

“Why do we need an OB-GYN specialist?”
asked Auckland.

“She’s the best high-risk pregnancy
specialist I could find, with a Master’s in psych,” Zeiss hinted.

“You’ve circled all the indicators
for the Empathy page and scheduled classes for her already,” said Auckland. “You’ve fast-tracked her.”

“I’m waiting!” bellowed Red.

“No, you’re shouting, there’s a
difference,” explained Zeiss.

“Remember the survival course,”
Toby hissed. “Maybe this is something he can’t tell us.”

“Not yet,” Zeiss admitted. “Look,
she stands on her own merits. I used your selection matrix. If the whole group
doesn’t admit her unanimously, she’s out.”

“Not a vote,” Red insisted. “It’s
my
team.”

The TA paused and gazed down at
her. “I used everything in my bank account to pay for Yvette’s first year. Have
a little faith in me. If she makes good grades, the EU has agreed to sponsor
her after that.”

She locked eyes with him for a long
moment. “Give me a hint.”

“I don’t have the proof finished
yet. You’ll never believe me without it. But I had to act now to get her on
your
team.”

****

Trina caught Zeiss while he was
dropping a crate of books off in the sublevel office. “What did you think about
the Bermuda Triangle?” she asked, startling him.

“Kaguya’s mother was intense and
more than a little scary,” he summarized.

“Red’s on the warpath.”

“Always.”

“Why the new recruit?”

“I can’t prove it yet.”

“But you bet your life savings on
it. Tell me.”

“It’s big. If I’m wrong . . .”

She glared at him with the ‘don’t
make me hurt you’ stare.

He nodded to the chair. “Sit. We’ll
make this a proof. I’ll lay out the steps so far and you stop me when you
disagree.

“Assumption one: Red’s going to
reach the artifact or no one will.”

She snorted and nodded.

“Two: she’ll try, however inexpertly,
to seduce Lou onto her team. Three: she can’t use birth control because it
would interfere with her neuro meds.”

Trina’s eyes widened. “Omigod. Is
she . . .?”

Zeiss replied, “No, but you give me
conclusion A: if they are left together for a prolonged period, she
will
get pregnant. Four: the more talents a woman has, the more difficulty she has
bearing a child to term. Conclusion B: given this, we’ll need to have the best
OB-GYN specialist next to her when this happens.”