Bounders (4 page)

“Sure, but, you know, everyone says it.”

“Do you do everything everyone else does?” the tall guy asks. “Last time I checked, every kid on this craft is one of the
B
s in B-wad. So figure out a better way to swear, okay? Let's start treating ourselves with a little more respect. And have some fun, like the guy says.”

The freckly kid looks at me. I shrug. He shoves his foot into his shoe and walks up the aisle.

The tall guy turns to the meaty boy. “Hey, Regis. Go back where you came from.”

I brace for Regis to flip out or maybe even throw something, but he doesn't. His shoulders roll forward, and he mumbles, “Whatever,” before heading to the front of the craft.

The tall guy offers his hand to me. “Sorry about your head, dude. The name's Marco. Marco Romero. I'm from Amazonas.”

I shake his hand. “I'm Jasper. Americana East. And this is Cole.”

Marco extends his hand to Cole, but Cole doesn't take it.

“We're not here to have fun,” Cole says. “We're here for an important Earth Force assignment.”

Marco laughs. “Yeah, whatever you say, Buzz Kill. Later.” He turns and disappears into an aisle a few rows up.

I plop onto my chair. “Why didn't you shake his hand?”

“I don't like him,” Cole says. “You didn't see what happened. He was with that guy Regis. They stole the kid's shoe, played catch across the craft, and then nailed you in the head with it.”

“Oh.” Marco seemed okay to me, although the whole scene was a little odd. If Addy were around, she'd remind me I stink at reading people.

The engines jump to life, sending vibrations through the craft. Cole's face brightens. I'm sure mine does, too. In a matter of minutes we'll be airborne. Destination: space station.

“May I have your attention, puh-
leeeze
,” Florine Statton says, dragging the word please out so long, she sounds like she's in pain. She stands at the top of the aisle, still wearing her giant sunglasses even though there's nothing sunny about the passenger craft. “The captain has informed me the atmospheric push is rough. You need to fasten your harnesses.”

A chorus of clicks runs through the rows.

“Once we engage Faster Than Light Speed, or FTL, we'll shift into autopilot,” she continues. “Then you can move about if you choose. We'll arrive at the space station in a few hours.”

Cole and I flip around in our seats to see the final gear check. As I watch the flight crew communicate through hand signals, I inhale a huge whiff of . . . roses? A long pink nail taps me on the forearm.

Florine stares down at me through her sunglasses. “Ex-
cuuuse
me. I said it was time to fasten your harness.” I'm doused with another wave of her rose perfume as she flashes her bright cold smile. Honestly, I've never seen anyone with whiter teeth. They're even whiter in person than they are on the webs.

“Sorry,” I say. Cole and I snap into our five-point harnesses. Florine moves down the aisle, checking the other Bounders.

“What's her deal?” I whisper to Cole. “Why is she wearing those sunglasses? And why is she on the craft anyway?” Cole seems to know a lot. I figure he'll know why she's here.

Just as Cole shrugs, a head pops up over the seats in front of us. A girl with wide-spaced eyes and warm brown skin stares at us. Her braided hair is tied with red and yellow ribbons.

“Florine Statton's been appointed Director of Bounder Affairs at the EarthBound Academy,” the girl says. She stares at me like I asked the most ridiculous question she heard all day.

“How do you know?”

“I asked.”

Okay. Pretty good way to get an answer.

“Who are you?” she asks. Her high voice tickles my ears.

“Jasper Adams. This is Cole Thompson.”

“What? Can't he speak for himself?”

Cole stares at the girl vacantly. I kick his shoe. “Oh. Hello,” he says, looking away.

“Hello, yourself. I'm Lucy Dugan. I had to give up drama club to come, you know. This better be good. I'm sure it will be. Florine told me all about the dorms and the teachers and the end-of-tour field trip to the Paleo Planet. Have you heard anything about how they'll group us at the Academy?”

“Wait a minute,” I say. “How do you know Florine? When did she tell you all this stuff?”

“I don't really know her. I met her this morning.”

Florine's voice blasts over the intercom. “The captain has been cleared for takeoff. Do not make me come through the cabin again.” And, as an afterthought, “Puh-
leeeze
.”

I peek behind me through the window. Smoke billows out around the craft, blocking the view of the sea. When I turn back, Lucy has disappeared into her seat. I'll have to talk to her once we clear the atmosphere. Lucy has a lot of info, and she knows where to get more. When Cole's head of facts draws a blank, I bet Lucy can fill it in.

“This is your captain. Prepare for lift-off.”

The floor rumbles, and I lean my head against the backrest. An odd pulling sensation seizes my body, and then an enormous weight compresses me, constricts me, holds me in place. The noise grows until it sounds like a freight train chugging through my brain. I fix my eyes on the front windows and try not to hyperventilate.

The world falls away as we rush up past the skyscrapers, the lifts, the air rail.

Up.

Up.

Up.

I lose all sense of direction. All I can see out the window is whiteness. I don't know if the whiteness is smoke or clouds or the thin air that crowds the atmospheric orbital line. The craft shakes and the engines roar. I'd do anything just to stop the noise.

The pressure creeps into my lungs and squeezes. I strain to raise my head from the seat back. I try to lift my hand from the armrest. Nothing budges. My body is a prison. My breath comes in short bursts. I'm not sure how much more I can take.

Boom!
The noise is so loud, my brain almost explodes.

Then . . .
ahhh
. Every single cell in my body relaxes.

My arms float up from the armrests. My body lifts off the chair and pulls against the harness. The vise grip that holds my lungs lets go.

“I am now stabilizing gravity,” the captain says over the intercom.

A few seconds later I feel like myself again, in control of my mind and body. I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

“You have to see this,” Cole whispers.

Cole has unbuttoned his harness and is facing backward in his seat. Who knows if we're allowed to do that, but Cole seems fine. He hasn't floated away or anything.

I unbuckle and turn. The entire rear window of the craft is filled with the image of Earth just as it looks in the web pics. The creamy white swirls of clouds mix with the royal blue of the oceans. Clusters of green mark the vegetation lands. The scorch zones stretch flat and brown. And the silver circles show our cities. It's beautiful. My throat gets tight, and my eyes fill up. I shake my head to snap out of it. No way do I want to look like a sap.

“That's Americana East,” Cole says, pointing to the silver circle on the edge of the American continent. “It's one of the twenty-two cities visible from space.”

I nod. Cole likes to state facts, and I don't think he does it just to sound smart. I think facts keep him grounded. And we're definitely not grounded.

“Is that where you're from?” I ask.

“Yes. District 17.”

“I'm District 8,” I say. How many minutes before we engage FTL?”

“Less than ten. The crew conducts a second systems check, but it won't take long.”

“Scoot over.” Lucy stands in the aisle and shoves my shoulder.

“Shouldn't you be in your seat?” Cole says.

“Who's asking?” Lucy steps over my legs, pushes up the armrest separating Cole's and my seats, and wiggles her way between us.

“It's simply gorgeous, isn't it?” she says.

“That's Americana East,” I say. Geez, I'm starting to sound like Cole.

“Yeah, uh, no kidding,” Lucy says. “Is that where you're from?”

“Yep. You?”

“No, thank goodness. You Easties are way too stressed-out. I'm a Westie.”

“Really?” I've never met anyone from Americana West. I've never met anyone who has been to Americana West. Come to think of it, until today, I'd never met anyone who had been anywhere other than East—ever.

“There's West,” Lucy says, pointing out the window. “What are all those smaller circles in between?”

“Those are the farm plots. All the food for the American continent is grown in those three zones,” Cole says. “You can't see from here, but all the transport lines connect at those plots.”

Lucy studies Cole. “Are you, like, one of those trivia magnets?”

“What do you mean?” Cole asks.

“You know, a lot of Bounder kids have a head for facts. They love to sort and categorize and memorize them. But that's definitely not how it's expressed in me. I'm more of a high-energy, low-focus type.”

“Me too,” I say. I really have no idea what Lucy is talking about, and I'm not sure about the high-energy part, but I definitely don't have a head for trivia like Cole does.

“How do you know?” Cole asks Lucy. “I've read all the published literature on Bounders, and I've never seen any mention of that.”

Lucy shrugs. “I asked. You
do
go for annual testing, don't you? Those docs see hundreds of us. They're gold mines when it comes to Bounder scoop.”

Addy and I went every year for examinations, but I never thought to drill the doctors and scientists about other Bounders. Until I turned ten, I didn't even know if the examination team would clear me for the space station. I've heard a lot of kids in the Bounder Baby Breeding Program don't make the cut. Actually, I never really thought I'd make it. There's nothing particularly special about me. Addy's hyperaware and always tuned in to people, but I'm basically the opposite. Now here's Cole with all the facts and numbers, and Lucy seems kind of like Addy. Maybe they made a mistake. Maybe I'm not supposed to be here after all.

A bell chimes, and the captain announces we're about to engage FTL. Lucy returns to her seat and buckles in.

“Have you ever traveled at FTL?” Cole asks.

I laugh. “I've never left Earth.”

“Me neither,” Cole says. A loud thud shakes the craft. “Did you feel that? They just folded back the sides.”

I crane my neck to look out the front window, but all I can see is an endless field of stars.

The craft buzzes like my apartment building's backup generator. Then, for a split second, I feel like I've been flung against a wall and smashed with a flyswatter. Before I can even process the feeling, it's gone. And we're just as we were before, except the front window is blurred with brightness. We engaged FTL.

Lucy pops back over the seat. “So, like I asked before, do either of you Easties know anything about how they're going to group us at the Academy?”

“Why don't you tell us what you know?” I say. “Because you obviously want to.”

“Thanks, I will,” she says. “I don't know much, but they're going to divide the cadets into pods. Florine told me.”

“Pods like quantum pods?” Cole asks. A pod usually refers to the group of five quantum aeronauts who crew each quantum ship.

“Kind of like quantum pods. There will be groups of five kids. Some of the teaching happens all together, but most of the lessons will take place in pods. Each pod will be paired with an instructor. And I heard a rumor that some of the quantum aeronauts are going to be instructors.”

Pods. That will be weird. So much depends on who's in your pod.

“I have my fingers crossed Maximilian Sheek will be my instructor.” Lucy smiles and makes a dreamy face. “Have you seen his latest EFAN interview? I can't believe he studied opera. A natural baritone!
And
he's looking for that special someone who appreciates the arts!”