The Apollo Academy (17 page)

ZANE

E
nlarging the display screen on his techiwatch, Zane pulled up the Apollo Academy’s personnel contact list. Zane didn’t know Sky’s real name, but he didn’t have to worry. Sky was listed simply as Sky in the Academy’s database.

With a quick touch, he selected the techiwatch number, hoping Sky would answer his call.

Zane was about to give up when Sky’s face filled the screen.

He brusquely answered with a “Yeah” and seemed pissed off at being disturbed. Sky’s hair stuck up all over his head as if he had repeatedly run his hands through it.

“Hey, it’s Zane.” Actually, now that he thought about it, Sky had never actually spoken to him since the security guard incident. “Um, we met the first day of school. Anyway, can we talk?”

“Yeah, Zane Paxton. I remember the
unknown
.”

Zane gritted his teeth, swallowing his angry retort. He would earn his status even if it killed him. Even though he’d been around Sky for training, he had never actually spoken to Zane or even acknowledged his presence since that first day. Sky obviously didn’t want to associate with someone like him. Probably ruin his reputation or something. That reminded him, maybe he should find out what Ms. Lovell meant that day about not bringing up his past.

“What do you want?” Sky snapped, bringing him back to their conversation.

“I was hoping I could meet up with you for a minute.”

Sky pushed his hands back through his hair and sighed. “Look, Zane, I’ve had a really horrible day. Can this wait?”

Zane shook his head. “That’s actually why I want to talk with you. I heard what happened with Aurora.”

“And why would you need to talk to me about that? What’s it have to do with you?”

Zane thought about his options. He could pretend that he didn’t think there was some sort of foul play going on because he really had nothing to back that feeling up, or he could tell Sky what he suspected and hope for the best.

He looked around to make sure no one was listening before he said, “There’s no way that many failures would naturally occur at the exact same time. The confluence of that many malfunctions are incalculable.”

Zane heard Sky’s breathing over his watch as he listened. “I just have a bad feeling. I think we need to find answers, and I want to look at the equipment that failed.” He didn’t want to have to sneak his way into the hangar, but he could if Sky didn’t cooperate.

Sky pursed his lips as he thought this over. “You’re supposed to be some sort of tech genius, right?”

“You could say that.” Zane rolled his eyes.

Sky took a deep breath and spoke quickly, like he couldn’t believe what he was about to say. “I don’t think it was a typical accident either. But either way we should talk in person.”

“Where can we meet?”

“We can talk in my room, 817.” With that, Sky disconnected the call, and Zane was left looking at a dark screen.

Sky sounded sincere in his worry over Aurora’s flight, but if he was lying about not knowing what had happened, Zane would be able to tell just by watching his reactions. It wasn’t that farfetched to believe something else was going on, especially with all of the controversy over the Apollo Alliance and its direct correlation to the Apollo Academy. TerraUnited had yet to openly attack the Academy, but it certainly was a possibility to consider.

Room 817 was on the eighth floor, a floor dedicated to graduated cadets who were now employed as astronauts for the Apollo Alliance. When Zane arrived, he found it similar to his dormitory floor, except it was much nicer with rooms twice the size. The hallways were a little more subdued than the dormitory floors, probably because these floors held astronauts and personnel responsible for safely sending people to and from space.

Zane knocked on the door marked 817 and pushed it open once he heard the locks disengage. If he hadn’t had complete control over his face, his mouth would have dropped open by what greeted him.

Sky’s room seemed more fitted for a king than a twenty-two- year-old man. Granted, he was the Academy’s star astronaut, but this was super nova. Zane’s room was meek and barely furnished compared to the room spread before him.

If Zane hadn’t seen the room himself, he would never have believed it belonged to Sky. From what Zane had seen, Sky was a down-to-earth guy that everyone else seemed to love. The room held more tech candy than a junk techyard. The walls were covered in glass screens, and all sorts of tech sat discarded on the floor. An overly large bed covered in pillows completed the ridiculously lavish room.

As he tried to focus on the many glass monitors that appeared to be set on different media stations, Sky waved his hand in the air, changing the station. Sky was lying back on the bed with his feet propped up on a stack of pillows and was paying absolutely no attention to the person who had just entered.

Zane stood in the middle of the room, feeling a little out of place in all the luxury, when he decided he couldn’t stand the silent treatment any longer.

“Nice digs,” he said.

Sky didn’t seem to notice Zane’s awkward stance. His brows creased in concentration.

Zane turned his attention to the news station that seemed to hold Sky’s interest.

“Have no doubt that Frontier Solutions will remain in full operation throughout this bankruptcy which is allowing us to undergo a complete restructuring of our corporate business model. In fact, just today we discovered irregularities in a financial audit that would suggest that money was being siphoned off by a high-level executive. While we have not yet concluded who is responsible, an investigation is underway, both internally and with the FBI and SEC. We fully expect that once this situation is addressed, our actual earnings and financial statement will drastically improve.”

Zane stared at the blue-eyed and blond-haired man on the screen. He looked eerily familiar, but Zane couldn’t place the feeling. He was obviously involved with Frontier Solutions in some way.

“In addition, I have concluded a fifty million dollar deal with a private investment group whose interest in our company will prove to be mutually beneficial. In light of this capital injection and the complete, top-down reorganization of our company, I fully expect that Frontier Solutions will soon regain its former status as a leading supplier to the technology sector.”

Zane watched as Veronica Harley replaced the young man’s recorded speech. He was really getting sick of seeing that chick everywhere.

“Financial analysts speculate that only an extremely high executive or board member or the CEO himself would be able to siphon off enough funds to really make a difference in their bottom line for this many years without being caught. It is also noteworthy that Henry Dagan, the CEO, was completely uninvolved and not mentioned in this latest scandal, suggesting, perhaps, that his son, Rowan Dagan, may be taking over. The question remains who the new investor is and whether or not their funding, along with the resolution to their financial leak, will be enough to turn the company profitable.

“This is Veronica Harley. Please stay linked to Broadcast 5 News for the most up-to-date reports.”

Who would make a deal with Frontier Solutions for fifty million dollars when they were obviously going through serious financial trouble?
Zane looked over at Sky who was still deep in thought. He wasn’t sure if he was thinking of the news he had just been watching or the Aurora situation.

Finally, Sky dragged his attention away from whatever he was thinking so hard about and turned to Zane. As if coming out of a trance, Sky shrugged his shoulders like the room made no difference to him. “So you think you can figure out what happened today?”

Zane appreciated his directness, even if it had taken a few minutes to get his undivided attention. “If there was any irregular interference with Aurora’s XT-101, I’ll find it.” He knew he sounded like a complete dick, but, well, he knew his abilities. No one was as good as he was when it came to anything with electronics and automation.

Sky nodded, jumping off the bed. “No harm trying, I guess. I can get you into the maintenance hangar.”

Good. He wouldn’t have to override the retinal scanners that would assuredly be stationed outside the hangar door.

Sky went to his closet and began putting on a pair of expensive-looking boots. Zane exhaled loudly, the closet was just as extravagant as the rest of the room. After his shoes were on, he looked over at Zane. “We should get over there as soon as possible, in case anyone comes back to cover their tracks or something.”

Apparently Zane wasn’t the only one being paranoid, though most of the time he was only worried about himself. He was surprised to find Sky so willing to accept the idea that something other than a standard emergency occurred. “You seem pretty convinced that this was intentionally done.”

“Yeah, I do. Besides, like you said, the odds of that many failures all occurring at once are, and I quote, ‘incalculable.’” Sky smiled. “I know I’ve been tough on Aurora in the past, but she proved herself today. And no matter my history with her, I don’t wish her harm. In all of my flying experience, I’ve never seen so many failures occurring at the most inopportune time. Something just doesn’t feel right. Even Aurora had some doubts, but Lieutenant Colonel Jackson is positive it’s a maintenance issue.”

During Sky’s speech, Zane studied his body language, looking for signs of falsehood, but it looked like he was being honest. Neither broached the topic of who could have been responsible if their suspicions proved correct, but there was no need to think about it until Zane knew for sure.

“I didn’t expect to find anyone else with my same suspicions,” Zane admitted. “And don’t feel too bad. I haven’t been easy on her either. I’m beginning to realize she gets treated that way a lot. The last name Titon may be doing her more harm than good.”

Sky nodded and looked thoughtful for a second. “Yeah, maybe. Do you have a thing for her or something?”

Zane kept his face blank, playing for nonchalance. “Not really, I’ve kinda been a dick to her.” It killed him a little to down play his feelings.

“Then why are you going out in the middle of the night to help her?”

Zane raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know. Why are you?”

“Look, it’s okay if you’re doing it just to get in her pants.”

This conversation wasn’t going where Zane thought it would. “I’m not trying to get with her.” It even sounded like a lie to Zane’s own ears.

Zane met Sky’s eyes, and a silent understanding passed between them. But the longer they stared, the more it turned into a challenge, and Zane realized he might actually have some competition if he ever tried to pursue Aurora. Even though the thought of that sent slices of pain through his stomach, it might actually be funny to watch. From the stories he’d heard, Aurora would rather leave Sky locked in a hypobaric chamber at fifty thousand feet than hook up with him.

It would almost be as funny to watch them as it would be to watch Zane, an unknown orphan, attempting to date the daughter of Collin Titon.

Zane realized they were silently staring at each other and looked away, not wanting to be part of a pissing contest. What was wrong with him? But Sky’s face was unashamed and open when he broke into a smile and laughed.

Neither of them said anything more on the topic as they left the room. Soon enough they made their wait out of the Apollo Academy’s front entrance where Sky had managed to get a hovercar to take them to the SpacePort.

The hangar was as silent, dark, and deserted as a tomb. It was a little after midnight, and everyone sensible was already in bed. Even in the dark, Zane saw the silhouette of six twin-engine fighter jets sitting alone in the hangar. The XT-101was a sleek airplane with its swept back wings, and the titanium-alloy coating made it look as if it had been dipped in silver. The combination of the wings, narrow body, and semi-flush engine air intake vents gave it a stealthy appearance, but Zane knew it was also technologically advanced. The XT-101s had once been one of the military’s fastest and most covert aircraft until, like most things, it had been surpassed by the newest technology.

They were both standing at the entrance door as they verified what they suspected, that they were truly alone. When they stepped past the threshold, an automatic sensor noted their entrance, illuminating the hangar in a brilliant light.

Zane flinched and quickly closed his eyes when he saw the retinal scanner. Sky moved forward to complete the required scan. If Zane had come alone, he would have overridden the entire system, jeopardizing his position with the Academy.

When the scan beeped, Zane opened his eyes again.

He nodded to Sky in unspoken thanks, but Sky shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal.

As Zane moved farther into the hangar, he saw that one of the airplanes had several compartments open, revealing interior components, and assumed this partially dissected plane had been Aurora’s. The airplane’s metal cowling had been taken off and placed on the hangar floor. Someone had hastily begun to screen the aircraft for problems but had given up before getting to far. Apparently, the maintenance personnel felt the problem would still be there in the morning, just as Zane had hoped.