The Apollo Academy (22 page)

As a simulated emergency, these failures would not cause any real harm to anyone, but he still took the training seriously. Everyone was currently using a life-support system to regulate their body, but that would not be the case when they were truly operating inside the shuttle.

His heart rate remained the same, but Zane still felt the increased adrenaline. He pulled up detailed schematics on all four of the warnings. Just as he suspected, the life-support system was the most threatening, so he decided to wait to address the other three.

After a brief search throughout the cabin, he discovered that one of the oxygen tanks was leaking, causing the slow failure in the life-support system. He pulled the paneling out from the oxygen compartment near him, keeping a secure foothold to prevent flying away from the now revealed oxygen tanks. There was no visible puncture wound because it was a simulated exercise, but he would still be expected to follow the appropriate procedure. He cross referenced the monitors and determined that the leak was coming from tank two. He pulled out the sticky adhesive tape from his belt that worked on any surface and placed the sealant to the side of tank two, pretending to cover the problem.

He turned back to watch what the instructors thought of his decision and smiled when the oxygen levels stabilized. Now that the most critical issue was addressed, he focused on his remaining three failures that were causing the red warning lights. Zane quickly concluded that the warnings were for non-essential electrical components that were grouped on the same electrical bus. The units must not be receiving sufficient power to maintain functionality.

Moving farther down the cabin hallway, Zane floated to the access door that allowed him to see behind the pretty white paneling and into the hidden area where all of the ugly wiring ran its way throughout the length of the shuttle. He needed to reconfigure the inefficient electrical bus so it would produce enough current to power the three failed components again. It was just a matter of rerouting power around the problem so it could reach where it needed to go.

He wasn’t sure how long he worked on reconfiguring the wiring, but it didn’t feel like it was very long before the programs were back up and running smoothly. His mind always cleared when he focused on a problem; it had always been a natural extension of his abilities. He never consciously directed his hands, because they always seemed to know what to do with broken objects without much thought. Now he knew why.

Sky congratulated him for successfully completing his assignment, silencing thoughts that were sure to lead to another grueling tennis match.

Zane turned his attention back to the shuttle monitors, hoping to distract himself once again with their constant stream of data. A few moments later, Aurora floated out of the cockpit, demanding his attention. She had a huge grin on her face as she tried unsuccessfully to move down the hallway toward him.

Aurora hit her head on the side wall. She was going to hurt herself if she didn’t acclimate.

Zane pushed off with his feet and moved toward her. He reached her right before she smacked into the wall again, holding his hands out to steady her.

Not wanting to draw attention to her, he grabbed her wrist and changed her communication channel so no one would over hear them. He switched his channel to match hers. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah, I’m great,” she said, trying to move past him only to bump into another wall. Zane kept his face impassive as Aurora giggled at her attempts.

Okay, that’s weird.
She seemed to be having way more trouble than anyone else adjusting to the lower gravity.

“Maybe you need more weight on your belt.”

Zane removed one of his weights and carefully floated to where Aurora had managed to lodge herself. It was easy to propel himself into the side alcove with only a light push, and he quickly found himself face to face with her.

He steadied himself by holding on to where the corner of the hallway and alcove met. He didn’t want to throw Aurora any more off balance by bumping into her. Now that he was closer, he could clearly see her emerald-green eyes that always distracted him. Right now, though, they were dilated and out of focus.

He stared at her, trying to figure out what was wrong, while moving closer to add the additional weight to her belt. She already had several five pound weights attached to her, and Zane didn’t understand how she was able to float at all.

Still gripping her tiny waist, he asked, “Aurora, are you sure you’re feeling okay?”

She giggled. “Of course. I just, uh, thought I’d come out here to check things out. I’m all done with my practice runs.”

It had taken her far too long to get that out because she kept stopping just to catch her breath. Zane stuck his head back out into the hallway and looked into the cockpit area. Jean-Pierre was still going through some sort of simulation. He returned to Aurora’s side, standing so close that their helmets were touching. Her eyes grew extremely wide when he touched her shoulder to pull her in closer.

Her body tightly pressed against his, causing him to whisper his next words. “You’re acting funny, so I’m going to check your life-support system.”

Something was definitely going on, and all of his previous worry for her safety came rushing back. Was someone messing with her right now?

He knelt down directly in front of Aurora, holding onto her waist, so he could look more closely at the life-support unit. The thrill of being so close to her was almost enough for him to forget that something was seriously wrong.

Aurora was beginning to take short, rapid breaths.

A red warning light blinked rapidly, and Zane wasn’t sure how Aurora had missed it. The alarm had been trying to tell her that the life-support unit was not putting out enough oxygen to maintain her needs. She apparently had not seen it in time.

Zane felt her body shaking underneath his fingers, and alarm went through him. Someone was definitely trying to hurt her again. But who? Right now he couldn’t think about it. Aurora was already hypoxic and would probably pass out soon.

He wanted to punch something. How many times was this poor girl going to be oxygen deprived?

Removing her helmet would have been the easiest fix, but there were thousands of gallons of water that separated Aurora from the surface of the pool. They were ten stories down and the swim back up would take precious time that Aurora did not have. There was nothing else left to do but somehow fix it himself.

In the recessed hallway no one could see what they were up to, but he made no move to alert Sky to the situation. He didn’t want anyone to witness what he was about to do next.

Zane yanked the cover off the life-support system, exposing all of its internal parts. It looked similar to all the wiring he had just worked on. He focused his mind and hands on the problem before him, trying not to think about how scared he was for the girl in his arms.

Aurora closed her eyes, causing him to move even faster.

He swiftly checked the tangled wiring that regulated the oxygen levels until he came across a small metal object with what felt like thin extensions running out from the body. He knew what it was the second he touched its long metal legs. Somehow another one of those spider bugs had gotten into her life-support system.

The little silver spider must have extended its long legs as soon as it was placed there and slowly entangled the wiring until it prevented the life-support system from doing its job. It was exactly what had happened to Aurora’s head unit during her XT-101 flight.

Zane tried to carefully extract the spider, but its legs were too tangled in the wiring. He pulled harder, attempting to get rid of it without causing any more damage than it had already inflicted.

It didn’t budge.

Aurora’s body slumped against his.

Zane had no choice. He ripped the bug out, pulling a single red wire with it.

Shit.
The main electrical wire. There was no way her oxygen unit would work again. Continuing to curse, Zane removed his life-support unit from his belt and attached it to hers.

There was no other option. Ever since his hypobaric training and meeting with the doctor, he suspected he could hold his breath longer than most. Even if that was true, he had no clue how long he would be able to go without breathing.

Not wanting to draw attention to himself, Zane hooked Aurora’s broken unit to his belt, stuffing the red wire back in. No one would be able to tell it wasn’t working. Zane figured he’d have a few minutes of precious oxygen left in his helmet.

He threw the spider that was causing him so much trouble into an open compartment on his belt, saving it for further inspection.

Aurora’s helmet bumped into Zane’s as he tried to figure out what to do. He didn’t want to just leave her there unconscious, but he had no idea how long he could go without air when he did finally run out. He slowed his breathing.

If only he could just enjoy being so close to her. Just as Zane was about to leave her and swim like mad for the surface, her worried green eyes opened, regaining their usual focus.

“Okay, you should start feeling better in a few minutes. Take a few deep breaths for me,” he instructed, forgetting to conserve his breathing. His body felt normal, even if his brain was having a total meltdown.

Aurora stayed silent and closely watched him as she slowly breathed in and out. Zane knew it was a stupid thought, but he wished he could take down his usual blank mask and let her in; he wanted no barriers between them.

Zane saw her trying to grasp at what had happened, and he impulsively reached down and squeezed her hand. She still looked confused, but she didn’t pull away. “So why are we standing so close?”

He reluctantly dropped her hand and took a step back. “Sorry. We need to talk as soon as this exercise is over. I think someone tried messing with your life-support system again.” For some reason he was wasting precious time trying to comfort her.

“Okay, we’ll talk. But you can’t say anything to Ms. Lovell or Sky.” Her eyes were wide, pleading.

“Why?” Zane croaked out.

“My dad can’t find out—” Aurora grabbed his hand.

Movement behind Aurora grabbed his attention. Jean-Pierre stood in the hallway, having floated down from the cockpit, and was trying to get their attention. He tapped his wrist, indicating that they needed to tune into the main communication channel. At this point Zane could only make hand gestures.

There was no oxygen left in his helmet.

Zane glanced at his watch. He had to go. It would take at least eight minutes to swim to the top and he had no idea if he’d actually make it. He turned to Aurora, pointing up. He motioned with his hands that he was swimming away, but Zane had no clue if Aurora actually understood.

As he turned to leave, trembling hands grabbed his.

“What’s going on?” Aurora gripped his hand, not letting him go.

Zane tried to keep his rising panic from showing. He pointed up again and swiped his right hand across his neck. Indicating no air.

Aurora let go, vehemently nodding. She mouthed something like,
I’ll cover for you
.

The last thing Zane saw before turning around and swimming away were her wide determined eyes. Their desperate desires to stay at the Academy were making them both make stupid decisions. What Zane didn’t know was if it’d be worth it in the end. He might not even live to make it out of the pool.

Zane swam like a crazed man, praying he’d hold his breath for as long as he’d need to.

AURORA

I
t felt like Aurora was soaked to the core with glacial-cold water. Even her brain seemed frozen. She couldn’t believe Zane had just saved her life.

Aurora gripped the side hallway wall. What if Zane didn’t make it to the top of the pool without passing out?

“Aurora, Zane, are you back with us?” Sky’s deep voice resonated in her helmet.

“Yeah, I’m back. I needed Zane to help me with something, so we changed channels. We didn’t want to disturb anyone else, but then Zane’s radio stopped working. He’s swimming to the surface now,” Aurora over-explained in a high-pitched voice. It probably sounded like she’d been inhaling helium.

“Next time inform me before switching,” Sky stated. “You can’t just go off radar whenever you feel like it. There are rules and regulations for a reason. The shuttle pilots are the team leaders, the ones who have to make the tough decisions in an emergency. What if your crew needed you when you were chatting with Zane on a private channel?” Aurora felt every angry word like a slap across the face as he reprimanded her for the breach in protocol.

Aurora silently took the public scolding, even as her body shook.

Of course, every other cadet heard the entire conversation, but Hailen was the only one laughing when he was finished. Aurora ignored her. She only thought of Zane’s long swim to the top. She wouldn’t have been able to do it. What was wrong with her? Was she was so selfish, that she was actually more worried about preventing what her father
might
do than helping the boy who had just saved her life?

Aurora swam out of the mock shuttle hallway, pushing herself up. She didn’t bother explaining to Sky what she was doing. Her lesson was over anyway. Her limbs felt heavy and weak as she propelled herself upward.

Even when her ragged breathing fogged her helmet, she forced her arms and legs to keep moving.

Aurora ditched her weight belt, trying to swim faster. She glanced at her techiwatch. She had been swimming for seven minutes. There was no way Zane could go that long without oxygen. Aurora scanned the water around her, but she didn’t see Zane floating unconscious anywhere. She kept moving.

When the color of the water began to lighten, Aurora knew she was almost to the top. She fervently kicked the final few feet until her head broke the surface. Water droplets cascaded down her helmet, making it hard to see.

Aurora was totally drained. Now that she’d reached the top, she wasn’t sure if she could even pull herself out.

In the end it didn’t matter. Zane reached over the edge of the pool, placing his hands under her armpits. When he had her pulled out and standing again, he released the lock on her helmet. Before she made her numb hands move, Zane lifted the helmet over her head. His gray eyes were clouded with worry, and Aurora was beginning to understand that his eyes and his actions were the only real indication of his true feelings. Everything else he hid behind a mask.

Aurora wanted to stomp her feet. She had been trying to help save him, not the other way around.

“Are you okay? You shouldn’t have tried to swim so soon,” Zane stated.

“You’re the one who just went, like, ten minutes without air.” Aurora didn’t understand how he could just stand there looking at her like that when he’d just done the impossible.

“Just because it took
you
that long doesn’t mean it took me that long.” Zane glanced away, biting his lip. “You would’ve found me floating in the pool if it did.” Zane waved toward the locker room. “You should probably change and try to warm up. I think you’ve had quite a shock. I’ll come to your room when you’re feeling better.”

“Shock.” Aurora nodded. “Right.” She didn’t think she had blacked out on her swim up. She was certain she had given it her all.

“But why wasn’t your life-support unit working in the first place?” Aurora asked. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she knew the answer. “You gave me yours,” she whispered, but the words seemed to echo all around them.

Zane shrugged, looking away. “Go change. I’ll explain soon.” Without saying goodbye, he turned and walked away.

Aurora’s body was still shaking, and her fingers trembled as she tried to remove the clingy spacesuit. She was freezing, even though not one drop of pool water had actually touched her skin. Zane must have been right; she was going into shock.

Once again, she somehow managed to get herself into another dangerous situation. Seriously, how many times since coming to the Academy had she been oxygen deprived? If someone was trying to kill her—and from her most recent experience she could say they definitely were—why the obsession with asphyxiation?

The locker room door opened, but Aurora didn’t pay attention to the arriving cadets. The many suspicious thoughts she’d had after her last incident came roaring back. She knew something wasn’t quite right about her XT-101 flight, and Zane had told her in the pool that someone was trying to harm her. Again. He used the word, like he already knew her doubts about the XT-101 flight. Was her dad right about Frontier Solutions?

Her shot nerves had been further stomped on when her rescuer mimed that he was out of oxygen and began a sudden swim for the surface. Why had he taken her life-support unit? Zane had knowingly risked his life for hers.

And how had he managed to do that anyway?

Aurora chuckled. What was she thinking? That Zane could hold his breath for ten minutes and still be alive?

Shock was absolutely right. She was losing it. Out of her freaking mind. Ten minutes without air. Yeah. Right.

If Zane hadn’t been around to rescue her in the first place, she would probably be dead. Just like in her hypobaric training, she hadn’t noticed anything was wrong.

Aurora tried to focus on usual locker-room gossip, hoping it would calm her down.

“Who do you think you’ll go to the Lunar Moon Festival Dance with?” Brianna asked.

“I don’t know. I’ve had a few guys ask me already, but I haven’t committed to anyone yet,” Hailen said in her usual I’m-superior way. “I might actually try to see if I can get the Academy to let me bring in a non-cadet date.”

“Is that so you can bring Rowan?” Kylie asked.

Hailen shrugged her shoulders, dismissing her question.

“You’ve been really secretive lately,” Brianna added.

Hailen snorted.

Brianna threw her hands up in the air. “Come on, Hailen, what’s with you? You’ve been really weird lately. It’s not like you to not talk about your latest boy toy.”

Hailen sighed. “I can’t really talk about him. He doesn’t want anyone to know we’re dating yet.”

“Why?” Brianna whined.

“
Because
he’s a celebrity.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that.” Brianna seemed excited to have a new piece of gossip.

Hailen’s vindictive laughter filled the room. “Well, you don’t know much of anything.”

Kaylana stood in front of Aurora, already out of her spacesuit. “Aurora?”

Aurora remembered that she was supposed to be changing. She peeled off the suit, unable to speak to Kaylana for fear of her shaking voice giving away what had happened in the pool. Kaylana already knew she was upset, but she probably thought it had to do with the usual Sky and Hailen issues, not an attempt on her life. Only when they were in the safety of their room would she be able to tell what had happened.

When Aurora finished getting dressed, she grabbed Kaylana’s hand and practically dragged her the entire way to their room. She stopped shaking somewhere along the way, and as soon as their door clicked closed, she let the thoughts and feelings explode.

Aurora tried to explain, which was difficult, because she actually didn’t know what happened. Just that Zane kept her from bumping into everything, how he checked her life-support system, and how his hands felt when she woke up propped against him. Of his confession that someone was intentionally attacking her, how he seemed to know even more than she did, how he had taken her broken life-support unit and swam to the surface without air, and finally that he was coming to their room to talk privately.

Aurora was going to find out what was going on and put a stop to it—she was not going to run back home scared. Aurora was done playing the victim.

The whole time she was spilling her guts, Kaylana patiently listened. She was probably shocked that she was capable of talking so fast and so much because it wasn’t often that Aurora out spoke her friend. But Kaylana only grabbed her hand when she was at the part about her life-support system and Zane swimming without air. When Aurora was done talking, Kaylana no longer held her tongue.

“I can’t believe Zane did that. And he definitely knows something we don’t.” Kaylana began pacing. “He’s so good at hiding what he’s thinking, but that day in the cafeteria something was off.”

“Huh?” Aurora tried to interrupt, but Kaylana waved away her confusion.

“The day of your flight, he came storming into the cafeteria, asking what I thought at the time were inane questions. But he suspected something then.” She pushed a hand back through her hair as she tried to make sense of his actions. “He stormed out of the cafeteria on some sort of mission to find Sky.”

Aurora had not known any of that. “Why would he need to find Sky?”

Kaylana chewed on her lip. “Maybe to get answers. Did anyone ever give you a maintenance report on your XT-101?”

“No, everyone has written it off as an accident. If my dad were to find out it wasn’t a maintenance issue, he’d try to drag me home.” Try being the key word.

“Yeah, but Aurora, this is your life. And he doesn’t exactly have that kind of control anymore.”

“If I were normal, sure. But he has a financial stake in the Academy. And you’re right, this is my life. We’ll find out what’s going on and put a stop to it. I am not leaving the Academy.” She chucked off her shoes and looked down at her glitter toenail polish as she tried to connect the dots. She felt certain that Zane held the key to those answers.

“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what Zane says.”

Kaylana’s eyebrows shot up as a knock on their door interrupted any further conversation. “And speaking of Zane …”

Aurora jumped off her bed and scrambled to open the door. Zane was casually propped up against the doorway with his arms folded across his chest, the picture of calm. He was dressed in his usual black attire and combat boots. He made no move to enter.

She felt awkward standing barefoot at the open door, so she whispered, “Aren’t you going to come in?”

Zane’s gaze traveled the length of her body, causing her to remember their earlier exchange. How sexy Zane had looked in only his boxers, his long lean body. How she thought he was going to tackle her right there in the locker room and have his way with her.

And she would have let him.

After a few seconds of strained silence Zane seemed to gather himself. As he brushed by her into the room, their shoulders briefly touched.

A shiver ran down her spine.

Aurora closed the door and turned back into the room only to see he stopped dead in his tracks, staring at the bookcases that now covered most of the open wall space. Her dad had sent a large portion of her vintage books over to her room the first week of school, in an attempt to apologize for allowing the media into their building.

Zane walked to one of the bookshelves and carefully slid his finger down a thick binding. “Whose are these? I didn’t think anyone actually read paper anymore.”

Several decades ago printing anything on paper became illegal because trees were so rare and the few left were protected. Besides, printing on paper no longer made sense. Everything anyone ever wanted to look at could be accessed on the Grid, and any words that needed to be written down could be done so electronically without wasting such valuable resources.

Somewhere along the way she had developed an infatuation for the old written words, and her father, once he realized how much she adored them, presented them to her every time he felt guilty.

Aurora stood next to Zane, and they both looked over the stacked books.

“They’re mine,” she finally said. “I’ve always been fascinated with the way people used to write down such expressive and passionate words that could be kept around forever. They’re so rich in history that you can smell it—” She blushed. She shouldn’t have said all of that. Most people didn’t understand her obsession with them.