Starbound Page 2

  From his attitude and demeanor, it was obvious that Trankle was ex-military. He was bull-necked and strong-jawed, and his stance was awkward due to over-large muscles in his arms and legs. Jas had attracted more and more of the man’s attention as the class went on. She guessed it was something to do with her beating everyone, but what was she supposed to do? Lose so that the others could feel good about themselves?

  A movement to her side caught her eye, and she raised her arm just in time to parry a blow from her defeated opponent. Her forearm smashed into his, and the blow went wide, just missing the side of her head. Instead of leaving the mat, he’d tried to sucker punch her, only he hadn’t gotten quite out of her range of vision.

  Years of play yard fights and sneaky attacks from the worst of the Earth children’s home inmates had honed Jas’ reactions to muscle reflexes. Without thinking, she swung round with a fist, hitting the student square on the side of his face.

  His head snapped around, and he staggered backward, dazed.

  “Hey,” Trankle shouted. In a couple of strides, he was at Jas’ side and wrenching her arm behind her back, almost lifting her from her feet as he pushed upward and forward. Jas gasped in pain and tried to twist free.

  “Aww, come on, man,” said a student. “He deserved it.” Others mumbled vague protests, while some looked quietly pleased.

  Jas was sorely tempted to fight back, but not only did she think she wasn’t a match for the heavily muscled, highly trained brute, she didn’t want to get kicked out of the class. Attacking a member of staff had to be an expelling offence, no matter what the provocation was. The instructor forced her across the room. She felt the bristle of his chin on her neck.

  “Think you can take everyone?” he breathed in her ear. “Kratting Martian scum. Should have stayed where you belong on your filthy colony planet.”

  He twisted her arm so hard, Jas cried out. She thought he was going to rip her arm from its socket. Once they were at the side of the room where the other students were sitting on the floor to watch the sparring, he relaxed his hold and pushed her down.

  There was no space for her. The students shuffled along to get out of the way but they weren’t fast enough. The whole thing had taken only a couple of seconds. Jas landed on them, to many exclamations and protests. It was a few moments before everyone could move along and settle into new positions. A couple of friendly students patted her back while Trankle returned to the mat.

  Her shoulder hurt badly, and the instructor had humiliated her in front of the rest of the class. She’d done nothing except try her hardest. Wasn’t that what they were supposed to do? Tears pricked her eyes and she blinked them away, determined not to let her hurt show.

  The hairy student who’d tried to punch her sauntered by on his way back to his spot in the audience. He looked down his nose with a sneer on his face, but Jas noticed with satisfaction that his eye was already turning purple. He would have a shiner by the next day that he’d have to explain somehow. She smiled grimly.

  TAMARA WAS SYMPATHETIC. She’d made her chili and rice again. Jas couldn’t get enough of it, especially after a long day’s training and studying. Tamara loved to cook. She said it relaxed her. She’d gotten into the habit of cooking nearly every day for both of them, diplomatically avoiding all Jas’ protests without drawing attention to her lack of creds.

  Spooning a heap of chili from a pan onto the rice in Jas’ bowl, Tamara said, “What a misborn. I can’t believe it. Didn’t any of the other students say anything? Are you going to report him?”

  “A few of the others stood up for me, but not so loud that he had to take notice.” Jas picked up her fork and dug into her meal. She chewed and swallowed a mouthful, then added, shaking her head, “I’m not going to say anything. He didn’t leave a mark on me, and neither did that asshole who tried to punch me. It’d be hard to prove I didn’t start it.”

  When Tamara opened her mouth to interrupt, Jas went on, “Believe me, I saw enough of this kind of thing at the children’s home. Sure, some of the others might stick up for me and tell the truth about what happened, but some won’t. Some’ll lie because getting beat by a girl hurt their pride. And who’s most likely to be believed? A low-income scholarship student or a member of faculty?”

  Jas shrugged. “I don’t want to make trouble. I only get one shot at free college. If they throw me out, I won’t get another scholarship. I’d have to take out a loan and start over somewhere else next year. I don’t know what I’d do for creds between now and then. I’m okay. Don’t worry. When you grow up like I did, you get used to this kind of thing.”

  Tamara pulled out a chair and sat down to eat. “It doesn’t seem right to let him get away with it.”

  “He didn’t hurt me that much.” Jas sighed. “I don’t know why he hates Martians, but he does, and he isn’t the first bigot I’ve met. I don’t know why some people hate us. Looking different’s a crime to them, I guess. I’ll do what I’ve always done—keep my head down, not attract attention. I’ll lose a few fights. That’ll take his attention off me.”

  Tamara tutted and dumped a generous dollop of sour cream onto her food. “Hey, how about we have a party to cheer you up? We can invite some people from the other dorms. From the men’s dorms.” She raised her eyebrows and grinned.

  “Oh, I don’t know. It’s been kind of a long day.” The truth was, Jas wasn’t good at parties. It wasn’t that she didn’t like to make friends, but at parties she always got the feeling that everyone else was following rules she didn’t understand. The idea of inviting guys over also didn’t appeal that much. Her few forays into the world of romantic relationships—furtive behind the backs of the carers at the children’s home—had been awkward and embarrassing. She wasn’t good at flirting or anything like that.

  “Come on. It’ll be fun,” Tamara said. “Don’t you want to get to know some more people? Or do you want to be a hermit like Aggy? By the way, I heard her arguing with her boyfriend before you came back. Real humdinger it was. Loud enough that I could hear what she was saying through the door. Are you sure you want to spend the evening eavesdropping on her relationship problems?”

  Jas groaned and put down her fork. She knew more about Aggy’s relationship than she or her boyfriend did. The couple had two settings: blissfully in love or hating each other’s guts, and nothing in between. She’d rather fight hairy ass hand to hand again than listen to another episode of the drama that was Aggy’s love life. It was also Friday evening and she had no reason to get up early. “Okay, a party it is then.”

  “Sweet. Let me call some people.” Tamara took out her interface and began swiping it with her fingertips while simultaneously forking chili and rice into her mouth with her other hand.

  In the space of a month, Tamara seemed to have gotten to know everyone in college. She was constantly receiving messages and disappearing for social engagements. Jas didn’t know how she fit it all in along with her studies. Her friend was one of those 'hub’ people, effortlessly making connections left, right, and center. She hailed from what remained of New Orleans. Jas wondered if her skills were due to the necessity of making good friends quickly when faced with repeated natural disasters.

  Tamara looked up from her screen, her curls bobbing. “All done. People will start arriving about nine. Do you want to give me a hand cleaning the place up? I’ve ordered drinks and snacks. They should get here in half an hour.”

  “Sure,” Jas replied, wondering if she would navigate this party better than all the others she’d been to. She got up and took the dishes to the compactor. It was nearly full, so she set it to crush and sent the waste down the chute.

  She started tidying the kitchen and putting away Tamara’s packets of ingredients. In truth, there was little to do. Knowing well the habits of college students, the administration had installed sanobots, which cleaned up the dirt and the debris of everyday life. Jas wasn’t sure how they worked, and it had taken her a while to get used to the idea of mac
hines too small to see constantly crawling over every inanimate object in the place. At the children’s home, the children had done the cleaning the old-fashioned way.

  A loud ping-ping-ping sounded from outside the window. A light was shining in from the midwinter Antarctic darkness. It was the time of year when the sun was little more than a brief glow at the horizon.

  Tamara’s order had arrived by drone. Jas opened the window and took the boxes from the sling on the underside. She shivered in the downdraft from its four spinning rotors above. As soon as it was empty, the drone sped away into the night, its solitary light quickly lost among the many of McMurdo Sound. Jas put down the boxes and quickly shut the window.

  Tamara appeared from her room. She’d changed and tamed her curls into cascading waves. “Thanks,” she said when she saw the boxes at Jas’ feet. “I’ll start setting things out. You go get ready.”

  “It’s okay. I’m not getting changed. I’ll help you.”

  “It’s a party, Jas. Don’t you want to put a dress on or something?”

  “I don’t have a dress, and anyway, I’m more comfortable in pants.”

  “You can’t wear the clothes you’ve been wearing all day. You must have something else you can put on. Go and find something.” Tamara pointed at Jas’ room.

  Jas held up her hands. “Okay, okay.”

  Inside her room, Aggy was fast asleep on her bed, her face streaked with tears. Her most recent fight with her boyfriend had left its mark. Jas didn’t doubt that tomorrow Aggy would be back to loudly whispered professions of deepest love.

  Jas went to her closet and took out the only remotely fashionable outfit she had. As she was changing, the sound of voices in the living room alerted her to the fact that guests had begun to arrive. She went over to the door and rested her hand on the door knob, hesitating. Maybe now that Aggy was asleep she could have a quiet night in her room? But if she didn’t come out, Tamara would notice and come get her. She opened the door and went out.

  Chapter Four

  THE PARTY HAD BEEN going for a couple of hours, and things were really warming up. People were drinking and the dancing had started. Jas noticed pills changing hands with little effort at subterfuge. The drugs were certainly hyping up the atmosphere. Illegal drug abuse carried the threat of expulsion, but Jas wasn’t much interested anyway. She yawned. She’d chatted with a few people, but she was feeling a little bored and tired.

  The music had woken up Aggy about half an hour previously, and she’d appeared from the shared room looking irate and haggard, but her complaints had been ignored. When she gave up, she’d signaled her disapproval by slamming the door.

  Tamara was passing through the throng with a plate of snacks. She spotted Jas in the corner and headed over. Dancers’ hands reached in to grab the snacks. She had a few left by the time she reached Jas. “Can I interest you in some peanut cheese flakes?”

  Jas looked down at the palm-sized crackers. Peanuts and cheese? Was that a Southern thing? “No, thanks. Actually, I’m kinda tired. I might—”

  “Aw, you’re going to bed so soon? I guessed you might not be enjoying yourself. I thought a party would cheer you up.”

  “I know, and I appreciate it. I’m just not a—”

  A couple had arrived late. Another guest had opened the door to the man and woman. The man was tall with shoulder-length black hair, and the woman he had linked arms with was slim with ashy brown hair cut above her ears. Jas had paused in her conversation with Tamara because something seemed familiar about the man. She peered at him, trying to pin down where it was she’d seen him before.

  He was scanning the room while his girlfriend talked to the student who had opened the door. He was idly watching the dancing and chatting party-goers. His gaze found Jas. Their eyes met, and deep inside her, something clicked. The man looked startled.

  Even at the distance across the room, Jas saw that his eyes were a deep, rare blue. But it wasn’t the color of his eyes that affected her. The sense of recognition she felt was profound. She was also sure that, in fact, she’d never seen him before.

  “Jas?” Tamara asked. “Are you okay?”

  Jas looked at her friend wordlessly. Tamara turned to find out what she’d been looking at. By then, the blue-eyed man’s girlfriend had noticed his preoccupation and was questioning him. She looked annoyed.

  “Oh, Sergei and Bree have arrived,” said Tamara. “Do you know them?”

  “No, I don’t think so.”

  “I’ll introduce you. Let’s go over.”

  Panic fluttered in Jas’ stomach. “No, it’s fine. I think I’ll just—”

  “It’ll only take a minute. You never know, you might have something in common to talk about. Come on. I want you to enjoy yourself.” Tamara took Jas’ hand and pulled her toward the couple, weaving through the dancers.

  Sergei’s eyes flicked to Jas again and again as Tamara led her over, though his head was facing his girlfriend.

  “Sergei arrived late. He only started college a couple of weeks ago,” Tamara shouted as they passed a speaker thumping out bass notes. “He transferred from another college. Someone was saying he had to transfer, like it was either that or drop out. Bree didn’t waste any time snagging him, and they seem pretty good together. I’m surprised you haven’t met him. I thought he was studying security too.”

  Jas’ heart was racing. She also felt sick, but it was a pleasant kind of sickness. She’d never felt that way before. She hoped she would make it through the impending encounter without embarrassing herself.

  She and Tamara arrived at the doorway where the couple were still standing. Students were now crushed into the room and it wasn’t easy to move. Bree’s attention had been diverted by twins in identical party dresses. Sergei was smiling, ready to greet them. Once more, he and Jas locked eyes. She was light-headed.

  “Sergei, this is...” Tamara paused as she noticed the look passing between them. “Oh my.”

  Bree noticed Jas and Tamara and extracted herself from her conversation with the twins. Her hand was still on her boyfriend’s arm. She frowned and gave him a little shake, breaking his distraction. “Hi, Tamara. Good to see you again,” she said between her teeth.

  “Hi Bree,” Tamara replied, a little ruefully. “This is Jas. I don’t know if you’ve met.”

  Sergei held out his hand, and Jas took it. His skin was warm and dry and a little hard, as if he did some kind of manual work. “Hi.”

  “Hi,” Jas replied, feeling like she was greeting an old friend she hadn’t seen in a long while.

  The five of them started up a conversation about college stuff. It turned out that Sergei was also studying security, but he was taking the domestic option, focusing on anti-theft, including cyber security. Jas was surprised. It was mainly desk work, with maybe some high-level guard duty thrown in. His hands had told her he was more active than that.

  Bree was a language specialist studying extraterrestrial communication methods. She hadn’t been slow to cotton on to the fact that something was going on between her boyfriend and the tall Martian. Her clear annoyance caused the conversation to sputter to a close, and after an awkward pause, Tamara and Jas withdrew.

  They sat down on a sofa behind dancers who were occupying the middle of the room. Jas drew in her long legs to avoid tripping them, while Tamara curled up next to her, tucking her legs beneath herself. She leaned toward Jas’ ear to be heard above the music.

  “What was that about?”

  “What?” Jas asked, irritating even herself with her disingenuous reply.

  Sergei and Bree were passing through the dancers on their way to the side table that held the snacks and drinks. Every time Sergei’s eyes flicked toward her, Jas registered the look inside, like a gong chiming or cymbals clashing.

  “Don’t play the innocent. You know what I mean,” Tamara said. “You and Sergei. I’ve never seen a look like that before. I didn’t believe it ever really happened.”

  “What do y
ou mean?” Jas replied, tearing her eyes from the black-haired figure looking back at her.

  Tamara tutted. “I’m not going to spell it out for you. But are you glad we threw this party now or what?”

  “I guess so.” Jas smiled sheepishly, though she didn’t know what she felt so happy about. Sergei was already with someone, and she hardly had time for her studies, let alone a relationship. What was more, she was planning on flying off to the stars as soon as she graduated. And yet... She glanced up and saw a pair of blue eyes. Gong. Clash. She’d never known anything like this either.

  Chapter Five

  JAS DIDN’T SEE SERGEI again for a few days. Instead, she spent the weekend witnessing the breakdown of Aggy’s long-distance relationship. Her roommate was alternately furious and pleading with her absent boyfriend. Though the woman was irritating as hell, Jas couldn’t help but feel sorry for her as she heard her plans for the future slowly unravel.

  Jas avoided their shared room as much as possible by studying in the library and going for long walks around town. By Sunday evening, Aggy’s many long vidmail conversations finally came to an end, and Jas returned from a walk to find her lying silently on her bed, staring at the blank screen of her interface. “It’s over,” she said.

  Though Jas wasn’t sure of the best thing to say or do, she tried to offer some words of friendship and comfort. When that didn’t work, she attempted to distract Aggy from her misery by suggesting they do something together. This offer was met with a scornful glance. Aggy cradled her silent interface in her arms like it was a sick baby and turned on her side, presenting Jas with her back.

  By the time Jas returned from class on Monday evening, Aggy had gone, for good. Her side of the closet and her desk and shelves were empty. The mattress on her bed was bare. If it hadn’t been for her interface in the middle of the floor, its screen shattered, she might never have been there.