Page 2 of Nova Academy

If there was anything A knew how to do, it was survive.

The group let me go under the guise of joining the other guards to search for the escaped subject. It went a long way to show that the Tornu guards were still involved, still doing our jobs, still on their side to see me hunting alongside them despite our notableabsence during the escape.

Close to the rendezvous point, I broke off from the others momentarily to place the letter down, keeping the mask over my face. If A was here and she saw me, she would eventually learn more than I ever wanted her to. More than I wanted anyone to. No one could know I existed. Not yet.

I stared glumly at the letter I’d left behind, knowing it wasn’t the only thing I was abandoning out here. But it was the best I could do for her for now. She had never needed me the way I’d wanted her to, and it was time to let her go.

CHAPTER 1

Artemis

Spittle flew from the Griknot’s mouth as he hissed at me. I uttered a mumbled apology, looking everywhere but at the tentacles twitching angrily around his mouth like a writhing mass of worms. According to my research, Griknots were considered to be one of the more attractive species, all genders finding their unique facial features… pleasurable. Personally, I wasn’t so sure I agreed.

Without sparing me another glance with his jewel-toned, dual-pupiled eyes, the Griknot walked away, going about his business. That was one of the reasons I chose this specific space station. Everyone here was too busy wrapped up in their own personal spheres, hardly interested in what anyone else was doing unless it somehow affected them. The anonymity provided a feeling of safety.

I followed the signs, careful to avoid bumping into anyone else. I had been too focused on keeping my head down and my hood up to pay attention to my surroundings. A rookie mistake I wouldn’t be making again. No one else was trying so hard to be invisible, which was making me stand out. So although I kept my hood in place I lifted my chin, squared my shoulders, and hoped it looked like I knew what I was doing and where I was going.

The holo-board to my left lit up as I walked by, automatically scanning my papers. A map appeared with directions to the boarding gate I needed, and I committed it to memory with a quick glance. I was only two floors away, a lot closer than I had originally thought, and it took only ten more clicks until I was at my destination.

A crowd of young men had already begun to congregate around the gate, bags on their backs and suitcases at their feet. Many werechatting, forming small groups dotting around the space. I did spot a few other loners hanging on the outskirts, watching rather than participating. I wondered how many of them were like me. Most likely, none. I doubted anyone was in the same situation I had found myself in. The idea was so ludicrous that I chuckled to myself, a smirk twisting up the corners of my lips.

The sound caught the attention of the closest group, and they all turned to see what was so funny. One of them, the shortest and stockiest of the bunch, met my gaze. Silvery eyes scrutinised me as he arched a single white brow that matched the long, pale, intricate braid running down his back. I lifted my shoulders in an awkward shrug, not knowing how to respond to their attention on me.

The boy turned around, a clear dismissal, and something twisted uncomfortably inside me. I wasn’t good at interacting with people. It didn’t matter the age, species or gender, I was completely unprepared to make friends. I’d only ever had one, and it was the worst mistake I had ever made.

My chest ached at the reminder of the only person I’d ever trusted. My heart was breaking all over again and I could feel the sting of tears building behind my eyes. Refusing to let those thoughts gouge any more scars, I shook it off.

Thankfully, a booming voice called for silence and order, interrupting my quickly spiralling thoughts and dispersing the discomfort from the small interaction. In the grand scheme of things it was not that significant, but I committed the boy’s face to my memory anyway so I could avoid him in the future. Call me a coward, but I didn’t want to subject myself to any more awkwardness if I didn’t have to.

‘Attention cadets! I am Captain Hironimus. You are about to board The Carina, and she ismyship, so as of this moment I am your superior, and you are my subordinates. You do as I say without question and without hesitation. Am I understood?’

A chorus or yeses called out weakly from the crowd. CaptainHironimus scowled, his brows pulling low over shockingly yellow eyes so bright that they managed to attract my notice from all the way over here.

‘I said,am I understood?’ he bellowed, a vein ticking in his forehead.‘Yes, sir!’ we shouted, much more enthusiastically this time.

‘Form an orderly line with your papers at the ready so I can ensure you are who you say you are before you board my ship.’ I wondered if he was expecting the new intake of cadets to contain spies, and suddenly my disguise seemed flimsy, my reason for being here even more dangerous. If I was caught…

Everyone rushed to do as instructed, and I managed to score a space in the middle of the line, doing my best to look as if I belonged. Boy after boy held up their papers and were allowed entrance onto the spacecraft. Soon enough, I was at the front of the line. My heart raced with anxiety as I lifted my boarding pass and acceptance letter for the captain to scrutinise, sure he would take one look at it and see right through my carefully curated façade. Instead, he barely glanced at me to verify my ID was a match before I was ushered onto the ship.

I cursed to myself. For all intents and purposes, my papers were legitimate. Unless someone stripped me naked, no one would know it was a lie. I had to be better at curbing my paranoia, at least outwardly. Acting suspicious would get me caught faster than if I’d shouted it through the speaker system. All the same, I considered myself lucky to have avoided the start of the line and his keener observations.

That was another thing I’d learned in my personal studies: people, no matter their race, tended to get bored very quickly and their focus would begin to diminish. A fact I was more than prepared to use to my advantage.

The ship’s hangar was plain: steel, steel and more steel, the large round room had more than enough space to accommodatethe hundreds of cadets waiting to embark on their journey to Nova Academy, the elite, all male institution that provided military training for the best of the best. Or, well, the richest of the rich. I had snagged myself one of the few scholarship places available for the newest intake of cadets.

I might have had to fabricated my name and my past, but passing those tests was a breeze. I wasn’t sure how much I could learn from Nova Academy, but I would try to absorb as much information and learn as many new skills as I could before my time here came to an end.

Without any direction, everyone spread out, utilising the entire space. When the last cadet stepped on board, Captain Hironimus joined us, barging his way through to the centre of the room. Somehow, despite being shorter than quite a few heads, namely pureblood Tornus with their oversized bulk, he managed to stand taller than us all, his mere presence one of assured authority. And rightly so. He would have earned his badges and probably grew up one of the rich, entitled kids, just like most of the people here. It would have been intimidating, but I wasn’t cowed by much anymore. Certainly not by someone as low down the food chain as a captain. Not that he didn’t hold authority; I was just used to people who held much more power than the even the military commanded.

‘All right, listen up!’ he called. ‘When you step through these doors, find your name and bunk assignment. You will be bunking four to a room,no arguments,’ he stressed when a few boys began to protest. ‘You are no longer at home with your mummies and daddies. You are young adults on the precipice of manhood. But above all that, you are starting at thebottom. If you want to achieve any level of authority you will do as you are told without complaint, learn well and learn fast, or you can go ahead and go home right now.’

He glared down at the entire group, his eyes briefly grazing overme before moving onto the next. A couple of the guys around me shifted their weight from one foot to the other, a sign of their nerves. I debated mirroring their behaviour but couldn’t bring myself to. I was used to regiments and military-like expectations. My feet stayed planted firmly on the tiles of metal grates that made up the hangar’s floor.

‘We are scheduled to arrive at Nova Academy in two weeks. We will be heading straight there without any pitstops, so get used to seeing these metal walls. You will behave as the adults you are. I have a zero-tolerance policy for bullying. If I see any of you pushing anyone around, you will earn a demerit. Accumulate enough demerits, you will be dismissed from duty and expelled from your studies. The military – and Nova Academy – prides itself on order and discipline. That starts now.’

Without another word, the captain turned on his heel and walked to the double doors set on the far side of the room, the crowd parting for him eagerly and without instruction.

I was pleasantly surprised when the doors opened and he disappeared inside the ship, for each and every boy followed his orders and proceeded in his stead calmly and orderly. It took weeks before we learned to do that back in The Program. But we were a lot younger then. I, myself, had only been five solars old when I’d arrived, and hadn’t had much – if any – experience with structure. I should have expected more from these boys. They were far older than five and their affluent upbringings did not define them. I knew better than most that the way a person was raised did not account for who they were as a person.

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