Page 24 of Souls of Steel
A memory of the woman in Tartarus Base flashed through my mind, and in the eyes of the dummies, I saw her blood, her tears, and the collar around her neck. Snarling, I let go and an eruption of power rushed out of me.
The force of the blast was so intense it blew away not only the dummies, but also a large part of the wall. My fellow students were sent flying back. Professor Strange, who was closest to me, got the worst of it. He might have had experience absorbing tachyons, but he wasn’t prepared for this level of energy emissions.
Like the others, he was propelled into the air, but the intensity of the blow was such that he hit the wall with a nauseating crack. Tachyons flickered around him in crimson waves and his body twitched, once, twice, three times. Then, he slid to the floor and went still.
My breath caught as I realized what I’d done. Terrified, I stumbled to his side, praying I hadn’t killed a person on my first day at the academy.
His uniform was scorched on one side and I flinched at the sight of the ugly burns. He was out cold and I couldn’t tell if he was breathing.
What was I supposed to do?
“Touch him,”the Sphinx whispered in my mind.“Touch his skin. Extract Tartarus’s power from his body.”
I didn’t question her. Instead, I blindly followed her advice and brushed my fingers over his hand.
The world blurred around me as the energy I’d accidentally summoned returned into my body. I wasn’t prepared for it and I cried out as the tachyons threatened to overwhelm my brain.
I didn’t know how I managed to endure it. Maybe it was stubbornness. Maybe it was sheer good fortune. Or maybe Gaia helped me, even here, so far away from my home. In any case, after what seemed like forever, the power settled, returning to the dormant state it had been in before my attempt to attack the drones.
When I blinked back into awareness, I found myself surrounded by a group of very hostile young men. “What did you do, Terran whore?” one of them hissed.
He took a step forward, intent on grabbing me. “Please don’t touch me,” I warned him. “If you do, I can’t guarantee your well-being.”
He froze, perhaps realizing I was completely serious. Granted, I doubted I’d be able to do anything to him if he did touch me, since I felt so drained I could’ve slept for a year. But he didn’t know that and I had no intention of telling him.
Before any of the others could realize my position, Professor Strange cracked his eyes open and groaned. “What in Tartarus’s name…?”
He trailed off when he saw me and his breath caught. “Are you all right, Sir?” I asked him. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.”
“No, it’s not your fault,” he said. “You weren’t prepared for such a demonstration and that’s understandable. The responsibility lies solely on my shoulders.”
That was a huge change in tune and not something I’d expected him to say after his earlier behavior. But then again, what did I know about Titus Strange? Maybe he wasn’t a complete dick and I’d just rubbed him the wrong way.
My tentative optimism vanished when Professor Strange got up. “We should end the lesson here,” he said. “We will all go to the med bay and get a checkup. Yes, even you, Ms. Renard. You might have pushed yourself too far and I don’t want you to get hurt in my class.”
I didn’t bother pointing out he hadn’t been all that concerned earlier. When he led us out of the room, I followed.
Somehow, I suspected the worst part of my day hadn’t even started yet.
* * *
August
“Unlike The Grand Judiciary, which is organized and efficient, Terran governments remain scattered and chaotic. For this reason, the terra-forming process of the planet is slow and many people struggle with poverty and disease. Fortunately, The Grand Judiciary provides them with means to travel here and start over.”
I listened to Professor Trask drone on and wondered if it was possible to die out of sheer tedium and nausea. Sometimes, I wondered if these people actually believed the bullshit they spouted. Everybody knew The Grand Judiciary didn’t help Terrans out of the kindness of their hearts. And if Terrans had so much trouble, I doubted it was just because their governments were inefficient.
The school didn’t care about that and taught whatever The Grand Judiciary told them to. I wished they just stuck to showing us how to destroy aliens. I didn’t care for Terrans that much, but it still seemed counterproductive to focus on our differences instead of on what we had in common.
Tartarus help me, I was so bored. Why did we have to start this school year with Grand Judiciary Law?
By my side, Pollux stifled a yawn. He’d slept poorly these past couple of days, as this whole business with Selene Renard had brought back bad memories.
I understood him perfectly. I’d grown up an orphan, but Pollux and his sister had been the first to give me a glimpse of what it meant to have a family. We’d lost that when she’d died. We’d built something new with the Grand Chimera Unit, but now, our bond was in danger because of Selene Renard. Damn it.
In the background, Professor Trask continued to say something about the rebuilding of the new capitals of Terra. I more or less tuned him out since it was taking every bit of my focus to not fall asleep at my desk or drift into Selene-induced frustration.
I might be dealing with all this better than Pollux, but this lecture was so mind-numbing it could’ve made Charybdis fall into hibernation.
