Creatures of Snow (9 page)

Thompson stared hard at
him. “You are overstepping your boundaries, Mr. Regan.”

“Well then, let me
apologize.” He said sarcastically and sat up straight. “All I know
is that if you’re not gonna give someone a chance to learn from a
bad decision, then I might as well just go home right now, because
I’m full of that kind of crap.”

Thompson stared intensely
before he let his tight lips crack into a smile. It was a much
longer moment then what seemed comfortable that he stayed like that
- just looking Sky straight in the face with that creepy
smile.

“
Fine.” He said finally.
“The young ladies can stay on a probationary status. Take this as
your one and only warning - this kind of behavior will not be
tolerated. You all may go.”

Al bounced up from his chair, “Thank you,
Sir.”

“
You’re not the one who
should be thanking me.” Thompson remarked snidely and motioned for
them to go.

Sara and Colossal-hair strode quickly for
the door with him and Al close behind.

“
I suggest you girls stay
far away from one another,” Thompson barked after them, “I couldn’t
care less about clans or tribes or whatever else people choose to
divide themselves by - if I hear of either of you two causing any
sort of trouble, you’re gone. This is an institute of knowledge; we
don’t have the time or resources to deal with social or emotional
baggage.”

It was a relief to exit the office. “Holy
moldy, can you believe that guy!” Sky said to no one in
particular.

“Great. I’m going to be
late.” Al groaned, snapping his tablet shut.

“
Aw, man, I almost
forgot,” Sky switched his head back and fourth, the two girls had
gone off in opposite directions, “Which one of you is Ms. Rekkert?”
To his utter delight, Sara flinched at the name. But she kept
walking. “Come on, we’ve got to meet with Professor Blankety Blank
about Axis stuff.”

Sara’s skirt faired up as she spun around,
“You’re kidding me. You?” Her voice was hot with anger.

“Good luck with that,
buddy.” Al slapped him on the back and raced off to
class.

He faced Sara with a
slight reserve. “Blanks said to meet in his office once we were
done here.” He shrugged and pointed to
the
pin on his jacket.

She growled and turned
violently away from him. “Lead us to Professor Blanks office.” She
spoke clearly to the wall.

For a moment he thought
she was completely insane, but then a thin, glowing line appeared
at her feet. “Come on.” She sneered at him.

“
I had no idea…” He
mumbled. “REALM is a pretty crazy place, eh?” He spoke to her back.
She didn’t answer, not that he really expected her to.

It was just him, Sara, and
the echoes of their feet against the marbled floor as they silently
followed the magical little line. He kept quiet, not wanting to
endure another of her vicious stares. She had seemed a whole lot
friendlier from a distance. It was strange, but he had liked her
the moment he saw her that morning. The way she had walked in with
such confidence and utter disregard for all those around her. The
way her hair looked sloppy, but was done so in such a meticulous
fashion that it was also obviously purposeful. Even the way she
wore her uniform, with the skirt just a little too short, the shirt
un-tucked with the blazer not fully buttoned to the top – it was
all done just enough for her to look rebellious, but the crisp
lines and careful pleats of the fabric told him it was all a ruse.
She wasn’t just a lazy slob like him, no, she was just trying to
keep people away.

“
How’s that scratch?” His
voice came out a little too loud and was amplified by the empty
hallway.

“
How’s your face?” Her
reply was quick and angry with a hint of sarcasm.

“
I’ve had worse.” That was
definitely true. “That was some punch though. I haven’t been hit
like that, probably ever.”

She glanced back at him with a snarl, “I
knew you were just a punk. Probably get in fights all the
time.”

“
Not as much as I used to
ever since my dad taught me to never throw the first
punch.”

“Well that was sweet of
him.” She scoffed. “Look kid,”

“
It’s Sky.”

“Whatever. Thanks and all
for what you did back there, but I’m not here to impress these
uptight suits from REALM anyway. The people who really matter are
Professor Blanks and our assigned mentors, do you understand.” She
turned and stepped towards him, causing him to instinctively back
up. “If you refuse to show respect or run your mouth off like you
did in there…if you ruin this chance for me in any way,” She had
somehow managed to get him pinned up against the wall, “I will
personally hunt you down and destroy you.”

Sky nodded slowly and held
his breath until she backed away. It was obvious she had more to
say, but she just bit her lip with a snarl and continued on down
the hall.

For the rest of their
short journey he kept his distance. When they came upon Blank’s
door he was sure to let her open it and wait until she was fully
into the room before he dared to enter.

“What took so long?”
Blanks snapped once they were barely in the door. The room was
small and cramped with piles on top of piles of books, papers and
folders. Blanks himself was neatly tucked away in the furthest
corner and, in his dusty colored suit, was perfectly camouflaged
amongst the immense forest of periodicals.

“
I apologize, Sir.” Sara
reported crisply, pushing her already straight shoulders back. “We
came as quickly as we could.”

“I’m sure you did.” Was
his monotone reply. Blanks stood up from his desk and maneuvered
around it with a grace that shouldn’t be possible for a man of his
size. He stood rigidly in front of them with what was becoming his
customary look of neutrality. “As a formal greeting I will
introduce myself as Professor Robert Blanks. I’ve been teaching
Bionamics here at the REALM Academy for over eight years, before
that I was one of the head instructors of Biochemical Warfare at
the Arche Academy and preceding that I was defending this galaxy as
the Commander of the Tae San Phoenix Squadron. Any questions as to
why I have been chosen to be your guide at this school?”

“
No, Sir.” Sara shook her
head vigorously.

Sky followed suit and shook his head, but
kept his mouth firmly closed.

“
Good.” He nodded firmly,
placed his hands behind his back and strode past them without a
glance, “Follow me.”

Blanks led them through a
maze of hallways until they finally arrived at a location they
recognized.

“Stand there.” Blanks
pointed over to the large center kiosk. “Your mentor’s will meet
you here shortly. They will guide you through the rest of your
day.” He looked them up and down as if he was seeing them for the
first time. “I know we haven’t explained much to you yet and I’m
sure you have a lot of questions.” His hard edges softened just a
pinch, “Please understand that this program is in its infancy and
we need to be sure you two are the right fit before indulging you
with classified information.”

Sky nodded in time with Sara. It sounded
fair enough.

“And, judging by the stunt
you already pulled, it’s safe to assume we were correct in waiting.
Any more behavior like that and you can say good bye to your
future. Do you understand?”

“
Yes, Sir.” Sara
barked.

“You’ve been awfully quiet
Mr. Regan. Are you hearing me all right?” There was that hint of
sarcasm again.

“
Yeah. I mean, yes, Sir.”
Sky didn’t like how meek his voice came out.

“
Say it like you mean it,
son.”

“
Yes, Sir.” He said as
solidly as he could.

“
We’ll work on that.”
Blanks almost smiled, but Sky doubted if his stone face could bend
that much.

Without another word
Blanks marched away, leaving Sky starring after him, feeling unsure
of his whole situation. Students began filling in the gap between
them as the tolling bell marked the end of another round of
lessons.

“
I’m so stupid.” Sara
breathed through her teeth and let her shoulders slump.

“You-” But before he could
even finish he once again found himself faced with a glare that was
hotter than a thousand suns.

“I wasn’t talking to you.
I would never, ever voluntarily talk to you.” She snarled, her face
screwing up into a mess of hate.

“
That’s a pretty harsh
statement.” An unknown voice came from behind him.

Sky felt an arm make its
way around his shoulders and give him a rough shake. “This guy is
your partner, Sara, let’s try to show a little more compassion and
a little less venom.”

The only guess Sky had as
to who could possibly be holding on to him so tightly was one of
their mentors. He took that assumption as truth as the red faded
from Sara’s face and left ashen terror in its place.

“
Right, of course.” She
nodded with eyes the size of the moons.

Sky’s shoulders were
released and a tall boy with straw-blond hair and the widest smile
he’d ever seen stepped forward.

“Greetings. I’m Con
Embers, your esteemed upperclassman mentor of the newly established
Axis program.” The boy extended his hand dramatically to
Sara.

Con wasn’t anything like
Sky had imagined. He was expecting something more along the line of
the grays that Zeph had with him the night before. Someone stiff
and arrogant.

“Ellie should be joining
us shortly, and then we can get to the fun stuff.” Con plopped down
right there on the ground and leaned his back against the center
kiosk.

“
Um, Sir…”

“
It’s just Con, or Captain
Amazing, whatever comes more naturally to you.” He said it with
such a straight face Sky had to smile.

Sara shifted uncomfortably
as Con drew a stare or two from the passing students. “Well…Con…I
was just wondering about our schedule-”

Con waved his hand absently, “Today is just
orientation crap, ignore it for now. Tomorrow you can return to
your normally scheduled programming, all right?”

He gave her a winning smile which she
returned with a nervous nod.

“
You,” He pointed up to
Sky, “Nice work today. I heard you put Director Stuffy-pants in a
bit of a pickle. Threatening to drop out like that.
Genius.”

News sure traveled fast.
“I didn’t really-”

“We can’t afford to lose
both of you, hell, we can’t really afford to lose one of you. I
know you don’t know much, but we were all chosen for very specific
reasons, some more obvious than others, but all nearly
irreplaceable.”

“
Get off the floor, you
idiot!” A petite girl came out of nowhere and landed a hard kick
into Con’s side.

“May I introduce Ellie
Satyr.” Con let out a light laugh as he climbed to his
feet.

Sky turned towards the
girl and noticed what one of those ‘more obvious’ traits might have
been. Looking out from milk chocolate skin were eyes as golden as
Sara’s.

“You’re such a load, Con.”
Ellie turned on her heels and began walking away at a rapid pace,
“Come on.”

Sky’s shoulders dropped. He
was getting pretty sick of following people around.

“Come on kiddo. This will
be fun, I promise.” Con pushed him forward.

Sara kept pace a few feet
behind them as they left the security of the only place he knew on
campus and ventured out into an open courtyard.

The yard was impressively
large with tables set up sporadically, beckoning students to
come and relax on the neon lawn. Sara lost a few steps as her eyes
were caught by the space. He glanced back to see a look of delight
cross her face just briefly. He turned his eyes away before she
could catch him looking and let his own smile turn up the corners
of his mouth.

Ellie led them down a
sidewalk that cut through the artificial grasses towards a squat,
rectangular building. The girl was no bigger than Al, and although
she walked with a casual stride the underlying strength was still
apparent in every short step. She pushed open the solid double
doors without hesitation and disappeared into the abyss beyond
it.

Sky wondered if this would
be some sort of test - like, they walk into the darkened room and
someone would jump them and then they would be judged on how well
they reacted.

Con looked over at him as
he tensed. “Relax, kid. What, are you afraid of the dark?” He asked
quietly, never losing his smile.

“I just like being ready
for anything.” Was all Sky could think of to say.

Con just laughed and
walked through the doorway. As he did, the lights snapped on
inside, illuminating a large, empty room.

There were remnants of
days gone by scattered around the room, and piles of dusty crates
near the walls, stacked so high they almost reached the ceiling.
Set up near the far end of the room were a few old fashioned wood
and metal desks in front of a long, much more important looking
desk.