Owen

My house arrest couldn't have been rescinded at a better time. The next day in class Teacher Miller informed us that we would be stopping at the K'thaktra colony of Mazax VIII. There were no restrictions about me going planetside. I just couldn't smuggle anything onboard with me.

My okulus beeped to tell me who would be in my group this time. I triple checked it sure it had to be wrong because I couldn't be paired up with Spencer instead of Vai. And Viko and Mark from the Remembrance would be joining us. Friends of Spencer's. At least I would have Shel and Minmin with me. From what Vai told me the day before at dinner, Spencer had done a pretty good job at pissing off Minmin. A smile crept onto my face as Teacher Miller talked about the Mazax system.

As soon as class was over, I turned to Vai and said, "Who are you going with? Why aren't we paired together?"

Spencer stood up behind us and crossed the room to his Remembrance friends.

"Can't you switch with Spencer?" I asked. "Tomorrow is going to be torture."

"You're paired up with Spencer?" Vai asked.

I nodded.

Shel and Minmin took an interest in our conversation, but hadn't interjected anything themselves.

Vai sighed out low and deep. "I'm not allowed planetside any more. I can't switch. Sorry."

"Your father really won't let you?" Shel asked. "It won't be like Brist. We're not going to study wild animals away from civilization, just some ancient ruins right on the outskirts of a major city."

"My father won't bend," Vai said. "And I don't think I should push him too much right now. Maybe after the next few trips I'll try to convince him again."

"But Warpaint," I said. How was I going to survive planetside - well, Spencer and his friends - without the bodyguard?

"Sorry," Vai said. "I'll make it up to you somehow."

I didn't know how he could make it up to me when my - his - bodyguard wouldn't be with me. Oh well. I could always punch Spencer in the crotch before his friends beat me up - like last time.

"I'll be there," Minmin said.

"Yeah," Shel added, "Minmin will be your bodyguard."

She nodded and her long ears flopped back and forth.

"Thanks, my friends." I didn't think Minmin could be as good as a mechatronic bodyguard that had an Aether Shield, but she would be fine against Spencer and his friends. And there was Shel. Although he hadn't volunteered to help me like Minmin had. Oh well. I was fairly certain I could handle Spencer one on one, just not with his friends too.

"What time do you need to be at the shuttles?" Vai asked.

I pulled up the message again. I had only looked at who was going with me. Once I saw Spencer's name, I forgot to look at the time.

"Eight a.m.," Minmin said.

"Ugh," I said. "Early."

"Same time school starts," Minmin said.

"Right. Early," I reiterated.

"What time is that planetside?" Vai asked.

Minmin looked at her in ansible okulus, but Shel replied right away, "Between one and two p.m."

"I'll see you planetside then," I said to Minmin and Shel.

"Bye," Minmin said to me. To Vai she said, "I wish your dad wasn't so strict so you could come with us."

"Me too," Vai said.

Shel didn't say goodbye, but he at least lifted a hand in farewell before he and Minmin disappeared.

"You'll be okay," Vai said. "Minmin is a lot tougher than she looks. She can handle Spencer and his friends if they try anything."

"Yeah," I said. "Still not the same as a mechatronic though, friend."

"No," he agreed. "At least she won't insist you're an elder when you're only 17."

"Why does Warpaint do that? It's weird."

Vai shifted in his seat. "I guess my father programmed him that way to make him more protective." He shrugged a large shoulder.

"Your father is weird. He's not monitoring this is he? Because I meant to say genius, friend. Your father is a genius."

"He's not monitoring this. I think. Have you done your report on the Slpsis?"

Was he trying to change the subject? Oh well. I'd let him.

"No. Honestly, I wasn't planning on doing it. Teacher Miller doesn't really seem too invested in them."

"I think I'll do mine today," Vai said. "I kind of feel bad for the way my father treated her."

We were the only ones left in the school program. "I guess that means you don't want to sneak onto level 8 to look for that girl. People are beginning to think your father manipulated records to get me out as some kind of favor. Like my parents have any sway."

"We don't have a way to level 8."

"I know," I said. "She's probably moved on to level 7 or 9 anyway. Maybe we can use the maintenance tunnels."

"You still need a code to use the maintenance tunnels."

"How did she do it?" I wasn't really asking. Vai wouldn't have an answer.

"I don't know," he said.

Maybe I could get the maintenance codes somehow. My mom was an engineer not in maintenance, but maybe I could get them somewhere else. I wished I still had my chocolate. As silly as it might seem, a lot of people would do a lot of crazy things for chocolate in the vastness of space.

"I'm going to logoff now," Vai said. "I'll talk to you later."

"Bye, my friend."

I signed out of the school program and the ansible. I pulled my okulus off from my head and reshaped it to fit around my wrist.

The music of my dad's viola drifted into my room. Apparently he was supposed to be practicing with some others onboard for a string quartet, but he had pushed that back since my arrest.

I really wasn't going to work on the Slpsis report, but I ended up jotting down a few thoughts about my experience on Brist anyway.

I played a few games in the ansible, but decided to logoff and go to sleep early. I didn't want to miss the opportunity to go planetside, even if that did mean I had to go with Spencer.

I awoke tired and groggy. I looked at my okulus to see what time it was. 1:43 a.m.

I groaned and tried to turn over, but something was on top of me. A form. I opened my mouth to scream, but a hand clamped down over my lips.

"Shh," the girl whispered.

I couldn't see her clearly in the darkness, but I knew it was her.

"Don't scream," she said. I nodded and she removed her hand.

I looked at my closed door behind her. "How'd you get in here?"

"The living quarters doors are easy to hack."

"You're a hacker?"

"Don't ask questions."

"Okay." I wondered if I should call for my parents, but I didn't really want to.

"You're going planetside tomorrow?"

How did she know? I nodded.

"You're studying the K'thaktra ruins on Mazax VIII?"

I nodded again.

"Why don't you go to school?" I asked.

"Don't ask questions," she reminded me. "You remember the K'thaktran wall that had been displayed in the museum?"

"The one you stole, you mean?"

She paused. "Fine. The one I stole. You know it? You saw it? You remember it?"

"Yes. You should return it and the Aether Field Prototype. Why'd you take those anyway? How did you . . ."

"No questions."

I pinched my mouth closed tightly.

"If you see more ruins with the ancient writing no one can decipher, make sure your volo gets a good recording of it. I'll contact you again later to see what you found."

Her long finger reached for my forehead. I placed both hands over my forehead. "Don't touch me," I said. "You can just leave. I won't tell on you."

Her finger paused in mid-air. She bit her lower lip. "Fine," she said.

She got off slowly and walked to the door. It slid open, but she looked back at me one last time before she left. Well. At least that encounter proved one thing. I was irresistible to the ladies.