Free Frontier: Book One - The Space Cadets by Laurence Moroney Page A

” he had
said before going to join his friends.
    They entered the apartment, and
Soo-Kyung kicked off her shoes and put her slippers on as always.
Quietly, she sat on one of the sofas and looked out at the
stars.
    “ Nice work, Soo-Kyung.
I ’ d love to know how you were so good, so
quickly,” said Aisha, finally, unsettled by the silence.
    The answer surprised her. “Really?
You assume a lot. I couldn ’ t have just
learned it on the spot, like you did? I had to know something
already, is that it?”
    “ What do you mean?”
    “ Oh come on, it ’ s been days now since you spoke with those boys, and
I ’ m sure they told you all about me.
You ’ ve been on-edge around me ever
since.”
    “ That ’ s
not it, they--”
    “ Am I supposed to believe you?
They hacked into my records and found out all about me, and you
believe them over me? I thought I was your friend .”
    Aisha was aghast. “You are my friend.”
    “ But you believe them over me ?”
    “ There ’ s
nothing to believe. They told me nothing.”
    “ What? Then why are
you--”
    Soo-Kyung stopped, and looked into
Aisha ’ s eyes. Aisha glared back. If
Soo-Kyung were to read anything it would be righteous anger. She
turned away from Aisha, and sat, putting her head in her hands for
a moment before looking back.
    “ Sorry,” she said, quietly. “I
know I ’ m over-sensitive about this, and it
made me jump to the wrong conclusion.”
    Aisha sat down beside her and told
her of the entire conversation with Patrice.
    “ He was on the verge of telling me
something. Something not just about this place, but about...I
don ’ t know, everything . But I blew
it. I got angry and flew off the handle.”
    “ Go on.”
    “ But he did tell me about open
enrollment. He and Seamus and some others have their little
conspiracy going on up here. They thought that the opening of the
school to the general public might yield some kind of clue as to
the true purpose of the school.”
    Soo-Kyung raised an eyebrow.
“And?”
    “ And, it turned out that there
were two students that came in who are very special. You and
me.”
    “ What makes us
special?”
    “ For you, I have no idea. Seamus
said he read your files and that they ‘ blew his mind ’ , but other
than that, they told me nothing. I wanted to hear it from you. Despite what you said earlier, I am your friend,
and I care about you deeply.”
    Soo-Kyung smiled a little, and
Aisha was surprised at how much she meant it. “I really do,” she
repeated. “And I know there ’ s an air of
secrecy about you. That there ’ s something
terrible that you carry alone. And you don ’ t have to. Not anymore.”
    Soo-Kyung opened her mouth to
speak, and then closed it. It was like she was unable to find the
words. Finally, she spoke. “So, has my silence been the thing that
bothers you?”
    “ Yes!” Aisha reached towards
Soo-Kyung, and rested her hand on her shoulder. “And, no,” she
said, knowing that she needed to be honest with Soo-Kyung. “There
was something more.”
    “ What?”
    Aisha told her about her own file.
That it had been sealed and encrypted so deeply that Seamus
couldn ’ t break it.
    “ Yet he was able to break
mine?”
    “ Yes.”
    “ Curious,” Soo-Kyung
said.
    “ So what did he read?”
    “ Probably the cover
story.”
    “ Cover story?” Aisha
asked.
    “ I’ m not
exactly what I appear to be.”
    “ He said that nobody here
is exactly who they appear to be.”
    “ He is very wise,” she smiled a
little. “And cute.”
    Aisha wasn ’ t going to let her change the subject. “Just who are
you, then?”
    “ According to the files,
I ’ m one of the children that were
hand-picked by the regime in my country to go through the best of
training in everything. Science, technology, martial arts,
languages, piloting, strategy…a list as long as your
arm.”
    “ According to the
files?”
    “ Yes. That was planted to explain
how I can do the things I do, and to distract