Free Saga of Shadows 1: The Dark Between the Stars by Kevin J. Anderson Page B

imaginary answer and expect me to believe you understand how you got there. This is a test requiring rigorous calculations, and you are scored on those calculations.”
    Shareen snorted again. “In the tests I’m used to, you rig up your own life-support system, install the components in a suit, then test it out by going into hard vacuum. You quantify the test results pretty quickly.”
    At seventeen, Shareen had grown accustomed to being rewarded for her imagination and intuition, for solving problems with innovation using the items at hand. That was considered a useful skill among the Roamer clans. Apparently not, however, among stodgy teachers who preferred paperwork to practicality. Letting her imagination wander briefly, Shareen smiled at the thought of how Professor Mosbach would fare in a live vacuum-exposure exercise. . . .
    “In my next report to Golgen, Ms. Fitzkellum, I will inform your father about your attitude. Your parents pulled strings to get you into this exclusive school. There’s a waiting list, as you may be aware. You took the place of someone who would appreciate an education more.”
    “I very much appreciate an education, ma’am.” Shareen meant it, but to her an “education” did not mean memorizing redundant facts and doing contrived assembly-line problems.
    The professor clicked her tongue. “You obviously have intelligence and potential, but you don’t apply yourself.”
    “Because I don’t respect the problems you assign,” Shareen muttered. “Completely useless in an emergency.”
    Howard spoke up to cover her comment. “I’ll help her study, Professor. I promise she’ll be more accurate in the next examination.”
    “Thanks, Howard.” Shareen’s tone conveyed anything but gratitude.
    The dark-haired young man was a good lab partner, she had to admit. In fact, he was basically her only friend here, because he didn’t seem to mind her scrappy attitude.
    Professor Mosbach controlled her temper as tightly as she controlled her unrealistic initial conditions. “I expect you to do better in the laboratory phase.”
    “I will, ma’am.” Shareen did her best to sound meek and chastised. She didn’t entirely succeed, but it was enough to deflect the teacher’s ire.
    She knew her father wanted to give her the best education possible and had used his family name to get her into the exclusive academy, but this just wasn’t working, from her attitude to her appearance. Even her hair—Shareen kept her light brown hair tied up in stubby pigtails, which made her look like a tomboy. Since she tucked her hair in helmets so often, she couldn’t let it grow long. The other students teased her mercilessly, but she wouldn’t change.
    Back on the Golgen skymine, she had grown up learning how the systems worked. She tinkered with any gadget she could get her hands on and taught herself how to take things apart long before she learned how to put them back together. In time, though, she could reassemble them better than they were before.
    She taught herself the basics, spent years at Academ with hundreds of other Roamer students, learned how to solve bigger problems, cooperate with others, and take advantage of her unique insights. She had been so excited when she was accepted into an exclusive technical institute on Earth, which had produced some of the best scientists and engineers over the past century. Many of her Roamer friends envied her, but Shareen quickly realized that her talents weren’t appreciated here.
    She could be sharp-tempered with students who failed to grasp concepts as quickly as she did. She didn’t consider herself better than they were, but she hated to waste time. She didn’t want anyone to hold her back—and teachers like Professor Mosbach certainly held her back.
    It was a miserable year for her, and she couldn’t wait to pass her tests and go home in a few weeks. Her attitude alienated her classmates, which made Shareen even more miserable. How could she