Free Scouts by Nobilis Reed Page A

more than just one person. You love Valka, and so of course you’re going to value her attention over mine. But we’re together in this, and it’s in our best interest to develop our own relationship. I don’t want to replace Valka. I don’t want to diminish her in any way. I want both of you to grow as people in your capacity to love.”
    “So, what do you want me to do?”
    “I want you to try to see your time here at the academy as an opportunity to not just get closer to Valka, but to get closer to me, too. To give our way of life a chance. To accept the things we’re offering you.”
    “This is all just going a little too fast for me, you know?”
    “It’s an abrupt change, Challers, but it really is for the best. You’re leaving your old life behind, your old ways of thinking and feeling. It’s understandable that you’d cling to it, that you’d have some difficult times, but you will be better off to let it go. You do want to be a part of us, don’t you? Think of the life you would have had back on Stakroya Station—hungry, cramped, and under the constant threat of being taken away. Even if you had evaded the Fleet and the Merchants, you would have been stuck there for the rest of your life. Now think of all the things you’ve seen since coming here.”
    She was right, of course. The Scouts had shown me some wonderful things. Rationally speaking, having to give up a little attention from Valka to get them wasn’t that bad a trade-off.
    But it still hurt.
    “So we’ve got a few hours before bedtime,” she continued. “What do you say we work on your math?”
    I groaned and rolled my eyes.
    “Come on. Get your tablet. If we get a head start, you’ll be able to sail through tomorrow’s lesson. Wouldn’t Valka be surprised?”
    I reluctantly retrieved my tablet from where I had left it by the door and we started. I wanted to sulk. I wanted to lie there and let my weakness for math just end things, and if it had been Valka tutoring me, that’s exactly what would have happened.
    Shirley surprised me. For one thing, we never sat down the whole time. She had me set my tablet down in the middle of the bed, activate the holographic display, and made the entire room into our workspace. The transformations and demonstrations didn’t sit in the tiny box of the tablet, but they were all around us, as big as life. Whenever there was any kind of obstacle, she found another way to put the concept, and another, and another. Mathematics, to her, wasn’t a collection of cold transformations and sterile equations to memorize. For Shirley, it was a dance of art and science binding the galaxy together in pure, shining threads, and she wanted to teach me the steps.
    When we finally noticed the time, she shook her head and sent me to the shower. I talked through my shower about what I had learned, then through Shirley’s as well. Finally, as we lay side by side in the bed, she had to put her finger over my lips and shush me. I tried to relax, certain that the new revelations bursting in my mind would keep me up all night long.
    And then I remembered the data wafer, sitting in the bottom of my carry-pouch. I tried to stay awake until I knew Shirley was asleep, but there was no way. I fell asleep as soon as I stopped moving.

    The next morning, we overslept a bit and had to rush to make Physicality on time. The class went pretty much the same as the previous day’s, though Valka and I had an easier time working into the partner movement exercises. I pushed hard, trying to wear us out, so we could have some more time to talk privately. Shirley noticed, though, and held me back, forcing me to maintain the correct forms. When we completed the program, there wasn’t time for a walk together, and the four of us went directly to the showers.
    In the showers, I noticed a change. “Valka, your pubic hair is gone.”
    She looked down and ran her hand over the smooth skin above her cleft. “Yeah, it really shows in the