Free Torian Reclamation 2: Flash Move by Andy Kasch Page A

opinion?”
    “Biological chemistry isn’t my bag, Yob3. Brandon and I don’t agree on a lot of things, but I must admit he usually turns out to be right by some miracle when he feels strongly about something. With the possibility of bombs exploding down here on Amulen soil, I’m going to side with him on this one. Just don’t ask me to go with you to that house of horrors. I still haven’t gotten over it, and don’t expect I ever will.”
    “Can we go?” Jumper and Alan said in unison.
    Brandon and Yob3 smiled as Derek rolled his eyes.
    “Yes,” Brandon said. “We’ll need your help, in fact.”
    Yob3 looked at Jumper and Alan and cocked his head for a second.
    He then said, “Okay. They’re your people, and you know the risks. It’s your decision. Let me get organized and I’ll meet you in front of the administration office shortly. Derek, watch over things here for a few days.”
    Derek put his hand on Brandon’s shoulder. “Brando, take care of the kids, man. Don’t let them get too far out of your sight. Those two can be a fair amount of work, and are known to get a little reckless.”
    Derek turned to Alan and Jumper. “Alan, I’ll tell your parents. They won’t be too surprised. Jumper, I’ll …make up something better-sounding than the whole truth to tell your mom.”
    Brandon assured Derek they would all be back soon. Jumper and Alan then followed Brandon out into the hallway.
    “What about Kayla?” Alan asked.
    “She only asked for a ride here,” Jumper said. “Let her find her own way home.”
    Alan laughed. “Won’t be the first time you left her stranded.”
    Brandon shook his head. “No. Let’s at least tell her we’re leaving. Treating others irresponsibly is unwise.”
    “All right,” Jumper said. “Follow me. She’s in the air gym.”
    The three of them made their way to the athletics department, passing an occasionally student along the way.
    “Hard to believe this wonderful institution has been reduced to such a ghost town,” Brandon said. “But good to see it’s held on even this long. I hate to say this, but it will probably close soon, assuming it isn’t reduced to wartime rubble beforehand. If you kids wish to continue your education, you’ll have to do it on Banor. Our universities are bustling, and the graduates are finding good jobs.”
    They came to the air gym window. Kayla was inside exercising. The air gym was a large, sealed, low-gravity chamber with gymnastic bars of different types arranged in a type of obstacle course. The gymnast launched from a platform in a high corner of the room and gradually made their way down through the descending spiral of rings, bars, and beams, eventually dismounting from the final beam to a padded floor. Kayla was in the middle of the run, swinging through a series of hoops.
    “Two flips between hoops,” Alan said. “She’s been practicing. I tried that once and ended up dropping right to the floor.”
    Jumper nodded. “We’ve all done that. Two flips is hard. Now she’s coming to the unattached bars.”
    Kayla sprung with her hands off a beam and flipped in the air to land on the first unattached bar upside down, hooking onto it with backwards with her bent legs. As the bar then began to fall, she continued spinning backward, released, stretched out her arms, and propelled herself upward off the next bar before it could fall more than an a tiny bit. She then rapidly swung her way through the remaining unattached bars one-handed, catching the last one with her outermost reach. Bouncing off a beam below, she landed on the parallel bars with both hands and shuffled her way across.
    “I always miss that last one,” Jumper grumbled.
    Alan whistled. “Extat, that’s impressive.”
    “Yes,” Brandon said. “Indeed it is.”
    “Please don’t tell her that, Uncle Brandon. She’s tough enough to live with as it is.”
    Kayla made her way to the end of the course and did a twisting, five somersault finale before