Free The Black Stars by Dan Krokos Page B

and getting into trouble, or getting us into trouble.” He laughed and ducked as Risperdel threw a sock at him. But she must’ve been fast, because it still hit him in the face.
    Po threw it back at her. “The first of our two stony friends here is Lore, who you’ve already met. Hmm, what can I tell you about Lore that you don’t already know? Lore … wins. Anytime there’s a competition, she wins. Be on her team.”
    Mason nodded at Lore; he would not be forgetting her either, the girl who had called him out in front of the entire school five seconds after his first appearance. When they made eye contact a second time, she gave a grudging kind of nod, as if she had decided to accept his presence, but barely.
    â€œAnd Jiric is the smartest person I know,” Po said. He scratched his chin thoughtfully. “In fact, we’re all kind of the best of the school, now that I think about it. I wonder if that’s why you guys were put here.”
    Risperdel grinned. “So we make the humans look bad.”
    â€œThat won’t be so difficult,” Jiric said.
    Jiric’s face was pinched, like he was smelling something terrible. He wore a pair of simple eyeglasses, which enlarged his eyes and made him appear human. When Mason looked closer, he could see data scrolling down the lenses. What data Jiric would need to be monitoring, Mason had no idea. The human look was helped along by the fact that he was the first Tremist Mason had ever seen to have shoulder-length brown hair.
    Mason learned that a Tremist only had one name, but if he or she was part of a family descended from royalty, the full name held a part of that royal name. Like Risperdel was directly related to the House of Del, a minor royal family from a faraway kingdom.
    The door opened. Reckful stepped inside their dorm.
    â€œSir,” Po said. Risperdel, Jiric, and Lore slipped from their beds to stand at attention. It was so like the ESC that Mason had to blink the idea away.
    â€œStand easy,” Reckful replied, “It’s after hours.” The students relaxed, Jiric and Lore crawling back into bed. “I’d like to have a word with our newest brothers for a moment.”
    Mason’s heart began to pound: there was something about the way he said it. His usual smile was gone.
    Reckful gestured toward the door, and Mason and Tom stepped past him into the hallway. Reckful followed, and the door shut behind them.
    â€œThis way, please,” Reckful said, starting down the corridor. Mason and Tom shared a brief look, but Reckful called over his shoulder, “Move like you have legs.”
    Something was wrong. Very wrong. Mason began to sweat, but he took a series of calming breaths, his mind already picturing their escape route. He knew which direction to run for the exit, but then what? The school was surrounded by a living forest of trees intent on sucking them up into the branches.
    Mason and Tom caught up to Reckful, who led them into a new hallway—not wood, but a metal that reminded him of the Egypt’s decks, silvery and polished. A door opened in the wall, and Mason and Tom stepped through. The room began to brighten from everywhere, that strange ambient lighting present throughout what they had seen of the school. The room was some kind of storage unit, full of equipment Mason didn’t recognize or understand.
    When it was bright enough to see well, Mason looked at Reckful, then down at Reckful’s hands. On each palm rested a small black disk. Their communicators. He had found them. Or someone had found them and given them to Reckful.
    Slowly, Reckful curled his fingers over the disks, then let his hands fall to his sides.
    â€œDo you think Rhadgast are feebleminded?” he asked, his tone ice cold.
    Mason and Tom were frozen. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tom shift his weight onto his back foot. Don’t do anything stupid. Don’t do anything we