Yetic clears his throat before I can respond, “Speaking of the administration, seriously, what’s the news? Clearly Calli and I missed something.”
Zorrah responds first, “A combat tournament has been announced for tomorrow afternoon.”
“What?” I nearly choke on tortilla.
“What’s the prize?” Yetic leans forward on both elbows.
“Forget the prize,” I interrupt. “They can’t throw us back in the chamber after what happened today. Not without a few days rest.”
Yetic gives me the stink eye before returning his gaze to Zorrah. “The prize?”
Unable to contain her excitement, Zorrah shrugs apologetically before bursting out. “The winning 49 gets to tag along with a masazin detail—above surface.”
I snort into my shake and glance at Cera.
She nods, a huge smile on her face.
“Which one?” Yetic seems ready to soil himself.
Zorrah lets the tension build for a long second. “Scout and Probe.”
“Xoxochueyi.” It is the most sought after detail—real combat duty outside the dome.
“A teocuali S&P detail. We have to win,” Yetic states what we all know in our hearts.
Despite the tingling sensation I get when imagining the vast forest beyond the shield dome of New Teo, the tournament doesn’t sit right with me. “Am I the only one who thinks this stinks?”
“It was a last minute announcement at the end of lunch,” Olin pipes up. “As if they had just come up with it.”
Zorrah sighs and stares into her half-eaten plate. “You think they’re targeting us?”
I say, “After what happened today? Yes.”
“What did happen today?” Yetic lets the question hang as he finishes the last of his shake.
I look to Olin.
My brother draws a deep breath before answering, “When I saw Calli knocked from the platform, I lost it. I wasn’t thinking straight.”
Cera interrupts, “But you did just fine. Better than fine. You stunned every last Jag without hitting a single friendly.”
Olin shakes his head. “I blew up. The storm should have killed half of us, for real. I’m sorry.”
I squeeze his hand. “I felt it too. It was as if someone behind the scenes was stacking the odds against us.”
Yetic nods. “I couldn’t do much more than be a distraction. I thought maybe the Jags were blocking me. But there’s no way they could have focused that kind of disruptive energy on all of us.”
“So what we’re saying,” Zorrah adds in a horse whisper, “is that someone at the controls of the combat chamber was directing the limited energy resources toward the Jaguars?” All eyes remain glued on Zorrah’s doll-like features. “I’m not even sure how that’s possible.” She scratches the back of her neck. “But, I guess if they knew which frequency each cadet gravitated toward, and if they could convert the energy into specific wavelengths along the EM spectrum, it could be done. There’d be more overlap for some of us than others.”
Yetic drums his finger on the table. “The real question is not how, but why?”
“We’re undefeated. The administration is looking to mix things up.” It makes perfect sense to me.
“Do they need a reason?” Olin asks.
“Ultimately, no they don’t. But there’s always a reason.” I buy some time by finishing my second protein shake. Everyone waits for me to put down the cup. “I think it’s a test.”
“How do you figure that?” Yetic cracks his neck, casually scanning the commons in the process.
“We’re exhausted. We just suffered our most costly victory, and now a surprise tournament we can’t afford to lose?”
“One that most likely won’t be fair,” Olin adds.
I nod. “Unless…”
“Unless what?” Yetic scoots closer, increasing his protectiveness over me.
“Unless we pass the test,” I say.
“Wait,” Zorrah leans across the table, “I thought the test was the tournament itself.”
“Oh it is, Little Fox.” I smile at her and cast a conspiratorial gaze at the rest of them. “But this test includes a take home portion.”
“You lost me,” Yetic says.
Olin rests his elbows on the table and clasps his fingers in front of his mouth as he speaks. “She’s suggesting we break into the chamber control room and even the odds.”
“We what?” Yetic bursts out before catching himself.
I ignore him. “What do you say, Zorrah? Would you like the opportunity to check in on Icpitls One and Two?
Her eyes dance with joy as she raises trembling fingers to her mouth. “I could access them from the door lock in the dorm.” She stares at the table, nodding. “The rest would be easy.”
“What would be easy?” Olin asks.
“Well, the combat chamber is a closed system. I can’t access it remotely. But security is a different matter.” Zorrah smiles mischievously. “We could take the whole academy offline. You know, make it look like a system-wide failure, so as not to draw suspicion.”
“We are not talking about this. Have you all lost your minds?” Yetic growls.
I clutch his arm and use my most tender voice. “Think about it. Would you ever go into battle without your full arsenal? Why should we not use every weapon at our disposal?”
“It’s against the rules.”
“What rules?” I scoff. “Since the moment we left the ball field to enter the academy have you seen or heard one single rule? Has an instructor every told us to do or not to do anything outside of class?”
Yetic stares at me, uncertain of himself. “We both know there are rules.”
“But we don’t know what they are.” I breathe deeply. “Maybe Olin is right.”
My brother mocks me with a surprised gasp.
I ignore him. “Maybe I’ve been too worried about what the administration thinks—too worried about pleasing people who have given no criteria on how to do so.”
Yetic shakes his head. “If we get caught—”
“We won’t,” Zorrah interrupts. “Not with the icpitls.”
“I may not know how to please the academy officials, but,” I look from Yetic to the rest of the group, “in this case I know how to please the people that mean the most to me.”
Yetic grunts.
A buzzer indicates the end of dinner and provides warning that the tables will retract in thirty seconds. I shovel in the last of my food and stand with tray in hand. “If we step back into the combat chamber before undoing whatever it is the administration has done, we’ll lose.” I stare directly at Yetic. “We can’t let that happen.”
He nods his reluctant assent.
Before dismissing the inner core of Serpent 6 for daily toilet and wind-down, I grip each of them in turn with my eyes. Everyone’s agreed. “Good. One hour after lights out, be ready.”
A flip switches somewhere beneath the floor. With a rush of pneumatic pistons, the tables retract downward until level with the floor. While double checking my tired mind for any important bit of planning I might have let slip, my eyes rove across the commons on their own accord. Unfortunately, they connect with Neca. I divert my gaze too late and scramble for a distraction.
“So, Cera, can you introduce me to the new transfer?” I grip her forearm as we join the cue for dropping off our trays.
“Interesting one, that,” she smiles. “His name’s Tenoch, and he’s got iron totoltetls.”
“It’s about time we get some of those around here.” I rib Yetic as my thoughts flutter toward Neca.
Still upset from being the odd man out during our dinner table scheming, Yetic’s eyes smolder at the insult to his manhood.
Maybe I’ve pushed him too far. He has accepted my command over Serpent 6 while insisting I defer to his dominance in our coupling. I’m still wrestling with the balance. I shudder as I think of saying the words, but there’s no room for hesitation. “Don’t worry, Golden Boy, you’re the only man for me.” If only my heart believed the words were true.
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