The Forgotten Shrine Page 2

  My family stands against the railing of the water shuttle. I inhale the thick sea air and look below at the salty waves lashing the boat. So this is it. Back to space, this time with Addy by my side.

  Dad swings his arm across my shoulders. “It’s a good thing Earth Force sent you a fresh uniform. You’ve really shot up. Your old pants would have looked like shorts.”

  “I haven’t grown that much, Dad.” But as I turn to face him, my gaze is equal with his nose. It won’t be long before we’re eye to eye.

  “Your mom and I don’t say it enough, Jasper, but we’re proud of you.” He swallows hard, probably choking back a lump of emotion, since both Addy and I are leaving this time. “You haven’t only grown in height. You’ve grown in maturity. I’m sure Earth Force is honored to have you in their ranks.”

  “Thanks, Dad.” His words might be cheesy, but I store them in a safe spot in my brain in case I need to replay them later. Up ahead the aeroport grows from a spot on the horizon to the outline of a full-fledged metropolis on the water as the shuttle closes in.

  As Dad turns to talk with Addy, Mom straightens the collar of my indigo uniform. She doesn’t even try to hide the tears that cloud her eyes. “Your father’s right, Jasper. We’re very proud. Now promise me you’ll look after your sister at the space station.”

  I stare at my shoes, the standard-issue brown lace-ups. It’s a promise I’ve already made myself. Still, it’s hard to make a promise I don’t know if I can keep. “Sure, Mom,” I whisper.

  She plants a kiss on my forehead.

  As we approach the aeroport, the new Model 770 passenger crafts gleam from the flight deck. Earth Force put them into production for the Paleo Planet tourism initiative that kicked off with Sheek’s televised trip. I can’t wait to see Ryan and tease him about how goofy he sounded when the EFAN production crew made him ooh and aah over all the sights. Probably the best thing about my pod getting disqualified from the Tundra Trials was not having to accept the prize and make a return trip to the Paleo Planet.

  The seas near the aeroport are crowded with watercraft. Small barges packed with people float a few hundred meters from the landing zone. Armed police boats form a barrier in between. With three shuttles in front of us, we’re caught in a bottleneck waiting for the docking rig.

  “What’s with the barges?” I ask.

  “Remember the officer saying all press other than EFAN is banned from the aeroport?” Mom asks. “They must be trying to get some footage from the water.”

  Addy shakes her head. “It’s not just press. At least half of those barges are filled with protestors.” As she says this, she curls in her shoulder and lifts her arm, shielding the Earth Force logo on her uniform. I wonder whether that was subconscious or if she did it on purpose.

  As we pull closer, I can see that she’s right about the protestors. People on some of the barges shout and shake signs.

  “What on earth are they protesting?” Dad asks.

  Addy lets out an exasperated sigh. “Bounders’ rights, of course. I thought about joining, but I knew there was no way Mom would let me. And I admit it would be a little weird to protest on the same day I take the oath to serve in Earth Force.”

  “Addy!” Mom says in that weird hiss-voice she uses when she tries to talk through gritted teeth. These days it seems like she’s always aiming that voice at my sister. Mom is not into Addy’s stir-the-pot politics. “Now is not the time!”

  “Then, when is the time, Mom?” Addy says loudly. Passengers shift uncomfortably around us. “How could there be a better time than now? What they’re saying is true. We don’t have a choice. What would happen if I didn’t want to be an aeronaut? What if I wanted to be a doctor like you? Would they say, ‘Oh, no problem, go to medical school’? I doubt it. I mean—”

  I kick her foot. “Addy! Shut up!” She’s seconds away from getting us both thrown in the brig.

  She stops her rant and stares at me. I shake my head. Her words may be fueled by her online chat group, but they’re also stoked by the secrets I shared with her in the storage room. She owes it to me to hush up.

  “Fine,” she whispers. Her cheeks swell with air. She grips the handrail and gazes off the ship’s bow. She’s probably picturing herself on the protest barge, shouting at Earth Force exactly what she thinks they can do with their alien war.

  As we cruise past the barges, I avert my gaze. I don’t want to know what the protestors’ signs say, but I can’t block out their singsong chant.

  “Just like me, just like you,

  Bounders are people, too!

  Just like you, just like me,

  Bounders have the right to be free!”

  As we pass and their words fade, another chant fills my mind, one I last heard in the parliamentary chamber in Gulagaven:

  Birthright, Bounders fight!

  Birthright, Bounders fight!

  Birthright, Bounders fight!

  I never join the chant. And I’m pretty sure Addy won’t, either. We may not always see things the same way, but there’s no doubt we’re on the same page about one thing: Earth Force keeping the reason why Bounders were born a secret all these years is not something to cheer about.

  Four guard boats pull alongside our shuttle, blocking our view of the press and the protestors, and escort us the rest of the way to the aeroport.

  As we near, someone on the deck jumps up and down, waving his arms in a wide arc. Ryan. I’d recognize his orange hair anywhere. Cole stands by his side. They must have spotted me.

  “I’ll catch up with you on deck,” I call to my parents once the gangplank is lowered. I push through the crowded craft and hurry across. I know I should wait for Addy, but she’ll be fine. She always is. Plus, I’ll introduce her to my friends after we board.

  I squeeze through the crowd to Cole and Ryan. When I reach them, Ryan nearly tackles me with a hug.

  “Hey, guys,” I say, pushing him off. “Ryan, you’re a celebrity! I watched the Paleo Planet special on EFAN a dozen times.”

  Ryan steps back into my space. I forgot what a close talker he is. “That’s right! Me and Sheek. Best buds. Hanging with the wildeboars. Lucky for us, they didn’t decide to charge.”

  I glance around. No one’s paying any attention to us. We’re back in Earth Force territory. I guess it’s okay to talk candidly about what happened. Because by “hanging with the wildeboars,” he means the dramatic conclusion to our battle with the Youli on the Paleo Planet.

  “Yeah, good thing,” I say, then turn to Cole. “Nice move on the classics round. I never would’ve thought of that strategy to hold the front.”

  Cole smiles. He is always up for talking Evolution of Combat. “Thanks. Where have you been? I held open your amphibious troops all week.”

  “Sorry. I was busy getting ready for the tour of duty. My sister’s coming, remember? We had a lot to discuss.” I figure Cole will know what I’m talking about. All my pod mates know I planned to talk to my sister about the real deal with Earth Force.

  “You mean—” Cole starts. He is absolutely clueless when it comes to keeping things on the down low.

  I cut him off. “Um, yeah, that’s what I mean. Who else is here?” As soon as I ask, my cheeks warm, because as much as I want to catch up with everybody, what I really want to know is whether Mira has arrived.

  “Pretty much everyone’s on board,” Ryan says, fortunately oblivious to my real question. “See for yourself.” He nods to the back of the flight deck, where a huge group of cadets congregate.

  “Let’s go.” I lead Cole and Ryan through the crowd of junior officers and EFAN crew to the flight deck. It’s set up almost the same as it was for our first tour. There’s a roped-off area for luggage, a podium set up in front of the passenger crafts, and a designated area for families.

  But it’s easy to spot the changes. It’s not just the brand-new, ultraslick 770s (can’t wait to ride on one of those!). And it’s not just the absence of the press corps, other than EFA
N, of course. The biggest difference is the cadets. There’s a clear divide. Those here for their first tour hang back with their parents in the family area. Then there’s us, the old pros. We’re definitely more at ease than the new cadets, but it’s more than that. We’re the seasoned soldiers.

  Someone slams me from behind and coils an arm around my neck. “Beg for mercy!”

  “Get off, Marco!”

  Marco loosens his hold, spins me around by the shoulders, and pulls me in for a hug. “Ace! I thought you’d never show! You get in here, too, Wiki!” He clamps his hand on Cole’s shoulder and pulls him over. Cole stays rigid as a board. He’s not a hugger.

  “Hi, Marco!” Ryan says brightly.

  “What’s up, Red? I saw your buddy Sheek practicing his EFAN poses a few minutes ago. I hear he’s cohosting the launch with Florine Statton.”

  Maximilian Sheek and Florine Statton are here? Terrific. Next to Regis and his minions, those two are probably the people I missed least from the EarthBound Academy. At least Addy will be excited. She may be all about Bounders’ rights these days, but she hasn’t given up her inner fangirl. She’s still got the poster of Sheek hanging above her bed. She nearly died when I told her that Sheek took over for Florine as Director of Bounder Affairs last tour. I considered telling her that Sheek was a complete fake, but I didn’t think she was ready for that harsh truth.

  “Check out all those newbies.” Marco waves a hand in the direction of the family area and the new cadets. “Should we haze them?”

  “What do you mean?” Ryan asks.

  “Oh, you know, have them clean our bunk room and bring us snacks, make them run laps around the mess hall in their underwear. The usual.”

  “That sounds like Regis’s kind of thing,” I say.

  “Hazing is expressly forbidden under the Earth Force Code of Conduct, article five, section seventeen,” Cole says.

  “Kidding, Boy Scouts,” Marco says. “Although having a personal manservant would be kind of great.”

  “Speaking of Regis . . . ,” I say.

  “We weren’t really speaking of Regis, Mr. Cool, but to answer your question: no, I haven’t seen him. I wasn’t looking for him, either, so don’t get your hopes up. Although, it’s definitely weird to see Hakim and Randall without their fearless leader.”

  Ever since last tour I’ve had this fantasy that Regis wouldn’t be here. That the powers that be would have decided not to invite him back once they discovered what a jerk he was, especially since he almost got Mira and me killed on Gulaga when he stole her glove and stranded us on the frozen tundra. Gedney even hinted that he’d try to get Regis ejected from the Academy. It probably didn’t work out. Earth Force wants to keep all the minisoldiers they can.

  I shake my head, trying to dislodge all thoughts of Regis, and follow Marco through the crowd toward the sea rail where a bunch of guys from the Academy are congregating. Halfway there I get the uncomfortable vibe that someone is following me. The feeling morphs into an avalanche of sparkly energy, like I’m being tackled by a magic rainbow unicorn.

  Mira.

  I spin around with a smile on my face. She’s right behind me, gazing at the ocean. Her lips curl at the edges, and her eyes dart in my direction.

  “Hi! How are you?”

  The sparkly energy rips through my brain.

  Right. Brain-talk. I try again. Hi! How are you?

  Good. The word is punctuated by a dozen images. Mira playing piano. Mira reading. Mira walking in the woods. I think she’s showing me how she spent her break.

  I reach my hand across the space that separates us and place my fingers against hers. It feels like ages since I’ve seen her; I barely know where to begin. I close my eyes and call up a picture of my family vacation to the scorch zone.

  “Jasper?” Addy’s voice sounds at my side.

  I drop my hand and open my eyes. Addy steps next to me.

  “Hi!” Addy says to Mira.

  Mira clasps her hands and rocks her shoulders forward and back. Her gaze shifts between the crowd and the sea.

  Addy shoots a prizewinning death stare at me. She should challenge Lucy to a death stare contest.

  “My brother is so rude.” She sticks out her hand. “I’m Addy.”

  Mira glances at Addy’s hand, shudders, then walks away.

  Addy turns to me. “What on earth was that?”

  Terrific. How am I going to explain? “It was nothing. Look, just forget it. She’s not trying to be mean, she’s just . . .”

  “Oh my God, Jasper,” she says. “That’s her! Mira! The girl you were talking about! Am I right?”

  “Drop it, Addy.”

  “Great to know that your girlfriend is, like, the rudest person on the planet.”

  “Seriously, just shut up.”

  “Yes, do shut up and get over here!” a high-pitched voice calls from behind.

  I spin around to find Lucy with her arms spread wide. I bend into her, and she plants a kiss on my cheek. Her hair is pulled to the side and secured with her signature orange and indigo ribbons. Meggi and Annette stand just behind her.

  “I missed you so much, Jasper Adams!” Lucy bubbles. “How was your break? Mine was awesome, of course. I have so much to tell you!

  “Who’s this?” Lucy says. “Oh my God! Is this your sister, the one and only Addy Adams?”

  “Hi,” Addy says. “Wait a second . . . are you Mira?”

  Lucy, Meggi, and Annette all burst out laughing.

  “Good one,” Annette says.

  Meggi slaps Annette’s arm. “That’s not nice!”

  “This is Lucy,” I tell Addy. “And this is Meggi and Annette.”

  As I say hello to the other girls, Lucy throws her arms around Addy. “I’m so excited to finally meet you! We are going to have so much fun. . . .”

  While Lucy talks, Meggi’s eyes go wide as she stares at something over my shoulder.

  Annette interrupts Lucy. “Heads up.”

  A second later I’m caught in another Marco headlock. Once I shake him off, he nods at the girls. “Hello, ladies!”

  “ ‘Hello, ladies’?” Lucy says. “That simply won’t do!”

  She waves him into a hug. Then he walks down the line, doling out hugs to Annette and Meggi (who looks like she might faint).

  When Marco turns back to face me, his eyes fall on Addy. “Hi.” The word cracks as it leaves Marco’s mouth.

  “This is my sister, Addy,” I say to Marco.

  Addy’s cheeks color pink. She lifts her palm and places it in Marco’s hand. “It’s Adeline.”

  I cough-laugh so loudly it startles Marco. “Adeline? I haven’t heard you use that name since . . . well, maybe ever.”

  “Very nice to meet you, Adeline Adams,” Marco says to my sister, his voice returning to a normal pitch. “I’m Marco Romero.”

  “Are you for real?” I ask, not even sure who I’m directing the question to. “What’s with the formality?”

  Marco doesn’t take his eyes off Addy. “I’m just trying to show your sister a bit of our military decorum, Jasper. She probably doesn’t get much of that at home from you.”

  I punch him in the arm. “Shut up.”

  “Jasper’s told me about you, Marco,” Addy says. “You’re from Amazonas, right?”

  “J-Bird’s been talking about me, huh? That’s right. I live right by—”

  “Um, excuse me?” Lucy says. “I haven’t seen you in, like, forever. Are you going to let a new cadet hog all your time?” Lucy shoots a glare at Addy. Gone is the look of Girls just wanna have fun.

  “I wasn’t hogging—” Addy starts.

  “And I wasn’t talking to you,” Lucy says, stepping between Marco and Addy.

  Geez. What’s with Lucy?

  Next to us, the sound system crackles and squeaks. “May I have your attention. May I have your attention, puh-leeeze.”

  Now, that’s a voice I’d never forget, despite my best efforts.

  “Queen F
lorine is back in business,” Marco says.

  “Back?” I say. “It’s like she never left. I can’t go two hours without seeing her face plastered on EFAN, staring back at me through those dark sunglasses.”

  “Ex-cuuuse me,” Florine says. She’s dressed in a white suit that’s the exact same color as her huge white hair. “Once again we gather for the momentous occasion of the EarthBound Academy launch.” Her tone doesn’t say momentous; it sounds put off, like she can’t get over the fact that her job requires her to promote mere children. “Welcome, Bounders, new and returning. Welcome, families, officers, and esteemed members of the press corps.” She speeds through these formalities like she can’t wait to get to her point. “And now it is my great pleasure to introduce a man who needs no introduction . . .”

  Oh, I should have guessed.

  “. . . the Director of Bounder Affairs, the darling of EFAN, the true Renaissance man, the face of Earth Force . . . Maximilian Sheek!” Florine lets out a disturbing squeal and flutters her fingers together in a butterfly clap.

  Addy grabs my forearm. “He’s here!”

  “Oh please,” Marco says, “don’t tell me you’re a Sheek Shrieker.”

  Addy hesitates, then stammers, “No . . . no, I’m so not. I mean . . .” Her gaze flicks between Marco and the empty podium, which, presumably, is where Sheek will be standing any second. “I just think he’s a really amazing aeronaut, and a civic leader, and an arts benefactor, and—oh my goodness, there he is!”

  Marco shakes his head, then clamps his hand on my shoulder. “I’ll catch you on the craft, Fly Guy.”

  “Wait,” Addy says, but there’s no energy in it. Her full focus has been diverted to the podium, where Sheek now stands, the sunlight gleaming off his shellacked hair. Around us the cries and applause are deafening. I’d forgotten how much clapping was involved in this whole celebrate–Earth Force–and–the–Bounders stuff. I should have brought some earplugs.

  “Save me a seat!” Lucy calls after Marco. “We need some quality pod time!”

  Marco gives a thumbs-up as he fades into the crowd. Lucy turns to my sister with a strange smile, but Addy doesn’t notice. She’s totally engrossed in all things Sheek.