sayin’.”
I nod, relishing the idea of August Bergmann with cold chili dumped all over his body.
“Seriously, though,” she leans closer, “you’ll get over it. After my parents died … when General Campbell had me transferred over here, it was the absolute loneliest time in my life. Sometimes this place is like a tomb. You just wanna get outside and breathe in fresh air for once, but people keep pulling you back. I mean, who cares about Pearls and stuff when your whole world falls apart, right?”
I nod.
“But then I started hanging out with you and things weren’t so bad. The teachers may be concerned about you, Jesse, but they’re boring, stuffy people. They don’t matter.”
“I don’t think they’d agree.”
“Trust me,” she says, “you’ll be wasting your effort trying to please them. Wilson was born disappointed. Alkine, well … if you ask me he’s not exactly the sympathetic war hero he’d like everybody to believe. You make me laugh, Jesse. And there are maybe three people onboard who can do that. Should count for something, right?”
I smile. “Thanks, Avery.”
“For what?”
I pause, holding back what I really want to say. “For coming up here. For talking.”
“Hey, no problem.”
I stare at her face for a second before glancing away, realizing that I look like a stalker. “I should get to bed early tonight. Wilson’s making us do Bunker Ball tomorrow morning and my legs are killing me.”
“I’ll walk down with you.”
We stand up from the table and take off through the empty canteen, leaving the chili in the corner to harden.
When we reach my room on the second level, I input my code and crack the door, turning around. An awkward pause comes between us.
There’s always an awkward pause. If we were really boyfriend and girlfriend I’d lean over and kiss her goodnight, or at least give her a hug. Instead, I offer a meek “goodnight” and she smiles, heading down the hallway. I watch her go for a moment before slipping into my room, kicking myself for wasting yet another perfect opportunity.
Before plopping onto my half-made bed, I walk to my desk and run my fingers over a pair of medallions hanging on the wall. They belong to my parents, which means technically they belong to me . The Tribunal had them shipped over in honor of bravery and sacrifice and mass heroic stuff like that. They’ve been a permanent fixture in my room for as long as I can remember. The Tribunal destroyed all photographs for security purposes. My parents weren’t the keepsake type, either. These medals are all I have—a constant, glistening reminder of how fearless they were. Not like me. I can’t even handle a Pearlhound trainee.
I drop the medallions and let them clank against the wall, reaching for the entertainment console at the end of the desk. Then I slump face-first onto the bed and purge the day from memory with the most mind-numbing program I can find on Skyship TV.
7
Cassius hadn’t slept well. Four times he’d woken up, covered in sweat. Each time he was convinced it was going to happen again. Fire. Everywhere. Another room destroyed.
Part of him still couldn’t believe that it was true. He’d seen what was left of his room. He’d heard what Madame said, but he held onto the hope that there was another explanati on.
Now he was on his way to her office for mission briefing. They would be traveling up to Skyship Atlas tomorrow afternoon. If Madame stuck to her word, it would be his last full day at the Lodge for a while. He wasn’t sure if finding Fisher was an opportunity or a punishment.
He paused outside the Office of Research and Development—the Lodge’s nerve center. Madame was expecting him in half an hour, which meant he’d have time to browse through the Lodge’s database in search of more human combustion episodes. Not that he didn’t trust Madame, but he wanted to see if this had ever happened before, to anyone else. After all, there was nothing
I nod, relishing the idea of August Bergmann with cold chili dumped all over his body.
“Seriously, though,” she leans closer, “you’ll get over it. After my parents died … when General Campbell had me transferred over here, it was the absolute loneliest time in my life. Sometimes this place is like a tomb. You just wanna get outside and breathe in fresh air for once, but people keep pulling you back. I mean, who cares about Pearls and stuff when your whole world falls apart, right?”
I nod.
“But then I started hanging out with you and things weren’t so bad. The teachers may be concerned about you, Jesse, but they’re boring, stuffy people. They don’t matter.”
“I don’t think they’d agree.”
“Trust me,” she says, “you’ll be wasting your effort trying to please them. Wilson was born disappointed. Alkine, well … if you ask me he’s not exactly the sympathetic war hero he’d like everybody to believe. You make me laugh, Jesse. And there are maybe three people onboard who can do that. Should count for something, right?”
I smile. “Thanks, Avery.”
“For what?”
I pause, holding back what I really want to say. “For coming up here. For talking.”
“Hey, no problem.”
I stare at her face for a second before glancing away, realizing that I look like a stalker. “I should get to bed early tonight. Wilson’s making us do Bunker Ball tomorrow morning and my legs are killing me.”
“I’ll walk down with you.”
We stand up from the table and take off through the empty canteen, leaving the chili in the corner to harden.
When we reach my room on the second level, I input my code and crack the door, turning around. An awkward pause comes between us.
There’s always an awkward pause. If we were really boyfriend and girlfriend I’d lean over and kiss her goodnight, or at least give her a hug. Instead, I offer a meek “goodnight” and she smiles, heading down the hallway. I watch her go for a moment before slipping into my room, kicking myself for wasting yet another perfect opportunity.
Before plopping onto my half-made bed, I walk to my desk and run my fingers over a pair of medallions hanging on the wall. They belong to my parents, which means technically they belong to me . The Tribunal had them shipped over in honor of bravery and sacrifice and mass heroic stuff like that. They’ve been a permanent fixture in my room for as long as I can remember. The Tribunal destroyed all photographs for security purposes. My parents weren’t the keepsake type, either. These medals are all I have—a constant, glistening reminder of how fearless they were. Not like me. I can’t even handle a Pearlhound trainee.
I drop the medallions and let them clank against the wall, reaching for the entertainment console at the end of the desk. Then I slump face-first onto the bed and purge the day from memory with the most mind-numbing program I can find on Skyship TV.
7
Cassius hadn’t slept well. Four times he’d woken up, covered in sweat. Each time he was convinced it was going to happen again. Fire. Everywhere. Another room destroyed.
Part of him still couldn’t believe that it was true. He’d seen what was left of his room. He’d heard what Madame said, but he held onto the hope that there was another explanati on.
Now he was on his way to her office for mission briefing. They would be traveling up to Skyship Atlas tomorrow afternoon. If Madame stuck to her word, it would be his last full day at the Lodge for a while. He wasn’t sure if finding Fisher was an opportunity or a punishment.
He paused outside the Office of Research and Development—the Lodge’s nerve center. Madame was expecting him in half an hour, which meant he’d have time to browse through the Lodge’s database in search of more human combustion episodes. Not that he didn’t trust Madame, but he wanted to see if this had ever happened before, to anyone else. After all, there was nothing
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