Hobey-ho, mates! We did it!” Vo Spader grinned at the group of smiling Aquaneer Academy cadets around him. He and his classmates were gathered on the forward dock near the academy entry port. “No more tests, rules, or Master Simmons’s spot safety checks! We graduate tomorrow!”
“Aquaneers all!” the group cheered.
“Aquaneers all!” Spader repeated. With a whoop he cannonballed into the water in front of the dock. Several others dove in after him.
Spader burst through the surface and shook his head, spraying water from his long dark hair. He felt great—pumped and ready for anything. His parents were arriving on the ferry soon for the graduation ceremony tomorrow, and he couldn’t wait to see them.
He pulled himself back up out of the water and sprawled on the deck, warming himself in the sun. The kids who had stayed on the dock were talking about the future.
“I’m going to Crasker,” Min Chester, a girl from his Hydrotech class was saying. “My sister works at one of the Watsu ship-building facilities there.” Their classmate, Per Watsu, was the son of the head of Watsu Shipyards.
“Sounds spiff,” Spader said. “I’m off to Grallion.”
Dor Jinsen whistled. “That’s the big agro habitat. They’ll put you to work there.”
“Bring it on!” Spader said, leaping to his feet. “I’m ready!”
Spader had thought hard about which of the habitats dotting Cloral he’d choose after graduating. It was a big decision since each was devoted to a specific industry. He was thrilled when he got his first-choice placement.
“What are you looking forward to the most?” Min asked the group.
“My mom’s cooking!” Dor said. “I’m sick of the academy menu.”
“Something new to do,” Spader said. “After drilling everything so many times, even this obstacle course is easy-o.” He nodded toward the other side of the dock where they’d spent hours navigating the obstacle course on their water sleds. “I could do it blindfolded.”
“I’d like to see you try!” Per Watsu challenged.
Spader turned to see Per Watsu above them, hanging over the rail of the observation deck. The guy was a right sinker, always bringing the mood down and trying to prove he was best at everything, especially anything Spader did well. Worse, he never seemed to have any fun. When Spader competed, he and his opponent generally had a good laugh afterward. Per was as sore a winner as he was a loser.
Per waved a hand in disgust. “I guess you just don’t want to break any rules.”
“Me?” Spader scoffed. “I haven’t met a rule yet that I couldn’t bypass.”
“Then do it,” Per goaded. “Prove once and for all that you’re better on the course than I am.”
“I already proved that,” Spader said, starting to get mad. “I’ve beaten your standings every time.”
Per’s jaw set and Spader knew he’d hit a nerve. Sure, they were only seconds apart in the finals, but seconds mattered as an aquaneer, and Spader had been named First Standing over Per. Still, using the course unsupervised was strictly forbidden. And blindfolded?
“Spader doesn’t care about any of that!” Dor argued. “I bet twenty grentons that he can get through it.”
“I’ll take that bet,” Min said laughing. “I don’t think he’ll make it to the chute.”
“No way!” Now all the kids were chattering and betting on how far through the course Spader could get. “The mama ramp will stop him!”
“Hobey!” Spader exclaimed. “I’ll make it over the baby, the mama, and the papa ramps like water over a fall!”
Per smiled smugly. “Well?” he asked. “Are you going to stand by your words? Or are you going to show everyone here that you’re just talk.”
“Why not?” Spader grinned at the group. “What can they do? Expel me? I’ve already passed!”
The group let out a cheer. Per glanced at his watch, smiled, then went over to Min. “May I?” he asked, pointing at the sash she wore around her waist.
“For the cause,” she quipped. She unwrapped the sash and handed it to Per.
Per tied the blindfold slowly and ceremoniously around Spader’s eyes. He led him to the obstacle course entrance.
This could be a tum-tigger, Spader realized as he plunged into the water. It took him a moment to orient himself, then he struggled to unhitch the sled. His classmates on the dock shouted instructions. “The clip is on the other side.” “Don’t ride it into the dock!”
Once he was positioned properly at the water sled, Spader’s confidence kicked back in. He’d spent so much time on the nifty little thing it felt like an extension of his limbs. He could do this!
The water sled hummed to life. The kids on the dock were now chanting: “Go Spader Go!”
He zoomed up and over the first ramp—the one they all called “baby.” He slowed slightly. This wasn’t about beating the clock he reminded himself, the way it was in trials. This was about getting through it.
He visualized the course. Up first were the turns. He leaned hard left and then quickly hard right. His foot grazed the cone but he made it. He couldn’t celebrate the victory yet, though. He had three more turns to make—if his memory was right.
After the turns came…what? “Whoah!” He suddenly jolted forward. His grip must have tightened on the controls, making the sled speed up. He felt the sled angle sharply upward. He was already at the mama ramp!
“Whooo-ee!” Spader whooped as he picked up air underneath him. He shifted his weight and hit the water hard, but maintained his balance.
He could hear cheers from the dock and smiled, knowing Per must be fuming. Halfway there!
He took in a deep breath and submerged. He needed to make it through the reef fast—he didn’t have on an air globe!
No one had bothered to remind him—everyone was too wrapped up in getting on the blindfold to remember, including Spader.
He slowed the sled so he could feel his way along the reef—better to have to resurface for air than to smash into rough and sharp coral. He found the first opening and maneuvered through it, then carefully wove in and out of the rocky obstacle. His lungs felt as if they were going to explode any moment.
He cleared the length of the reef. Done! He burst back up to the surface and took in a huge gulp of air. He pictured the rest of the course. Okay, papa ramp next, then—
“Vo Spader, return to dock immediately.”
Uh-oh…That order came through loud and clear over the speaker. He knew that tone only too well.
“Vo Spader, return to the dock immediately, or be removed.”
Busted.
Spader pulled back on the throttle and whipped off his blindfold.
He slowly turned the sled around and saw the very unwelcome sight of Master Simmons standing on the dock, surrounded by a group of adults. Parents and alumni, no doubt, all here for the graduation ceremony tomorrow.
Time for a reckoning, Spader thought. They can’t expel me, he told himself, but worried that maybe they actually could.
He tried to read the master’s expression as he approached the dock. Oooh, not good. In fact, everyone was glaring at him. He slowed the sled, delaying the inevitable, hoping he’d come up with the perfect thing to say.
Hang on, he thought. They’ve stopped looking at me, they’re looking out to the open waters beyond. He frowned. They didn’t look annoyed. They looked…shocked.
A loud boom nearly startled him off the sled. What the—
Spader craned his neck to see two vessels just beyond the academy water gates. One was the ferry carrying the guests for graduation. The other boat was…
“Raiders!” he gasped.
A booming sound came again, and a body dropped off the ferry pilot’s tower and plunged into the water. The sea pirates were firing on the ferry!