THE CROWD IN THE PARLIAMENT Chamber is rowdy and loud, kind of like the mood on the flight deck once our pod bounded off the Youli vessel, but now the celebration contains a thread of darkness woven with the deaths of our friends and comrades.
Sheek is hamming it up for the cameras again. Pose right. Pose left.
“How did he get to be the face of Earth Force?” Lucy asks. “He didn’t even see action in battle.”
“They can’t risk tarnishing his pretty face, obviously,” Marco says.
When the admiral’s honor guard enters, we take seats in our carrel. The admiral herself soon follows. Butterfly bandages close a cut on her left cheek that she must have gotten when she flew the rescue mission to the space dock. At least she fought alongside us.
Ridders silences the crowd as the admiral steps to the podium. “Greetings, fellow officers and cadets of the EarthBound Academy. You have served your planet well. You have acted with courage and heroism. While our thoughts are with our fallen comrades, who gave their lives for our cause, let us honor their memory by standing together in solidarity and victory. I am pleased to confirm that Operation Vermis was a success.”
All around us, cadets and officers jump to their feet, cheering and clapping. I slowly rise with my pod mates.
Soon one cheer crystallizes above all others:
“Birthright, Bounders fight!”
“Birthright, Bounders fight!”
“Birthright, Bounders fight!”
The admiral gestures for quiet. “Yes! Bounders! When you’re back next tour, there will be much work to do. With the Youli weakened, our offensive will be in full force. You will again be asked to defend your planet. And you will again rise to the challenge!
“Tomorrow,” the admiral continues, “you will be heading home as the second tour of duty of the EarthBound Academy draws to a close. But today we have even more reason for celebration! The tokens have been counted, and we have a winner of the Tundra Trials! Let me turn the podium over to Captain Sheek, who will announce the victor.”
Sheek strides to the podium and strikes a few more poses. “Thank you, Admiral. And thank you to everyone who helped make the Tundra Trials a great success. The competition was fierce, and a late disqualification of a top contender led to some last-minute drama—”
“A completely unfair disqualification,” Cole mumbles under his breath.
“But I am pleased to announce,” Sheek continues, “that we have a clear champion. Before I announce the winning pod, let me announce the prize. As many of you know, Earth Force is days away from launching the Paleo Planet tourism initiative. The winning pod will accompany me on the first public tour. That’s right. We’ll be flying out together on the brand-new, custom-built 770 passenger crafts, and it will all be featured on my Paleo Planet EFAN special.”
“That is so unfair!” Lucy says.
“Why?” Marco says. “That prize stinks. We’ve already been to the Paleo Planet. We almost died, remember?”
“Now, I won’t keep you in suspense a moment longer,” Sheek continues. “The winners just so happen to be my very own pod, now led by Captain James Ridders! Captain, cadets, will you please join me down here?”
“Yes!” I say. “Our allies won!”
Everyone claps as Ryan, Meggi, Annette, and their pod mates meet up with Ridders and Sheek at the podium. The EFAN crew is ushered back in to snap shots of the victors, and Sheek, of course.
Shortly after, the admiral leaves with her honor guard and Ridders explains the logistics for our return to Earth. Tomorrow morning, we’ll fly by passenger craft to the nearest bounding base. From there, we’ll free bound to the Ezone at the space station and transfer to smaller crafts for the trip back to Earth. Cole and I are grouped with the other cadets from Americana East.
When Ridders wraps up, we head to the floor to congratulate our friends. Soon, the only people left in the chamber are the Bounders and their junior ambassadors. Sadly Neeka is nowhere to be found.
“I wish she were here,” Lucy says. “I want to give her a big squeeze and let her know how sorry I am about her dad before we leave Gulaga.”
“I have an idea,” I tell her. I track down Grok talking to some other junior ambassadors. “Hey! Argotok! Any chance you can get us into the Den tonight?”
A few hours later, we meet up with Grok and Ridders’s pod and wind our way through the tunnels to the Den. As we’re about to enter, an old Tunneler with a scar across his face steps from the shadows. Barrick.
Grok stops, but Marco waves him on. “It’s cool. Give Jasper and me a minute. We’ll meet you inside.”
At first, Grok hesitates, but then he pulls the door open and ushers the rest of our group into the Den.
Marco and I duck around the corner where we spotted Barrick.
“Hey, kid,” he says to me then turns to Marco. “You one of the lost boys from day one?”
“Yeah,” Marco says. “You bolted before I could say thanks.”
“As one does in unfriendly territory,” Barrick says.
“Speaking of that,” I say, “why are you here? Isn’t it risky?”
“Less risky for me than for the one who wants his message delivered.”
“Huh?” I say.
Barrick shakes his head. “Still aren’t quick on the uptake, kid. Jon Waters asked me to find you.”
Waters?
Marco clenches his fist. “Where is he?”
“Relax. He’s safe. And he’s relieved to know you are, too. He cares about you kids.”
“He has a funny way of showing it,” I say.
“There are a lot of things at play, kid,” he says.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, intragalactic relations are complicated,” Marco says. “Look, Barrick, we’ve heard it all before. You can call us kids all you want, but the truth is we’re soldiers. And we’re smarter and far more skilled than most adults you’ll ever know, including the infamous Jon Waters. So give us the message or don’t. We have somewhere to be.”
“Fair enough,” Barrick says. “Waters will be watching and trying his best to keep you safe. When the time is right, he’ll reach out. He’s on your side. We both are. But trust no one in Earth Force.”
“Anything else?” I ask.
“Yeah, kid,” Barrick says. “He’s sorry.”
“A little late for that,” Marco says.
“It’s a little late for a lot of things,” Barrick says and takes off down the passage.
Marco stuffs his hands in his pockets and gazes into the shadows.
“What was that all about?” I ask once I’m pretty sure Barrick is out of range.
Marco shrugs. “I believe him. And I believe Waters.”
“Why?”
“Because I trust Barrick. He hasn’t given me a reason not to trust him. Unlike most people.”
He means me. “I get it, okay? No more secrets. Not to you. Not to any of the Bounders. In fact, I can’t wait to get home. I have a lot of things I need to tell my sister before she comes to the Academy next tour.”
Marco turns to me with a cold stare. “Make sure of it, Jasper. I’m all about second chances. But not third.” Once he lets his words sink in, he nods at the door to the Den. “Let’s head in.”
When we enter the Den, we’re greeted with the same loud and joyful atmosphere I remember from my first trip here with Mira. Grok waves from a table in the corner packed with our pod mates and allies and some junior ambassadors. As soon as we sit, a Tunneler arrives with bowls of something dark and foamy.
Marco raises the bowl to his lips. “A bit earthy, but it beats what they serve in the cantina.”
“That’s a pretty low standard,” Annette says.
“What’s in the box, Jasper?” Lucy asks, twirling a hot pink ribbon around her finger and nodding at the black case by my side.
“You’ll see,” I say.
The music picks up, and the crowd swells. We grab another round of drinks for the table and reminisce about the Tundra Trials.
“I never got to see a slimer,” Ryan says.
“Be grateful.” I shudder with the memory of that creature oozing its way around my legs.
“I’ll be happy never to sink my teeth into BERF again,” Meggi says.
“I’ll drink to that.” The bowl leaves a foamy mustache on my top lip.
“Do you think they’re going to send us to Alkalinia next tour?” Cole asks.
“What’s Alkalinia?” Grok asks.
“It’s nothing!” Lucy says, giving Cole an evil eye. “We are so not talking about that tonight.” She springs to her feet. “There’s Neeka!”
Lucy races to Neeka’s side and leads her to our table. Our Tunneler friend stoops even more than normal.
When they reach us, Neeka switches on her voice box. “Oh! Oh! I’m sorry I didn’t make it to the briefing. It was a difficult day. I wanted to see you before you left Gulaga, though, so I’m glad you came.”
“Sorry about your dad,” Marco says. The rest of us nod and tell her how awful we feel about what happened.
I can picture Commander Krag tied to the controls on the space dock, confidently barking orders until the very end. “He was very courageous,” I say.
“Oh! Thank you. He served Earth Force, he did his duty, but I will miss him very much.”
“Of course you will, sweetie,” Lucy says. “If there’s anything we can do, even after we leave Gulaga, please ask.”
Neeka sits with us for a few minutes, and then excuses herself to be with her family.
After she leaves, we toast and take turns sharing stories. Cole asks a gazillion questions about the occludium mines and the aboveground leaf structures. Amazingly one of the junior ambassadors is just as pumped to provide endless answers. Lucy isn’t the only one in our pod to find a kindred spirit among the Tunnelers.
“I wasn’t going to bring this up,” Lucy announces to the table. “You know, with the battle, and the deaths, and everything. But now since we’re hanging out, and having fun, and it is our last night here after all, and so I was just thinking—”
“Cut to the chase, DQ,” Marco says.
“Okay, fine, I will. Does anyone know what day it is?” Lucy grins at all of us like the answer is so obvious we should be jumping in line to be the first to answer.
“Umm, the day we almost got killed by the Youli?” Ryan asks.
“Yes, and?” Lucy says.
“The last day of our tour?” Meggi says.
“Yes, and?”
“The day you stopped being so dramatic?” Marco says. “Just tell us!”
“Here’s a hint,” Lucy says. “It’s October twelfth.”
“So what?” Annette says.
“It’s Lucy’s birthday,” Cole says. “She told us back at the labs.”
“Yes! Yes! Yes!” Lucy flings her arms around Cole and plants a huge, wet kiss right on his cheek. Cole turns as red as a ripe tomato.
We sing happy birthday to Lucy. Grok brings over a basket of creepy crawlies as a birthday treat. I almost barf on the spot. But once I get over the grossness, it’s immensely entertaining to watch the Tunnelers eat the nasty things. Even Ryan chokes down a few.
As we sip on another round of foamy Tunneler brew, Marco raises his bowl. “It’s all about the pod!”
We all lift our drinks. “It’s all about the pod!”
Mira slips away to join the band. The beat picks up, and I can’t help but sway to the music. Most of the Tunnelers leave to dance. Lucy, Meggi, and Annette follow.
I grab my black case and cross to the back of the room, where the band jams. My brain sparkles when Mira sees me coming. I fit together the pieces of my clarinet and join the song, enjoying another perfect moment in our imperfect Bounder world.