Fledgling

Fledgling Read Online Free PDF Page B

Book: Fledgling Read Online Free PDF
Author: Steve Miller
Tags: Science-Fiction
"She's right," he said. "It's the student's responsibility to be on time, no matter the conditions!"
    Vela nodded, gathered her team with a nod and a hand-wave of consensus, and entered the room. Roni, Kartor, Estan, and Anj followed, with Theo and Lesset bringing up the rear.
    There was the usual clatter as they got to stations, adjusted table heights, set up their 'books, and logged into the Learning Group Space. Then, it got . . . quiet. Theo shifted and looked around, first at the empty teacher's station where Professor Appletorn ought to be standing, and then at her classmates—which was pretty much what everybody else was doing.
    "Should we tell somebody?" Naberd asked. "Call the Safeties, maybe?"
    Simon shrugged, and Estan looked up from his 'book with a frown.
    "I can't find a procedure for what we should do if the instructor is . . ." his voice dropped, ". . . missing."
    Silence. Then Vela spoke up. "I'm going to ask for consensus to call the Safeties."
    "That won't be necessary, Ms. Poindexter."
    There were quick loud steps and a clang and clatter as an Educator's Rod was tossed haphazardly into the corner, making everyone jump in startlement.
    Professor Appletorn swept into the room, slapped the autoboard up and spun on the balls of his feet, a frown on his face.
    "The correct and studied term would be late , rather than missing , Mr. Vanderpool, and within the bounds of my contract I am neither."
    The professor stood there for some moments, hands behind his back, keeping the silent class rapt while he leisurely looked from face to face as if counting them, or verifying that both teams were in full attendance.
    "Perhaps," he said suddenly, "Mr. Vanderpool will be so kind as to remind this august gathering of scholars of the basic tenets of Advertence."
    Theo held her breath. Estan Vanderpool was a stolid, solid, meticulous boy who wasn't easily rattled. Normally.
    "Well, Mr. Vanderpool?" Professor Appletorn's voice was sharp enough to slice cheese, as Father said, and he hadn't waited the full thirty seconds, either. It was like he was pushing Estan, only of course he wouldn't do that. Not really. Pushing was Physical Intimidation and that was ' way more trouble than just a note in your folder.
    Estan took a breath so deep his shoulders lifted.
    "Advertence is the quality of being heedful or attentive. It carries the connotation of consideration and deep thought. A scholar who practices advertency is a careful researcher who weighs what she has learned before forming a hypothesis to lay before her colleagues."
    Text perfect, Theo thought with relief, right out of the first lesson .
    Professor Appletorn rocked back on his heels, thumbs hooked into the pockets of his coveralls.
    "Indeed," he said softly. "And what avenues are open to the study of an advertent scholar . . ." He paused, then stabbed out with a fleshy forefinger. ". . . Miss Tibbets?"
    Theo frowned. Another of her teammates, not as stolid or as solid as Estan. Sometimes Anj was there, and sometimes—she wasn't.
    This morning, though, she was home and answering her mail.
    "The avenues of study open to the advertent scholar," she said crisply, "are: text, eyewitness, and primary source."
    "Images?" Professor Appletorn asked, almost mildly.
    "Images require an exacting level of observation and consideration, because they're so easy to manipulate. Primary source images, or those documented in the texts and which have provenance, are preferred, but even then the careful scholar will seek corroboration in another study-set."
    Their instructor nodded in silent agreement, lips pursed, then jerked his head toward row three, toward . . . 
    "And what, Miss Waitley, " he snapped, "do we say of the scholar who depends solely on primary sources, and shuns the validation of the texts?"
    Theo blinked, and stupidly, the first thing she thought was that Professor Appletorn was targeting their Team, singling them out one by one.
    " Well, Miss Waitley?
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