Sirius Academy (Jezebel's Ladder) Read Online Free PDF Page B

came to beat my ass? I’ll admit that given another few months’
training, you might succeed at that. But I’ve got 200 other kids now. Half the
world’s trying to kill them, too.”
    “You’re avoiding the question.”
    “I can’t tell you everything; I
have my reasons. This has been a nice visit, but . . .”
    “I’m staying.”
    “It’s too dangerous. Your schooling
should come first. This isn’t Stanford.”
    “I can take the math online.”
    “I forbid it!”
    “No. I did some prep-work. Grandma
didn’t know about all the Swiss accounts. I now own fifty-one percent of the
academy’s emergency transport system, as well as the master codes to your new
shuttle.”
    “Don’t ask for anything you can’t
take.”
    “I’m only asking you to treat me
like any other student who earned a place here and to answer one question honestly.
Then I’ll sign control over to your shell company.”
    The woman nodded.
    “Why didn’t you come to Mom’s
funeral? She was your best friend .”
    Trina bit her lip. “What’s your
security rating?”
    “Sirius 2 for now.”
    “There was an explosion on moon
base as we were landing. Most of the people living there were killed; we barely
limped away. Our ship’s air system was leaking. Daniel plugged one hole with his
bare hand, causing capillary bruising and frostbite. Still, we weren’t going to
make it. Jez pulled one last rabbit out of her hat to save us. None of us knew
that planning the rescue mission and computing our new orbit killed her. We
were on L5 station in the infirmary during the funeral.”
    Red stared at her. “You were on the
shuttle? The shuttle Mom died for?”
    Trina offered a hug, but the
teenager wasn’t ready to accept those yet. The teacher left her to cry alone in
the shower.
    ****
    When Red was dry and dressed, Trina
asked, “What do you plan on doing here? Why is this so important to you?”
    “I need an accredited college to
get access to my trust fund.”
    Trina cocked her head. “Really?”
    “Three things. One: I wanted to
meet my birth mother.” The instructor smiled at this. “Two: I want to get a
higher security clearance so I can listen to Mom’s last message to me.”
    The woman wrinkled her brow. “She
left over a hundred hours for you. She always worried that she wouldn’t last
and wanted to be there for you somehow.”
    “Thanks to the Feds, all but twenty
minutes was Classified Sirius three and above.”
    Trina cursed. “And the last goal?”
    “When I know you better,” the girl
stalled.
    “You need to learn subtlety.”
    “Did my mother?”
    “No, she gave her all, her whole
heart to people, even those who didn’t deserve it.”
    “What’s wrong with that?” the girl
demanded.
    “I want you around longer than she
was, Mira.” The trained killer put a hand on her face in a flash of gentleness.
    “Red, the name is Red. Am I a
student here or not?”
    Trina knew by the set of her jaw
that the girl wasn’t going to yield. “Work with me inside the UN program until
you’re nineteen.”
    “That’s compromise.” Her diplomat
father had used the word frequently, and it sat in her mouth like raw cauliflower.
    “Take it or leave my island.”
    Red shook her second mother’s hand,
smelling vanilla.
    “But no favoritism if you’re going
to keep your cover,” the teacher insisted. “And for your math, by internet
won’t do. You need a good tutor, the best.”
    “If we fly one in, someone will put
the pieces together.”
    “No, he’s already here, if he agrees to take you—Conrad Zeiss. He’s introverted and private.”
    “If?”
    “No favoritism, remember? You’ve
got to interview on your own merits. He has a dual masters’ in math and physics
already. He’s working on his PhD in astrophysics; all he has left is the
dissertation. Fortunately, he’s chosen to work on Sirius topics, so we got him
for peanuts.”
    “I could offer to pay him,” the
girl suggested.
    Trina shook her head.