The Novida Code Read Online Free PDF Page B

Lauren's instructions. In the end, I sat down with Lauren in the second row, alongside a group that seemed particularly cheerful, and who promptly ignored us.
                  The Efeghi lecturer arrived so soon after us that I wondered if he hadn't been waiting for us. The classroom must have been under holo-surveillance. My hands started to feel clammy at the realisation that here too, our every gesture would be watched.
                  “Good morning, everyone,” began the lecturer. “I am Afren, your teacher. I am here to teach you the basics of the Efeghi culture in order to facilitate a better understanding between our two peoples.” 
                   The professor spoke softly, in a soothing voice. His outfit was identical to that of the Efeghi officers, with one difference: he was wearing very long white gloves that came up to his elbows. He was good looking, but with a handsomeness that was darker than Olden's, full of reserve and self-restraint. This was a man very well suited to his role, and who commanded instant respect.
                  “I'm now going to ask you to introduce yourselves”, he continued. “As you will have noticed, we rarely use full names when we introduce ourselves. We prefer to state our personal names – which you call first names – and then our function. As you are quite young, and unless you already have a job, your function will be student .”
                  One by one, the group next to us began, with a nervous little laugh, to introduce themselves:
“Hello, I'm Irina, student.”
“Hello, I'm Hamel, associate manager of Tex Corporation.”
“Hello, I'm Clarisse, student.”
“Hello, I'm Marc, student.”
                  Then it was our turn. In a quiet, faltering voice, Lauren introduced herself: “Hello, I'm Lauren, student.”  She smiled shyly at the lecturer, who remained impassive. He turned his gaze on me. I was shaking a little, but managed to introduce myself.
                  He went on staring at me silently for a while. I felt totally defenceless under his gaze, which he kept fixed on me. I didn't know it was possible for anyone to stare like that, boring right through you and probing you so mercilessly. I could already see myself being unmasked and carted away for interrogation.
                  But he turned towards another student and carried on with the introductions. I glanced at Lauren and saw that she hadn't experienced the same feeling that I had. She gave me an encouraging smile and I guessed that she was thinking that I was already losing my nerve. But I knew that this individual with his white gloves was something different. Something to be very wary of.
                  The rest of the class passed without incident. The teacher didn't look at me again, and I might almost have thought that I'd been imagining it. But I made a mental note to warn Lauren about him during our first exchange of information.
                  That day, we learned a few details on the Efeghi culture. Their government was an empire. The Emperor's authority extended over three planets: Efeghea was its principal world, followed by Eliya and Sarados. In addition, numerous colonies had been settled on other planets, which possessed relative autonomy in exchange for part of their resources.
                  The Efeghis planned to accord the Earth the same status as these colonies. The Efeghi army was supposed to leave our planet and to leave us with a government of collaborators and a certain amount of independence. Of course, before that could happen, all fighting on Earth would have to have ceased.
                  Apart from their plans for our world, we also learned that Efeghi society was divided into four main groups: the imperial family, the Army, the nobles and the auxiliaries. Each group consisted of several families, each with a