The Covert Academy by Peter Laurent Page B

smell her freshly washed hair. It was intoxicating. He took a sharp breath. ‘I... I’m leaving.’
    Sarah narrowed her eyes at him. ‘Leaving? Where? You can’t just abandon your studies here. It takes years to become-’
    ‘What?’ Joshua cut in. ‘A spy? A ninja? An assassin? What are you? What would you do if the Confederacy didn’t run things out there?’ Sarah was taken aback; she had never even considered that possibility. The only world she had ever known was the one under the Confederacy’s control. Joshua didn’t notice her falter, and continued. ‘Look, never mind. I just want my sister back, I’m no puppet of this clan or the other.’
    ‘No you’re no puppet,’ Sarah agreed, ‘ but you’re more puppet-master than you realise. Hundreds of the others here would already follow you if you just pulled their strings. They know a talent for trouble when they see it.’ She smiled, and Joshua almost faltered.
    ‘I’m trying to pull your string now,’ he said. ‘Once I have the information from the bio-ID, I might learn where my sister was taken...’ He stumbled on his next words, but the admission burst out before he could help it. ‘I need to steal a ship. I need your help.’
    Sarah nodded, and strapped on her short sword. ‘I can’t fly one of those things, but I ’ll bet I can persuade the guy who can.’
     
    His last stop was the aircraft hangar, where Richard would surely be bunking in his ship. Joshua envied him in a way, his only care in the world just to keep flying.
    Still, he mused, each trip in the Nyctalopia was over in a flash, no matter the destination. There was no time to appreciate the journey. It must be hard on Richard. No time-
    ‘So what is this grand plan of yours?’ Sarah interrupted his daydream.
    They were jogging to the East side of the Academy complex where the hangar lay, through the faculty buildings. Joshua hoped Casey couldn’t see where they were going. He would chew him out for an unauthorised departure at the very least. More likely he’d just say Joshua wasn’t ready for a real mission. He wondered what the person that Casey had spoken to under his breath during his lecture tried to convince him to do , before he revealed the bio-ID. He put that train of thought aside for now.
    ‘The doc said he needs a man called Brock to access the bio-ID ’s data. We are going to get him.’
    ‘You know where he is?’ Sarah sounded doubtful.
    ‘Yeah. He’s in the Colonnade.’
    Sarah stopped asking questions after that. She probably thought Joshua was out of his mind.
    They reached the hangar and quickly found “ Nicky ”. She was one of only three of the orbital ships the Academy kept running. The other two had mechanics swarming all over them, even at this hour. They had seen some action in Europe, after running into a swarm of drones last week while investigating a possible Confederate leader sighting. It might be weeks before they were refitted for flight in sub-orbit. With only one active ship, the Academy would be hard pressed to chase after Joshua. Assuming he could convince Richard to help.
    They passed under a catwalk the mechanics could use to quickly reach the top of the ships, and found Richard under Nicky ’s port wing. He was adjusting a heat panel with the exact precision of an expert, when he saw them and immediately perked up.
    ‘Rig ht lads, where are we off to?’ he said, putting away his tools.
    Joshua glanced at Sarah. ‘Got him on our side easier than I expected.’
    Dr. Prewett appeared at the foot of the ship’s boarding ramp. He stumbled forward a few steps as if shoved from behind, letting out a small whimper. Ryan appeared out of the shadows, a strange looking Stunner rifle trained on the doctor.
    ‘But I won’t be,’ he said, and shifted his aim over to Joshua.
    He fired.
     
     

Chapter 16
     
    Sarah leaped at Ryan, but she was tired, and her reactions were slow. She collided with the beam of energy that arced towards