Chapter 1: The Beginnings
"Pay attention, class." My friend Mark groaned.
"Why did we take this? I would have been happy with basic Imperial trade. But no, we had to take warp engineering instead."
"If you hadn't been so desperate to be in the same room as Jenna, we wouldn't be here. Stop complaining- it's equation time."
My friend Mark and I have been friends for as long as I can remember. We probably were born in adjacent rooms, and we spent our childhood together. We broke toys, listened to music, and even prayed together. We shared taste in food, hobbies (though I never did understand his thing about blood ball), and usually girls. Jenna was an exception- she was such an airhead I never understood how Mark ever got interested in her. His mother died when he was young, and so now he lives in my dad and my apartment, since my mother died just a few years ago. Their combined income keeps the four of us in good living conditions, so everyone is happy. It's a pretty small space, since we bought it for three when two could sleep in the same bed and one required minimal space, but we cope. My dad is an accountant for the Inquisition, with level seven clearance. Mark's dad is a tactician for the Imperial Guard, with level six clearance. The disparity with the levels is a running joke between us, as well as that his dad makes more than mine does.
"Jeremy, do you know the answer or not?" I started and glanced around the classroom, only to find that the question was indeed directed at me.
"Pardon, sir, what was the question?" I winced as Professor Stone's face turned a bright red, and he started walk towards me. And that was just the beginning. Two hours later, the class finally ended, old Stone having finally come to the conclusion that throwing more equations at us was no longer an effective teaching method. Mark and I were on the way to the caf, where we could pick up snacks, when we heard it. Thump thump…thump thump.
"This school gets more confusing every day" grumbled Mark, shaking his head in frustration. I glanced over at the wall from where the sound was emanating, but there was no distinguishing factor. I just shook my head.
"Probably nothing. This school is falling apart- we're not exactly paying much for this."
"It's not even worth the pennies we give it. But really though, this sound is weird." Mark was right- this was weird. We'd been going here for ten years now- I thought I had an encyclopedic knowledge of the noises this school produced. "We should get out of here. This isn't right."
"Aww…scared like a little kid. Bet you wish your dad was here, he could call the tech priests to have them fix this. Oh wait, no he can't. Only my dad has that level clearance." I laughed and walked over to the wall, punching it lightly. Thump thump…thump thump. The rhythmic pounding didn't miss a beat. I looked over at Mark; he was shivering in his combat boots. "Man, it's not that scary. That brainless Guardsman your dad had over for dinner the other night was more intimidating than this."
"It's not that bro. Have you noticed that no one is passing through this hallway? There's always someone going to get chow during passing periods…but there's been no one here this whole time." Mark shook his head and glanced around suspiciously, as if he expected some horror to leap out of thin air.
"Relax, man. There's a constant Guardsmen watch around this school, in case you forgot. Nothing's getting in or out. But you are right about one thing- there should be more people in here. That must mean everyone's in the caf already, probably having a party or a food fight. And we're missing out. That is a problem worth attending to. Let's go." Mark shook his head, clearly still worried about everything, but he followed as I walked down the hallway. Unfortunately, neither of us turned around, or we might have gone down that hallway a little faster.