Chiana dumped her heavy armload of data films and the bulky film reader at her assigned workstation in the huge lecture theater. She sighed to herself at the jumbled mess and wished for the thousandth cubed time that the Nebari Authorities hadn't found her so easily the last time she ran away.
She'd just returned from Adjustment Education where the powers-that-be had sent her as part of her sentence and forced her to tour the lower slum levels and even lower ranking pleasure houses, where they claimed she and the rest of the girls in her re-education class tour would wind up if they didn't conform to Nebari society within the next cycle.
Now she was back attending her state mandated didactic courses, attempting to fit in and be a good Nebari, which meant, staying out of trouble. The only good thing about being back was that she got to see Nerri once in awhile. She was happy to see her brother had made it through his re-educational classes and was allowed to return to the same campus as she was.
There was a resounding thump from the seat next to her and several loose data films flittered passed Chiana. Her best friend, Kalla's, voice broke through her mope.
"Are you ready for another dreary day becoming a useful conformed citizen of Nebari Prime?" the girl asked. Chiana grimaced and lifted one eyebrow in contempt.
"Don't remind me of what we have to look forward to for the next couple of hundred cycles," Chiana replied.
"Its better then being mind-frelled," tossed in Kalla in a side voice low enough for only her friend to hear.
Chiana snorted out loud anyway. "That's true," she admitted as she started to sort through her film sheets looking for the text for their current lesson.
Kalla flopped almost bonelessly into her seat and began to sort her data also; within microts both girls were absorbed in their work. Chiana found her mind wondering from the population static's she was forced into studying. She was only sixteen cycles old, what should she care about how many people were living in such and such a dren hole? The government couldn't possibly believe anyone could be happy spending the rest of their lives sprouting off population percentages for some governmental bigwig whenever he or she wanted them. She wanted much more from her life then that mundane existence. Nerri had shown her what life could be, had opened her eyes to all the possibilities that society would deny them. She wanted to travel and see different places and meet different people. Maybe one day dance half-naked with the Wa'ho-sha in their pagan sun ritual or charge into battle screaming bloodthirsty war cries with a phalanx of Luxan warriors. She wanted the exciting life with every fiber of her being. So many of her and Nerri's friends talked about escaping but hardly no one had ever tried. This last time when they escaped, they'd managed to evade capture for almost one-fifth of a cycle. They'd learned a lot about how to hide and survive with that experience. Who knows, the next time they might know enough to stay free forever.
After an arn of working at her data films, Chiana decided she needed a break. She held up her hand in the gesture that would signal to a proctor that she wished to visit the restroom. A few microts late a female Nebari wandered over to her station. The woman had a deep frown as she realized who was requesting permission to leave the hall. Chiana almost lowered her hand as she saw which supervisor had answered her call. The woman's name was Meellon and she was the same proctor her and Nerri had duped into helping them escape the last time. Unknowingly to her, Nerri had lifted her pass card while pretending to ask a question in one of the other lecture halls. The card had allowed them to escape off campus and secure a flight off Nebari Prime some weekens later, although they were caught before they could board the ship.
The woman looked as if she would ignore Chiana for a moment but an insistent shake of the Nebari girl's arm told the proctor Chiana's need was urgent.
"Be back at your station in 600 microts," the woman growled.
"Yes, ma'am," Chiana replied sweetly as she snatched the silver pass card that would tell security she had legitimate reason to be outside of her scheduled classroom. She bounced to her feet and threw a grin at Kalla before leaving the hall.
Chiana leisurely strolled down the institute's corridor flicking the pass card up in the air and occasionally rushing forward to catch it again. She was trying to come up with plausible excuses for taking more then the allotted 600 microts when she passed by the head proctor's office. The door was ajar and the sound of voices drew her attention. Through the opened crack she glimpsed Proctor Salis and a red-scaled being.
"A Zealnite?" thought Chiana. "What's he doing here at the academy?" she asked herself.
She tilted her head in the habit she had whenever she was curious and walked over closer to the door. The Zealnite handed Salis a clear case containing a number of vials of amber-colored liquid.
"Hypo- cartridges?" Chiana wondered.
"These look perfect, Zemmer," she heard Salis say to the Zealnite.
The Zealnite spread both three-fingered hands wide. "Just as you ordered, Salis. As you know, we have the very best biological chemists in our employ. The Syndicate aims to please its clients."
"As long as there's a profit to be made," answered the Nebari man coolly
Zemmer nodded his head. "There is also that," he admitted. "Our organization is pleased to be of service to the Nebari government."
Chiana wondered again what was in the hypo-injector vials she'd seen the Zealnite hand over to Proctor Salis. She could have swore in the brief glimpse she caught of the cartridges that they looked like the same stuff that was in the immunization shots the students routinely received. The thought hit her suddenly - if that was so, why was Salis getting the inoculations from a shady Zealnite instead of the Ministry of Health?
Bewildered, she turned away from the slightly opened doorway before she was caught eavesdropping only to let out a surprised squeak as she ran into a black wall that hadn't been there a few microts before. Her eyes traveled upward to discover the wall that mysteriously appeared before her was actually a figure wearing a long black cloak. The cloak's hood hid the face of the person in front of her but she could see the jaw line clearly. She could tell the being was male and the skin tone gave him away as one of the Sebacean type races. She found it odd that a Sebacean would be here on Nebari Prime... much less a Zealnite in the Proctor's office. Chiana did her best to try and make out the man's features under the hood in the quick glimpse she could get of his face, and immediately she noticed something peculiar - his eyes, they were rare in Sebacean races.
The man's eyes were as blue as primordial ice... and had about as much expression in them.
In her surprise, she hadn't been aware of it until just then, but the man had seized her wrist in an iron grip. Chiana reached up with her free hand to attempt to pry herself loose but her fingers met the cold unyielding feel of a metal encased hand clutching hers.
Her involuntary cry at finding the man behind her and the small sound of her struggling as she tried to free herself must have been louder then she had first thought. The door abruptly swung all the way opened behind her and both Salis and the Zealnite, Zemmer, exited the office to find the pair frozen there in the hallway staring at each other.
"Chiana? Why are you not in class?" asked Salis of the girl, in his maddening calm voice.
"I-I-I was on my way to the restroom," she explained while holding up the silver pass card in her free hand for him to see.
"Well be on your way and stop dallying," said Salis. "You do not need to be finding your way into any further trouble," he ended in a warning tone.
"Y-Yes, sir," Chiana answered dutifully.
The Zealnite realized that Chiana's wrist was still caught in the cloaked man's hand. The being turned to Salis and apologized, "My apologize, Proctor. My bodyguard's services have just been... acquired... and he's still not use to his new 'position' in the organization. He didn't mean any harm by stopping the girl."
Salis frowned deeply but didn't say anything more to the Zealnite.
"Shri... You!" the Zealnite caught himself and corrected. "Release the girl's arm, and step aside to let her pass."
The man released Chiana's hand immediately and stepped off to one side, leaving her path clear. She noticed an odd sound with each of his footfalls - almost as if each step was accompanied by the sound of metal hitting floor tiles.
The girl scurried passed the three men, eager to be out of their vicinity. As she moved out of earshot she thought she heard the Zealnite say to Salis,
"Will this incident be a problem?"
"No, she is one of the test group," she thought Salis replied in a quiet voice.
Chiana was soon too far away to hear the rest of the conversation. Something didn't sit right with her about the three men but Salis definitely creeped her out and she wanted to be as far away from the man as possible. She knew there wasn't much she could do about the feeling anyway even if she could prove Salis was up to something. She was just a kid who had been into more than her fair share of trouble, who would believe her anyway even if there were somebody to go to.
Rumor had it that Proctor Salis was also a top member of a Nebari retrieval squad and he only worked at the education center to pinpoint future problems with people conforming for the Establishment.
Whatever the man's true reason for being on campus, she definitely planned to stay as far away from him as possible.
It would be only cycles later that Chiana would again see another being like the cloaked man outside Salis' office and come to know their deadly nature. Shortly after that, She, with Nerri and several of their friends, would realize what she had witnessed being exchanged in the injector vials... and why twice a cycle when the students had their inoculations updated, her, Nerri, and a number of other schoolmates where required to report to a different med-office then the rest of the student population. Learning of the Establishment's treacherous plot to spread a contagion throughout the Territories would only be the beginning of her strange odyssey.
She'd just returned from Adjustment Education where the powers-that-be had sent her as part of her sentence and forced her to tour the lower slum levels and even lower ranking pleasure houses, where they claimed she and the rest of the girls in her re-education class tour would wind up if they didn't conform to Nebari society within the next cycle.
Now she was back attending her state mandated didactic courses, attempting to fit in and be a good Nebari, which meant, staying out of trouble. The only good thing about being back was that she got to see Nerri once in awhile. She was happy to see her brother had made it through his re-educational classes and was allowed to return to the same campus as she was.
There was a resounding thump from the seat next to her and several loose data films flittered passed Chiana. Her best friend, Kalla's, voice broke through her mope.
"Are you ready for another dreary day becoming a useful conformed citizen of Nebari Prime?" the girl asked. Chiana grimaced and lifted one eyebrow in contempt.
"Don't remind me of what we have to look forward to for the next couple of hundred cycles," Chiana replied.
"Its better then being mind-frelled," tossed in Kalla in a side voice low enough for only her friend to hear.
Chiana snorted out loud anyway. "That's true," she admitted as she started to sort through her film sheets looking for the text for their current lesson.
Kalla flopped almost bonelessly into her seat and began to sort her data also; within microts both girls were absorbed in their work. Chiana found her mind wondering from the population static's she was forced into studying. She was only sixteen cycles old, what should she care about how many people were living in such and such a dren hole? The government couldn't possibly believe anyone could be happy spending the rest of their lives sprouting off population percentages for some governmental bigwig whenever he or she wanted them. She wanted much more from her life then that mundane existence. Nerri had shown her what life could be, had opened her eyes to all the possibilities that society would deny them. She wanted to travel and see different places and meet different people. Maybe one day dance half-naked with the Wa'ho-sha in their pagan sun ritual or charge into battle screaming bloodthirsty war cries with a phalanx of Luxan warriors. She wanted the exciting life with every fiber of her being. So many of her and Nerri's friends talked about escaping but hardly no one had ever tried. This last time when they escaped, they'd managed to evade capture for almost one-fifth of a cycle. They'd learned a lot about how to hide and survive with that experience. Who knows, the next time they might know enough to stay free forever.
After an arn of working at her data films, Chiana decided she needed a break. She held up her hand in the gesture that would signal to a proctor that she wished to visit the restroom. A few microts late a female Nebari wandered over to her station. The woman had a deep frown as she realized who was requesting permission to leave the hall. Chiana almost lowered her hand as she saw which supervisor had answered her call. The woman's name was Meellon and she was the same proctor her and Nerri had duped into helping them escape the last time. Unknowingly to her, Nerri had lifted her pass card while pretending to ask a question in one of the other lecture halls. The card had allowed them to escape off campus and secure a flight off Nebari Prime some weekens later, although they were caught before they could board the ship.
The woman looked as if she would ignore Chiana for a moment but an insistent shake of the Nebari girl's arm told the proctor Chiana's need was urgent.
"Be back at your station in 600 microts," the woman growled.
"Yes, ma'am," Chiana replied sweetly as she snatched the silver pass card that would tell security she had legitimate reason to be outside of her scheduled classroom. She bounced to her feet and threw a grin at Kalla before leaving the hall.
Chiana leisurely strolled down the institute's corridor flicking the pass card up in the air and occasionally rushing forward to catch it again. She was trying to come up with plausible excuses for taking more then the allotted 600 microts when she passed by the head proctor's office. The door was ajar and the sound of voices drew her attention. Through the opened crack she glimpsed Proctor Salis and a red-scaled being.
"A Zealnite?" thought Chiana. "What's he doing here at the academy?" she asked herself.
She tilted her head in the habit she had whenever she was curious and walked over closer to the door. The Zealnite handed Salis a clear case containing a number of vials of amber-colored liquid.
"Hypo- cartridges?" Chiana wondered.
"These look perfect, Zemmer," she heard Salis say to the Zealnite.
The Zealnite spread both three-fingered hands wide. "Just as you ordered, Salis. As you know, we have the very best biological chemists in our employ. The Syndicate aims to please its clients."
"As long as there's a profit to be made," answered the Nebari man coolly
Zemmer nodded his head. "There is also that," he admitted. "Our organization is pleased to be of service to the Nebari government."
Chiana wondered again what was in the hypo-injector vials she'd seen the Zealnite hand over to Proctor Salis. She could have swore in the brief glimpse she caught of the cartridges that they looked like the same stuff that was in the immunization shots the students routinely received. The thought hit her suddenly - if that was so, why was Salis getting the inoculations from a shady Zealnite instead of the Ministry of Health?
Bewildered, she turned away from the slightly opened doorway before she was caught eavesdropping only to let out a surprised squeak as she ran into a black wall that hadn't been there a few microts before. Her eyes traveled upward to discover the wall that mysteriously appeared before her was actually a figure wearing a long black cloak. The cloak's hood hid the face of the person in front of her but she could see the jaw line clearly. She could tell the being was male and the skin tone gave him away as one of the Sebacean type races. She found it odd that a Sebacean would be here on Nebari Prime... much less a Zealnite in the Proctor's office. Chiana did her best to try and make out the man's features under the hood in the quick glimpse she could get of his face, and immediately she noticed something peculiar - his eyes, they were rare in Sebacean races.
The man's eyes were as blue as primordial ice... and had about as much expression in them.
In her surprise, she hadn't been aware of it until just then, but the man had seized her wrist in an iron grip. Chiana reached up with her free hand to attempt to pry herself loose but her fingers met the cold unyielding feel of a metal encased hand clutching hers.
Her involuntary cry at finding the man behind her and the small sound of her struggling as she tried to free herself must have been louder then she had first thought. The door abruptly swung all the way opened behind her and both Salis and the Zealnite, Zemmer, exited the office to find the pair frozen there in the hallway staring at each other.
"Chiana? Why are you not in class?" asked Salis of the girl, in his maddening calm voice.
"I-I-I was on my way to the restroom," she explained while holding up the silver pass card in her free hand for him to see.
"Well be on your way and stop dallying," said Salis. "You do not need to be finding your way into any further trouble," he ended in a warning tone.
"Y-Yes, sir," Chiana answered dutifully.
The Zealnite realized that Chiana's wrist was still caught in the cloaked man's hand. The being turned to Salis and apologized, "My apologize, Proctor. My bodyguard's services have just been... acquired... and he's still not use to his new 'position' in the organization. He didn't mean any harm by stopping the girl."
Salis frowned deeply but didn't say anything more to the Zealnite.
"Shri... You!" the Zealnite caught himself and corrected. "Release the girl's arm, and step aside to let her pass."
The man released Chiana's hand immediately and stepped off to one side, leaving her path clear. She noticed an odd sound with each of his footfalls - almost as if each step was accompanied by the sound of metal hitting floor tiles.
The girl scurried passed the three men, eager to be out of their vicinity. As she moved out of earshot she thought she heard the Zealnite say to Salis,
"Will this incident be a problem?"
"No, she is one of the test group," she thought Salis replied in a quiet voice.
Chiana was soon too far away to hear the rest of the conversation. Something didn't sit right with her about the three men but Salis definitely creeped her out and she wanted to be as far away from the man as possible. She knew there wasn't much she could do about the feeling anyway even if she could prove Salis was up to something. She was just a kid who had been into more than her fair share of trouble, who would believe her anyway even if there were somebody to go to.
Rumor had it that Proctor Salis was also a top member of a Nebari retrieval squad and he only worked at the education center to pinpoint future problems with people conforming for the Establishment.
Whatever the man's true reason for being on campus, she definitely planned to stay as far away from him as possible.
It would be only cycles later that Chiana would again see another being like the cloaked man outside Salis' office and come to know their deadly nature. Shortly after that, She, with Nerri and several of their friends, would realize what she had witnessed being exchanged in the injector vials... and why twice a cycle when the students had their inoculations updated, her, Nerri, and a number of other schoolmates where required to report to a different med-office then the rest of the student population. Learning of the Establishment's treacherous plot to spread a contagion throughout the Territories would only be the beginning of her strange odyssey.