Sherry stood back, leaning against the door of the lounge. The blinds were up, showing the infinite blackness.
Cathy and a few members of the spaceflight club stepped up to the makeshift podium set up in front of the huge windows.
"Hi everybody," one of them started. "I'm Mannie, this is Jeff, Cathy, and Dylan. We're in the spaceflight club." He fidgeted with his notes. "The captain of the Jupiter has told us the exact time we'll be re-entering normal space, um, so for those interested--I assume that's everybody here, that's what we're going to watch." He grinned nervously, his face stiff.
Jeff stepped up and started reading his notes. "As you can see, it looks like there's nothing out there that we can use to navigate. But it turns out there is something out there, it's just not, hah, visible. Otherwise we'd be able to see it, haha."
Sherry rolled her eyes, sharing a pained glance with Michi, Jess, and Kara.
Jeff swallowed visibly, his head jerking. He stared at his notes. "Everything in the universe has mass, and everything with mass has a gravitational field. The heavier the object, the stronger its gravity is, which is why we can stand on a planet without flying off into space, and why we aren't pulled toward people when we're walking around. That's a different kind of attraction, haha."
It was Cathy's turn. She stepped up and leaned her crutches against the side of the podium. "Light, radio, and stuff like that can't leave normal space, which explains the complete darkness outside the window behind me." She forced a smile, and looked down at her notes. "Gravity, on the other hand, does. Jupiter can see all these gravity fields, and that's how it knows where to go." She paused and looked at her notes again. "And, since we're here, obviously we can leave normal space too. And light produced here works, too. Um, obviously."
Dylan stepped up, and checked his watch. "in about thirty seconds, we'll see the transition back into normal space. Because of Jupiter's gravity detectors and the maps, we know for sure both that we're near Velfard colony and that we're far enough out of the system that there's nothing here for us to run into when we appear in normal space again." He checked his watch again. "Ten seconds. Nine. Eight." He turned to face the windows, and everybody leaned forward. "Seven. Six. Five."
Sherry found the handrail she'd been leaning near and grabbed on with both hands.
"Four. Three. Two."
Everybody in the room seemed to be holding their breath.
Right on time, the lights flickered, and they came back on at the same time as the space outside the window burst into flame. There was a collective gasp, then a sigh as the light--not actually fire--faded.
The stars were back.
Mannie stepped back up to the podium and started saying something about the light they saw right at transition.
"Sherry, you ok?" Michi prodded Sherry's arm.
Sherry swallowed a few times. "Yeah," she said finally. "I'll manage."
She had almost started getting used to the black windows, trying to convince herself that they weren't looking out into an infinite hole, but were just black parts of the wall. The stars ruined that, showed the depth, and when they got in closer to a planet it would look farther down still.
Michi jabbed her knuckle into Sherry's ribs. "Don't start freaking out on me again. Go outside if you're going to lose it."
Sherry nodded and closed her eyes. "I'm ok." She took a few deep breaths. "How's the article coming?"
"Slowly. I'm almost done reading your notes and the articles you specifically name. You found more than I realised."
Sherry nodded. She had tried to explain once already that Cathy had helped a lot, but Michi hadn't let her.
"I'll probably have a rough draft ready for the next newsletter."
Kara sighed, and looked at her feet.
Michi cleared her throat. "So, that fireball when we jumped back into normal space was really something, wasn't it?"
A quiet thump right beside her bed woke Sherry. She rolled over. "Mmmmmh?"
Quiet footsteps walked to the cupboard and paused.
"It's just me. I, ah, have to go to the bathroom."
The footsteps started again, the door hissed open, closed, silence.
Sherry rolled over again. Random images and sounds drifted by in her head. She was almost asleep again when the door hissed open. Footsteps, pause, footsteps, the bunk above her creaked a bit.
Silence, except for the quiet snores coming from across the room.
#
Sherry spread her notes out on the table and turned her attention to the teacher, who had just put up another chemistry slide. She heard Michi turn on her bookreader then gasp a few seconds later.
"What's up?" Sherry whispered.
Michi tapped a few times, looking worried. "It's gone," she said. "My article, my notes, your research. All of it."
Sherry reached for her bookreader. "Well, I don't have your stuff, but I can give you a copy of my research again." She flipped the cover open, and called up the lerkkal folder.
And stared.
"But..."
"What?" Michi leaned over to look at the screen.
"It's gone," Sherry said.
The teacher cleared her throat. "Ladies, I'm sure you have something fascinating to talk about, but now is not the time."
A few people giggled, and Sherry felt her face heat up.
"Sorry," she mumbled, and slammed the cover of her bookreader closed.
They somehow managed to make it through class without talking. Sherry kept stopping herself from suggesting whys and hows just before she made a sound. With no way out, her ideas, theories, and speculations kept circling in her head, getting more restless and wild each time around.
Finally, the teacher said the magic word. Dismissed. Everybody stood up and started talking.
Under cover of the noise and shuffle, Sherry said, "This can't be an accident."
"I know. Somebody really doesn't want this article published. But who? And why?"
"I don't know. But it was somebody who knew that the research was on both of our bookreaders, and who could get at them and erase it."
Cathy. Had Cathy's bookreader been wiped too? Sherry looked around and lowered her voice. "Somebody had to have overheard us talking to know that we both had the information on our bookreaders."
Michi groaned. "And that it would take weeks to duplicate your research. So who was there, who could have overheard that?"
"The entire newsletter club, that's who."
"And the timing? I had the article outlined and half written. I told you when we came back into normal space, remember? I'd have a draft ready for the next deadline. Tomorrow."
"Was there anybody from the newsletter club near us in the lounge?" Sherry frowned. "No, hold on, that can't be right. None of them can get into our rooms, and they had to have been erased overnight. Nobody has had my bookreader at all in the last few days, let alone for long enough to find and erase all my research and notes."
"It just doesn't fit." Michi turned her bookreader over and over in her hands as they walked. They lined up to get the notes for their next class. "The only people able to get into our rooms don't care. And they can only get into the room they're staying in, not both rooms."
Sherry got her notes from the teacher. "Let's talk after class. Where nobody can overhear us."
Michi nodded and dropped her history notes on the table. "At least they're done with the aliens now. I swear everybody could hear my teeth grinding."
#
"You can still write the article," Sherry whispered.
"From memory, sure, but I have no references to back it up."
Sherry shook her head. "I think there's still a copy of my research and notes. I hope. I tried to tell you in newsletter club, but you cut me off. I didn't do all the research, Cathy did a lot of it. We shared our notes back and forth so much I can't remember anymore what she wrote and what I wrote. She should still have a copy, because I don't think we ever said anything to anybody."
"I hope you're right. I had another thought. The history teacher was teaching that the lerkkal aren't smart, and shot you and Cathy down in a way that would make the class believe you were a bit loopy when it came to aliens. John wasn't happy about us publishing your article about Velfard independence."
"The guy on the shuttle, too," Sherry said. "The one that told Victor there were always whiners, when he had asked about the independence thing."
Michi nodded. "They're pushing something. Bet you anything we ask the math teacher or any other teacher about either of those things and we'll get the same answers. And it wouldn't surprise me if the teachers all had a master key to our rooms."
"You think the teachers did it?" Sherry bit her lip. "But I don't think there were any teachers near us in the lounge."
"There has to have been though. If they didn't hear about my timeline, wouldn't they have erased the research earlier?"
"Maybe." Sherry frowned. "But we should go to lunch. Whoever's been eavesdropping on us may get suspicious if we don't act like we usually do."
Michi nodded.
"Besides, I'm hungry."
#
"I'll get your bag, Cathy." Sherry ducked around the table and handed Cathy her crutches.
"Thanks. I can't wait to get off these things." Cathy stood up, balancing with one hand on the back of her chair, and took her crutches.
"I bet. How much longer?"
"Three days, then I get to limp around with an ankle brace until the doctor says I can take it off."
"That'll be an improvement at least." Sherry glanced around. Nobody seemed to be paying attention to them.
She loaned forward and lowered her voice. "Somebody erased all our research, from both my and Michi's bookreaders. I don't think whoever did it knew you'd been working on it too. Do you still have it?"
Cathy's jaw dropped, then she snapped her mouth shut. "I didn't check yet today. Hand me my--"
"Not here. Do your usual thing, and look when you normally go off to do your research. If it's there, you can give it to Michi in free time, right before dinner."
Cathy nodded, and started stumping toward the door, swinging her crutches close to her body so she didn't hit anything.
At the door, they split up and headed off to their next class.
Michi was ambling down the hall not far ahead.
"Free time," Sherry whispered just before they reached the lineup at the door.
#
"Because it's the last week, let's do a different kind of tournament, just for fun." The coach rubbed his hands together. "We will mix the teams up, and change around for every game. Each person will get their team's score for a given game, so no matter what team you're on or how amazing the team opposite you is, try to score as many points as you can for your team and don't worry if you win or lose." He shook a box, and something inside rattled. "Come choose your team."
Sherry lined up right behind Kara, who glanced at her then looked at her shoes.
"I hope I don't get stuck with a team full of slowpokes," Kara muttered.
"If you do, it'll only be for one game."
"Yeah, but every point counts, and it's hard to score with nothing better than slowpokes backing you up." Kara looked up and glanced at Sherry.
"Hey, at least you can score, all I can do is set up other people to score."
Kara and Sherry looked at each other for a few seconds, then started laughing.
"I hope we're on the same team then," Kara said. "Set me up, girl!"
Sherry faked a gentle high bounce, and Kara jumped high to slam the invisible ball down.
They got to the front of the line, and pulled out their team numbers.
"Team one over there," the coach pointed Kara off to his right and took the number from her. "Team three over there," he pointed Sherry toward the back of the gym.
Sherry shrugged. "Oh well, maybe next game."
Three games in, she and Kara still hadn't ended upon the same team, but they did play against each other once.
The coach blew his whistle, and waved them over. Their scores for the afternoon's three games were up on the wall. Sherry grinned. She wasn't doing half bad.
When they were dismissed, there was a mad rush for the door and the stairs. Sherry and Kara ran down, dodging people and passing as many as they could, while trying to avoid being passed. With only a dozen showers, it really did matter how many people you passed on the way to the lineup.
Which was out the door already, but not too far down the hall.
"I should start reviewing," Sherry said. "Who knows what they're going to test us on. Have your teachers said anything?"
"Nope."
"I heard there wasn't going to be any tests," the girl in front of them in line said.
"As if." Sherry laughed. "Two months is almost a whole term. There has to be tests."
Kara shrugged. "If they're going to test they'll announce it soon."
"Yeah. And my notes are all in order on my bookreader, so studying is easy."
Kara looked at her shoes. "I... should get my notes in order," she said.
"What, your notes are so disorganized you're embarrassed to even admit it?" Sherry laughed.
"Hah, yeah." Kara forced a laugh. "That's it."
"Aw, they can't be that bad. The teachers always put the date and class name at the very start, so even in the overview you can see what's what."
"Well, yeah." Kara looked at her shoes for a few more seconds. "I can't wait to get back on the ground."
"No doubt. I mean, not having to wash dishes or do laundry or babysit little brats after school is nice, but even the worst family I've had didn't plan every minute of every day."
Kara looked up when the line shuffled forward. "I hear you. This is our free time." She waved at the lineup and made a rude noise. "Real free, guys. If we don't shower, we won't find anyone to sit with at dinner."
Sherry laughed. "On the other hand, if we don't shower, we can pick any table we want because we'll be first in line for food."
Kara laughed out loud as they shuffled through the door, and it echoed off the shower room walls.
#
"You know what? Let them think we've lost all the research."
"What?"
Sherry waved for quiet. "Seriously. Write it, but say nothing. Typeset it as the last page, and give all but that page to John to approve. Typeset it beforehand, actually, and get Cathy to duplicate it. When we take the newsletters out for distribution, meet in a small room, lock the door, and add the last page."
Michi chewed her lip. "That won't get it into all of the newsletters."
"No, but it's the best we can do. And it will get people talking, having some newsletters missing an article."
"You're tricky, Sherry," Cathy said. "That sounds like it'll work even better than getting it in all of them."
"I still think you should have written it," Michi said. "You were the one with the bug up your butt."
Sherry wrinkled her nose. "Eww. And I still don't want to, it'll get a lot of people mad at me."
Michi sighed. "But you'll come up with all sorts of sneaky ways to get people to pay attention to it. And you've come up with lots of great ways of promoting our newsletter before this."
Sherry shrugged.
"I don't get it. You won't stick your neck out, but you have great ideas for getting people to read and notice something."
"Thank you."
Cathy grabbed one of her crutches and pretended to swing it at Sherry. "Explain, or I'll... I'll... wave this in your general direction."
Sherry looked down at her bookreader, then back up. "One of my articles in a school paper won a prize in a national competition. A fully sponsored trip to a journalism and publishing conference. A bunch of the sessions were on marketing, my favourite was on stealth marketing. Getting people to notice what you're promoting without noticing the promoter."
"A national prize winner. And you act embarrassed about this."
"I don't want to brag--"
"Oh, shut up Sherry. Just tell us more about stealth marketing."
#
Cathy put her plate down and pulled out her chair. "Hello, ladies."
"Hey! No crutches!" Jess clapped a couple of times, grinning.
"Yeah, just got the ankle brace an hour ago. I'll be wearing that for a while, unfortunately." Cathy pulled a sour face. "But at least I can carry my own dinner plate again."
"Can you believe all the classes are having their tests on the last few days?"
"Yes," Michi, Jess, and Cathy said simultaneously.
"You weren't supposed to answer that," Kara said. "You were supposed to agree with me that it was a nasty thing to do to us."
"After the test, what will they do with us? It's not like we'll have a reason to come to class anymore."
"Shaddap Michi."
"It's true though," Jess said. "There aren't enough teachers to keep an eye on us, unless we're in a class or a club or something."
"Not that we need somebody to keep an eye on us," Cathy said.
Sherry nodded. "No, but like the screening officer said, a lot of kids in our situation end up with police records."
"Yeah, who doesn't know someone who's been arrested."
"I had a friend arrested in school for drugs. He had a huge stash in his locker."
The dinner conversation degenerated into increasingly elaborate tales of friends who were arrested for varying offenses, as each person tried to outdo the previous tale.
"Club time," Michi said, interrupting Kara's story about a stolen car, an undercover cop, and a prostitute. "You should try writing fiction sometime, Kara, you've got a knack for telling stories."
Kara blushed. "Are you saying you think I made it up?"
Michi smiled and walked away.
Sherry thought she saw a flash of worry in Kara's expression as she pushed her chair in.
She hurried after Michi. "Do you think she made it up?"
"Wouldn't surprise me either way. Stranger thing have happened, and Kara is a bit of a joker." Michi lowered her voice. "She has it now. And paper. Wish you could've proofed it, but no time."
Sherry nodded. "It'll do."
They walked into the office to start publishing their last newsletter.