Kill School: Slice (17 page)

Vladimir grabs the handle of one of the boards and brings
it to us. There are two loops on the base, one to the rear and the other at a
diagonal to the front.

“We play a game called Pelota Purepecha. Easy,” Vladimir
says.

He jumps on the board and twists the handles. The board
jets through the snow and into the air about a foot from the ground. It
is
an old-fashioned hoverboard. 

“You got to be kidding me,” Demi says with humor. “Doesn’t
this school have enough money in the budget for new equipment?”

I grew out of my hoverboard years ago, but still know how
to use one. This class is going to be so much fun.

Vladimir pulls up in front of us without using the handles
and turns off the hoverboard.

“What’s the handle for?” A kid asks.

Hoverboards don’t usually have handles.

“How you going to hold on while you’re swinging your
stick?” Vladimir asks. “I show you that, too. Let’s get out on the ice. Who has
ridden one of these before? The new, modern variety, of course.”

Over half of the kids raise their hands, including Demi,
Priyanka, and myself. Shah, embarrassed, keeps his hand to his side.

“Don’t worry,” Demi says to Shah. “I’ll teach you. We’ll
sneak out and practice at night.”

“You kids who don’t know the game, watch the kids who do.
It’s easy.”

“Why does he keep saying that?” Shah whispers. “It’s easy.
Is it?”

Shah joins the kids who’ve never used a hoverboard on a
long bench. He doesn’t look too happy about not being allowed to play. Vladimir
explains the rules to Pelota Purepecha. I don’t remember all of them. It
involves multiple balls, a flaming puck, and a goal.

“We get used to the boards today,” Vladimir says. “Take a
stick if you can.”

“What part of grace is this?” Priyanka asks. She clearly
doesn’t want to play the game.

“Grace is balance,” Vladimir says. “We must first teach you
balance in all sorts of situations. I suggest you learn on the lake before we
take the boards into the trees.” Vladimir points into the forest on the edge of
the lake. “You don’t want to crash in there. Now get going.”

Vladimir claps his hands. “Games are fun. We play games.”

“No blindfolds?” a girl asks.

“Not today,” Vladimir says. “You want to see where you are
going, don’t you?” He chuckles and rubs his hands together. “You’ll see. I’ll
meet you in the center. Grab a board and a stick and come on out.” Vladimir
jumps back on the board. “Twist the handle, like this.” He twists the handle
and rides out into the lake.

There are four different patterns painted on the boards. I
pick out a yellow and white striped one with the number fifty-three painted on
it.

“We should pick the same color,” Demi says, pointing to two
yellow and white boards. One for her and one for Priyanka.

I put my foot in the front strap and twist the handles to
start the board. It pops up from the ground. I have to grab the handle to
steady myself while I stick my other foot in the rear strap. These old boards
are much more sensitive than the new ones and I’m tilting and swaying all over
the place. It takes me a few minutes to adjust. After that, I keep the thing
level.

“You forgot your stick,” Demi says. She holds up her L
shaped stick.

Vladimir skates up to me and hands me a stick. He then
instructs us to get used to the board. He shows us how to move with our weight,
how to go fast and slow, and how to stop. These boards are old, but they are
cool.

 “You had fun today, no?” Vladimir asks at the end of the
session. “Easy yes?”

Most of the kids agree with him. Others, including
Priyanka, say nothing. Vladimir tells us we can come out whenever we want to
practice. There’s no extra credit, but we’ll do better in the celebration
games. Demi, Shah, and I head back planning our next practice.

The sun
shining in my narrow window wakes me up early in the morning. I roll on my
side, thinking of the last few days. The classes are fun. I have grace every
day and feel more like a regular high school student in math and English.
However, today is Thursday and my first day of slice. I want to make sure I am
ready.

I open the curtains to my bunk and sneak out with my shower
bag. When I get to the common room, Burke is reclining on the couch reading a
Flatpad.

“Hi,” I say.

I’ve gotten to know Burke better over the last few days. He
eats with us. He sleeps with us. He has become a friend.

“Hi,” Burke says. He sits up and glances my way. “Where are
you going?”

I explain to him that I want to prepare for slice. I’m
nervous about the class and don’t really want to go. He seems to understand
because he puts down the Flatpad and asks me to sit next to him.

“Why don’t you come with me today?” Burke says.

“How can I?” I ask.

I sit on the couch and sink into the soft cushion close
enough to Burke for our legs to touch. It’s a good feeling.

Burke puts his arm on the back of the couch and twists his
body to face me.

“I’ll tell Messier you are sick.”

“You would do that for me?” I ask.

He leans in closer.

“Actually I want you to start practicing your stealth. I
think it’s more important than slice. Especially after what you told me about
your red.”

“But you said…”

“I know what I said. I have another reason.” Burke points
to the Flatpad. “Things are getting dangerous out there. I think it’s better if
you practice your skills. It’ll just be you and me. You should be safe.”

A headline from the Flatpad catches my eye.
Sixteen Killed
in Token Death Raid.
I pick up the Flatpad and scan the article. I want to
make sure the raid wasn’t near my house.

“The raid was down in south,” Burke says. “Your family
should be safe. Why don’t you grab your regular clothes, go shower and meet me
on the porch. I’ll take care of everything else.”

I shower as fast as I can, excited about my adventure with
Burke. Mostly because I don’t have to do slice. I don’t have to learn how to
stab someone today. I’m a little bit excited about spending some alone time
with Burke too.

I meet Burke on the porch wearing my mom’s vest, a white
shirt, and my jeans. I still have the turquoise brooch pinned to my shirt and
my turquoise striped sneakers.

“Where’s your token?” Burke asks as he takes off the pin.
“Dead giveaway,” he says. He sticks the pin in my vest pocket.

“It’s locked in my drawer,” I say.

“Grab it,” he says. “I want you to take it with us.”

If he makes me use it to log into a terminal, he’ll know I
don’t have a red one. “I don’t want to touch it.”

“Don’t worry so much,” Burke says. “I know it’s hard. I’m
here to make it easier.”

Instead of arguing, I just go in and grab the bracelet with
my token securely inside. I’ll think of something to distract Burke when the time
comes.

We walk
toward the campus together. While we walk, he explains to me what we are going
to do. He wants to go to the science library, which is way up on top the
tallest tower of the Kalstein Barstow Science building. Burke explains to me
how there are a bunch of research scientists here who have offices in the
tower. We will have to sneak past all of them to get to the library.

“Today you are going to pretend to be a scientist,” Burke
says.

“That’s stealth?” I ask.

He smiles. “Stealth is many things, Aria.”

“I’m finding that out. How’s Vanessa doing with trickery
and poison?”

“She’s remarkably talented,” Burke says. “Be glad she is
your friend. You might have to watch what you eat around her if she wasn’t.”

Instead of entering the warm campus, Burke takes us around
the rear of the buildings until we reach the science building. He stops me and
pulls me behind a large oak tree.

“Get comfortable with your surroundings first. Look at the
building. Watch the people.”

I press my body against the tree and watch the people. It’s
hard to concentrate with the warmth of Burke’s chest against my back.

The tower is five or six stories tall. The windows become
smaller and smaller toward the top. Several lights are on in the tower windows,
scientists working in the early morning. We are near the gully of mist and the
entrance to campus. From here, I can see the glass bridge. Several adults are
walking across it. Some are in groups of two or three. Others walk by
themselves. 

“Vactrain must have just arrived,” Burke says in my ear.
“There will be lots of people for you to practice on.” He takes out a cap from
his pocket, puts it on, and tucks his blonde hair under the rim.

“Ready?” Burke asks.

I nod. “Ready.”

“Back straight. Chin up.”

I follow Burke’s directions and he guides me to the path.
We join the others walking toward the Kalstein Barstow Science Building. I
overhear conversations about nucleuses and formulas. Two people are in a deep
discussion about viruses. Others mention the food supply and experiments they
are conducting. One person brags about his new invention.

It’s exciting to hear their conversations. I want to be a
scientist after I am done with this token. I want to work right here. With
Burke.

“Stop grinning so much,” Burke says.

“Oh. Sorry.” I frown. “Is this better?”

He takes my elbow and whispers in my ear. “Scientists are
not silly.”

He’s right. I’m blowing my cover. As we enter the building,
we make small talk with some of the people next to us. Burke brings up something
about high and low pressure zones, the snow, and other scientific sounding
weather related stuff.

I tease him about his weather conversation as we enter the
large tower. I stand in the open atrium in the middle of the tower and look up.
A spiral staircase winds up the tower to each floor. The staircase’s iron
spindles look fragile and strong at the same time. I turn a few times to get a
different perspective.

Burke grins.

“You make me crazy. You know that?” Burke says.

“Where’s my lab coat?” I ask as we begin our ascent.

“Somehow I think you are going to flunk this challenge,”
Burke says.

“Sorry,” I say. I’m actually hurt.

It’s hard to act like an adult when you don’t know what
it’s like to live in an adult world. I channel my inner grownup and fantasize
about passing my token years and taking the flex exams for medical school. I am
a doctor. I will behave like one.

About half way up the stairs, Burke pulls me into a doorway
so fast that I almost fall down.

“In here,” Burke says. “That’s a Regulator.”

Someone in a purple cloak is coming down the stairs. I
didn’t get a look at his face, so I don’t know which Regulator it is.

Burke pulls me into one of the office corridors. A couple
of women outside a restroom pause mid-conversation to look at us.

I smile at the women and turn to Burke.

“I have to check my rejuvenation. Be right back.”

Burke tilts his head. “I’ll wait for you right here, Dr.
Nova.”

Before I can enter the bathroom, the tall brown-haired
woman stops me.

“Who does your work?” she asks.

Her friend examines my skin. “Flawless. Too bad they can’t
make skin regenerate like the rest of our organs. Old fashioned skin
replenishing can look so leathery.”

“Soon they will,” the brown-haired woman says. “Just a few
more tweaks to our DNA and skin regeneration will be a part of our future.”

The brown-haired woman looks at me quizzically. “Who did
your work?” she asks again.

I dash past into the restroom without answering her
question.

This restroom is much nicer than our outhouses back at camp.
Since I’m here, I may as well use it. I enter one of the stalls. The seat is
warm. Another woman comes in. She’s talking to someone on a Flatpad. I pull my
legs up on the seat so that she cannot see them.

“It
is
Regulators Krish,” the woman says. “I can
tell them apart. Those beady eyes of his. I am sure it is him.”

Regulator Krish is the one my mom spoke of, the one who
wants us to stop procreating.

“He’s probably here checking on his experiment,” the woman
says. “That poor boy in the lab.”

Another woman enters the restroom. The two women greet each
other and then I hear a tinkling noise. Time to get out of here.

I find Burke leaning against the wall with his arms folded
across his chest. A favorite pose of his. I am anxious to tell him what I
overheard.

“What took you so long?” he asks.

“They have toilet seat warmers,” I say. “Can we go now?”

Burke checks the stairwell through a small glass window in
the door and nods. We take the remaining two flights of stairs quickly. I’m excited
to tell Burke about Regulator Krish.

I make the mistake of looking down the circular atrium at
the top of the stairs. Heights make me sick to my stomach. I step backwards
into Burke’s arms. He gives me a puzzled look.

“Sorry about that,” I say. “Heights make me dizzy.”

He smiles. “Want to check out some books?”

“Is that why we came here?” I ask.

“Yes,” Burke says. “I ran out of reading material. I need
more books.”

We walk across the stairwell to a set of double doors. A
sign above the door reads
Kalstein Barstow Library
.

“Does he have to have his name on everything?” I try the
handle to the library door. It is locked.

Burke takes out a small device from his pocket. “It’s
always locked. You need a code to get in. Or this.”

He uses the device and a long metal pin to open the doors.

“Let me guess, stealth is lock picking?”

Burke nods and puts the pin away. “Old fashioned tricks
still work today.” He holds open the door. “After you.”

The library’s soaring atrium and rows of books makes me
feel at home. I’ve always loved libraries and the smell of old books.

Burke obviously enjoys this space as well. He picks up a
book that was lying open on a table, bends down the corner of the page, and
takes me into an aisle. He picks out a few more books, one on birds, and the
other on astronomy.

“They don’t allow electronic copies of these.” He presses
the books to his chest.

“You’re funny,” I say.

“Why?” Burke asks.

“You’re holding those books so…” I can’t think of the exact
word. “Lovingly.”

“Take these,” Burke says with a glint in his blue eyes. He
hands me his books so that he can pick more. “Let’s go into a reading room
where we can talk in private.”

I follow Burke, both of us with an armful of books, into
one of several glass-encased room on the far side of the library. I get nervous
when I see a terminal on the table. I hope he’s not going to make me login with
my code.

Burke dumps his books on the table and closes the door.

“Well?” he asks.

“Well what?” I ask. I glare at the terminal.

“Are you going to put the books down?

“Oh yea,” I say. I dump my books on the table. “I was just
distracted by what I heard in the bathroom. Are these walls soundproof? I
wouldn’t want anyone to over hear us.”

Burke tilts his head. “What did you hear?”

I look around and watch a woman enter the library.

“The walls are soundproof,” Burke says. “I’ll prove it to
you.”

Burke steps to the glass wall separating us from another
soundproof room. Several people sit around a table in an animated conversation.
I can’t hear their words, but I can see their arms flying around in gestures.

“Your hair is on fire,” Burke shouts them, but remains calm.
“I’m telling you. There is a bomb. We have to evacuate.” His words don’t match
his peaceful expresson.

The people in the next room do nothing. Burke sits down.

“Ok. So. You know Regulator Krish,” I begin.

Burke cuts me off. “They may not be able to hear you, but
they can see you. Relax. Sit down. Stop being so lively.”

Burke’s eyelids lower as he pats the chair next to him. His
breathing changes when I sit down, deeper and distracting. I tell him all about
what I overheard in the bathroom, trying to look as scientific as possible.
When I am done, Burke says nothing.

“Well?” I ask. I’m waiting for him to say something.
Anything.

“Regulator Krish’s lab is in the Mothers Aide Research
Pavilion. That tower is off limits to everyone.” Burke’s voice is rough and the
way he stares at me makes me uncomfortable.