Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 76857 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76857 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
The webbing, the scales, the lack of body hair, the talons.
But… what did my appearance have to do with any of this? Why was his voice so raspy?
Even more concerning, why did I feel a small tinge of warmth when he noticed how closely I resembled my birth mother? I had a secret pride that I shared features with the human: her straight, thick hair. Her dark eyes. The yellow undertone of her skin.
A way we were still connected, even if we could never be together.
Suddenly, it was as if the previous softness in his voice had never been between us. In his usual direct voice, he said, “Your medical records display an excellent adaptation to the vorec integration. You developed without fault.” My chin was set free, the general taking a measured step back. “Physically perfect.”
Wasn’t that the point of creating us? Physically perfect killing machines designed to keep the human population alive.
“However,” he continued, “you did not pass inspection.”
Because of the jacket?
I’d burn that damn jacket should it cost me the fog.
“But that is not why I am failing you. Private Lorieyn, your request for graduation has been denied.”
4
Astonishment crushing my composure to bits, I blurted out a high-pitched, “You’re failing me?”
No! I had done the math to perfection. There was no way my marks were not enough to skim by with a little wiggle room to spare.
Was it because I’d sniffed him? I might literally fling myself off the building if that was what ruined my life.
Before I could begin to babble, he expounded his brutal edict. “This farce of ineptitude ends today. You will repeat courses and submit to an extended syllabus of my choosing. Until you achieve top marks, I will not allow you to leave the academy.”
Devastated was not a strong enough description of what I felt.
Horror twisted my face into one of desperation, and I was ashamed to admit my eyes had grown wet. “Sir, I don’t understand. I passed every course. Completed every level of combat training. I have been defending humans against vorec since I turned sixteen. When on patrol, there has never been an incident or a casualty on my watch. Not one in six years. No other student in this school can boast such a record.”
There was no pity in that man. Instead, he sneered. “Your new duties will include assisting Weapons Instructor Dirum in training the youngest recruits. You clearly demonstrate more skill in the field than you’ve shown in your classes. There must be something to your technique”—he met my eye, daring me to object—“if a student of your lackluster marks has never let a human worker die on her watch.”
Damn it!
“And, did you not just admit that you enjoy the company of children?”
I did not offer a “yes, sir,” and it was noted by my superior, who waited… and watched.
Insubordination was not tolerated at the academy. But what did I have left to lose, when he had ruined everything I’d worked so hard to achieve?
Never argue with that man.
Just agree and do what you wish in privacy to the limit that you can.
Like making a damned dress out of rags.
And bolt your door.
Don’t wander at night.
Yet I could not restrain myself from pathetically begging him for mercy. “Please.” My lips trembled, the dark eyes he had just commented on filling with tears. “General Cyderial, please.”
I should have known better than to expect compassion from that man. “Should you adequately educate the children and stop wasting my time pretending you only have a general grasp of the course work, I will consider your request for graduation in a year or two. You, Lorieyn, will not be placed outside your true skill level.” The bastard had the nerve to smile. “Though I commend your many years of effort to mislead your instructors. You’re quite cunning.”
The way his eyes sparkled, my flagging self-control barely restrained me from thumbing them right out of his skull.
And I? I willed both of my hearts to stop beating so I might die before he saw me cry. “Sir, I think you’ve overestimated—”
“I wondered how a mediocre student thought she might have the skill to tutor a boy failing trigonometry. Yet it would seem upon further analysis that your math skills are quite incredible. But your system grew too exact. I have been analyzing your overly consistent results for years. You always score in the low eightieth percentile. I suspect that during examinations you mentally answer every question, tally the point system to achieve your desired result, and laugh your way through fudging your written answers on purpose.”
That was exactly what I did, and as far as I was aware, not one instructor ever questioned my ranking nor cared.
Provoked, as I always was with the memory of that night, I had gone from weeping to full-on hiccupping spite. “I have been paying attention too. Hear me when I say that I have no interest in a leadership position, nor will my scores ever support one. Even you can’t do that.”