The Academy (3 page)

His comment left me shaken, even more than his attempt to trip me. “Leave me alone,” I muttered and pushed past him, entering the Administration building quickly. I was half afraid he would follow me but once the door swung silently shut behind me, I found myself alone in a deserted office.

“Hello?” I walked up to the front counter which bisected the room, surveying the empty desks on the other side of it. “Is anyone here?” I called. “I’m a new student, here to register.”

“Coming!” trilled a high voice. “Just a moment!” A young man who looked to be a few years older than me bustled in, his arms filled with info tablets. “Just dealing with these,” he said as he put them down with a clatter on one of the empty desks. “Freshman essays—always such a bother. But anything to help the teachers, I always say. Now then.” He dusted long, slender hands together and stepped forward to look at me. “What’s your name?”

“Kristine—I mean
Kristopher.
Kristopher Jameson.” I tried to make my voice manly and deep to cover my blunder. “My father, Admiral Jameson, told me to report here today.”

“Ah, yes, the Admiral’s son. Well, we’re delighted to have you. Just
delighted.”
He smiled and nodded at me. “I’m Lewiston Hinks, Headmaster Chauser’s administrative assistant. Let me just tell him you’re here—he likes to say a word to all the new students when they arrive.”

He bustled away again and then reappeared a moment later. “He’ll see you,” he said, nodding to a long hallway to the right of the counter. “Last door on the right at the very end is his office. You might have to wait a minute while he deals with something else but he’ll be with you soon. Oh, and I’ll get your class schedule and uniforms ready to go in the meantime. Let’s see…” He frowned at me. “I think you’ll be an
extra
small. What size boots do you wear?”

I told him and he nodded briskly. “Good, all right I think I have some of those in stock. Go on, then. Just have a seat and make yourself comfortable in the headmaster’s office.”

Feeling awkward, I did as he said. I hoped I wouldn’t have to wait for too long—I wanted to get this entrance interview over with as soon as possible and get away from the Administration building. With some luck, I would get out without running into the pack of upperclassmen and their bully leader with his mud-colored eyes again.

The office was lined with old fashioned bookcases and dominated by a huge desk made of burnished, dark brown wood. I took a seat in the hard-backed wooden chair sitting directly in front of it and looked around. Holo-pics of a man with a thick walrus mustache and thinning brown hair were displayed everywhere—Headmaster Chauser, I assumed. In every pic he was shaking hands with a visiting dignitary or celebrity. Some I recognized and some weren’t familiar at all—maybe local authorities from Ares? I wanted to get up and take a closer look but I was afraid I might get into trouble if the Headmaster came in and saw me examining his things.

I waited for a long time, the wooden chair getting harder and harder under my backside. When was he going to come in? I had been sitting all morning on the shuttle and I wanted to stretch my legs. I was just about to get up anyway and start reading the spines of the old fashioned, leather bound books he kept in the bookcase when a voice and footsteps caught my ear.

“In here,” someone said and I heard a door open and close in the room beside me. “Now, Broward, what do you have to say for yourself?”

“Nothing,
sir
.” The angry, insolent voice sounded familiar. Without knowing what I was doing, I crept from the chair to stand by the connecting door that led to the next room.

“I’ve heard these allegations before and I’m inclined to believe them,” the first voice continued. “I hope you know I don’t take this matter lightly.”

“You don’t have
anything
on me,” the other voice burst out. “You’re just picking on me because you don’t like me.”

There was a small glass window in the connecting door. Carefully, I crept closer and peered in to see what was going on. A man with thinning brown hair sat with his back to the door—obviously the headmaster. The bully who had tried to trip me on the steps was sitting opposite him, a sullen frown on his thick features.

“You’re right—I don’t like anyone who cheats. And I
do
have something on you—Mr. Nolen clearly saw you copying your homework assignment from another student.” The headmaster’s voice was grim. “So which will it be, Broward—the cane or the paddle?”

“You can’t!” A thin film of sweat broke out on the bully’s flushed face. “My dad is the head of the Board of Trustees. You don’t dare lay a finger on me!”

“Oh, yes I do.” The headmaster stood and took off his jacket. “I don’t care if your father is the president of the solar system, we do
not
allow cheating at The Royal Academy.” He began to roll up his sleeves. “Now will you take your punishment like a man or do I have to call Hinks in here to help me hold you down?”

“Like Kinky Hinks could hold down anything bigger than a rabbit,” Broward sneered. “But maybe you guys practice at night when the office is closed. Is that it, Headmaster? You let Hinks hold you down?”

The headmaster had turned and the side of his face I could see was brick red. “You are
this
close to being expelled with a permanent black mark on your record, Broward.” He sounded as though he was speaking through gritted teeth. “So I’ll ask you again, would you prefer the cane or the paddle?”

“I can’t believe you. You won’t get away with this.” Broward stood, his arms crossed over his chest.

“The
cane
or the
paddle?”
Headmaster Chauser grated. “Or perhaps you’d prefer a shuttle ticket straight back to Midas where you can explain to your father why you got expelled?”

They stared at each other for a long, breathless time, eyes blazing, chests heaving. For a moment I thought Broward was going to lean across the desk and attack the headmaster. But at last, he began unbuckling his uniform pants with stiff, jerky motions.

“The paddle,” he said, his voice thick with fury. Pushing down his pants, he revealed a large, flabby posterior that was fishbelly white and covered in dense brown hair, almost like fur.

“Assume the position,” the headmaster commanded and Broward placed his hands on the sides of the desk and leaned over.

I put a hand over my mouth to contain a shocked giggle at the sight. Kristopher was extremely modest so I had never seen a naked man before. Broward’s furry physique seemed so strange…so
alien.
I wondered if the rest of him was covered in hair also but I was thankful I couldn’t see any more than his backside. That hairy white expanse was quite enough to let me know I didn’t want to see more.

“Seven licks for cheating and three more for insolence.” The headmaster produced a large, flat rectangular paddle with holes drilled through it. I wondered what they were for until he landed the first blow with a whistling crack—obviously the holes cut down on the wind resistance and allowed him to hit harder. “One,” he said as Broward let out a muffled whine. The paddle came down again. “Two.”

I wanted to stop watching after the third blow but somehow I just couldn’t. I was mesmerized by the sight of the black paddle connecting with the bully’s ever-reddening buttocks. Broward winced with every blow, little whines and moans of pain escaping his fleshy lips. I wondered if all that hair didn’t cushion the blows somewhat. From the way he was moaning and crying out, it must not help much.

I was so engrossed in the show that I didn’t pay attention to what I was doing. My foot slipped and I fell against the connecting door, rattling it in its frame. Standing to one side as I was, I was out of the headmaster’s line of sight. Unfortunately, Broward could see me perfectly. His head snapped up and we stared through the window into each other’s eyes.

Shock, recognition, and furious embarrassment passed over his lumpish features and the mud-colored eyes narrowed as they glared into my own. I gasped at the look of pure malevolence he directed at me—I had read the phrase ‘if looks could kill’ often enough in books but it had never really registered with me until now. For a long moment I couldn’t look away, then the almost palpable hatred that flowed out of him ended my strange paralysis. Quickly I ducked away from the window and ran back to sit on the hard wooden chair across from the desk.

Broward had only seen me for a moment but I had the unhappy feeling that the damage had been done. He would never forgive me for seeing him in such a position of ultimate humiliation. Now I would have to watch out for him and be doubly on my guard—first to be sure no one found out my true identity and second to keep from being beaten to a pulp.

The sounds of the paddling next door ended abruptly and I heard the headmaster telling Broward he would get more of the same if he was caught again. The bully muttered a sullen reply and the rustle of clothing let me know he was pulling up his pants. Then the connecting door opened and the headmaster came in, adjusting his jacket and straightening his tie.

“Now, then, Mr. Jameson.” He smiled at me politely and held out a hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you from your father, Admiral Jameson. I’m very gratified to finally meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too, sir.” I took his hand in what I hoped was a firm grip, pumped it exactly twice and let go. Better not to overdo it.

“Excellent, excellent.” He sat in the plush leather chair behind his vast desk and looked at me with a frown. “I’ll be honest, Jameson, You’re a bit, ah, smaller than I’d anticipated—no bigger than a first-form boy. But your father insists you be put into third-form classes. He says you’ve been well tutored in our subject material.”

“Yes, sir.” I tried to keep my voice deep and my eyes direct. “I, ah, get my size from my mother. She was very petite. But I assure you I can hold my own academically.”

He frowned again. “Let’s hope that you can. Considering that your father has paid two whole years tuition in full, I’m willing to accede to his wishes in this matter,
despite
the fact that you have no formal education to speak of. You
,
Jameson, will have the burden of proving that his faith in you is justified.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll do my best, sir.” I shifted uneasily in my chair. Father must really have been desperate to get Kristopher into the Academy if he’d paid such a large lump sum out of pocket. I hoped I was as far ahead academically as Kristopher’s tutors seemed to think.

“Very well then, you may go.” He nodded at the office door. “Pick up your schedule and uniforms from Hinks on the way out. And then send him in here—I have a task for him.”

“Yes, sir.” I nodded and got up quickly. Leaving the office, I closed the door quietly behind me. I was relieved that I’d gotten away with my deception so easily—apparently Headmaster Chauser just thought I was small for my age. But the punishment I’d seen still bothered me. I was certain I would get a much stiffer sentence than ten licks with the paddle if my secret was discovered. Well, I would just have to make sure it wasn’t. Lifting my chin, I went back down the hallway in search of the headmaster’s assistant.

“Here you are again.” Hinks smiled at me and handed me a stack of navy blue fabric, a pair of shiny black boots, and a disposable tablet. “Your uniform, boots, and class schedule for this semester,” he explained, nodding at the tablet. “Also your room assignment—here.” He held out a small black pad. “Press your thumb to that.” I did as he asked and the pad beeped once. “Excellent.” He nodded. “Now the lock is keyed to your print.”

“Should I get changed and report to class right away?” I asked, looking at the tablet with my class assignments uncertainly.

Hinks shook his head. “There’s no point—they’re almost over for today. Don’t worry about falling behind, classes have only been underway for a week—you should be able to catch up.”

“Thanks.” I nodded and started to leave but he stopped me with one long, slim hand on my shoulder. “Try it on.”

“What?” I frowned at him, my heart pounding.

“Your uniform—I need to make sure it fits.” He nodded at an open door to one side of the office. “Come on, you can strip down in there. Don’t be shy—I’ve seen it all.” The predatory look in his eyes made me suddenly nervous. And if I let him see me strip, my secret would be out.

“I…uh…” I began to back away from him but just then the headmaster’s voice echoed down the hall.

“Hinks, didn’t Cadet Jameson tell you I need you? Come here at once.”

“Oh, well.” Hinks gave me a pouting frown and sighed. “Just try them on in your dorm room and bring them back if they don’t fit.” With a last, lingering look at me over his shoulder, he scurried down the hall to the headmaster’s office.