Chapter 23: School Eternal — Part 4
“I agree that the situation was irresponsible on the part of the local police. The Sheriff assures me that a specially educated police officer will be put in charge of this campus as liaison until such time as the ‘legal hume and android alien residents’ leave the planet or move to another district.” The Senator said, almost chuckling.
When Orchid approached the two, Senator Jones returned quickly to his laptop, typing in some notes. Despite her having given him a bender suit with which to defend his planet, Orchid made him terribly uncomfortable.
“I overheard you saying that you would fight angels and demons to protect your students, Professor Ludwyn.”
“Actually I said I’d fight Heaven and Hell, and I will.” Ludwyn said. “Why did you call me Professor?”
Orchid’s subtle smile betrayed mountains of information. “I audited one of your classes some years back. I chose your school for my extended family to attend because I liked your approach to student management.”
“Well thank you. That’s very kind.”
“I’m not known for my kindness, Professor.” Orchid said by way of correction. “The Earth, as you may have suspected, is at war.”
“Yes, of course. The surface of the world is blighted by the violence of the human condition.” Ludwyn said.
Orchid caught a flicker reaction from Ludwyn to a Bug as it Snapped out of sight. Consciously or unconsciously, the Professor knew more than most. She was seeing and responding to things outside the mundane hume spectrum, and it hadn’t driven her mad. The three boys had been released to go home, finally, and Ludwyn was growing impatient to get back to her duties, but she wouldn’t be impatient with Orchid.
“Whereas that may well be true, it is not the wars of Earth I wish to discuss with you.” Orchid said, pulling a glove from her artificial hand, rolling up the sleeve so Ludwyn could see very clearly what she had lost. “This is not about Earth, or about humes. This is about a war fought and ended thousands of years ago, and about the weapons created to fight that war — indestructible in both time and space, the weapons once thought sealed away so they could do no harm. Those seals, I fear, have weakened and are beginning to break.”
“Will these weapons be targeting a Prepartory College?”
“These weapons are programmed to take out leaders and future leaders of the government structures of the world, to throw it into a state of disorganization meant to delay technological evolution of the hume species. The first wave succeeded in knocking out the symbolic heads of the world governments, and in entrenching troops in several military academies and schools, like yours, around the world. The second wave will come soon enough. History shows that once the governments are weakened, these old weapons, who are hume in appearance, will seek to destroy the educational facilities — both military and private — in an attempt to take out the seven percent who stand between them and their end goal.”
“What is their end goal?” Ludwyn asked.
“If I knew that, I might very well be able to stop this war before it starts.” Orchid said.
“You’re crazy.” Ludwyn said.
“Ask the Senator how crazy I am. He is, after all, one of my soldiers in this war. Ask him why he’s here, working with the Sheriff in a state he doesn’t represent, when he should be at the Capitol, some 1800 miles away, representing his own citizens. Ask him how he got here so quickly. When you’re done asking your questions, contact me and tell me if you’re still willing to fight — how did you put it? — Heaven and Hell, to protect your students.” Orchid turned away from Principal Ludwyn Snapping right in front of her to drive her point home.
Principal Ludwyn chuckled, almost crazy, before heading back to falsify an incident report and forge a few signatures. The Principal often found it important to break the world into two kinds of people, good and bad. She didn’t know what kind of person Orchid was, but she knew that in this instance, her behavior leaned toward good. The Principle could only hope that such behavior would prove consistent.
