Chapter 22

Nessa placed one foot forward. Jamison flailed and waved her down.

"Stay," he pleaded. "I'm in enough trouble as it is."

He lowered his backpack and yanked open the zipper. He produced a thin metal device. It contained a tablet, or log-drive, as they called them in Nessa's world because they had a storage drive and were used to log information.

"I still have my spelling words for language class," he announced to Nessa.

He fidgeted with the device, flipping it over until Nessa wanted to scream, and he muttered:

"Today was supposed to be the test."

Nessa frowned and blinked. She could see in his eyes that his mind had wandered to whatever test he had mentioned. Jamison shook himself back into the moment.

"I want to teach you English," he told her as he powered on the tablet screen. "Can you turn off your translator?"

She situated herself in the sleeping pod and waited.

"The first word is elder," Jamison read. "Like the elder race, Joven elder?"

"Elder?" Nessa echoed. "Bayalen Akrona?"

Jamison nodded, first moving his eyes to the ceiling and then the floor. A grin lifted his cheeks. He scrolled through the screen.

She gazed into his eyes. His whole frame blinked neon blue. Behind her eyes, Jamison's screen tilted, facing her. Markings in the language he called English filled the screen.

Spelling test

Language Arts

Mrs. Jordan

3/17/2040…

Nessa blinked away from the image.

"I can read your language!" she exclaimed. "And speak it!"

Jamison pumped his fist. He packed the tablet.

"The next one was 'biography'," he said. "Like a book of someone's life."

"Biography!" repeated Nessa as she tapped her chin. "What's your biography?"

He took a step toward the holding unit, and they entered the tunnel.