Chapter 30. The reward

Her stay on Ceres was much better than she had expected. Tara Deshanti felt like she got the self-assurance she had always wanted to have. At first she felt completely useless here, but the more time she spent on this planet, the more needed and professional she became. She was saving lives!

She was happy to be invited to their graduation party. She could hear music echoing down the halls, and she could smell chocolate and vanilla in the air. Everyone were preparing for a great celebration! They were going to wear any clothes they wanted for this party, and she even helped some girls with their make-up.

Tara got her best dress out for the occasion, though initially she was sure she'd never need it. Applying her lipstick in front of a tall mirror, she thought that she'd be sad to leave Ceres.

But she could think about it later. Tara wanted to concentrate on the big party, but before that she needed to check something.

She entered the medical office confidently and saw it was dark inside. That hadn't happened for a while! Usually even at night the artificial window gave some light; she wasn't ready for this pitch black darkness.

"Iutah?" she called. "Are you here?"

There was no answer, and she had to turn the main lighting system on. It was working, which meant there were no problems with the equipment or electricity. That calmed her down, but not for long – only until she went into the infirmary.

All the beds were empty, including the one where Iutah was supposed to be. But he was there some hours ago, she gave him a shot! And now his bed was carefully made; that meant he left this place on his own accord and without a rush.

She felt guilty: she hadn't checked on her patient for half of the day! But Tara was so carried away by preparing for the party she literally forgot about him. He didn't need her attention…

The mutation of the hybrid matter was over. It healed his wounds, and then disappeared from his blood system. Iutah was a human again, and he knew it. He took it surprisingly well… for the first time since Olivia's death Tara felt respect for him.

But he wasn't allowed to leave! He was too weak, some of his muscles remained torn, he was in great pain. And his spine had only just healed! Simple walking was a bad idea for him, let alone any form of serious strain. She told him about it and she thought it was enough!

She missed the fact she was dealing with a teenage boy, who had just lost his main life goal. She should've guessed he'd want to attend that party! It was his last chance to spend time with his classmates, before going back to Earth and forgetting them forever.

After thinking it over Tara decided not to warn the management about his little escape. She'd just have to find him, give him some painkillers, and everything would be alright!

With her mind made up, she hurried to the celebration hall – she was late already! When she got there, the others were present. The hall had more decorations than at the New Year��s party: the walls were completely hidden by flowers, there were long tables with food standing along them, and the ceiling sparkled with crystal chandeliers.

Among those flowers young girls looked like large butterflies in their princess dresses. There were only two exceptions: Karajo, who came in her usual uniform, and Rita Samara, who was wearing a long black dress. Her reasons for that were clear…

The boys mostly preferred the holiday version of their uniform, which looked a lot like a business suit and still had the jacket with the color of their respective team. Tara was happy to see most of them staying together; they became real friends.

She saw Damian approaching from afar and expected him to walk by her, but he talked to her instead.

"I'm glad to see you here."

"Why?" she asked in surprise. "I mean, why me? Everyone's here!"

"Because I felt like you were keeping a greater distance with hybrids than the rest of the staff. Hopefully, that changed."

"Does it matter?"

"Everything does," he smiled.

A small stage was prepared for the teachers. It was empty so far, but as soon as Lady Laura stepped on it the voices in the hall grew quiet. The hybrids were watching her with curiosity.

"It's a pleasure to see I don't need to ask you for discipline," the headmistress noted. "This year brought more results than I thought! I can't believe it's finished. It was a complicated one… full of victories, but of great losses as well."

The silence in the hall was oppressive; it was easy to figure whom they were thinking about. Olivia's picture stood on a little table by the stage. That didn't bring anguish into the holiday, it just made everything special.

"I'm not going to compare your generation to the previous ones," Lady Laura continued. "I can tell you one thing: you're going to make amazing hybrids! I'm convinced that even those of you who won't continue their studies on Ceres will remain with the Second Breed. I'm telling that as a human – and as a former hybrid…"

Tara knew that Lady Laura used to be a student here. She found strength in her soul to remain with the hybrids, working as their guardian angel. Though Tara admired that, she knew she wouldn't do that. Lady Laura dedicated her life to Ceres, no-one waited for her on Earth.

"Your rating was publicly demonstrated this morning. I think you've already had your chance to study it. And now I'd like to keep a good tradition this school has had for the last years! Five students with most points will receive special awards they can keep in their rooms – as the reminder of their first success. I'll ask my colleagues to assist me…"

Tara moved to the stage with other teachers. She'd been warned in advance about what she'd have to do. She liked that idea: she saw that the hybrids were working really hard and they deserved this!

There were five metal tablets lying on the table in front of Lady Laura – four were made of silver, and one was pure gold. They already had the names of the winners and their rates engraved on them.

"Usually I begin the ceremony with number five, going up, to keep some intrigue. But there's no intrigue in our case," Lady Laura admitted. "So I'll start from the top spot. It belongs to Daniella Karajo, who now holds the official record among all generations for the points she got."

Teacher Garin was presenting the gold tablet to Karajo, and Tara was happy about it. She didn't like that girl. She was no better than Iutah in her cruelty! Tara had never seen this student demonstrate joy, laugh, have fun. Karajo was either sitting at the classes or practicing. And those bandages… The likes of her made humans fear hybrids!

"Our number two, who, unfortunately, didn't break any records, is Immanuel Cuyo, White Team. Congratulations."

Tara hadn't contacted him directly. Before the exams his success was so quiet it went unnoticed. She liked that, taking it as a sign of his modesty. And he had such a charming smile! He was the type everyone trusted easily.

"Iutah Kerengree received enough points to be our number three, but, much to my regret, I have to inform you that he won't be returning to study with you. The trauma he received cost him the hybrid matter. So the third and fourth spots go to John Da Silva and Jack Da Silva respectively."

While the twins were taking the stage to receive their awards, Tara was trying to see Iutah in the crowd. It must've been hard for him to hear this… Tara concluded that he was so upset he left the hall – because she couldn't see him anywhere. She promised to herself she'd talk to him once the party was over.

"And our number five is a Green Team student, Alexander St. Rio."

Other winners weren't surprised by their awards, but Alexander was stunned. He couldn't believe his name was actually called, so Arriz had to push him to the stage.

Looking at him made Tara smile: he was probably the most sincere and open person she'd met on this planet. She volunteered to give him his silver tablet; he took it with one hand since the second one was still cast in plaster – a little gift from Karajo!

They had to have fun tonight. They had another hybrid matter injection ahead, and Tara heard it was a painful procedure. She felt sorry for those kids and she wanted to meet them again. They were worth taking care of – future protectors of Earth.

Tara's thoughts were crudely interrupted when the floor shook under her feet. This movement was so sudden that she didn't have a chance to remain standing, not with those damn stilettos! She would've fallen, if Damian wasn't fast enough to catch her.

He held her, because she couldn't hold onto anything else – there was nothing around her! And the ground was still trembling, large cracks began appearing on the walls, with flowers falling off of them. A couple of chandeliers crushed on the floor, and it was a miracle all the hybrids got away unharmed!

Finally the tremor stopped, everything became still again. Humans and hybrids were looking around in fear and confusion.

"I didn't know there were earthquakes on Ceres!" Tara said in bewilderment.

"That's because there aren't," Damian's voice was tense in concern. "Ceres is a dwarf planet with solid core and artificially manipulated atmosphere. Nothing like this could've happened… for natural reasons."

"Is everyone okay?" Lady Laura asked. "Anyone wounded?"

There was no reply, because the students didn't get hurt seriously. Most of them looked startled and upset; they took it for an accident, just like Tara. Their greatest concern for now was that the party was ruined.

But Tara was starting to understand things were much more serious than that. She wanted to ask Damian what he thought about it, but she didn't have the time to. She was interrupted by an emotionless computer voice sounding from the speakers.

"Attention all students and personnel! Mechanical damage of the oxygen support system registered. Evacuate immediately."