Old Friends

When they finally returned to the ship, Marc and Jazz almost couldn't be seen behind all the bags in their arms. Cass had suggested they rent two hotel rooms, but the other three had argued to stay on board until the exams.

"I don't think she'll have anywhere to put this since she's going to be in a dorm." Jazz was surprised by how much Cass had bought his young charge. He had thought he would be the one paying.

"First of all, she's going to score within the top ten, so she'll get her own room. Second, I bought her a mobile wardrobe, that way she can store all her clothes in it, and it can be added to her identification orb."

"Don't forget the athletic portion of the test. We ignored it because as long as her written tests are great it won't keep her from being accepted, but it will also keep her from being in the top ten." Jazz argued.

"Hey, who said I was going to fail the athletic tests? I'll have you know I'm not a total klutz!" Annabelle crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out at Jazz.

"Sorry hun, but we've all seen you trip over air." Marc was empathetic, but also realistic.

"Doesn't matter I got her the mobile wardrobe, it will all fit in there, and then she doesn't even have to unpack!" Cass was very happy with herself.

"How did you even manage to afford that?" Marc asked.

"Jazz paid for it." She grinned and handed Jazz his card back. "I only used it to buy the wardrobe, not the clothes."

Jazz just shook his head in amazement that she had managed to take it off him without his noticing. "Sometimes I think you ought to be a pick-pocket with the skills you've picked up over time."

Cass just laughed and looked at the clock. "Ummm guys, we probably should go to bed, she's only going to get two hours of sleep before we have to head out to the examination area."

"No studying, just go to sleep, you'll be fine, but if you don't have enough sleep you might forget some things." Jazz pointed at Annabelle.

"Okay Jazz, I promise to go to sleep. I'll see you all in the morning."

Morning came too quickly, Cass, Marc and Annabelle all groaned when Jazz ushered them off the ship. They bought a breakfast that they could eat while walking and headed to the examination area.

"Wait, what about my identification orb? I never got a number from you."

"Don't worry, the person who puts you down for the exam will also give you a number, they have the information about you on file, and so all we have to do is show them Jazz's identification, and they'll give you yours." Marc patted Annabelle on the head, as he explained what would happen.

"Afterwards they'll send you in to take the written test, just remember to breathe, and not be too worried, you'll do great."

"Thanks." She was worried, if she didn't do well, she wouldn't get in, and that meant finding her brothers would be harder.

"It's fine, you had high scores on the mock tests Marc gave you, and we all sent in a reference letter for you. Believe it or not we do have some pull." Cass winked at her. "Plus, if your athletic scores are really that bad, I'll just have to hack the system and change them a bit."

"Sure sis, just like you hacked my final scores. Oh wait, when you did that Professor Naet caught you in the act."

"He only caught me because I wasn't serious."

"Sure, you weren't…" He drawled looking sideways at his sister.

"Whatever, he isn't here anymore, and now there's no one that could even catch my shadow."

"Um you two troublemakers do know you are talking about changing scores in the line for examinees, right?" A young woman had walked up beside them and looked at the siblings with a mirthful grin.

"Dora!" Marc and Cass exclaimed, engulfing her in a hug.

Annabelle studied the woman from behind. She was taller than herself. Though that wasn't a huge feat, and she had fire red hair. Before Cass and Marc had grabbed her Annabelle could have sworn Dora had bright red eyes. What really caught Annabelle's attention though was the halo above Dora's head that seemed to glow blue.

"Annabelle, this is Dora, she's a friend from school. She used to have fun with us all the time, but after graduation she decided to become a professor in ARD's diplomacy section."

"Um, it's not 'had fun with', it's 'you got me in trouble all the time', and I had to, I was the first Darze Benuar to graduate from the diplomacy program, so ARD asked me to stay on as a teacher, since little is known about my people."

She turned to look at Annabelle. "You must be who Cass was raving about, it's great to meet you. Since your situation is special, I am going to be your second guardian until either you become an adult, or you graduate. I hate that Ayeri abandon their young, it's so much harder for you to mature outside of your own world."

"Why is it harder?" Marc interjected.

"Because their world has an enzyme that can't be reproduced, that is only available in certain plants. It helps their brains develop at a faster rate."

"Couldn't you just harvest the plants and take them off world?" Cass was confused.

"No, if it isn't eaten within a few hours of getting picked the enzyme breaks down. It's why Ayeri that have been abandoned take longer to mature than Ayeri that grow up on Ayer."

They were finally to the front of the line, the young man sitting at the table waved them forward.

"Hello, welcome to ARD, please let me see your IO."

Jazz handed his identification orb to the man and spoke. "I spoke with Dean Acott yesterday, you should have paperwork allowing you to give her an identification number to attach to her orb?"

"Ah yes, we were briefed earlier." He scanned Jazz's Identification Orb, and then turned to Annabelle. "If I may see your IO?" After she held it out to him, he took another device out and touched it to the orb. A brief flash of light appeared, and he put the device back.

"Alright you are set, good luck on your exams, just follow the signs to the right and you'll be in the first examination room. Next please!"

They all moved to the side as the next person came up.

"Well, good luck, we'll see you later." Cass hugged her tightly.

"You'll do fine kiddo, don't worry about a thing!" Marc tapped her lightly on the head.

"From what I've heard you won't even sweat. I'll see you in the athletic portion, since I'm one of the proctors. I have to leave now, but good luck!" Dora went through the double doors after saying that.

"You'll get a perfect score on the written part, and don't worry, Dora won't let you fail the athletic portion. There are a few things that are left to the tester's judgement, you're in good hands. See you when you finish." Jazz tussled her hair and then gave her a light push to the doors.

"Thanks!" Annabelle stuffed her orb into her pocket and started following the signs.