Phoenix Feathers, Part I

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Joss is boss. He is Blue Sun, too, so he owns all of these toys. I just admire them.

***

As Phoenix stood, he looked around at the grassy slopes that rolled over the buried Academy complex. He tried to think of where he was or where he should go, but it was difficult for him to think rationally. He needed to RUN. It was a foreign thought, but it pounded at the very front of his mind-Run!- and he couldn’t quiet it. Run!-No, he mustn’t get caught-Run!¬- again, he had to move quickly, or the ring would close and he would lose his window. He would make for a populated area and-Run!- lose his pursuers in the crowds.

Phoenix could just make out the skyline of a far-off city rising up over the jagged peaks of a mountain range. Despite its distance, he could gauge its immensity, which, coupled with the warmth of the sunlight on his face, meant that he was on one of the Inner Planets. He might have trouble avoiding the authorities, but he wouldn’t have to look too hard for a ride off-world.

Phoenix’s bare feet caressed the rich soil of the plains as he ran towards freedom, the both of which he had not known for years.

***

“Number 82, are you listening to me?”

Phoenix looked up guiltily from his nearly completed assignment in multivariable calculus to see how upset the teacher was this time. He hadn’t been doing anything wrong, unless working ahead was a crime- he had merely failed to look attentive and feign that he was awed by the teacher’s stunning lack of gray matter. He knew that the Academy teachers were a little frightened by their students’ knack for learning, and it was because of this fear that they snapped at any overachievers. The children thought it was ridiculous, and discreetly continued working at an accelerated rate.

Such disobedience came naturally to Phoenix, but his efforts to prove his mathematical independence had now aggravated the situation, making the teacher feel even more impotent than usual. This meant tha