Over the next month and a half, due to everyone on the ship having duties to attend to or studies for those on board who were students, Jace and Sara ended up spending most of their time together. Not that either minded, they were used to it, having spent so many hours alone with each other when they were confined to the tugship after the incident with the slaver ship. They spend some time playing card games together or spending time with Sam, Charlie, or other students and staff aboard the ๐๐ฏ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ, after a couple of weeks, the other students aboard warmed to Sara and dropped the subservient attitude she so despised, although they were never quite as relaxed as Jace was around her.
However, most of Jace and Sara's time was spent doing one of two things. First, they a lot of spent time talking with each other. Now that Jace knew Sara's secret, he was bound and determined to learn as much about her past as he could, as she had pried his life out of him during their time adrift in space. And Sara opened up quite willingly to his surprise. Apparently, she had been worried about his reaction when he found out about her status, and she didn't want to lose the unique friendship that they had. But when his behavior towards her remained unflavored by her merchant status, she didn't mind opening up more about herself.
He found out during one of these conversations that she actually wasn't from Pontilar, she had only been accompanying one of her uncles on a business trip, and through some poor security and unfortunate accidents, she had been captured by the slavers, though they were unaware of her status. Turned out her family owned a moon and ruled a small civilization that housed many of the executives of her family's company that weren't needed in other areas of the galaxy.
"So, you are royalty," Jace said, surprised.
Sara shrugged. "It doesn't really matter that much, my standing in my father's company so far outweighs my standing on my home planet that no one really even thinks about it. It's more a title than anything anyway, as one of my older cousins runs the place."
The second thing that Jace spent most of his time doing, and dragging Sara along with him, was learning about the ship. He wanted to know everything, both as part of the curiosity of never experiencing space travel before as well as a sort of way for him to grow closer to the old ship mechanic that he had known so briefly yet had become so dear to him.
It turned out Sara was again an open book when it came to his questions. Turned out since she spent so much time on business trips with her family, she was more accustomed to the inner workings of a ship than the average resident of the galaxy, especially since she took so little interest that others of her rank partook in. There was also the thorough tutoring that she had received from a young age which briefly covered the basics of space travel. Even so, she was no match for Jace's inquisitive mind, usually how it would go is she would be able to answer his first wave or two of questions, but then she would have to acquiesce the workers and mechanics on board, who were usually happy to answer questions as long as they stayed out from underfoot.
As they went through their day-to-day adventures, a noticeable change began to overcome Jace. He started to carry himself straighter, and easier, he started to feel more at ease and to laugh and joke more, he easily interacted with the others and quickly became a ship favorite. At least when he wasn't pulling some prank or another. Sam theorized that "Since this is the first time you haven't only had survival on your mind, and since you are in a comfortable environment, you're starting to develop your unique personality. Which, I might say is totally not what I expected it to be." Which got a grin out of Jace, not a difficult task these days
One time Sara asked him after they were kicked out of the main engine room for being too much of a bother, "Are you going to become a ship mechanic, like Stryker?"
Jace looked at the ceiling thoughtfully for a few moments, then shook his head. "No. While the ship is a very fascinating thing, I don't want to spend my whole life hiding behind turbo thrusters and Neoleon drives. Something I learned from Stryker is that there is so much more out there than that, and I intend to find it." He turned to look at her with a glitter in his eye. "But it doesn't hurt to learn right?"
She looked at him, concern showing in her eyes. "What about what Madam Sheev said? She said you couldn't survive out there."
Jace shook his head, then looked forward, determined, "Not as I am no, but I intend to change that. I need to learn all I can about all I can so that when the time comes, I'll be ready to face the galaxy head-on and overcome it."
Sara smile at him, then her face lit up with an idea. "What if I tutored you?" She practically yelled.
Jace nearly jumped out of his shoes from the sudden volume coming out of the girl next to him. "What do you mean?" He asked, still reeling from the outburst.
Sara began to talk excitedly and gesture with her hands. "I am one of the most educated people of my age. I could teach you! At least the basics. I'm the best resource for what you are talking about!"
Jace thought about it, then nodded, sharing in her excitement. "That sounds like a great idea!" he said. Then he began racing down the hall. "Race you to my room!" He called over his shoulder.
And thus began Jace's official education. There were a few false starts, as Sara didn't realize how uneducated Jace was, but eventually they got started. Sara turned out to be an excellent teacher, teaching him across a whole range of topics. Jace was also an excellent student, drinking up the information like a sponge. He also began to spend much of his time on the bridge, staying out of the way but watching the working of every station like a hawk. He admired Sam greatly for being able to monitor and run pretty much the entire ship from his place at the captain's station. There was so much to keep track of and Jace definitely couldn't keep track of it all. He aspired to be like Sam someday.
Whenever his student friends took breaks from their duties, Jace would pepper them with questions until they grew tired of it. He learned a lot about navigation and piloting, monitoring systems, gunning, and captaining from everyone. Eventually though he would notice their irritation and move on to topics that were less related to what they did every day, day in and day out.
One day Jace approached madam Sheev's office. He hadn't seen her since he and Sara were brought on the ship, trying to keep out of the way of the students training to make the exercise as realistic as possible. Jace knew he had changed much since then, though he knew she was keeping tabs on them, he was looking forward to meeting her without practically cowering in fear.
He approached the door and it slid open. He stepped once again into the sparsely decorated office with the pillar that was Madam Sheev in the center surrounded by the blue light of the holographic screens that surrounded her. She swung to face him and with a gesture cleared the screens in front of her.
She looked at him expectantly. "Well, boy? You asked to see me." Her heavy gaze covered him like a hood, waiting for his response. He couldn't help but shudder a bit, but then straightened. He bowed properly, as Sara had taught him. Madam Sheev, I have come to make a request." He then waited for a response.
He looked up to find her glaring at him. "Well? Out with it then. You not one of my subordinates, so there's no need for propriety."
He straightened hurriedly. "I've come to ask to join the Cadet Academy." He said with a serious tone.
She looked at him, then chuckled. "So that's it. I've heard you've been taking lessons from Miss Mortonesse. Are you looking to expand your education?" He nodded in response, and she leaned back in her chair in thought. "Well, we can't have Miss Mortonesse tutoring you once we arrive, she will have to focus on your own studies." She looked back at him. "Why though? What is this sudden burning passion for knowledge? You haven't needed it up to this point."
He met her eyes evenly. "Ma'am, what I told you last we met, I still feel that way. I wish to explore the stars and find adventure, to find myself in the depths of space. I believe that your school is the best option there is. I've also heard that as long as you can reach the school, you will be welcomed with open arms, and may attend free of charge."
Madam Sheev nodded. "That is mostly true, we get enough funds from private investments as well as from our alumni and the families of the wealthier students to fund the school." Her eyes became somber and she looked off behind Jace in thought. "The open arms part isn't quite true, despite our best efforts. While it is true that you will be accepted if you can reach the front gates of the school, due to the expenses needed to normally cause such a feat, a large majority of the students are from prestigious families or nobility that can afford such expenses. There are several students like you who were able to arrive despite less than pleasant circumstances, but they are ostracized by the other students often the victims of bullying and such. Though we as a school do our best to minimize such behavior, prejudice is still is a major problem in the school, and not just among the students unfortunately. I cannot be everywhere at once." She looked back at Jace. "But one thing I can promise you, there will be many enjoyable times too, you will make friends both among the high status and the low, and if you stick with it and work hard, you will not only come out much stronger, but you will earn the respect of most of your fellow students. They're not all that bad, they are human and capable of overcoming their skewed views."
Jace shrugged. "If I can survive the slums of Pontilar, I believe I can survive a little bullying."
Madam Sheev smiled at him. "Good. I will inform you of another danger though. Not all of our student's backgrounds will agree with societal norms, we will educate all who come to learn, no matter their background, as long as they don't cause any harm to the school." She gestured at Jace. Look at you, you are a former thief and street urchin. If we can accept you, we can accept almost anyone."
๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ฆ, He thought, thinking of his stash of food he'd swiped from the kitchen that he kept in his room to eat between meals while he was chatting and being tutored by Sara. Madam Sheev continued speaking so he focused back on her. "Anyway, don't expect to be coddled, we do our best to maintain order in the school, but ultimately you are expected to take care of yourself." She gestured toward the empty air. "The world out there is harsh and much of it lawless, and we're not here to shelter you from it. Most families have a bodyguard or two accompany their students to prevent anything from happening to them, but you don't have that luxury, so you'll be expected to care for yourself." She looked at him sharply, and he recognized the hidden message. Sara was going to have such a companion herself, but knowing her, she would have none of it, so he was expected to watch out for her too. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฃ๐บ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ. He thought as he mentally rolled his eyes. But he knew already he'd be watching her back, as he expected her to watch his. Trust was an unusual feeling for him, but he was liking it.
He bowed again. "I understand. Thank you for your permission as well as the warning. I would be honored to attend your academy."
She inclined her head. "I'm looking forward to working with you in the future, young man." He didn't miss that this time she called him ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ instead of ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐บ. As she had up until now.
Taking that as a dismissal, he turned to leave. At the door he turned back to her and saw her unmoved, watching him go, a little impatient to get back to her work. He grinned, a glint appearing in his eye.
"Y'know, you're not so bad, Sheevs." He said, deliberately altering the name slightly and omitting the customary ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ฎ.
He fled, ignoring her shouting after him, "Boy, Boy! ๐๐๐ ! Get back here and let me teach you some manners!"