Rose Djallen waved goodbye to her driver and entered the grounds of Madam Georgia’s school for girls. She was nine years old, and her perfectly coiffed blonde hair framed her perfect blue eyes, just as her award-winning beautician had suggested. As the daughter of a billionaire fusion magnate, with millions of followers throughout the galaxy, she had to look her best.

Memories of a private summer vacation spent visiting historical sites on Earth and Mars faded. Friends from across the galaxy had joined her, and they had all agreed they would enjoy a short break from public attention, before returning to their elite social circles.

Now back in Caldera’s capital, Rackeye, Rose welcomed the classmates who flocked to her side with the practiced good manners that were the hallmark of the Helvetic aristocracy.

“Gaella, it’s so good to see you!” she cooed as her red-haired friend twirled, and flashed her a sunbeam smile. Rose’s eyes widened as she inspected the handbag Gaella was holding. “Is that a Stravelli? It’s so beautiful.”

“Got it for my birthday,” Gaella said. “Signed by the artisan himself. Are you jealous?”

“God, yes!” They laughed as the rest of the mob craned their necks to see the coveted object.

“Is it true you met an Academy graduate on your holiday?” Gaella asked.

Rose froze, but her smile didn’t waver. “I… why yes, I did. How did you hear about that? We all swore not to post anything.”

“Oh, please, Rose,” Lunette, a tall brunette at Gaella’s side, said. “As if anything in your life can stay private for long. There are rumors all over the feeds.” She lightly prodded Rose’s arm. “Tell us everything.”

“Well… nothing special happened, to be honest,” Rose said. “The graduate was very nice, and fun to hang out with.”

She tried to ignore the knot in her stomach. One of her holiday friends had obviously betrayed the vow, though Rose doubted she would ever find out who. Of course, nothing in her life could ever be just for her—it had been stupid to think otherwise. She started to walk towards the school building, now eager to get inside and settle into her dorm room.

Gaella grabbed her arm as she chattered on. “I can’t imagine an Academy woman being ordinary,” she said. “Only a handful of girls throughout the galaxy are even invited to take the entrance test, and out of them, it’s only, what, one in ten who pass? And nobody knows what the graduates do after that because it’s all such a big secret. So, what did you learn?”

“My mother says that they’re spies for the League,” Lunette said.

Rose shook her head. “The graduate didn’t tell us any secrets,” she said, “and it’s actually one in twenty. I suppose she was a bit… intense. She was very good at sports, had a lot of hobbies, and I don’t think she ever got tired or bored.”

Gaella’s face took on a pleading expression. “You will invite us next time, won’t you?”

Rose stopped dead and turned to face her, a huge grin on her face. “Oh, I just remembered! Aren’t you joining our dance troop this year?”

“Oh yes.” Gaella smiled and nodded. “But only in the corps de ballet. I’m not at all good enough for a main role.”

“That’s nonsense,” Rose said, and squeezed her arm encouragingly. “You’re so graceful. I know you’ll move up a rank in no time.”

“Rose, are you really going to be the principal dancer?” Lunette cut in.

Gaella scowled at the interruption.

“Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” Rose replied. A weight lifted off her shoulders now that the conversation was firmly on another track.

Lunette’s eyes narrowed. “But Sandrine told me you are going to model for the fashion channel. How are you going to have time to do all that and schoolwork?”

Rose shrugged. “My father says I can do it if I work hard.”

“I couldn’t work that hard,” Gaella said. “I’d just collapse from exhaustion after a few days. You’re so brave Rose.”

“But listen…” Rose’s brow furrowed as she sought for the right words. “My family motto is ‘Empowering Humanity’. People tell me I’m beautiful, and that I inspire them; they love to see me dance and wear designer outfits. That makes them happy, and if they’re happy, they can do more with their lives. I feel like I’m helping people, and I think it’s worth giving up my time for. Isn’t that what Helvet society is all about?”

Gaella laughed raucously. “I just thought it meant power and money. My mother says that being Helvets means we get to enjoy ourselves.”

Rose’s eyes narrowed a little. “Why are we even here on Caldera, if not to help the colonists with culture and education?”

Gaella gave her a pitying look.

“Well, anyway, that’s just what I think,” Rose said, and turned back toward the school. “But enough about me. Are you excited to discover the new dormitories? I hear they have queen-sized beds.”

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As they approached the main building, Rose noticed an unfamiliar girl. She wore faded cargo pants and an oversized t-shirt that looked like it had been picked out of a charity store. Her hair, tied in a ponytail, was as dark as night, and she was wandering across the manicured lawn of the grounds, staring at the exotic flowers and bushes like she had never seen such things before. Her head swiveled around, and when they locked eyes, Rose saw a scowl so penetrating that a jolt of anxiety shot through her.

The girl walked over, pushed her way through the stunned crowd, and stuck out her hand, as her expression twisted into a tight smile.

“Hi, I’m Kayla. Who are you?” she asked. Her accent was strange, and certainly not from Rackeye.

Rose’s friends tittered, but she ignored them and smiled warmly in response. “Hello Kayla, I’m Rose,” she replied, as she gracefully shook the girl’s hand.

“Are you important?” Kayla asked.

Rose raised her eyebrows. “Am I imp—no, not at all. I’m just one of the students at the school. I haven’t seen you before—did you recently arrive from off-world?”

“No, I’m from Caldera. Byford, actually. It’s north of Zula.”

“Oh… I’m afraid I don’t know where that is.”

Kayla looked confused. “Haven’t you ever been to Lanstead?”

Didn’t that mean the agricultural plain, where the colonists lived? Rose’s eyes widened, while her friends giggled.

Kayla rolled her eyes, though she kept the awkward smile.

“You came from the farms?” asked Gaella. Out of sight of Kayla, she flashed a smirk at the others.

“Yes. It’s a nice place, actually,” Kayla said earnestly.

The assembled coterie pushed their way past her.

“Come on, Rose,” Gaella said, as she reached for her arm. “Lunette’s father is going to give us a tour of the new sports grounds.”

“No, you go on ahead.” Rose lifted her hand away. “I want to talk to our new classmate.”

“Oh, is your higher duty calling you?” Gaella said with a mocking shake of her head.

Rose returned the girl’s look without blinking. “Yes, Gaella, it is. I’ll see you later.”

“Find us in the cafeteria once you’re done with your anthropology research.”

The girls couldn’t help themselves, hooting with laughter as they skipped away.

Rose turned back to Kayla. “How did you get an invite to Madam Georgia’s?”

Kayla looked away and wiped her eyes. Rose thought she saw a tear.

When Kayla looked back, she wore a blank expression. “Some scientists came to my village, and they gave me a voucher.”

That seemed reasonable, but Rose was still puzzled. The school did have an outreach program, sending teachers out to enroll bright young minds in the less privileged parts of Caldera. They wouldn’t have claimed to be scientists, though, and usually took care to teach their girls proper etiquette before term started.

“Okay…” she said. “Have you ever visited Rackeye before?”

Kayla shook her head. “Is there anything interesting to see?”

“Of course! Where do you want to go first? There’s the Colonization Museum, then there’s the famous Opera Hall—oh and we must stop by the art gallery too!”

“Are they near here?”

“Of course not, silly, this is the suburbs. But it’s okay, I can get my driver to pick us up.”

Kayla’s jaw dropped. “You have your own driver?”

Rose looked away, anxious not to seem like she was showing off. “Oh, most girls here do.”

“We have trucks on the farms, but everybody drives themselves. They were going to let me try next year.”

“Let you drive… a truck? How old are you?”

“Nine.”

“Children can’t drive in Rackeye until they’re sixteen,” Rose explained.

“That’s dumb,” Kayla said. “If you can reach the pedals and pay attention, then why can’t you drive?”

“Oh well I… Well, anyway, why don’t I make a call…” Rose reached into her schoolbag.

Kayla stopped her. “The best way to explore is to see everything from up high. Why don’t we go up on the school roof?”

Rose followed her pointed finger to the top of the main building. She laughed, but when she looked back, she saw the earnest expression on Kayla’s face. “How would we get up there?” she asked, as her mind whirled with disbelief.

“Climb, silly. Look, there’s a bunch of sloping roofs we can get to from that balcony.”

“I don’t think we’re supposed to,” Rose said.

She wanted to earn the poor girl’s trust, and help Kayla find her place, but they might get in trouble, and Rose had always been a good girl.

Suddenly, the frustration she had ignored earlier burst into her mind. Why shouldn’t she get in trouble? Other people did, and couldn’t she be just like other people once in a while? The world wouldn’t leave her alone for five minutes, and one of her friends on her vacation had even betrayed her—maybe she deserved to do something naughty? She didn’t know how far she would follow Kayla, but an inner voice she too often tried to ignore whispered to her. All the way, it said.

“Are we going?” Kayla asked as she stared at Rose. “There might be pigeons I can shoot with my bow, so the cleaners here will probably thank us for helping with pests. Come on.” She grabbed her backpack.

Rose noticed a length of wood sticking out of it, and her head spun. What was she getting into? She led the way to the main building, glancing at every schoolteacher she saw, certain they could smell the disobedience on her.

Once inside, Rose led them up the main staircase and past the administration offices, where they were stopped by the school principal, wearing an unfriendly expression to match her unflattering uniform.

“Students should be moving into their dorm rooms, not running around the offices. What do you two think you’re doing?” she demanded.

Kayla began to speak, but Rose cut her off. “Kayla’s new here, and I was just going to show her the East Balcony. The view of the city is so beautiful from there, don’t you think?”

The woman looked Kayla up and down and raised an eyebrow. “Very well, but you’re to head straight back downstairs once you’re done. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Madam Lefevre, thank you so much,” Rose said.

They reached the balcony, four stories above the school’s gardens, and Rose gestured to the cityscape before them, framed by a high cliff nearby. The height scared her more than she had expected. Maybe if she acted like a tour guide, she could get Kayla to wait until she felt calmer.

“The city is enclosed by a wide canyon,” Rose began, “and here you can see the near wall.”

“That’s so cool!” Kayla’s eyes widened as they followed the rock wall that rose above them. Then she turned and looked up at the roof.

Rose quickly pointed at a distant skyscraper. “That building over there is… ah… I think—”

“We can get up this way,” Kayla said. “Come on.”

She stepped onto the wide stone railing and grabbed hold of one of the balconies’ columns.

“Oh wait,” Rose said, suddenly unsure if she could go through with it. “We’ll get into so much trouble if someone sees us.”

Kayla looked around. “But there’s nobody there.”

Rose’s heart pounded in her chest. “But what if we fall?”

“It’s okay. It looks like an easy climb.”

Rose hesitated. She was good at sports, but the height made her sick with fear. On Earth, during her holiday, the relentless Academy graduate had climbed the face of El Capitan with a guide, while Rose and her friends had watched excitedly through a telescope. Could she hope to pass the Academy’s infamous entrance test herself if she didn’t have the same spirit? The Helvetic world expected her to be good at everything, but she couldn’t even climb up on a rooftop while this carefree farm girl acted like it was easy.