Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens Lost Stars by Claudia Gray, Phil Noto Page A

himself.”
    No.
Ciena refused to believe that. There had to be another answer; Jude must have misunderstood the data.
    But nobody was better at getting into the inner workings of computers than Jude. Thane was the only other competitor for the top slot, and mechanical repair was one of his main weaknesses.If he
hadn’t done well on the project and had feared he would fail—he could have cut the wires of his own machine to disguise his inability to repair it. By framing Ciena for the sabotage, he
would not only avoid being marked down for failing the project but also drag her down so far she’d never be number one in the class.
    This isn’t as simple as class rank, though. This could get me expelled!Thane wouldn’t do that to me, not ever.
    And yet Jude stood there with the proof glowing on the datapad in her hands.

“W HAT DID THE commandant say?” Nash asked Thane.
    “Just to come to the office.” Thane resealed his uniform jacket, making himself ready for the meeting.

    “Do you think he’ll offer you another chance at the laser cannon?” Ved lay back on his bunk, hardly even pretending to be concerned about what happened to Thane’s class
rank.
    At the moment, Thane cared about his rank even less than Ved did. “I think he’s going to tell me what really happened.”
    Nash raised an eyebrow. “You still think Ciena didn’t screw with your engine? Even thoughthere’s proof?”
    “It’s not like her,” Thane said shortly as he walked toward the door.
    He wasn’t 100 percent sure Ciena was innocent—the data had pointed to her, and Thane had to admit data within the academy computers was difficult to falsify. However, he felt at
least 95 percent sure. Not only did Thane trust her, he understood what kind of person she was and where she came from. Sure,plenty of academy cadets would cheat to get ahead. But Ciena, a girl of
the Jelucani valleys—she would die before doing anything dishonorable. Surely she would never betray anyone, much less him. They meant too much to each other for that.
    Still, he felt that five percent uncertainty, and he’d never doubted Ciena before, even for a second.
    When Thane walked into Commandant Deenlark’soffice, he was surprised to see Ciena standing there at full attention. At first he was glad—
good, we can smooth this over and move
on
—and then he realized that she refused to meet his eyes. Was that out of discipline or guilt?
    “Cadet Kyrell. Cadet Ree. We have a conundrum on our hands.” The commandant never rose from his chair as he studied them standing side by side, rigid and correct.“The first
layer of data says that Cadet Ree is the only possible culprit for the tampering discovered today. However, the second layer of data suggests that Cadet Kyrell tampered with his laser cannon
himself and framed Cadet Ree for the deed.”
    Thane had not known you could feel the blood drain from your face. It was like going numb from cold. “Sir! I absolutely did not—I would never—”

    “Spare me your protestations, Cadet Kyrell.” By then Deenlark seemed more bored than anything else. “I have consulted with our specialists, who inform me that either layer of
data could be the falsified one. One of you attempted to sabotage the other, and covered your tracks—not well enough to hide completely but enough that we can never be certain which of you is
responsible and whichis innocent. Therefore we have no other recourse but to punish you both.”
    Good pilot though he was, Thane had occasionally “crashed” a flight simulator. As the screens had showed him the images of flames and a planetary surface rushing up to smash him to
atoms, he’d wondered what it would feel like to crash and burn for real.
    Probably it was something like this.
    Commandant Deenlarksmiled thinly. “You have both failed the laser cannon assignment. Your course rankings will reflect this.”
    Their ranks were high enough that even a failure of that scale wouldn’t take