Kadamba Vorhoor casually kicked his feet up onto his desk at the back of the
classroom and leaned back in his chair. The smug look on his face stemmed from
abundant confidence built through sports, academics, and a new successful
business. In two days, the school year would be over, leaving him only one more
year of required schooling before his advanced education started. The only thing
standing between him and a wildly successful future was the slim possibility that
one of his customers might die.
None of that mattered as he slowly rocked back and forth on the rear legs of
his chair. His mind drifted far away from the confines of the science classroom.
The droning of the teacher’s voice nothing more than background noise as his
imagination focused on the latest, most essential thing in his life – Jundana
Korhart.
She was stunning in every way – radiant dark skin, long and silky hair always
perfectly framing her high cheekbones and piercing dark eyes. Her sleek, athletic
build formed by running track and gymnastics. Every movement she made was
graceful, and somehow both delicate and forceful at the same time. Kadamba, who
usually went by the shortened version, Ka, wondered if there was ever a more
the beautiful creature on the entire planet of Koranth.
Only two hours before, Jundana bumped into Kadamba in the cafeteria. The
box containing her drink flipped through the air, managing to somehow land
perfectly upright on Kadamba’s tray. Unfazed, he simply smiled in her direction.
“Nice shot,” Kadamba said, trying to sound as charming as he could, “It seems
we must’ve been destined to run into each other like this today …”
“Sorry, Ka, I didn’t mean to bump into you. And seriously – you’re not thatsmooth,” she replied with a smile.
“No need to apologize,” Kadamba responded, handing her drink back. “You
ready for tomorrow’s test in Lormate’s class?”
“I’m about as ready as I’ll ever be. I think he just enjoys watching us suffer.”
“You got that right. No way he even begins to care about us. He just wants to
drag us through the material, unconcerned whether we understand it or not.”
Looking at her, Kadamba realized that the time was right. He’d always liked
Jordana but being so close to her was more intense than he’d expected. Trying to
act as casual as he could, he shrugged. “He’s just a jackass, and we’re outta herein a few days.”
“Yeah, that’s the truth,” she agreed.
“So, you want to chill on Schmarlo’s Landing sometime?” He hoped that he
hadn’t sounded too desperate. Every nerve in his body fought not to wince as a
the response began to form on her lips. He was sure that he was about to get rejected
and squashed by this beautiful creature.
“I’d like that. You wanna go today after school?”
“That’s perfect. I gotta little business to deal with first, but I’ll meet youthere.”
As Jundana walked away, Kadamba realized he wasn’t breathing. As the air
came rushing back into his lungs and he almost shouted out loud but instead spoke
softly, so that only he could hear, “I’m gonna rock your world, girl.”
*****
“Mr. Vorhoor! Get your feet on the floor and walk them to the front of this
classroom, now!” Mr. Lormate barked at Kadamba, shaking him out of his
the pleasant reliving of the fateful encounter with Jundana.
Kadamba rolled his eyes back in his head, relishing the thought that he would
only have to deal with this jerk of a teacher for a couple more days. He slapped
his feet hard on the shiny surface of the floor, jolting the entire class to attention.
Standing up, he tilted his head, lifting his chin higher and rotating his neck. The
vertebrae in his neck popped loudly. The smirk on his face widened as he turned
his head the other way, sending out another series of cracks.
Mr. Lormate glared at Kadamba and swept his hand across the podium,
tapping his fingers in a rehearsed pattern. From the flat, institutional-gray wall
behind him, a three-dimensional image of a bargabuko, a toad-like creature that
covered most of the tropical belt of Koranth, began to appear. The nasty, little,
pus-dipping, foul-smelling creatures were the bane of every teenage science
students across the planet. At least, this one seemed to be a holographic, visualonly representation of the little animal.
The image of the bargabuko began to grow in size and move outward from the
wall. Then the putrid smell hit the students full-on. This one was more than just
visual-only. A holographic lab table began to rise up from the floor next to the
podium, where Mr. Lormate sat on a stool, like an emperor gazing over his
subservient peasants.
The bargabuko grew twenty times larger than a real one andlanded with a splat on the table. It bellowed out a croak that seemed like ahundred times louder than the creature’s true croak, followed by its annoying
belching sound and a spray of blue-green pus that landed on the students in the front row.
Kadamba Vorhoor casually kicked his feet up onto his desk at the back of the
classroom and leaned back in his chair. The smug look on his face stemmed from
abundant confidence built through sports, academics, and a new successful
business. In two days, the school year would be over, leaving him only one more
year of required schooling before his advanced education started. The only thing
standing between him and a wildly successful future was the slim possibility that
one of his customers might die.
None of that mattered as he slowly rocked back and forth on the rear legs of
his chair. His mind drifted far away from the confines of the science classroom.
The droning of the teacher’s voice nothing more than background noise as his
imagination focused on the latest, most essential thing in his life – Jundana
Korhart.
She was stunning in every way – radiant dark skin, long and silky hair always
perfectly framing her high cheekbones and piercing dark eyes. Her sleek, athletic
build formed by running track and gymnastics. Every movement she made was
graceful, and somehow both delicate and forceful at the same time. Kadamba, who
usually went by the shortened version, Ka, wondered if there was ever a more
the beautiful creature on the entire planet of Koranth.
Only two hours before, Jundana bumped into Kadamba in the cafeteria. The
box containing her drink flipped through the air, managing to somehow land
perfectly upright on Kadamba’s tray. Unfazed, he simply smiled in her direction.
“Nice shot,” Kadamba said, trying to sound as charming as he could, “It seems
we must’ve been destined to run into each other like this today …”
“Sorry, Ka, I didn’t mean to bump into you. And seriously – you’re not that smooth,” she replied with a smile.
“No need to apologize,” Kadamba responded, handing her drink back. “You
ready for tomorrow’s test in Lormate’s class?”
“I’m about as ready as I’ll ever be. I think he just enjoys watching us suffer.”
“You got that right. No way he even begins to care about us. He just wants to
drag us through the material, unconcerned whether we understand it or not.”
Looking at her, Kadamba realized that the time was right. He’d always liked
Jordana but being so close to her was more intense than he’d expected. Trying to
act as casual as he could, he shrugged. “He’s just a jackass, and we’re outta here in a few days.”
“Yeah, that’s the truth,” she agreed.
“So, you want to chill on Schmarlo’s Landing sometime?” He hoped that he
hadn’t sounded too desperate. Every nerve in his body fought not to wince as a
the response began to form on her lips. He was sure that he was about to get rejected
and squashed by this beautiful creature.
“I’d like that. You wanna go today after school?”
“That’s perfect. I gotta little business to deal with first, but I’ll meet you there.”
As Jundana walked away, Kadamba realized he wasn’t breathing. As the air
came rushing back into his lungs and he almost shouted out loud but instead spoke
softly, so that only he could hear, “I’m gonna rock your world, girl.”
*****
“Mr. Vorhoor! Get your feet on the floor and walk them to the front of this
classroom, now!” Mr. Lormate barked at Kadamba, shaking him out of his
the pleasant reliving of the fateful encounter with Jundana.
Kadamba rolled his eyes back in his head, relishing the thought that he would
only have to deal with this jerk of a teacher for a couple more days. He slapped
his feet hard on the shiny surface of the floor, jolting the entire class to attention.
Standing up, he tilted his head, lifting his chin higher and rotating his neck. The
vertebrae in his neck popped loudly. The smirk on his face widened as he turned
his head the other way, sending out another series of cracks.
Mr. Lormate glared at Kadamba and swept his hand across the podium,
tapping his fingers in a rehearsed pattern. From the flat, institutional-gray wall
behind him, a three-dimensional image of a bargabuko, a toad-like creature that
covered most of the tropical belt of Koranth, began to appear. The nasty, little,
pus-dipping, foul-smelling creatures were the bane of every teenage science
students across the planet. At least, this one seemed to be a holographic, visualonly representation of the little animal.
The image of the bargabuko began to grow in size and move outward from the
wall. Then the putrid smell hit the students full-on. This one was more than just
visual-only. A holographic lab table began to rise up from the floor next to the
podium, where Mr. Lormate sat on a stool, like an emperor gazing over his
subservient peasants.
The bargabuko grew twenty times larger than a real one and landed with a splat on the table. It bellowed out a croak that seemed like a hundred times louder than the creature’s true croak, followed by its annoying
belching sound and a spray of blue-green pus that landed on the students in the
front row.
