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luck.
    Thane scoffed. “Come on, Ciena. We took the tests. The decision’s already been made! So we can’t jinx ourselves at this point.”
    It was true. More than that, from the tone of Thane’s voice, Ciena had figured out that these “plans” weren’t for real. “Okay, fine. Let me hear it.”
    “One. We become famous acrobats.”
    “…acrobats?”
    “
Famous
acrobats. There’s noglory in being mediocre, unknown acrobats. If we’re going to do this, we have to do it right.”
    The proctor would walk out any moment. The crowd’s buzzing grew louder, more tense. Ciena’s heart raced, but she tried to match Thane’s playful tone. “I’ll pass.
Any other bright ideas for our future? You said that was only number one.”
    “Two. We travel the galaxy as drummer and exotic dancer.”

    She raised her eyebrows. “Excuse me, but I’m not becoming an exotic dancer.”
    “Who said you were? I’ll do the dancing. You get the drum.”
    This time her laughter was genuine. “Only if I get to design your costume.”
    “Hmmm. Maybe I should move on to plan three—”
    Then Thane straightened, eyes widening, as the door opened and the proctor walked out. His black uniform seemed to stealthe sunlight from the day. Ciena’s gut clenched, but like all the
other students, she immediately stood at attention and remained perfectly silent.
    Amplifier droids hovered nearby, catching the proctor’s voice as he said, “The following is a list of all the school’s successful applicants to the various Imperial academies.
For the Imperial Academy on Arkanis…”
    Ciena could’ve groaned.They were going in alphabetical order by school? They might not know until the very end whether they’d made it in or not. She could imagine standing there at
attention, minutes draining away, as the terrible realization of her failure sank in. Then she would have to slink out, humiliated. Failure wasn’t the same as dishonor, but it felt like it at
the moment.
    A few minutes into the ceremony—whichalready felt as though it had lasted forever—the proctor stood up straighter. “For the Royal Imperial Academy on
Coruscant…”
    No school in the entire galaxy was more prestigious. No other training came closer to ensuring a high-level career in the Imperial Starfleet.
    Ciena had dreamed of going there, which was surely why she imagined the proctor’s speaking her name.
    But no. He’d reallysaid—“Thane Kyrell and Ciena Ree.” Both of them, together!
    She remained at attention, but she glanced sideways at Thane. If he’d heard it, too, it was definitely for real. Sure enough, he was smiling—but a weary smile, like when he’d
cleared the final barrier on an E&A course. Thane closed his eyes and whispered, seemingly to himself, “I’m out of here. I’m gone.”
    Ciena knew why her friendwanted to leave this planet so badly. Those were reasons she didn’t share. She loved Jelucan’s stark beauty, the fellowship among the valley
kindred—all of it was beautiful to her. Yet she could leave her homeworld without regret.
    She wasn’t escaping from anything. She was chasing her dream of becoming an Imperial officer, flinging herself joyfully into space.
    The day Thane left Jelucanfelt…perfect. Like he could do no wrong, like all the constellations had finally aligned to guide him out. His parents said their good-byes at
the house and didn’t bother taking him to the spaceport. It was a relief.
    Boarding the vessel to Coruscant was even more satisfying because Ciena was there, too, though she remained on the boarding ramp hugging her parents so long that the captainthreatened to leave
her behind. Thane and she had become a team to get into the academy; it was only right that they should arrive there together. Best of all was the moment when the transport shuddered into
hyperspace—their first experience of lightspeed—and the two of them grinned at each other in total delight.
    Then they arrived on Coruscant,