45.
No one said anything.
"Back to what you were saying, sir," High River told Northern Star. "We'll take care of this."
A few hours later a flier crashed into the side of a mountain and incinerated. Those on board burned to ashes, the disaster recorder showing that the thrust had jammed and the ship was flying so fast that the occupants couldn't get out before the ship impacted.
"If there keeps being so many accidents around here," North commented, "somebody's bound to get suspicious!"
"If they do," replied High River, "there can always be another accident. You're leader, and you'll stay leader, as long as I live, anyway! And I intend to be around at least another one-hundred-and-fifty years. By that time, young fellow, you'll be fending damned well by yourself, if you're half the man I think you are!"
North's friendship with this man grew daily and he learned more from him about The Guard than form any other source. The time finally came for the final Tests and for many long grueling hours North extracted all the knowledge he had poured in his mind for ten long years, and then, when it was all over, stood in the hallway of his school and waited for the results on the readout screen. Many other young men waited with him. Name by name results came out, in alphabetical order. As always, North's friend Morn was posted just before himself. The reading came on the screen.
Morning Star....99.9!
A whistle left the lips of every person standing there.
"That has to be a record!" someone said. "It has to be!"
It was. The highest grade ever recorded in all their people's history! The programmer must have known the significance of what he'd put on the screen, for he hesitated several seconds before he put on the next reading...
Northern Star.....99.89!
Again the whole class let it be known they were amazed.
Two 99s in one school was almost too much to believe! North looked to his friend.
"It looks like we are Academy Bound," he said. "We've got to be within the top ten of our age group!"
Northern Star just gazed at the screen, stunned. Not even he could quite believe what he'd accomplished! They were in the top ten alright. Out of all their race, fate had seen to it that these two young men were top two. There was no question they would get Academy positions.
As usual The Games were no problem. As usual it was between the two friends with Morn taking first place and North second. Their applications to The Academy were a formality. Two days after North sent