“Enough!” said Commander Fitz, her voice sharp, and we both stopped yelling and snapped to attention. The commander in chief of the Academy did not ask twice. I glanced over at Regan out of the corner of my eye and saw her grim expression as her mother looked from her to me and back again. “Cadets,” she went on, her voice quieter but no less commanding, “you will not scream at one another and make a bigger scene than you already have. Now hold still so you can be unhooked properly.” She paused, eyeing us both so we knew just how much she disapproved of our yanking at our expensive simulation probes. To her credit, Regan didn’t even flinch. I, however, felt the distinct need to hide underneath my simulation chair. Commander Fitz waited for us both to nod before continuing. “Obviously, this test went off the rails.”

Regan snorted, and her mother gave her a sharp look. “As such,” she went on, “we will deal with the consequences for both of you and your actions in private.” Commander Fitz flicked her eyes upward and Regan and I both looked up to the observation balcony. A balcony that had been empty when we started this simulation but was now full of students. Students who, unlike the supervising professors, were doing nothing to hide their amusement at our situation as they laughed and pointed.

Commander Fitz looked like she was about to say something else, but a professor I’d never seen before came up to whisper something in her ear. Her face stayed neutral and detached as she listened, but her eyes did flick to Regan for the tiniest half second. I wondered if anyone else had noticed. Finally, she nodded and turned her attention back to us.

“Meet me in my office in ten minutes for your recap,” she said, turning to stalk out of the simulation room before either of us could reply. My heart sank. This was bad. Really bad. I’d sat in on enough of these tests to know that protocol dictated that we sit and watch our recap in front of the panel. I’d never heard of a private recap in the commander’s office. My mind flicked back to the Cocoon, and I felt my skin prickle. What if the private meeting was because somehow they’d figured it out? I tried to remember what Regan and I had said to each other in the simulation. We were too smart to mention the Cocoon when an entire panel of Academy officers was watching. Right?