The Return of the Professor--The Dolbin School Book 3--Chapter 1--No Man's Land
I have developed the habit of serializing my books on Steemit.
This is book 3 of my Dolbin School series. I serialized the first book last summer, and I just finished posting the second book, The Dark Cloud Rises.
The book is available on Kindle and Paperback.
The book is leveled for 4th graders and up, and is the longest book I've written, so where in the 45,000 word mark.
It's the story of a group of boys who discover they have Extra human abilities and are sent to a school for students with their skills. And with any school there is bullying.
But what happens when the bully is a super-hero?
The story continues after there has been a mysterious explosion on campus, and students are concerned that a mysterious underground group The Dark Cloud has returned.
Summary: Jake is learning about the first discovered Extra during World War I.
Chapter 1 No-Man’s Land
Jake woke up with a start and wiped blood off of his nose. He was not in his bed, but on the floor. “Ow. I must have been dreaming,” he said to himself. He stood up and looked around his room. He looked at the display on the wall. It was 7 am. April 1.
Time to get up and go to class. He grabbed a tissue for his still stinging nose. It felt like someone had hit him square in the nose. “Oh, I hope this doesn’t swell. I can’t go to class with a swollen nose.”
Mark Daniels, his roommate, was snoring loudly. His mouth wide open with drool wetting his pillow.
Jake opened the shades to the window. A helicopter hovered over the medical building. It had been there since the night before. The top windows of the medical building were blown out.
Jake let the shades back down and he went to take a shower. He punched Mark in the shoulder as he walked by.
“I’m up. I’m up!” Mark said.
The dining hall was quiet, even though it was full of students ready for the day. Despite the fact an explosion occurred on campus the evening before, the school administration wanted the day to continue as normal. When there is no place for the students to go outside of campus, keeping schedules normal is the best way to keep the students from getting restless.
Jake sat down at a table by himself. He looked around and saw he was the only fourth grader eating breakfast. He looked at his eggs and cereal, and took a bite of eggs in silence. It was the quietest moment he had had in several days.
Red put his tray down next to him, “Good morning sunshine,” he said slamming a Dolbin Ball on the table. The quiet moment was over.
Red nodded towards the ball. “Some of us are going to throw a little before class. Join us.”
Mark strolled in and sat down next to Jake. “Morning sunshine,” said Jake.
Mark wiped his eyes and yawned.
Cal Thomas and Henry Cho sat down with the rest of the boys. Cal smiled at the white, slightly oblong Dolbin Ball, “Want to throw before class?”
“Of course I do,” replied Red.
Bruce, Red’s roommate, sat down and rounded out the group. Bruce shoveled eggs into his mouth and gulped down his orange juice.
The boys inhaled the rest of their breakfast and rushed out the door.
April brought warm, pleasant weather. The sun was just peaking over the campus buildings as the boys walked onto the Quad.
Bruce held the ball and pointed to Mark, “Go deep.” Bruce let the ball go and Mark, with his speed, took off. Mark weaved in and out of the other students, headed to the ball. He reached his hands out and caught it.. He spiked the ball on the ground and did a dance.
“Nice catch, but work on the dance,” commented a nearby teenager, who was clearly old enough to be in the high school. The teenager was large-- over six feet tall, with large biceps, and a broad chest. His Dolbin shirt look as if it would rip if he flexed.
Mark was dumbfounded for a moment. No high school student had ever talked to him before. “Um…Thanks!” And Mark turned around and bolted back to his friends.
Holding onto the ball, Mark turned and looked at Jake, “Go long!” Mark pointed as if he was going to throw the ball a mile.
Jake smiled at the thought of Mark being able to throw the ball that far. “Yes sir!” Jake saluted and turned to run. Jake looked over his right shoulder as he ran. Mark leaned back and let the ball go. Jake kept his eye on the ball, and it landed gently into his hands.
Then suddenly, from his left side, Jake was lifted into the air, and he landed on his right arm, still holding on to the ball. He looked up, and towering over him was a hulking, muscular student, who was also holding a Dolbin Ball.
The massive student reached out his hand, “I’m sorry! Are you okay little buddy?”
Jake tried to not groan as reached for the hand. He didn’t want to show how much it hurt. But it did. “Thanks. I am all right.”
The student lifted Jake quickly off the ground. And then brushed off Jake’s shirt. Jake wasn’t sure what to do.
“I’m Joseph,” said the student as he was still brushing Jake’s shirt off. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m good,” Jake said with a whisper.
Jake started walking back to his friends. Joseph slapped Jake on the shoulder, “Wait, what is your name?”
Getting his voice back, he replied, “I’m Jake.”
“I remember you. You’re the new guy who helped the night of the helicopter crash.”
“Yes, I was up there. But I didn’t do much.”
“Doesn’t matter. You are a new student and you helped with a bad situation.” Joseph stuck out his hand.
Jake took the massive hand and shook it. “Thanks.”
“I’ll see you around, Jake.” He patted him on the back, and Jake walked back to his friends. His friends stared with their mouths gaping open.
Jake shrugged his shoulders. “What?”
Bruce pointed over Jake’s shoulder, “That is Joseph Romano. The star Dolbin player. And you survived getting knocked down by him.” Bruce was in awe.
“And he talked to you,” said Cal.
Jake looked over his shoulder, “He seemed nice.”
“You just spoke to one of the most popular seniors at the school. I just need you to realize that,” continued Bruce.
A loud beeping noise interrupted their idol worship. A truck backed up next to the medical building that just a few days before had the top floor blown out in an explosion. Workers were going in and out with a frantic pace. The covered truck backed up close to the door of the building. A worker opened the back of the truck, pulled down a ramp, and several wheeled robots rolled down the ramp. They were painted white, they had front loading grabbers that looked like large lobster claws.
Mark stared in awe as they rolled into the building.
“Look, they already know where to go. The workers are just getting out of their way.” Mark was fascinated.
Jake patted him on the back. “We’ll watch them later. Time to go to class.”
The rest of the group was also mesmerized by the robots. It took them a moment to realize they needed to follow Jake to class as well.
Henry ran to catch up with Mark. “I think those were C-class power lifters. I read about those. They help lift building equipment. Just program in what is needed and they go to work. What I wouldn’t give to be able to program one of those.”
Bruce walked past them, “Let’s go fellas, they’re just robots.” Henry and Mark followed the rest of the boys to class.
“But they’re amazing robots,” Henry said under his breath.
The thick glass doors slid quietly open as they walked into the Dolbin building. The boys walked past the main foyer where the Dolbin symbol hung. It was a large tapestry with a boy and girl staring off into the sky in a noble gaze and at the bottom with the words, To Educate, Serve, and Protect. Students and faculty walked quickly to their destinations.
Jake skipped the elevators and went up the stairs with several students headed to classes. Jake and the boys got off at the second floor. The building was circular in shape and enclosed with thick safety glass. The boys passed large exotic plants and a fish tank with beautiful exotic reef fish.
Just past the fish tank and plants, the door to Professor Guinness’ class was open. The professor was standing at his door as the students entered. His brown curly hair matched his brown bushy beard. He wore a brown tweed jacket. He looked the part of a professor.
Jake and Mark walked in to the class. Cal, Henry, Red, and Bruce kept walking to their class. “Catch you guys later,” Bruce and the other boys waved.
“Good Morning, gentlemen. Come find your seats,” instructed the professor.
Jake and Mark sat down near the aisle. There were no assigned seats in Professor Guinness’ class. Yet another change from their old elementary school. No teacher at Kane Elementary would ever even remotely consider allowing students to choose where to sit. It was like a conspiracy.
Jake and Mark opened the day’s lesson on their tablet. Another change from their old school. Every student had a tablet, and every teacher knew how to use the technology. Consequently, in Professor Guinness’ class the lesson was already up and loaded onto everyone’s tablet before the lesson even started. A student complaining, “What are we learning about?” would never be tolerated. The lesson was already in front of you.
Jake swung his backpack onto the back of his chair. He looked at his tablet and read the top of the page. “William Jordan,” he scrolled a little further down the page.
Mark was reading his tablet too. “Looks like another of the early discovered Extras.”
Professor Guinness walked to the front of the class, and he cleared his throat. “Ladies and Gentlemen, you should have today’s lesson on William Jordan in the front of you.”
Class was interrupted by the sound of someone sprinting down the hall. Brad entered the classroom breathing heavy.
“Thank you for joining us Mr. Cushing, please take a seat.” Professor Guinness held out his hand toward an empty seat. Brad sat down two rows in front of Jake and Mark. They exchanged glances. Brad gave them a pained, frustrated look.
Jake shrugged his shoulders and whispered, “What?”
“May I have your attention Mr. Cooper?” Professor Guinness said looking away from the screen at the front of the room.
Jake shifted in his seat, embarrassed.
The professor continued, “William Jordan is the first Extra recorded here in the United States.” A photograph of Jordan appeared on the screen at the front of the classroom. He was clearly a teenager in the photograph, sixteen to seventeen years old. His light brown hair cut short and parted to the right-side of his face. He was wearing overalls in the photographs.
Professor Guinness continued, “Mr. Jordan was born to a farming family in Iowa in 1899. When the United States entered World War I in 1917 he was put in the infantry. During a trench battle Jordan did the unthinkable and left the trench and ran across the no-man’s land area of the battle.”
Mark raised his hand, “No-Man’s Land, sir?”
“The area between opposing side trenches was called No-Man’s Land because soldiers rarely left the safety of the trenches. Battles were slow in the first world war, the defense mostly won battles. Being out in the open between trenches was a very dangerous place to be. So soldiers didn’t venture out much into the area.
“Jordan’s job was to move supplies from reserve trench to the front line trench. One day when moving supplies, according to reports, the trench collapsed in front of Jordan blocking his way. He quickly realized that the only way to complete his mission was to get out of the trench. Climbing out with supplies on his back he ventured out into the open. When the bullets and artillery exploded around him, the adrenaline in his body took over and bolted right past the front line, and out into No-Man’s-Land. The area between opposing sides in trench warfare. In the midst of his running, he turned and left the battle. Within minutes he was nearly a mile outside of the battle zone. When he finally stopped and realized where he was, panic and fear set in. Something that has happened to a lot of Extras, when their skills first appear. He looked around, and came to the realization that he was alone and away from the battle.”
“Wouldn’t that be considered desertion? Wouldn’t he be in trouble for leaving like that?” Mark asked.
“Yes. It could be considered that,” Guinness replied. “Fortunately, Jordan realized that. After a few minutes of panic, realizing where he was and not quite sure how he got there, he turned around and began walking back to his regiment.”
“I would have just stayed out of the battle,” Brad spoke to himself.
Professor Guinness looked down his glasses at Brad. “And where would he have gone, Mr. Cushing? He didn’t know the language or anyone else. And he wanted to help his friends. That is what heroes do.”
Brad shuffled in his seat. The students near him looked down at their tablets, embarrassed for Brad.
Guinness continued, “If you look at the map on your tablet you will see marked where the battle was happening and where Jordan, according his own recounting, ran to in his moment of panic and just how far he had to go back.’
A map of France appeared on all the students’ tablet, with red dots indicating where Jordan began his mission and where he stopped.
“Why didn’t this get him into trouble? Wouldn’t the officers have noticed what he did?” Brad shouted out.
Guinness took a deep breath, “Please raise your hand Mr. Cushing, I cannot teach with interruptions.” A few snickers occurred around Brad, his face turned red. “But, yes you are correct, let’s just say he does get noticed by his superiors.” Guinness looked down at this tablet, tapped it twice, and a black and white photograph appeared on the front screen. “Here is Jordan, with several of his friends. The man on the right side of the screen is Sergeant Leroy Cavanaugh. He is the man who first notices Jordan.”
Guinness continued his lesson. Jake took notes, learning that Cavanaugh knew the importance of Jordan’s skill in the war. Jordan was clearly something special. His Extra skills were of great value to the war effort.