Ghost Academy 1: Summer Term, page 1
Ghost Academy 1
SUMMER TERM
D.L. BACON
Copyright © 2025 by Royal Guard Publishing LLC
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Contents
1. Old Town, New Job
2. Not Alone
3. Crossing Over
4. Dean Tempest
5. Activation
6. Deal with the Dean
7. Current Status
8. So Good and So Fresh
9. There’s No Place Like Haven
10. Human Energy
11. The Back Door
12. A Medium’s Role
13. Anchoring
14. Tone it Down
15. Shock and Awe
16. The Secret’s Out
17. Too Far
18. Team Player
19. Tip of the Iceberg
20. Visualization Techniques
21. This is Bowling
22. Malt Liquor Repairs
23. Whoops
24. Home Run
25. Sleeping Arrangements
26. Delightful Teriyaki
27. Making Progress
28. Taking a Step Back
29. Breaking Through
30. Three’s Company
31. More Than You Imagined
32. Another Way
33. Pulled Back In
34. Peppermint
35. Family Barbecue
36. Mocha Magic
37. Dog Fight
38. That Would be so Dirty
39. The Scammer
Author’s Notes
Check This Out!
Chapter 1
Old Town, New Job
For half a second, Nick Summerland nearly let the truth slip out. He was still adjusting to getting a full night’s sleep again, and it was making him careless. Though he felt more like a normal person with each passing day back in his hometown of Silvervale, Washington, he couldn’t drop his guard in front of his new boss.
He was on the verge of telling Jared, the Director of Technology, why he’d really left his cush job at Seattle’s leading cybersecurity company. Then he remembered it was better not to mention why he’d moved two hours south to work in the tiny IT department of Cedar Hills Community College.
Being honest about his issues only made people laugh, roll their eyes, or avoid him.
Nick bought himself a moment to recover by pretending he had a tickle in his throat, and coughed into his hand. “I guess the A/C’s drying me out.”
Jared smiled wryly and nodded. “Yeah, it happens to plenty of people back here. Our offices share a wall with the server room, and the insulation in this area of the building isn’t the greatest. But we gotta keep the stacks cold.” The thin man in his mid-forties jiggled his mouse. He already had one of his two monitors tilted in Nick’s direction, and Nick watched him quickly open an automated ticketing system on his screen. “I’ll make sure someone from maintenance puts a humidifier in your office.”
Nick pulled a Monster Ultra Blue out of his messenger bag, pointed at the can, and cracked it open after Jared gave a nod and a thumbs up. He gave Jared’s office another glance as he took a swig of his sweet energy drink. Despite being born and raised in Starbucks country, he had never developed a taste for coffee.
The room was a decent size, with ample space for a three-person table and chairs, Jared’s desk, and a handful of shelves and file cabinets. A business-grade laptop sat on a lowered standing desk, plugged into a dock beneath the two large monitors. A tablet and two Chromebooks were stacked on the very edge of the desk.
“What was your question again?” Nick asked, resting the energy drink on the knee of his black slacks. His eyes continued down the shelves and caught on what appeared to be a rough, 3D-printed Balrog holding the Lombardi Trophy in its meaty claws.
His new boss—the Director of Technology—pressed the “Submit” button and fixed Nick with a conspiratorial, relaxed grin. His teeth were bright against his light tan, and he wore a deep green Patagonia polo tucked into gray slacks. “Seeing as we’re past the interview stage, I figured it was safe for me to ask why you really left Knight Watch.”
Jared looked around his office as if someone might be listening in on their conversation and lowered his voice, but the grin remained on his face. “Don’t get me wrong, working for Cedar Hills isn’t bad, but Knight Watch is the dream for most folks in IT. Swank office in a high rise in downtown Seattle—and from what I’ve heard, a huge salary and great benefits. You’re only just starting your career. You’re what, like twenty-five? Why’d you give that up?”
Nick was asked a similar, more carefully-worded version of Jared’s question during his interview the previous month. At the time, he gave the interview committee a sanitized and safe answer: “I want to give back to the community of my hometown.”
It was partially true—Nick wanted to do something constructive in his hometown, but the real reason was grim.
“I get that a lot. I’m actually twenty-four. To answer your other question, life in Seattle was a bit too hectic for me,” Nick began carefully. He figured if he could shroud some of his weird reasons for leaving behind a few logical explanations, it would be enough to satisfy his new boss’s curiosity. “I’m not antisocial or anything, but I tend to work better independently or in small groups.”
The more people I’m around, the more likely it is that I’ll hear a sound like the loudest rushing wind you can imagine. And—eff my life—I’m the only one who can hear it.
He continued, “When I started at Knight Watch, it was as an intern while I was still in school. Up until recently, my job kept me pretty isolated.”
Along with the sound of gale-force wind, I also feel random, severe temperature drops while the HVAC continues to maintain a comfortable environment for everyone else.
“A little over a year ago, our CFO hired a design and efficiency firm to evaluate our entire operation.”
The worst thing is when I see one of those damn clocks—a death clock—over a person’s head. Unfortunately, I know it means they have less than a year left to live.
“The firm had a list of recommendations, but their biggest pushes were for us to adopt an open-concept office and to integrate all teams.”
Whenever I try to warn someone about the clock, they either ignore me or think I’m crazy. Then, within a year, they die, and I’m left feeling like I should have done more. Made them listen to me. I’ve been to so many funerals, I should have a punch card.
“Three months ago, the renovations were finished, and my single office became an open desk in a massive room.”
I was slammed with constant temperature changes, and the roar of rushing wind was relentless. My noise canceling headphones lowered it from a hurricane to a heavy wind storm, but it still made it impossible to focus.
Nick adopted a conspiratorial grin similar to the one Jared used earlier. “Since this is my first day at Cedar Hills Community College, it might not be the best time to admit that I got distracted by all of the chatter. I found it difficult to concentrate on my work.”
Two of my coworkers had clocks appear above their heads, and I wasn’t able to convince either one of them to seek medical attention or be extra cautious. Even my anonymous notes failed to move the needle. If they weren’t going to listen to me, I wasn’t going to watch them die.
“I tried everything I could think of to ignore the interruptions, but none of it seemed to work. I started coming in a few hours earlier than anyone else and staying late in order to finish my work when the room was empty. I asked to be remote but was denied due to my status as first backup on-site incident responder. In the end, I knew it wasn’t sustainable. I got burnt out.”
I knew I needed to be in an environment with fewer people—or I’d go insane.
“When my grandmother passed away, it dawned on me. Each of us has an uncertain amount of time. Why—” Nick caught himself. He was rambling. Jared appeared to be intently listening, but he worried his new boss was having second thoughts about hiring him. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to turn my answer into a ‘why are we all here’ kind of thing.”
Jared leaned back in his black faux leather chair, the fluorescent lights glinting off his short brown hair and high widow’s peak. He shook his head and waved off Nick’s last comment. “Nah. I’m almost twenty years older than you, and you’re describing an epiphany a lot of guys my age run into after their first heart attack or cancer scare.”
“I’m a Wisconsin native, but I actually started my career at JP Morgan Chase in Chicago. Hired as a green network admin, right out of college.” His eyebrows wiggled in a mock preen. “It was exciting, living in such a nonstop city. I worked crazy hours. Made mistakes. Blew my paycheck playing pretend at swanky cocktail bars. Even went to a Bears game, if you can believe that.”
He reached for his mug and took a quick sip. The white mug had blocky black lettering: There’s no place like 127.0.0.1.
“I met Maria—that’s my wife—in my early thirties, and we ended up honeymooning out here. Absolutely fell in love with the Pacific Northwest on a hike through Olympic National Park.” Jared jiggled his mouse on reflex. “We wanted a family. Silvervale, with its clean air and tall trees, was the right place to settle.
Nick smiled and nodded, not sure what else to say. As a teen, he’d felt like he couldn’t wait to leave small, boring Silvervale. It was reassuring that people were intentionally moving here—made him feel a little bit less like he was backpedaling in life.
Jared rolled his chair back with long, lanky legs. “Enough about life paths and all that. I’m just glad you’re here, Nick.”
He pulled open one of his desk drawers. Items rattled around as Jared fished out a set of keys and a badge. The older man set the keys and badge on his desk and slid them over. “Thanks for coming in last Friday to get the onboarding paperwork and fingerprinting done. HR always seems to get their collective panties in a bunch when a new employee doesn’t have those done before their first day.” Jared stood up, and Nick followed his lead.
The new Systems and Security Administrator quickly clipped his ID badge onto the lanyard he’d received from donating to the Woosley Fire relief fund, but Nick was at a loss for what to do with the huge wad of keys. The damned ring was nearly full and wouldn’t fit inside any of his pockets.
Jared chuckled at Nick’s obvious consternation. “Just keep ‘em in your bag for now. It’s kind of corny, but you’ll probably want to invest in one of those janitor-style keychains with the retractable cables. The others fought against using them, but even Lotus caved and bought one after her first week.”
“I’ll add it to my Amazon cart while I’m on lunch,” Nick said, stuffing the softball-sized mass of keys into his messenger bag.
The two men exited Jared’s office and walked into the open room that constituted the entirety of Cedar Hills Community College’s IT department. An extra long counter with a placard that read “Help Desk” faced the public entrance of the office. A series of tall, gray partitions in a C-shape formed a privacy area behind the help desk.
The long, laminate surface held two monitors, a dock, and a laser printer. Nick noticed a table behind the partitions. In direct contrast to the spotless help desk the staff and students would see, the table was a chaotic mess of laptop and PC plastics, screws, and tools.
A beautiful woman with black hair was sitting behind the help desk examining a laptop.
Nick had gotten a brief glimpse of the raven-haired woman when he’d entered the IT room earlier that morning. She was bending over to grab a PC case, so he’d only gotten to see the contours of her tight ass and lithe frame for a flash before his orientation with Jared.
As they approached the help desk, Nick finally got to see the woman up close. Her asymmetrical hair was styled like she’d watched too many cyberpunk anime, but the long locks on either side of her partially chin-length hair suited her face. He thought the bright purple highlights were a nice touch.
She was helping a bearded man in his late fifties when Jared and Nick stopped at the desk. Her light skin, pert nose, and high cheekbones set off her dark hair and sparkling eyes, making her look like a mischievous pixie.
The woman laughed at a self-deprecating remark the bearded man made, and her plump lips settled into a wry smile. The eggplant-purple polo she was wearing complimented the highlights in her hair and clung to the swell of her rounded tits and lean midsection. She appeared to be about the same age as Nick.
After the bearded man left, Jared cleared his throat. “Lotus, this is Nick. Nick, this is Lotus. While we all need to pitch in from time to time to keep Cedar Hills humming, Lotus is our primary on-site tech and help desk guru.”
Nick extended his hand. “Nice to meet you, Lotus.”
Lotus smiled and stood up. “And you, new systems-slash-security guy.” The dark-haired woman looked down at their clasped hands. Her eyes seemed to triple in size for a moment. She shook herself, raised an eyebrow, and studied Nick’s face.
Nick got the distinct sense that Lotus was checking him out. He’d had more than a few women flirt with him when he went out, but normally they weren’t so obvious about it.
Nick was six foot two, and he kept himself in good shape with mountain biking, snowboarding, and a bench and weight set in his home gym. His physique—along with short brown hair, hazel eyes, and ever-present stubble—seemed to garner a fair amount of attention from the opposite sex.
“I just finished giving Nick the basic first-day spiel, but I was hoping you could give him a tour of the campus,” Jared said, apparently oblivious to Lotus’s appraisal of Nick.
Lotus crossed her arms in front of her perky breasts and narrowed her eyes at Jared. “Does this mean you’re going to show Baker how to convert her PowerPoint into Slides for me? You know she thinks Google is the root of all evil.”
“This again?” Jared rolled his eyes and took a big swig from his coffee mug.
Another wry smile danced across Lotus’s face. “Technically, showing newbs around is part of your job, so it’s only fair that you take something off my plate, boss man.”
Jared rolled his eyes in mock indignation. “Fine. But you owe me a blondie the next time you go to Mocha Magic. Dealing with Baker is like fighting off a pack of Uruk-hai.”
Lotus pumped her fists in the air and bounced from foot to foot. “Deal! And for the record, I’d bring you a dozen to avoid another lecture on the dangers of big tech and their mind control devices.”
After her brief celebration, the female tech tilted her head toward Nick. “Come on, new systems-slash-security guy. Let’s make a break for it before the boss changes his mind.”
Jared shook his head. “Why don’t you have this kind of energy when Maria and I invite you out for a hike?”
Lotus moved around the desk. “You’re scaring the new guy, boss. If he hears too much about your outdoor team-building retreats, he might run back to Knight Watch.” The energized woman tugged on Nick’s blue polo sleeve. “Let’s boogie, Nick.”
Nick chuckled and allowed himself to be pulled out of the room. “Glad to hear that I’m not just the ‘new systems-slash-security guy’, Miss Primary Tech,” he said, once the door had closed.
He considered Lotus as they exited the IT department’s offices on the first floor of the administration building. Nick knew this job would throw some curveballs at him. For one, the role leaned more towards systems administration and less towards the security-focused position he was accustomed to. It also had regular hours, not all-hands-on-deck, on-call cyber attack hours. And second, he would only be supporting roughly two thousand users versus global Fortune 500 companies with tens of thousands of users spread across the world.
But so far, the biggest surprise was Lotus.
The gorgeous tech stopped in the center of the admin building’s lobby. She spun, crossed her arms in front of her chest, and tilted her head to the side. “Oh, I can see that you’re much more than just a systems-slash-security guy.” She grinned. “They’re going to love you.”
Nick frowned in confusion. Maybe it was part of being new, but he felt like there was an inside joke he was missing. “I’m sure they will…?”
Lotus laughed. “You’re a rare specimen, Nick. You’ll fit in just fine.”
Just as Nick was about to ask who “they” referred to, Lotus started moving down the hall with purpose. “Come on! I want to get through at least six of the buildings before I get another ‘urgent ticket.’ I mean, one word, people: restart!”
For the second time in less than five minutes, Nick was chuckling. Lotus was energetic, funny, a bit eccentric, and definitely sexy. Nick found himself relaxing in her company.
And so far, he hadn’t heard any rushing wind or felt a sudden icy pocket.
He couldn’t help but grin as they walked up a set of stairs and toward a sky bridge that connected the admin building to a hall of classrooms. As they marched through buildings, the black and purple-haired tech indicated network drops, access points, and new touchscreen panels as they moved between labs, small lecture halls, and empty staff rooms.
Lotus was just locking up an instructor’s office that contained a small network cabinet with a switch when she mentioned, “Finals were last week, so this place is going to be mostly dead for a while until we host Anderson’s new math conference. Oh, and summer semester will start later this month, but we probably won’t have very many students.”
Nick gave the situation some quick consideration while following Lotus toward the building’s exit. “Sounds like I’m starting at the perfect time.”
