Bound - The Primori Academy

A Knock at Dawn

# Chapter 2: A Knock at Dawn

Three flights of stairs later, Isabella unlocked the apartment she'd called home for the last ten years. One room. One bathroom. One narrow window overlooking a forest of smokestacks. The place wasn't much, but it was clean. The bed was made. Dishes were put away. Tools had their own shelf. Books were stacked by subject instead of size. Everything had a place.

Everything except the silence. It lingered differently now. Ruth had never lived here, but after the funeral she'd somehow filled the apartment with memories anyway.

Isabella set her tool belt beside the table and reached automatically for the coffee maker.

A knock sounded at the door.

She froze. No one visited at six in the morning. The landlord usually texted. Kevin from downstairs shouted through the hallway. This knock was measured. Professional. Another followed a few seconds later. Three evenly spaced taps.

Isabella crossed the apartment quietly and checked the security screen. A woman stood outside in a crisp charcoal uniform, tablet tucked beneath one arm. The insignia stitched onto her shoulder made Isabella's breath catch.

**Terran Space Directorate.**

TSD personnel didn't come to the Lower Works unless something had gone very, very wrong. Or impossibly right.

She opened the door.

The courier looked up. "Isabella Delgado?"

"Yes."

"I have a restricted delivery requiring biometric verification." She held out the tablet.

Isabella pressed her thumb against the scanner. The device chimed. Verification complete.

Without another word, the courier reached into her satchel and removed a thick cream-colored envelope embossed with a seal Isabella recognized instantly. Not because she'd ever seen one in person. Because every child on Earth knew it.

The crest of Primori Academy.

The courier placed it carefully into Isabella's hands. "Congratulations, Ms. Delgado." For the first time, there was the faintest hint of warmth behind the woman's practiced professionalism. "Someone from the Academy will contact you shortly with further instructions."

She turned and walked away before Isabella could ask a single question.

Isabella stepped back inside and closed the door.

Her hands were shaking.

She knew that seal. Everyone knew that seal. The Terran Space Directorate's official crest, used only for the most important communications. Below it, embossed in smaller text: *Primori Academy*.

Isabella set the envelope on her small table and stared at it.

Primori Academy. Humanity's premier military training institution. The academy that produced the fleet commanders, the tactical officers, the leaders who protected Earth and its colonies from external threats. The academy that accepted perhaps three hundred new cadets each year from a pool of tens of thousands of applicants.

The academy that was so far beyond her reach it might as well have been on another planet.

Isabella had taken the entrance examination on a whim six months ago. Ruth had encouraged it—pushed for it, really, in that quiet, relentless way she had of pushing Isabella toward things that seemed impossible. "You're brilliant," Ruth had said. "You solve problems most engineers twice your age can't figure out. At least try."

So Isabella had tried. She'd spent three hours in a testing center in the commercial district, surrounded by candidates who'd attended elite prep schools and had family connections and wore clothes that cost more than her monthly rent. She'd completed the examination, walked out, and promptly forgotten about it.

Because people from the Lower Works didn't get into Primori Academy.

Isabella's hands were still shaking as she picked up the envelope and broke the seal.

The letter inside was brief. Formal. Typed on paper that felt expensive under her fingers.

*Dear Ms. Delgado,*

*It is our pleasure to inform you that you have been selected as one of five recipients of a full scholarship to Primori Academy for the upcoming academic year. Your performance on the entrance examination demonstrated exceptional aptitude in tactical analysis, spatial reasoning, and adaptive problem-solving.*

*This scholarship covers all tuition, housing, and related expenses for the duration of your training. You are required to report to the Earth Civilian Processing Center on August 20th for transport to Primori Academy. Detailed instructions and required documentation are attached.*

*Welcome to Primori Academy.*