Schooled!

Jaf Daskal's ability to 'disappear' in a crowd and his flexible ethics are valued by his mentor and the Secret Service Academy. The SSA's food and lodging are valued by Jaf. His fellow future spies make it clear the outsider 'charity case' is not welcome, and soon he's exiled to 'the losers table' in the mess hall -- which may turn out to be the luckiest break for him. The 'losers' are fellow outsiders, children of employees, who can explain the academy's culture and physical plant to Jaf. They share secret passages and the webs of influence and power among the other students. As nasty as the mean streets of his old town and the meaner world of politics were, they don't prepare him for the nasty intrigues and snares in a society of adolescents schooled to be two-faced scoundrels for the Emperor. Newby Jaf falls victim to a sexual prank, but it goes wrong and instead of being made a laughingstock his prestige goes up. His frustrated tormenters vow to bring him down while other intriguers want to recruit him, and still others want to seduce him. All too aware of his cravings for acceptance and sex he pinballs from one peril to another, betrayal and covert encouragement guiding his paths to a spectacular graduation.