Psion Delta (Psion series #3)

by Jacob Gowans

  Jeffie. You like Jeffie.

  I can like Kawai, too. Or Strawberry. Jeffie is with Kobe. Kawai is right here in front of you. And she said she likes me.

  But she isn’t Jeffie. You’ve never even been attracted to her before now.

  But she is definitely attractive. And Jeffie has never said things like that to me!

  She doesn’t know how. They aren’t the same person. You don’t like Kawai.

  Maybe I do!

  You don’t! If you did, you’d have thought about kissing her before right now!

  SHUT UP! I want to be held and kissed like Jeffie and Brickert and Natalia and everyone else. I want to know what it’s like!

  Sammy looked at Kawai again. A calm expression stayed on her face. Waiting. Waiting, perhaps, for the battle inside Sammy’s mind to resolve itself. When he didn’t act, she moved, breaking the spell and ending the turmoil.

  “You really like her. I know. But I’m still glad I told you what I did.” Kawai spoke as she gathered the remnants of her lunch. Sammy wondered if he’d hurt her. “She still likes you, too. Jeffie’s, well, you already know how she is.” Kawai stood up, towering over him. Before leaving, she bent down and placed her lips on Sammy’s forehead. “Good luck on your mission.”

  I knew they’d be warm and soft!

  The rest of the day went by smoothly. Sammy and Kawai had no awkwardness between them. It was as though the almost-kiss had never happened. Wednesday morning, Sammy sent the major a message saying that he’d like to stay at Beta the extra month. That night, as Sammy was going to bed, he got a text from Jeffie.

  Sammy,

  I want to say goodbye to you in the morning. Natalia told me what time you have to leave. I’ll meet you in the hallway five minutes before then.

  Gefjon

  Sammy sighed as he set his com on its charger. Should I feel hopeful or not? The question stayed with him until he fell asleep.

  The alarm on his com woke him at 0500, an hour before everyone else would rise. He’d been told to meet his squadron leader at 0530 on the roof. (“Punctuality is part of your grade,” one of the commanders had mentioned.) Brickert snored softly in his bed and turned away when Sammy climbed down from his bunk. Quietly, Sammy dressed in one of his blue Beta jumpsuits and paused in the doorway.

  “See ya, Brick,” he said.

  “See you in a few days, bro,” his friend mumbled as he raised his face a few centimeters off his pillow. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

  “Haha. I’ll try not to.” He stopped in the restroom to gather his toiletries from his cubby, then continued upstairs. When he reached the second floor landing outside the girls’ dormitory, his com showed 0515. He sat and waited for Jeffie to come out and say goodbye.

  His stomach growled and he wondered if he would get breakfast at Alpha headquarters. Then he glanced once more at the clock.

  0518

  I wonder if she’ll kiss me on the cheek again. He remembered fondly the time he’d left for Rio, almost eight months ago now. His brain had gone fuzzy as he closed his eyes and felt Jeffie’s lips press on his cheek. Was that really only eight months ago? Time had warped somewhere in the last eight months, because it seemed more like eight years since he’d last stood there with her. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a good idea. What’s the point?

  0522

  He drummed his fingers on his knees, starting slow but getting faster each moment until he was conscious of what he was doing. Then he stood up. He sat down. He stood again and kicked the wall lightly.

  0524

  Are you kidding me? Sammy watched his clock until it turned 0525. His heart rate picked up and he began to count the seconds to see exactly how late Jeffie would be so he could tease her about it.

  0526

  Worry set in. He tried to calculate how long it would take him to reach the rooftop if he ran the steps. He guessed he’d need exactly one minute if he sprinted.

  0527

  Come on, Jeffie! Where are you? Was she playing a trick on him? Was she trying to get back at him for eating lunch with Kawai? He didn’t understand.

  0528

  Reality had completely reversed itself. How could a single minute of time seem agonizingly long, and then rush by at such an astonishing speed?

  0529

  With one last glance at the dormitory door, Sammy pounded up the stairs. As he opened the door to the third floor, he heard the door to the dormitory open.

  “Sammy?” Jeffie’s voice rang out.

  He swore at her under his breath and continued toward the roof. Up to the fourth floor, up to the fifth, then to the sixth where he emerged on the roof right before his clock struck 0531.

  “Sammy?”

  A woman he’d never seen before stood next to a cruiser, leaning on it casually. He clutched his travel bag tightly and walked to her. She outstretched her hand and shook his with a strong grip.

  “Anna Lukic. Honcho of Charlie Squadron. Nice to finally meet.”

  “Hi—er—I’m—right, you know me already.”

  “Nice. Ready to go? It’s a short flight.”

  Sammy threw his bag into the cargo space and closed the back door of the ship. Painted on the side of the cruiser was a man with bushy, black eyebrows and a small black mustache and a long nose. He wore a black bowler hat to match his dapper suit. In one hand he held a large ticket made of gold, and the other hand was balled into a fist. On dirty tape wrapped around his knuckles, the word FATE had been written in black letters.

  “What does the picture mean?” Sammy asked as he climbed into the co-pilot’s chair.

  Anna looked at him as if he was crazy. “Think about it.”

  Sammy didn’t particularly care to at the moment. “I have no idea.”

  His squadron leader pouted at him disappointedly. “Famous Charlies. Controlling our own fate, having a bit of good luck, and maintaining a healthy sense of humor . . . it’s what we stand for.”

  “I was hoping you could give me some more information about the mission. Major Tawhiri wasn’t very clear about—”

  Anna patted him on the shoulder. “Hold onto your horses, cowboy! No one’s going to leave you hanging. First things first, you need to check into a housing unit. Then breakfast. Then you need to be introduced to the team. Then we have a bunch of meetings. Sound like fun?”

  “Um . . . yes.”

  “Liar. Tell me a little about yourself.”

  Sammy tried to talk about himself for the duration of their short ride, but he didn’t feel comfortable around her, and she didn’t ask many questions. They arrived at Alpha much quicker than Sammy remembered. When he mentioned this, Anna winked at him. “Keepin’ the pedal to the metal.”

  They landed on a runway and came to a stop by a booth. A man came out and waved. “Morning, Lukic,” he said. “You want me to put Charlie back in Hangar C?”

  “Roger that!” she returned. “Thanks!”

  Sammy grabbed his bag and let Anna lead him to a line of several small carts standing in a line near the edge of the runway. They drove into the campus village with narrow cement paths connecting dozens of identical houses. Large trees shaded much of the community and blocked the rays of the rising sun from blinding Sammy. In the distance he saw larger buildings and more people walking or using a cart to go about their business.

  Anna stopped the cart in front of a unit. “Number one-four-three. It’s pretty close to everything so you won’t get lost.”

  Sammy rolled his eyes and followed her up to the door.

  “Eye-scan here, please.” She pointed. Once they heard a click, she pulled on the door. “In we go. Set the bag down and come with me. Breakfast is next.”

  They sat in a larger, nicer version of the Beta cafeteria. Anna explained that this was one of two cafeterias on the campus. Both had Robochefs and real chefs. Sammy attacked breakfast with an enthusiasm that surprised Anna. “Age fifteen, right?” she asked him.

  He nodded, his mouth occupied. He noticed a few oth
er people in the room shooting him curious looks.

  “I’d’ve guessed you’re older, cowboy.” She eyed him with mock skepticism. “Looking at you . . . seventeen or even eighteen. You got muscles. Plus, there’s something in your eyes.”

  He wasn’t sure what that meant, so he let it pass. He thought about asking her how old she was, but a voice in his head that sounded like Jeffie’s backed him off the idea. Anna did not eat, she talked. This slowed down Sammy’s meal considerably. Before he finished, Al and Marie joined them at their table. Marie gave him a hug, and Al followed it with a strong clap on the shoulder. Once she could see that Sammy was in good hands, Anna excused herself to prepare for the squad meeting.

  “Guess what?” Al asked.

  “You’re married!” Sammy said, feigning surprise.

  “Well, sure, but I met my grandparents. Marie, too. My dad flew us out there.”

  Sammy listened while Marie and Al talked about their trip to Glasgow—a place he had never heard of before that moment. Marie’s excitement about the trip was equal to—if not greater than—her husband’s. It both thrilled and relieved Sammy to hear that the Byrons were safe and the resistance still thrived under their leadership.

  “Why aren’t you two in the same squadron?” Sammy asked after they’d finished talking about their excursion.

  “Conflict of interests,” Al explained.

  “Al would put me in front of the mission if it came to it,” Marie said, winking at her husband.

  Al grinned. “Can you blame me, Sammy? But, hey, at least you get to hang out with me from now on, right?”

  “I can’t say I didn’t want you on my team, Sammy,” Marie said. “Because, you know—”

  “Sammy always wins!” Al finished for her.

  They continued talking until Al and Sammy had to go. Al pecked his wife on the lips and told her he’d try to concentrate on the meeting and not on her. Marie blushed as they parted. Sammy followed Al to their next destination. The bustle around Alpha headquarters had grown in the last hour. Gray jumpsuits were everywhere, all like the one Sammy had worn on Al’s mission to Rio. As they traversed the campus, Al pointed out different buildings.

  “The training sessions here can be far more complex. If our squadron wants to simulate a battle, we have huge advanced sim rooms that let us do it. The rooms can interact with the entire squadron at the same time. I asked my dad how much those cost, but he wouldn’t tell me. I guess the systems they have here blow Beta headquarters out of the water. Trust me, you’re going to wake up smiling and looking forward to sim training. No more Games, but it’s a worthy trade. Oh, and you’ll start getting paid real money, not the little stipend we got at Beta. Won’t that be nice?”

  “How much?” The stipend the Betas received was about five dollars a week. The idea of having more money to spend intrigued him.

  “Starting salary isn’t anything crazy,” Al told him. “Two hundred a week.”

  “Two hundred a week?” Sammy repeated. “That’s awesome!”

  “And no costs for room or board. Marie and I have already started a retirement investment account.”

  Words like retirement and investment may as well have been part of a foreign language. Sammy was already trying to figure out how long he’d have to save up to turn a wall into a holo-screen. All the ideas of things he could buy made him giddy and consumed his thoughts until they arrived at the building where he would meet Charlie Squadron.

  Al opened the door for him, and they walked into a large building with a small entryway where the inside was as boring as the outside. White walls, a single wastebasket, a plant, and a keypad on the far wall were the only things Sammy could see. Al punched numbers into the keypad and the white wall vanished, exposing a long corridor. The halls were painted the same stark white as the hallways at Beta.

  What is wrong with these government people? Sammy wondered. Are they anti-color?

  As they moved, Al checked his com. “Number twelve,” he commented to himself. Then he stopped at the door with a large number twelve on the front.

  “Finally,” Anna said as they walked in. “Late again, Byron. Did you get nothing but broken clocks for your wedding? Take a seat.”

  Sammy looked around the small room filled with faces of people he did not know. Everyone wore a gray jumpsuit with the Alpha symbol emblazoned on the front. Everyone except himself. All the eyes in the room watched him as he followed Al to a seat.

  “As everyone can see, Berhane’s here. I already mentioned this in past meetings, so no surprises. Everyone introduce yourself to Sammy so he knows some names.”

  One by one, the members of Charlie Squadron rattled off their names. Like Beta headquarters, many different ethnicities were represented in the room of about a dozen people: Wang, Cheng, Brizendine, Yazzie, Hyävrinen, Juraschek, Kolomiyets, Avery, Dinsmore, Garrett, and Maru were the names.

  “Charlie’s the most diverse squadron out there, Sammy. We have Tensais—” She pointed to Avni Maru and Justice Juraschek. “Ultras—” Nikotai Wang and Jerome Yazzie saluted. “Elite—” Vladimir Kolomiyets, Tom Garrett, and Kallen Dinsmore nodded at Sammy. “The rest of us are Psions. Lots of squads have mostly one or two anomalies. Our diversity makes us the best squad of them all.”

  Everyone in the room voiced their agreement.

  “The assignment for our next mission came last night.” She held up a pink slip in her hand, grinning at her comrades. “Sleep was not my friend as you can guess, so y’all had better appreciate my hard work. . . . ”

  With a flourish, Anna spoke the code into her com. After she finished, a panel on the wall behind her lit up. She placed her hand on it and waited for the scan. Then it scanned her retina.

  “Confirmation complete,” a tin voice spoke. The lights in the room dimmed and a holo-projector from the back of the room displayed the NWG logo in holographic form.

  “Charlie Squadron,” the voice of Commander Havelbert began, “you have been selected based on your previous performances to determine the location of escaped—”

  At that moment, a dozen bodies rose from their chairs and cheered as if their team had won the World Cup. Sammy didn’t understand what was going on. High fives and fist slams passed around the room.

  “Calm down!” Anna shouted. “Gotta hear the rest!”

  The room quieted again, and Commander Havelbert’s voice could be heard once more.

  “—targets are shown here.”

  Projected in front of the room were nine holo-pictures: seven men and two women. Two of the men were obviously Thirteens. Sammy suspected two others were Aegis.

  “Two escaped Thirteens, two Aegis, four rogue Elites, and another government-employed traitor, Junko Sokama. Sokama is considered the target primo. Using her high-level security clearance at the prison, she killed Victor Wrobel and helped orchestrate the escape.”

  “What a frump,” Dinsmore, one of the Elite, whispered to his neighbor, Brey Avery.

  Havelbert’s recording spoke on, unaware of the comments being made in the room. “Initially, we thought the prisoners were being led by the rogue Elite until we found the remains of two of the Elite ninety kilometers north of the prison. Right here.” A small x appeared on the map screen. “Now we believe the escaped Aegis and Thirteens survived the wastelands by eating the Elite. We expect the remaining two rogues will be killed next. Our analysts predicted the party would head southeast for Höth. It is the closest port to the prison and would allow them to travel through warmer climates. This proved a costly mistake, and the last squadron assigned to this mission lost them for several days. We finally picked up their trail at Mývatn.” Several dotted lines connected the x to a lake. “Now we are almost certain they intend to head back west for Akureyri. We estimate they will reach Akureyri within the next eight to nine days. Akureyri is a port city with boats large enough to get them back to CAG territory. They could possibly contact air support to pick them up as soon as they cross into CAG waters. We cannot a
llow them to reach Akureyri, which is why we have chosen you, Charlie Squadron.

  “You are authorized to use deadly force if necessary, but recapturing the escaped convicts and any other Thirteens or Aegis who may be here aiding them is preferential. Junko Sokama is the highest priority target. We believe that she possesses stolen, sensitive information acquired through Wrobel’s sabotage of NWG computer networks, and is trying to smuggle it back to the CAG. Because our thermal and infrared tracking methods have been ineffective, we suspect they are clothed against advanced detection methods. Lakes, caves, and rock formations run all along the coast, and we suspect the convicts have been using these to hide for weeks. You will most likely find success performing aerial and ground searches. Use any extrication methods deemed necessary within reasonable limits. The Beta accompanying you on the mission should be used in an observational and limited-use role only. Otherwise, please maintain standard protocol for a long-term mission. All relevant maps, dossiers, and other data have been uploaded to your squadron’s server. Your launch date is the twenty-fourth of July. Good luck and God speed!”

  Anna took control of the room once more. “Well, Sammy, Charlie Squadron got the mission that every other squad wanted. That should tell you something about our team.” Her face shone with the same pride Sammy had seen in Byron a few times. He thought Anna looked quite beautiful in this light, even though she was at least fifteen years his senior. “No need to say how important this mission is for our squad’s cred among Command circles. Get this right and we become the go-to team.”

  Sammy glanced around the room and saw that this idea motivated everyone.

  “Command thinks the targets are headed toward Akureyri. That’s a major energy center on Capitol Island. It’s seated inside a fjord called Eyjafjörður. Not sure I pronounced it correctly, but it’ll do. The targets could come in from the roads or from one of several trails through the mountains. The snow’s melted and the runoff has cleared, too, but with all the rainfall this year, it’ll be muddy and slow for them to travel on foot. I’m splitting the squadron up into six pairs.”