Balance (8 page)

Nodding agreement, Michael stands.  Together, t
hey
depart the hall
headed back to their quarters.  No one
follows.

“Well, what do you think?”

“Commander Still … most impressive, t
he
young man
has
very unique skills.  I’d like to review the
videos
from the fight last night and today
’
s tryout. 
There’
s s
omething extraordinary about him.”

“And the girl?”

“Her
hand-to-hand
is unrefined, but
we’ll
improve that.  You said they’
ve had no direct interaction
prior to last night?”

“As I understood.” Still replies.

“
If that’
s true, she too is unique.  You may have found a diamond.  An excellen
t
Infiltrator
she may become.”

Rena’s wall computer chimes, 4:45AM.

She was exhausted
when she got back to her quarters
around 7:00
,
going
straight
to bed. 
N
ot acc
ustomed to long nights of sleep, s
he’
s
lain
awake in bed for the last hour, staring at the ceiling.  At least with t
he lights out,
the room is
less
sterile.
 
Last night’s tryout wei
ghs heavy on her mind.

‘
Many of the talents
we scouts deliver don’t
make it past the first night.’

It was just the two of them
against four trained
soldiers
, ‘roiders
no less
. 
Alexander said it was fortuitous
he discovered the two of
them
together.  Was he referring
to
Chango’s
good luck or their
chances of surviving the
tryout?
 
She
considers
the talent
s
invited
alone
,
abducted from their families,
just to die
their
first
night
.

Not
sure
of her own chances alone
, Rena
is
confident Michael would have survived without her
.
 
She’
s seen him fight
,
enough to know
,
the ‘roiders would n
ot have been prepared for him.

Michael?  She replays the fight in her head
,
as she has for the last hour.
 
Fortunately
,
she’
d dispatched her
attacker
and
was facing
him,
so she could watch it unfold.  After
the fight two nights ago, she’
d thought
Michael might have
superior reflexes.  That
would’ve
accounted for most of what she
’d
seen
in the cage.  Last night was
different;
it could
n’t
be reflexes alone.  The way
he flipped
the plate in the air, how he caught it, how he thr
e
w it.  All of th
e actions were connected,
all contributed to the
end-
result
.  He hit a rapidly moving target dead center.  That’s
almost im
possible.

She considers
maybe she’s over
thinking it,
m
aybe he just got lucky. 
If
n
o
t for the fact that connecting the dot
s
,
putting pieces together is what
she does well,
very
very well.
  She knows there’
s something
more involved
, more to what she saw.

Perplexed, she
gets out of bed. 
T
wenty
-mi
nutes until the door unlocks, s
he
rushes
into the
shower.

When she opens her dresser drawers, she
finds
they’ve been
fully
stocked with clothes, mostly
similar to her
attire
from
the previous day;
workout clothes.  She
smiles
,
thinking to herself, ‘M
ust be expecting
me
to stay awhile
’
.

D
ress
ing quickly,
she puts her hair into a braid.
N
ot
know
ing
what
to expect
,
her long hair a dis
traction she doesn’
t want to deal with.
She
’s hopeful
another tryout
is
not on the schedule
.

Rena waits
in
the
entry
hall.

The computer ch
imes 5:15AM, the door unlocks.

She opens it expecting to see Michael
.
  His door
remains
closed. 
She stands
along
the hall
for a minute, than i
t hits her
,
the realization
.  Without hesitation
, she steps out
and proceeds to
breakfast
.

M
inutes later, Michael’s door opens. 
L
ook
ing at
Rena’s
door for a second,
s
miling, he
proceeds
to
breakfast
.

Arriving in
the dining hall,
he
immediately
locat
es
Rena
at
the buffet. 
C
lear
ing
the end of the li
ne, she turns and sees him,
half smile
s and nods to a table in the center of the hall.  He gives her
a small nod to acknowledge.

F
ollowing
the pro
cession through the
fare
,
Michael joins
Rena
, sitting across from
her as they had the previous evening. 
He
considers
her
before starting his breakfast,
“How are you feeling?”
his
concern
obvious
.

Rena scan
s
the hall for anybody that might be paying a li
ttle too much attention,
“I’m fine.
  Thank you for asking.
”
Lowering her voice, “
I assume you wanted me to come to the
dining hall alone,
avoid appearing overly dependent on your company?”

Michael winks and smiles
,
starting to
understand
what Alexander meant about
he
and Rena working well together.
  “We should probably con
tinue that for the time being
.” H
e whispers, “need to
mak
e
sure
we
’re
not obvious about it.  You
might want
to
keep leaving at
5
:
1
5.  You seem more structured and
precise
.  I’ll try to be more random.  B
eing
a cage fighter from the
Hustle
i
t
’
ll
be
more
credible
“

Rena
sm
iles
,
“It’s a little early to call me obsessive.”
She replies sarcastically.

The two eat their breakfasts
quietly and without incident.

Michael finishing
hi
s meal first,
scans
the hall f
or any indication that someone i
s waiting to join them. 
Up in the balcony, a meeting appears to be underway
.  He doesn’t see Angela, but Still and the short Asian are present.

Rena finishes
her meal
.  Without looking up at the balcony herself
, she inquires
,
“See anything of interest?”

“Not sure?”

Michael and Rena
remain
at the table, watching the rest of the people eat breakfast and leave.  No one stops or
acknowledges
them.

The dining hall empties
by 7
:00AM, leav
ing only Rena and Michael, making both uncomfortable.

After fifteen minutes, the
delegation in the balcony breaks
up.  Two soldiers depart and descen
d
the
stairs to the main hall,
approach
ing
Michael and Rena.  One of the soldiers look
s
to be in his
mid-
twenties, the other in his mid-thirties.  Both
take the remaining seats
at the table,
opposite eac
h other,
silent
ly
scrutinizing
the new recruits
.

The younger soldier speaks first.  “My name is Staff Sergeant Waters.  My counterpart is Staff Sergeant Rodriguez.  While you are in this facility
, we will be your handlers.  My primary responsibility will be Michael
Allen
.  Staff Sergeant Rodriguez’s primary will be Rena
O’Neil
.”

“I don’t think Rena’s last name is ‘
O’Neil
’.  I know mine’
s not ‘
Allen
’.”  Michael remarks.

Rodriqu
ez looks at Michael without emotion,
“They are
w
hile you two are in this facility.”

Waters continu
es,
“You will be evaluated
,
and
,
assuming
positive
results, trained as field agents.  For our protection, you will have no connection to anyone out
side this facility.  You are
ghosts, you have never existed.”

Rena glances at Michael, apprehension in her eyes.

“Now
,
if you wil
l follow us, we have a full day.
”
Rodriguez
states.

The four depart the dining hall.

Led to the infirmary,
Michael and Rena
wait
in
separate
examination room
s
.

A
male
m
ilitary doctor enters Rena
’s
room,
immediately
making her
uncomfortable.

The doctor, expecting her
unease
, reassures her
,
“Don’t be alarmed.  I won’t ask you to do anything unethical.  We separate the
talents so test results remain confidential.  I will be performing
a
basic physical
exam
ination
, nothing invasive. 
Although,
I will have to ask you to take off you
r
jacket.”

R
eluctantly
,
Rena
removes her jacket
and hangs it on a chair
.

The doctor
performs a customary
battery of
tests
, including
fingerprint
ing and blood draws
.

He starts to examine her eyes
,
then steps back, a surprised look on his face,
“I thought you were wearing contacts.  I’ve never seen eyes that color before … I’m sorry
, didn’t mean to embarrass
.”

“That’s okay,
I’ve gotten that before.”
  Rena affirms.

“Regardless, they’re stunning.”

“Thank you.”

Her medical examination complete, the doctor
offers
her jacket if she still fe
lt
uncomfortable.