Psion Alpha (20 page)

Dr.
Rosmir glanced up and saw Sammy, then motioned for him to give them privacy.
Ten minutes later, the doctor wheeled Byron out. The commander’s head rested
back, his eyes closed. Rosmir put a finger over his lips and mouthed, “Be right
back.”

Sammy
showed himself into the office and took a seat. He thought back to the last time
he’d waited in a room for Rosmir, when it had turned out to be a test of his
sanity. Fortunately, this time, Rosmir didn’t take long.

“Hey,
Sammy, why are you here?” The doctor clapped his hands and shut the door behind
him. “For … wait, what is this? Memory implantation?” Rosmir squinted at his
computer screen, clicking several times. Finally he looked at Sammy. “Is this
correct?”

“Commander
Byron said he gave you his memory cube.”

“I
thought that was for his son, not you.”

“He
changed his mind. He wants me to have it. Can’t he and I both receive the
memory?”

Dr.
Rosmir shook his head while looking up at Sammy. “No. The transfer cubes are
only good once. For privacy and security. But still, no, I can’t give you the
memories, Sammy. Not right before you go on a mission like this. We’re leaving
in two days. I can’t have you blanking in the middle of the jungle or in the
middle of your infiltration into the Hive.”

“Blanking?”
Sammy repeated. “What are you talking about? Is this going to hurt?”

“No.”
Rosmir laughed and grabbed the machine from a cabinet. “That’s not what I mean.
The procedure is really simple. I put the cube in here, connect the machine to
the computer and to your head, and load the program. It’s that easy.”

“So—”

“So
the problem, my friend, is that while the procedure is safe, it’s … well, it’s
weird. It takes time for the information to be integrated into memories.”

“How
much time?”

“Sometimes
weeks or months. All those memories have to fully surface into your
consciousness. It can be unsettling and distracting to be doing one thing, then
suddenly experience someone else’s life with fairly vivid clarity.”

“You
mean I will go catatonic?”

Dr.
Rosmir made a face of uncertainty. “No, it’s more like when you’re lost in
thought for a second, and someone tells you to snap out of it. Stressful
situations increase brain activity because of hormones released. And I don’t
think you want to be blanking for even a second during anything stressful.
Right?”

“And
during that second, I’m going to be reliving someone’s memories?”

“Memories
given from one person to another aren’t like watching a movie in your head.
Frankly, I am not a huge fan of the technology for several reasons. It’s not
reliable. People’s memories aren’t always accurate. They aren’t always filled
with detail. Each depends on the person giving the memory, and the person
receiving it. Now Byron may remember things in great detail. Or he may not. But
with your brilliant mind, you will certainly be able to recall detail that most
people cannot simply because of—”

“My
anomaly.”

“Precisely.
With your anomaly, you will recall far more detail than Al, Byron’s parents, or
even I would. So I can’t let you take his memories—not until we get back from
the Amazon, at least.”

“It’s
not a big deal. I’ll be fine.”

“No,
I’m not taking that chance. However, since you’re here,” Rosmir continued,
crossing his office to a medicine cabinet, “I need to give you your vaccines
for stuff we might encounter in the jungle.”

“I
bet
that
will hurt.”

“Yep.
It’ll sting.”

“Why
is it that everything associated with you involves pain?”

Rosmir
laughed silently as he filled multiple syringes from glass bottles. “Karma or
déjà vu or something like that. ”

“I
don’t think so. What’s karma?”

“How
can you be one of the smartest people in the world and not know what karma is?”

Sammy
shrugged as the first of the needles poked him. It made him wince slightly.
“Still lots of stuff out there to learn.”

“True,
true. We all have things to learn.”

“Even
you, Doctor?”

Dr.
Rosmir frowned as he injected Sammy again. “Yes, even me. I suppose that this
mission will probably teach me a thing or two. After all, it will be my first.”

Sammy
laughed until he realized the doctor was serious. Then he felt stupid. “I’m
sorry. How have you never been on a mission? I mean, Beta missions, all the
Betas did one.”

“True,
with one exception.”

“And
… you’re an Alpha, so I assume you graduated and joined a squadron.”

Dr.
Rosmir shook his head as he returned the syringes and bottles to storage. “Now
you know how hard it was for me to say ‘yes’ when you asked me to go to Coari. Naturally,
I’m not making this mission any more dangerous by putting you in a position
where you could be incapacitated even for a second.”

Sammy
looked around the room, disappointed. “Nothing I say is going to change your
mind, is it?”

Rosmir
folded his arms and sat back. “This is my life on the line, Sammy.”

Sammy
glanced at the cabinet where the machine was stored. “I’ll be fine!”

Rosmir’s
only response was to shake his head.

“Fine.”
Sammy got up and headed for the door.

“Try
and have a little fun before the long march of misery. The memories will be
there for you when you get back.”

“Yeah,
I’ll try.” When Sammy reached the door, he paused. “You’re sure you’ll be all
right on this mission, Doctor?”

For
an instant, Dr. Rosmir seemed offended by the question. But the affronted
expression was quickly replaced with a look of anxiety, and, finally,
determination. “Yes. I’m sure.”

Satisfied,
Sammy left the infirmary. Despite Dr. Rosmir’s advice, he and his friends had
little time for fun. When they did have time for friendly gatherings, no one
spoke about missions, not even Natalia (though she didn’t speak much at all
around Brickert anymore). All five of them understood the stakes; they all knew
that one or more of them might not come back. To dwell on the possibilities
would be morbid. Always nagging at Sammy were the memories waiting for him on
the data cube. What was on them? What had happened to Commander Byron that was
so important he needed Sammy to see it?

Those
last days in Glasgow slipped by. Sammy often looked at the calendar, unable to
account for where the time had gone. Before he knew it, his birthday arrived.
He woke the morning of the 19
^th
of November and his first thought
was,
I’m sixteen
. His second thought:
We leave for the Amazon
tomorrow
. Then a third thought struck him: he’d celebrated his fifteenth
birthday on the eve of Al’s mission to Rio.

For
most of the day, Sammy and his friends, along with several other Psions, Elite,
Ultras, Tensais, and members of the resistance, packed bags and double-checked
them to ensure nothing had been missed. Lara took charge of this massive
undertaking, making certain that every pack was signed off by three people.
Once she and Thomas were satisfied that nothing was amiss, they held a large
prayer meeting for anyone who wanted to attend. Jeffie and Brickert went, but
Sammy made a point of skipping it. Following the prayer, the Byrons announced a
party for Sammy and anyone celebrating a birthday while away on the missions.

Hundreds
attended, probably because most people had nothing better to do. They had games
to play, tables of food to eat, and loud music blasting from the high school’s old
speakers. It was easy for Sammy to forget, even if only for a couple of hours,
that he was part of a secret resistance. It felt more like a gathering of
friends and neighbors, something Sammy had not experienced since he lived with
his parents in Johannesburg.

Most
of the evening he spent with Jeffie at his side. They walked around and chatted
with people they wouldn’t be seeing for the next weeks or months. They talked
longest with Anna, Al, and Justice. Everyone offered them their support and
well-wishes. During their conversations, Jeffie couldn’t contain her enthusiasm
for the mission. Sammy had rarely seen her so excited.

Commander
Byron pulled Sammy aside to speak privately. It was strange seeing Byron in a
wheelchair, though he insisted it was a temporary measure until he learned to
use his bionic legs. “How do you feel about the mission tomorrow?” he asked
Sammy.

“Good.
Nervous, obviously, but good.”

“I
can relate. Maad—Doctor Rosmir, that is—told me you never received my
memories.”

“He
wouldn’t let me. Said it was too dangerous.”

Commander
Byron nodded, but Sammy could see the disappointment in his mentor’s eyes. “I
think he might be behaving a little overcautiously because of his own nerves
about the mission, but it is not my place to override his recommendations. I
really wanted you to have those before you left.”

“He
said he’ll give them to me as soon as I get back.”

From
behind Sammy, Thomas and Lara called out for the commander. The commander
gestured for them to give him one more moment. “I guess it is what it is. I
doubt Maad will reconsider. Oh well. Find me in the morning so I can wish you
goodbye.”

“Yes,
sir.”

As
soon as the commander left Sammy, Justice took his place to tell Sammy some new
science jokes he’d invented. Anna, who was with him, rolled her eyes but stayed
anyway. Right as Justice was getting to the punch line of his third joke, Sammy
saw Brickert and Natalia in the corner of the gym. Her hair, now an oddly
normal shade of brown instead of the black it had been the last few weeks, flew
in all directions as she pointed her finger at Brickert several times in the
span of three seconds. Brickert responded with a stony expression and crossed
arms, shaking his head. This only made Natalia more furious.

“Excuse
me, Justice,” Sammy said, “I gotta—excuse me.”

He
hustled across the room, but before he reached his friends, Natalia broke away
from Brickert and left the room. Brickert watched her leave with a guilty
expression.

“What
is going on? You guys are supposed to be cool around each other. I vouched for
you with Anna.”

“We
are—”

“What
I just saw was not cool, Brick.”

Brickert
shook his head again. “Girlfriends suck, I’ll tell you. I should never have
dated her. You remember why I was always nervous about that, right?”

“Uh
… her weird hair?”

“Her
mouth. Her incessant need to gossip.”

“Well,
yeah, that, too.”

Brickert
gave Sammy a take-me-seriously look, which prompted Sammy to apologize.

“This
morning I found out Natalia told Anna she’s not sure I should be one of the
Psions relied on to infiltrate the warehouse.”

“What?
Why?”

“She
says
it’s because I’m better with leading small groups of soldiers than
being a grunt. You want to know what it’s really about, though? Natalia doesn’t
like seeing me in danger! And worst of all, Anna says she’ll take Natalia’s
thoughts into consideration. So for all I know, I’m not going to see any action
on the mission because of her!”

Sammy
put a hand on Brickert’s shoulder. “Simmer, dude. Simmer. I do not think Anna
is going to change her whole plan based on the suggestion of the newest person
on her team. Stop worrying.”

“Isn’t
it bad enough she destroyed our relationship?” Brickert shouted so loud that
Sammy steered him outside the party hall. “Now she has to wreck this, too?”

“Will
you please keep it down?” Sammy stared down his friend as he spoke. “You’re
nervous. I’m nervous. We are all nervous. Okay? Take a deep breath and chill.
Your team is doing surveillance on the base for weeks. Weeks. Think about that.
Anything can happen during that time. All right? Let’s go get some rest.”

Sammy
said his goodbyes to the partygoers. When he found Jeffie, she hugged and
kissed him in front of everyone.

“Wow,”
he said when she pulled away. “What was that for?”

“Because
I don’t have to watch you leave and wait for you to come back anymore. I can’t
even say how thrilled I am to go with you!”

“Sure
you can. Just say, ‘I’m thrilled to go with you!’” Her smile filled her whole
face. It reassured Sammy about his decision to include her.

After
several more goodbyes and goodnights, he and Brickert returned to their home.
Walking strips and wall-mounted electric torches guided them through the
blackness of the tunnels. Though he couldn’t see his friend’s face well, Sammy
guessed Brickert was still thinking about his altercation with Natalia.

“Seems
like a dream sometimes, doesn’t it?” Brickert asked in a solemn, reflective
tone. “Where were you two years ago? Johannesburg?”

“Yeah,
breaking out of the Grinder, I guess, or living in that grocery store. I didn’t
keep track of the days very much back then.”