Psion Gamma (34 page)

“Is it good?” he asked her just as she put some more salmon in her mouth.

Jeffie smiled and with her mouth full answered: “Delicious.” Then she laughed.

“Gross,” Kobe said with a wrinkled nose and grin. “I’ve never been a fish person.”

“Really?” she responded. “Because your eyes are kinda fishlike.” She puckered her lips and widened her eyes.

Kobe smirked at her. “Salmon and halibut are okay, but still . . . I have to put a lot of tartar sauce on it.” As he said this, he put another spoonful of sauce on his fish.

“Then why’d you get it?” she wondered as she put some on her plate.

“I don’t
dislike
it. Besides, this is smoked. It’s pretty good smoked.” As he said this, he put a big bite in his mouth and chewed it slowly with a face exaggeratedly in love with the food. “Mmm. So good.”

Jeffie giggled loudly. “I like pizza, too, you know.”

“And then afterwards we drink root beer and have a burping contest!” Kobe offered in jest. “Come on, I wanted it to be a nice night.”

“It is nice,” she said sincerely and flashed him a confidential smile. “Thank you.”

He winked at her and took another bite of his food.

“I hope this doesn’t mean that we’re . . . together now?”

“Of course not,” Kobe answered quickly. “Kaden and I do blanket dinners all the time. No big deal.”

Jeffie burst into laughter and Kobe joined her. “You’re a nerd.”

“Thanks.”

Even after they finished eating, several minutes passed in conversation. Both followed basketball, so they talked about their favorite teams. Then they got into a friendly argument about whether football or American football was better.

“You can’t use your hands!” Kobe said. “It’s not a real sport!”

“That’s like saying running isn’t a sport!” she shot back. “How many football matches have you even watched?”

Kobe opened his mouth to answer when footsteps dragging through the leaves interrupted him. It was too dark to see who was making the noises, but the sounds came closer.

“Hey!” Kobe called out. “Can we have some privacy?”

The footsteps stopped and then crunched right toward the picnic area.

“Guess not,” Kobe muttered.

A figure emerged from the shadows and into the dull illumination of the candlelight. It was Brickert. His chest heaved, his hands shook, and his face had turned ghostly white.

“Can you please leave?” Kobe asked hotly.

“NO!” Brickert shouted, his voice cracking again like it had before the Game. “Jeffie! What are you doing with him?” As he asked this, he glared at her fiercely. “What about Sammy?”

Kobe got to his feet. “We’re on a date. She doesn’t need you here bringing that up right now.”

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Brickert spat. “You’re only moving in on the guy-who-saved-your-life’s girl! But I guess to some people that doesn’t merit any respect, I’ll tell you!”

“You don’t have a clue!” Kobe yelled. “You weren’t there. He was my friend, too.”

A harsh laugh came from Brickert’s throat. “Yeah, right. And I’m engaged to Commander Byron. Didn’t you get an invitation?” He turned to Jeffie, who had been unable to find her voice in the conversation. A blend of shame and hostility swirled inside her when she saw the accusation in his eyes directed at her as well. “What’s your deal? You were the one trying to convince me a few months ago that he’s still alive. You were crazy about him!”

“I—” she started to say.

“No, don’t answer that, Jeffie,” Kobe told her. “Sammy’s dead, Brickert. Two bombs went off not more than a meter away from him. And you being here trying to convince Jeffie otherwise isn’t helping things!”

Brickert’s chest heaved one final time and a pathetic, strangled yelp escaped his throat. Jeffie watched him with pity, still not knowing what to do or say to help the situation. Then Brickert launched himself at Kobe, ramming his head into her date’s stomach.

“Brickert—no!” She jumped up to separate the two.

Brickert’s weight took Kobe down to the ground spilling candles and dishes and food everywhere. Half-sitting and half-laying on top of Kobe, Brickert pounded at Kobe’s face while yelling at him. Jeffie tried to pull him off, but Brickert held onto Kobe so tightly with one hand that he couldn’t be budged. Kobe raised his arms to block the blows but did nothing to hurt Brickert. Smelling smoke, Jeffie saw the blanket had caught fire, the flames spreading fast toward the two boys.

“Help!” she yelled. “Stop it Brickert!”

But Brickert did not stop.

In response to her cries, several more footsteps crunched down the path from headquarters. Kaden, Strawberry, and Antonio came sprinting onto the scene. Antonio tackled Brickert clean off Kobe whose face was bleeding and bruised. Strawberry helped Jeffie stomp out the flames. Next came Commander Byron looking bewildered and harried.

When he saw that the flames were extinguished, he crossed over to Brickert in two steps and yanked him up by his shirt collar.

“Get to solitary, Brickert!” he said in the sternest voice Jeffie had ever heard and then dropped Brickert down to the ground. He knelt down by Kobe and helped him to his feet while Brickert ran off in the direction of the building. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.” Blood from his nose and mouth made his voice thick.

“Did you do anything to warrant Brickert’s anger?”

“No, sir,” Kobe said instantly. “I swear I didn’t.

The commander stood up and surveyed the scene. Jeffie watched him, still shocked.

I should have talked to Brickert sooner. I should have told him I was going on a date
.

“Kaden and Antonio, will you help Kobe back to the cafeteria?” Byron asked. “I will call Dr. Rosmir and ask him to meet you there shortly.”

Kobe seemed too dazed to worry about Jeffie or the picnic, so after everyone left, Strawberry stayed behind and helped Jeffie clean up the mess.

“I’m sorry,” she blurted out, her voice even higher than normal. “This is all my fault.”

A soft snort of air came out of Jeffie’s nose. “How is any of this your fault?”

“Brickert was looking all over for you. He wanted to watch something with you, but wouldn’t say what. Then he noticed Kobe wasn’t around either. So he pestered me until I let it slip that the two of you were on a date. He ran out as soon as I said it.”

“Oh,” Jeffie responded quietly. Her mouth froze in surprise for almost two seconds. “I still missed the part where you had some fault in it.”

Strawberry stood silently for a moment, shrugged helplessly, and then finished gathering up the rest of the picnic supplies. The blanket was ruined, so were the broken dishes. They disposed of those things in a dumpster before going inside, the rest they carried up to the kitchen. Along the way, several Betas stopped them to ask what had happened. Natalia looked furious and ready to unload when Jeffie stopped her.

“If you accuse me of doing something with Brickert behind your back, I’m going to smack you.”

Natalia stamped her feet haughtily and marched back down the hall, pale blonde hair swishing behind her. Strawberry followed Natalia to explain the situation.

Jeffie peeked into the cafeteria and saw that several Betas, mostly females, were gathered around Kobe, checking to see if he was alright. Antonio was over in a corner talking to Hefani under his breath. Ducking out before anyone saw her, she went to the exercise room and sent a text:

Commander,

I know it’s called solitary for a reason, but may I please go visit Brickert? I think I can relate to what he’s going through better than anyone else. What happened is partly my fault.

Gefjon

She knew he would tell her no, but sent it anyway. Kaden stepped into the room just after she finished.

“Hey.” His voice was a little too calm, and he looked as though he felt very awkward being there. “You got a minute?”

Jeffie checked her inbox, which showed no new messages. “Sure. What’s up?”

Kaden chuckled. “Nothing. It’s just funny, is all. Usually in times like this I end up apologizing for something Kobe’s done. I had to do it a lot when Sammy was around. But even before that . . . I don’t know. Kobe’s always been doing crap.”

Jeffie stared at Kaden’s shoes for a moment, then answered him. “You don’t have to apologize, though. Kobe didn’t do anything.”

“Oh, I know. I just came to make sure
you
know that. Has he ever told you he’s older than me?”

Jeffie shook her head.

“It’s true. By a whole five minutes. But I’ve always felt like the older one until recently. Kobe’s changed so much for the better ever since . . . Rio. I’m really impressed. I just wanted you to know that even if Brickert doesn’t know it.”

“Kaden, I know that. And you know I know that.” She looked him in the eyes now. “What do you really want to say to me?”

Kaden grabbed a basketball and put it on his hand, then he spun it as it hovered over his palm on a blast. Jeffie watched him, mesmerized. He kept the ball spinning as he spoke. “Why are you dating Kobe?”

“I don’t know.”

“Is it because you like him or because you miss Sammy or because he was the last person with Sammy?”

“I—I like him. I mean, of course I miss Sammy. Everyone misses Sammy.”

Kaden changed the strength of his blast, letting the ball keep spinning while he did it.

“You’re better than Kobe at that.” She meant it to be a statement, but it came out more like a surprise.

The ball hit the floor and Kaden let it bounce away. He finally looked her in the eyes again and asked, “Can I ask you a very personal question?”

Jeffie gave him permission with a look.

“Do you believe Sammy is dead?”

Of all the questions she’d expected to hear, that was not one of them. Jeffie reeled back from where she stood, bracing herself on the handle of one of the exercise machines. She couldn’t answer. She didn’t want to.

“Excuse me, please.” She turned and ran to the ladies’ restroom. It was there that Byron’s response came. Jeffie was stunned. Not only did he give her his permission, but also authorized her vocal patterns to get into the room just once. After composing herself, she crossed the third floor to the solitary rooms and let herself in.

Inside, Brickert lay on his back on a restraining table with his hands over his face. He looked between his fingers to see who had come in. This was enough for her to get a good look at him. His face was puffy, especially around his eyes. He pretended not to see her.

“Hey,” she said weakly, taking the seat by the table.

Brickert made no sign that he’d heard her.

“How long are you in here for?”

Brickert’s shoulders shrugged, dropped his hands, but stared at the ceiling.

“You mad at me?”

Another shrug.

“Commander says you’re going to be sent home, and they’re going to make you take that pill. You know, the one that will take away your Anomaly Fourteen.”