by A. A LEVINE
So much for team solidarity. I head towards the bathroom to relieve myself. When I get back, football jock is still yacking it up with his buddies, and I drift off towards the front of the group. I watch Xander who’s watching everyone else. Before a rough training segment, he usually finds a way to offer a bit of encouragement. Today, he barely looks my way. It’s as if he’s already decided, like John and Alex, that I won’t survive today’s tests; so why bother boosting my head up.
When everyone’s finished and back on the road, the instructor turns us towards the forests and tells us to; you guessed it, run. Only this time, we’re supposed to be running with our new teammate. Football jock is running like he couldn’t care less what the instructions were. He’s trying to leave me behind and I can’t let him. I do what I’ve been doing for the last four weeks. Keeping him in my sight and running my own race.
It’s another thirty minutes before we finally come to a stop in front of a stream. Stream is a nice word for the rushing water cluttered with fallen trees and logs. Are we going for a swim? I look around in confusion. I didn’t get a memo or syllabus for today. I’m not prepared for a swim. I guess I could strip down to my bra and panties so my clothes won’t be soaking wet, but something tells me we won’t have time for that. No, the endurance trials aren’t supposed to be easy. Layers of clothes and shoes are probably the point. We walk along the river’s edge a little and come to a less obstacle-ridden part of the water. There is PVC tubing along the banks. If I had to guess they’re ten or twelve feet long.
“This is what we like to call Beaver’s Dam. The object of this test is to push yourself to get through the water while keeping your head and the tubing above water, and yes, I mean literally above water. You and your partner will keep two hands on this pipe at all times and make it downstream until you reach the end. If your hand comes off, at any time, you’re disqualified. The first team to make it to the end gets bonus points. Work together, people.”
I watch as team after team climbs to the starting point to battle the current. None of them can hang on to the piping for long. The water keeps getting deeper, so the choice is to keep it high with the weight straining their muscles pushing them down, or letting go to wade through the water with one hand so they can breathe, which disqualifies you. I can see it’s designed to make us fail. Eight or nine teams have gone and football jock and I are up next. We carry our pipe to the starting line and I see the height difference alone will be a problem. The tubing is awkward and lopsided between us and I know I’ll be submerged long before he is. Two hands on the pipe at all times. It’s impossible. I didn’t come to Orion to drown and I don’t have a scuba tank. I’m not doing this. It would be easier to swim through the current.
We walk a few feet and the current is already starting to make it harder to navigate. It’s impossible. I hate impossible equations. I need more time to think about this. Maybe another few teams would have shown there’s a pattern to why they’re failing. Tubes in water, on water, above water. Who came up with this Beaver’s Dam? Beavers float and push logs in place. Then it hits me. All they said was two hands on the pipe at all times and keep our heads above water it until we reach the end. I jump up draping my upper body over the top of the pipe and feel it dip and spring back to the surface.
Football jock scowls at me. “I’m not about to carry you, turtle. Get your ass off and lift this pipe.”
“We can ride it.” I point to him. “Keep your hands on it. It’s like a floatation device. Like a log ride. They never said we had to carry it. Just that two hands had to be on it at all times. Jump up. Keep your hands on it, and we can ride it to the end.”
“You’re crazy. That’s never gonna work, besides they told us to keep this thing above water and get it to the end.”
“That’s right. Keep it above water. They never really specified how. Just that it and us had to be above water and we had to have both hands on it. Just try to jump on it and if it won’t support your weight then we know it was a bad idea. Put your hands on the inside opening of the notches and just try it.” I slide my hands to show him what I mean without ever letting go of the pipe.
He does so, reluctantly and swings his legs over to straddle the tube. It dips and bounces back up, holding him with no problem. I do the same, and just like that we’ve made a makeshift boat. I keep my hands in the notches hanging on for dear life as we float down the river. The current is churning and picking up strength as we go like we’re on a whitewater river-rafting excursion. We’re flying now, and I let out a sharp breath, as we dodge low-hanging branches and a nervous giggle escapes my throat when I see the end in sight. Only the closer we get, I realize it’s not the end. As in not a complete stop. It’s an ending that looks suspiciously like over a cliff of what appears to be a waterfall. I tighten my handhold and grip my legs along the pipe like I did the time Aiden, and I snuck out to ride the mechanical bull on our ninth grade field trip.
“Hang on.” I warn. The drop is miniscule, not more than a speed bump or a small slide. We splash at the bottom and the water stills as we gently bump against the shoreline of the retention pond where everyone else is waiting.
When we climb off our boat and drag it onto the shoreline John’s staring at me. Not my teammate. Just me. Alex nudges him and then he turns to look at my unwilling partner in crime. “You rode your pipe down the river?” He doesn’t answer and neither do I. The question is rhetorical because everyone could see what we did. “I’m curious to know what made you decide that that was the way to complete this test.”
Football jock scratches the back of his neck and turns away, but I see the murderous glint in his eyes. Oh, now he’s not onboard with the plan, when we’ve made it to the end.
Guess I’m nominated team spokesperson slash whipping post. “It was the only way to do what you said.”
Alex tilts her head to the side. “Oh, yes. Let’s review and see if you were actually paying attention. Please repeat the instructions recruit.”
“Both hands on the pipe at all times. Keep it and our heads above the water or risk failing in epic proportions and disqualification.” Her brows rise. “I inferred the last part.”
Alex nods in agreement. “Sounds about right. So tell me again why you used your pipe this way.”
“It accomplished what you said. You never told us how to do it, so we came up with this.”
“We?” John looks at Xander. “You give her this idea?”
Xander looks at me for the first time today. “Nope.” The ask the instructor game passes on. “Alex?”
She scoffs and rolls her eyes. “Please. You know it wasn’t me.”
“If you’ve gotten me disqualified, you’ll regret it, football jock mumbles under his breath.” I feel the not so gentle shove he gives me as he pushes by to join his friends. Physical altercations are forbidden on campus. I don’t hold out much hope that anyone saw or heard his threat. Did I screw up? We won’t get our results until the end of the endurance trials. I calm myself because there are more tests to get through today and like it or not, I’m stuck with football jerk as a partner.
The rest of the groups take their turn. Most continuing to navigate the current the way they believe we should accomplish the test, but a few of them take the brave route and follow our lead. When the last team finishes, we move on to the next location, following more running, this time, uphill. There’s a clearing with a fenced in paddock you would use for horses or cattle. It’s a rudimentary mockup of our training ring. I can see the S-chips staked to the ground. When we’re all gathered together. An instructor from Team T gives the next briefing.
“For weeks now you’ve spent time in the ring. We’ve paired you against each other and your TO’s so that you can experience different fighting styles and techniques. We’ve varied the training to include the use of your powers from time to time. Today, we’ll do the same. The S-Chips will be pulsating on and off intermittently. Each of the instructors has a remote that allows us to chan
ge the sequence. We know the strengths and weaknesses of our own recruits so to be fair, we’re not in charge of you.” They all seem to chuckle at the complaints floating through the air. “To be fair, we’re also, pitting you against people with differing skill-sets and abilities. So strong kinetics with weaker telepaths, kinetics with kinetics, and so forth. It’s like the Psionic version of a Tag Team match and Battle Royale.” Someone else picks up the description. “As you can see, we have many stations out here, so don’t get too comfortable. Your time in the ring may come sooner than expected.”
When my turn comes I spend more time on my back than on my feet. At some point I’m teamed against my partner who takes special pleasure in flipping and pinning my ass. It’s payback for the log test.
Xander
He wants her out. That much is obvious. Holli’s not the best recruit we’ve ever had, but she’s also not the worst, and we’ve kept people in the program who have shown a lot less potential. That’s why I can’t understand why John’s so adamant about bouncing her. I don’t expect to get any help from Alex. She sides with John no matter what. They’ve been thicker than thieves since we were all recruits together. Ordinarily, it would be the three of us, on the same side but Holli’s caused divisiveness between us from day one. I think back to that day when she scaled that tree. I wish I could pinpoint what it is about her that he objects to. We’re seriously at odds here, and the debated is getting heated, but the one thing we’ve always agreed on when working together is to never let the other training officers know when there is conflictin our midst. Meaning, we need to come to a decision about this, fast.
We’ve been arguing for almost an hour. I state the obvious. “She is the only person that has ever figured out a way to do the river test.”
“Yeah, and I’m still not sure that she wasn’t tipped off.”
“And I already told you I never said anything. Even if I did, how did she convince her partner to go along with it? That shows an ability to lead.”
“That guy wanted to win at all costs. He took a calculated risk that everyone was failing the test anyway and decided he could afford the loss on that one.”
I shake my head at John. “You have an answer for everything.”
“Just about as many as you have for why she should get to stay.”
“I’m not saying she should stay. I’m saying she earned the right to move on to phase two.”
He continues to push his point. “We both know that things only get harder from here. Why put her in a position where she’s going to fail later on down the line?”
“Her running can get better. She’s already improved a lot since day one. She’s determined. She doesn’t quit. Isn’t that the type of intern Orion wants?” I look at Alex who’s been uncharacteristically quiet this whole time. “Don’t you want to say something?”
“I agree with John. It doesn’t get any easier.” She looks at John. “But Xander has a point too. She’s smart. She’s resourceful, and she has gotten better on the run.”
“Is that enough reason to keep her on? Because she’s gotten better at running?”
John lowers his voice as the other instructors trickle into the room. “What are we doing here? If we keep her, someone else loses their spot. Someone who deserves to be here.”
I try to see it from his point of view, but I can’t make sense of it. “Why don’t you want her here? Is it something personal?”
“Personal? Xander. I think you’re the only one that’s letting their feelings cloud their judgment.”
We agree to table the discussion until after tonight’s final trial, which is about to begin. The recruits are already gatheredin the holding area. This last test comes after all the physicality of the day when the recruit’s bodies have been pushed to the point of exhaustion and their minds are demanding rest. It’s the test that is the most invasive and involves a probing of their minds by one of our strongest telepaths. It’s like a mental lie detector, and the easiest way to determine anyone prone to unethical behavior.
If there is anyone here under false pretenses, or anyone who can be easily turned against Orion this is where they’re weeded out. The recruits have been scanned before as part of the registration process to go to school at the P Biotech campus, and during their annual school physicals. But, we’ve seen student’s moral compass shifts when fighting for an internship with Orion.
One by one, the recruits go through the door to one of the secluded rooms. We have ten sites set up to expedite the tests. The room is darkened, and the thermostat set to a comfortable temperature to encourage them to relax and to induce sleep. With their guard down we can push through whatever mental barriers they put up. Fifteen minutes is the average amount of time it takes to scan a recruit. Ten of those minutes are used waiting for the most hardened recruits to nod off.
Holli’s turn finally comes up and I move to the view window to watch how she does. There are electrodes tagged to the recruit’s heads so we can monitor their brain waves. A member of the neuroscience research team is on hand to watch and document the information from the scans. The procedure is safe, but it’s invasive and can trigger a strong medical or physical response if they try to fight it. In rare instances medical intervention is needed.
The electrodes are placed on Holli’s temples and she settles into her seat. The thermostat is readjusted the lights dimmed and we settle in to watch the show. At the ten-minute mark there are no changes to her brain waves. Twelve minutes there’s a small blip but they’re still relatively steady. John comes to stand next to me and points to the screens. “Is this thing working?”
“All the lights are on. We’ve already had six people come through this room without an issue.”
He checks the console and looks at the video screen overhead. “Then why isn’t it registering anything? Doesn’t she dream when she’s asleep?”
“That’s just it.” The tech says. “She’s not asleep.”
It helps if they’re unconscious, but if she’s not fighting it, the telepath can still do what they need to. I nod. “Well signal to Ed that she’s steady so we can get started.”
“He’s already started.” He says.
John pulls on the computer printout and looks at Holli again. “He’s right. This line here is Holli. This one is Ed’s.” He looks at me and frowns. “It doesn’t make sense. There should be some type of movement.”
I look around the room and ask no one in particular. “Did we fry the component?”
John pulls another set of electrodes from a drawer, plugs them into the console and tapes them to his head. The neuro lines jolt showing the machine is working.
“Maybe the lead lines have a kink in them.” He motions for the tech to swap them out. We watch as he goes into the room and replaces Holli’s electrodes and we start the process all over again. After another ten minutes, there’s still no change to Holli’s line, but the other strip, the one attached to our telepath is going haywire.
“What the hell?” John exclaims.
“What are you doing?” I ask when he opens the door. “What are you doing?”
“I wanna see what’s happening in there. We agreed to make a decision after this test. If we can’t read her, then I think you know what my answer is going to be.”
He goes into the room, removes an electrode from Ed and puts it on his own head before I can stop him.
Five minutes later, he removes the probe, exits the room and walks away without explaining what, if anything he saw.
Chapter Nine
Holli
My telepathy has been way off since they put those probes on my head. When the S-chips are off, I’ve been picking up chatter from all over the place and the more I try to turn it off, the worse it gets. I thought the purpose of this internship was to help us learn to control our powers but so far, it’s doing the opposite for me. Right now, we’re trying to recover from the endurance trials, and waiting for the results. I feel like I can feel everyone’s emotions.
Their anger, and fear, and even their confidence. I shouldn’t be able to do that and it’s not helping the anxiety I’m already feeling about my future here. I wish I could talk to Aiden.
I feel my mind drifting like it does whenever I think about my brother. I imagine him in a lab looking at cells under a microscope. Or maybe right now, he’s doing nothing at all. I think of him staring off into space in a rare moment when he’s slacking off. Aiden. His name is a happy and sad thought in my mind. His head turns as if he heard something. I can see his face so clearly. The intensity of his gaze is strong that it feels like he can see me. Aiden? He looks around. I smile to myself. My overactive imagination is really going at it. My thoughts of him are so vivid that I have to remind myself that I’m daydreaming again.
I hope you’re doing okay. I miss you Aiden.
Holli?
The memory of his voice blends with someone else’s calling my name from behind. I snap out of the daydream and see Xander standing behind me. “You okay?” He asks putting a hand on my shoulder. It looks weird seeing it there and I feel nervous and my shoulder is warm where he’s touching me. He’s never done that before. “ You look like you’re about to pass out.”
“I was just thinking about the endurance trials. I think I’m a little overwhelmed with how intense they were.”
“All the recruits feel the same way after any endurance trial. No matter how great you’ve been these tests can always knock you out of your current ranking.”
“I can’t afford to slip any further than I already am.”
Xander quickly pulls his hand away when John steps out of the shadows. He’s not fast enough, John already saw us. “You’re right recruit. You’re hanging on by a thread. I hope you’ve started thinking about your back-up plan.”
