by Chloe Garner
She raised an eyebrow.
“The things we see in here?” she asked. “I don’t doubt the possibility of anything anymore.”
But that’s in here, he thought, but he nodded.
“Thanks.”
She shrugged again.
“It was weird.”
“It was,” he agreed, then she turned with a little flip of her head and left. He returned to his catchup, feeling slightly better. If anyone was going to notice Olivia acting strange, it would be Celeste.
*********
By Friday, she’d spotted them.
“Will you stop?” she asked with a laugh over dinner.
“What?” Troy asked, knowing exactly what she was talking about.
She gave him a look that said she knew that he knew.
“Nothing happened,” she said. “It was a fun weekend. That’s all. I’m not going to suddenly start foaming at the mouth and scratching my arms.”
“Did you drink anything Saturday night?” he asked. She put her hand over his.
“No,” she said. “No one drugged me.”
“No unusual cravings?” he asked. They were already talking about it; he might as well ask.
“Do I want to go back?” she asked. “Sure. But it’s not a need. It would just be fun, you know? I wish you’d had fun, too.”
“At least then I’d get it,” he said.
“You know what I think?” she asked. He raised an eyebrow.
“Sure.”
“I think it’s that we work on the portal program.”
He didn’t follow.
“We’re always on the lookout for weird, you know? And strange is always dangerous. Because we haven’t got a clue, sometimes, what it is.” She gave him an odd little smile that sent a tingle across his shoulders. “But not everything that’s strange is bad. Sometimes a club is just a club, and a fun night is just a fun night, even when it doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t always have to make sense.”
“Yes it does,” he complained, but he smiled. “Okay.”
She nodded.
“So you’ll call Celeste off?”
“What does that mean?”
“The only reason she let me go to dinner without her was because I was going to be with you,” she told him, and he laughed.
“I think you think what I say matters more to her than it really does,” he told her, and she tipped her head to the side.
“Worth a try, though. I need some time with no one watching me,” she said.
“Oh, well,” he said, feigning to stand. She laughed.
“Just tell Celeste I’m okay,” she said. “Sit.”
He relaxed in his chair and crossed his legs.
“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever been like this, before.”
He’d been thinking it, frequently, but it surprised him that he said it. Symptom of the same thing.
“Like how?” Olivia asked.
He motioned from himself to her and back.
“Like this. Just easy. No agenda, don’t really know what’s going to happen, and…”
“And that’s okay,” Olivia finished. “I think that’s sad.”
“What?”
“That you’ve never felt like that before,” she said, then looked away and smiled. “I think this is how it’s supposed to be.” She curled her hand closed and put her fingers against her mouth, her eyes still smiling. “It’s supposed to be easy. And, no matter what happens, when you go home at night, not a disappointment.”
Not a disappointment. That was supposed to mean exactly what he heard it to mean.
“I’m never disappointed,” he said. The smile in her eyes changed, disbelief, maybe, or nerves.
“I know myself,” Olivia said. “I know that I’m not going to change because I’m not who you want.” She saw something in his face and she turned away, then faced him again, more serious. “Yes, I can have a crush on you for years, and that doesn’t change anything. I still am who I am.”
“You don’t disappoint me,” he said more earnestly now.
“I will,” she asserted. “And you’re going to have to decide if I’m worth it, anyway. If this is worth it. Because it may not be.”
“This has been worrying you a lot,” he said after a moment. She looked away and he laughed.
“I can’t tell you that we’re going to spend the rest of our lives together. But I like being around you, and I can’t think of anything that’s going to change that.” He waited, watching her, but he couldn’t read her. “We’re okay, Olivia.”
She still looked unsure.
“You’re a good man, Troy. I just don’t know if this is what you want.”
He smiled at her, a bit wistfully, and she gave him a warm smile back.
“Well, I look forward to finding out,” he said. She smiled, turning her face away, and then it was past. They talked about other things, they ate, they laughed, but he went home pondering what she’d said, wondering if she might not be right.
*********
Saturday afternoon, Jesse knocked on his door.
“You haven’t been doing a good job,” Jesse said, leaning against the wall outside of the doorway.
“What?” Troy asked. Jesse shrugged.
“You’re supposed to be pestering me and making sure I do whatever you want,” he said. “You haven’t been doing a very good job, and I thought I’d come help.”
“I’ll listen to that,” Troy said, stepping aside. Jesse motioned toward the hallway with his head.
“Come on. I sit in one of these little boxes too much as it is.”
Troy shrugged and grabbed his jacket, following Jesse downstairs and through the parking lot.
“You know Joe’s Kitchen?” Jesse asked, referring to a little all-night diner within walking distance.
“Sure,” Troy answered.
“Good,” Jesse said, shoving his hands into his pockets. Troy followed, bemused.
“You didn’t ask if I like Joe’s,” he said.
“Don’t care,” Jesse answered, hopping over a cement block at the end of a parking space and making his way onto the sidewalk.
“What’s this about?” Troy asked a minute later as they walked.
“How have you been?” Jesse asked.
Troy glanced at him with suspicion.
“What do you mean?’
Jesse was pure innocence.
“What?”
“I’m good. How are you?” Troy asked. Jesse grinned.
“Awful.”
“What?” Troy asked. “What are you talking about?”
Jesse laughed.
“In good time,” he said. “I want to hear about you, first.”
Troy shook his head.
“What is this?”
Jesse stepped off of the curb and back up, a complicated little dance of feet, then went to walk backwards in front of Troy. His face was serene, playful.
“I want to hear about your lovely new girlfriend, about your great career accomplishments, about your breakthroughs and how happy you are,” Jesse said, feet too big as they flopped one behind the other. Troy found himself watching them, expecting Jesse to trip over the rubber toes of his shoes at any moment. Finally he shook himself and looked up.
“Fine, I’m happy. What do you want?”
Jesse grinned and spun over his heel, pushing the pace until they got to Joe’s.
An aging woman who probably should have been retired seated them, and a working mother with smudged makeup came to take their order.
“What?” Troy asked Jesse as she left.
“How’s Olivia?” Jesse asked.
Troy sat back, accepting that this was going to go how Jesse wanted it to, and that if Jesse didn’t intend to tell him anything important, he wouldn’t have gone out of his way to get Troy out tonight.
For a moment, that flagged a concern that Jesse wanted Troy out of his apartment for some reason to do with his apartment, but he noted it and put it aside for now.
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“She’s good,” Troy answered, glancing out the window. “She’s different.”
“Is she your first serious girlfriend?” Jesse asked. Troy frowned at him, and Jesse shrugged.
“Humor me. I know the answer. This is how civilized conversation goes, on this planet.”
Troy sighed.
“Sure. She’s my first serious girlfriend.”
“And how is that?” Jesse asked.
“It’s weird,” Troy said truthfully. “But I’m learning, and she’s really nice.”
“Nicer than you deserve, if you ask you,” Jesse said. Troy gave him a half-smile, then shook his head.
“I don’t see what she sees in me, if that’s what you’re saying.”
Jesse shrugged.
“I could go on for days about that one, but we’ve got more important stuff to talk about.”
Troy waited.
“How’s Conrad?” Jesse asked.
Troy was startled. The gears of hiring were slow everywhere, but with background clearances and everything else the kid would have to go through, Troy hadn’t given the intervening weeks since he’d started the process even a second thought.
“I haven’t checked in,” he said. “Why?”
“Should do it,” Jesse said, winding his mouth to the side and tapping a complex pattern on the table. It was mesmerizing, and made Troy think of the rubber toes of Jesse’s shoes skimming the pavement. “Should definitely follow up with him. Remind him that you’re still the guy he wants to work for.”
“What do you know?” Troy asked. “Did he get another offer?”
“Oh, he got another offer,” Jesse said. “No doubt in my mind.”
“From who?” Troy asked. Jesse shrugged.
“Don’t know yet.”
Their food arrived and they paused for a minute, then Jesse nodded at him.
“Eat.”
Troy shook his head.
“You’re not making any sense.”
Jesse nodded.
“I know. You’re good at what you do, but even at your best, you wouldn’t have seen it. Too busy with your accomplishments.”
“You mean Olivia?”
Jesse looked at him strangely.
“You don’t even know that, do you?”
Troy glowered at him, and Jesse laughed suddenly.
“My, my, what bliss.”
Troy waited some more, and Jesse waved his fork at him.
“Eat.”
“So what have you been doing, if I haven’t been doing a good enough job keeping an eye on you?” Troy asked.
“Just spending some time alone with some thoughts,” Jesse said. “Mostly.”
Troy gritted his teeth.
“Spill it, Jalnian.”
Jesse’s fork froze in the air for a fraction of a second, then it was moving again as he shoveled food into his mouth, oblivious to Troy.
“Your food’s getting cold,” he said at one point, with his mouth full. Troy picked at his plate, but mostly he waited for the blasted foreign terrestrial to choose his timing.
Finally, Jesse sat up again and wiped his fingers on a napkin.
There was a pause.
“Your team has found some stuff, here, lately, that has people talking.”
“Who and what?” Troy asked.
Jesse shrugged.
“People. Higher up than would ever condescend to talk to you directly.”
“Then how do you know that?” Troy asked. Jesse gave him a disappointed look and went on.
“Some of them know about me, but most of them don’t. Jalnian doesn’t translate correctly, you see. That needs to stay as it is.” He paused, scratching a mark on the table off with his fingernail, then patting the spot with another finger. Troy was tired. He wanted to go back to his apartment and lay down on the couch and watch dumb movies until he fell asleep.
“I’m sorry,” Jesse said. “I don’t normally do this, but it’s important.”
Troy blinked, sleepier.
Jesse scratched his throat, and Troy’s head fell sideways, then jerked upright again.
“Simple rhythms,” Jesse said. “Embedded so deep down in your psyche that you can’t even see them.”
Troy blinked twice, then his eyes stuck shut.
“What you need to know, Conrad can tell you.”
*********
He woke up at home, in bed, the next morning.
*********
Monday morning, he wanted to ask Jesse what had happened Saturday night, but something kept him from bringing it up. Instead, he went and called Conrad.
“Sir,” Conrad answered the phone. “I’m glad you called.”
“I heard something,” Troy said, careful, “about how things weren’t really going the way I expected.”
Conrad laughed, that husky, rugby player laugh that could have meant anything.
“Yeah,” the other man said. “Yeah.”
“What’s going on?” Troy asked.
There was a very long pause.
“I’m glad you called,” Conrad said. “I’m very excited to work for you.”
“No second thoughts, then?” Troy asked, digging. Conrad laughed again.
“No, sir,” he said. Troy waited.
He heard Conrad gathering his thoughts, a series of false-starts at speech.
“Yes, I’m very excited to start working for you,” he finally said. “I’m sure everything will be fine.”
“What’s going on?” Troy asked again.
“Just some security clearance stuff,” Conrad answered easily this time. “I’m sure it’s just something getting lost, or something. My wife and I will be up to look at houses later this week. I know she’d love to meet you.”
“Absolutely,” Troy said. “Just pick a day. My schedule is pretty flexible this week.”
Conrad laughed again, a happier noise this time.
“That sounds great. I’ll talk to her and get back to you.”
“Sure,” Troy said. “Just let me know.”
“Thank you, sir,” Conrad said.
“We’re all very excited for you to join us, as well,” he said. “I’ll see you later this week.”
“Thank you, sir,” Conrad said, and Troy nodded at the phone as he hung it up.
There was definitely something weird going on.
*********
Thursday, Troy left the base for lunch with Conrad way out in the suburbs. It was a bit odd, he thought, that Conrad and his wife were looking that far away from the base for their first house - most people wanted to be close to the base because of the amenities and discounted supplies, as well as for the short drive time, but to each their own.
The restaurant was a standard chain restaurant that existed across most of the country, but the service was friendly and the food was decent. Conrad was already at a table, by himself.
“Where’s your wife?” Troy asked. Conrad shrugged.
“She had something come up at home and she couldn’t make it,” he said. Troy laughed.
“And she let you come look at houses by yourself?”
Conrad grinned.
“Oh, she’ll get final say, sir. We both know that.” He paused. “Actually, do you mind if I borrow your phone? I need to call her and the battery in mine died.”
Troy pulled his phone out of his pocket and put it on the table, giving the waitress a friendly smile as Conrad dialed.
That was when things got odd.
Conrad put the phone on speaker as it rang, turning it over and pulling out a tiny screwdriver and starting to disassemble it. Troy sad, dumbfounded, as Conrad’s wife answered.
“Hey, Sweetie, it’s me,” Conrad said, pulling the back off of the phone and setting it on the table. “I’m at lunch with Troy. Just wanted to let you know that my phone is dead, but I looked at some great houses this morning. I think you’re going to like them.”
“Right. You have the taste of a nomadic barbarian,” she answered, and Conrad grinned wid
er, the screwdriver pulling more screws from the inside of the phone.
“All right, so they aren’t gingerbread houses with picket fences,” he said. She laughed.
“Just make sure you find the grocery stores and the vet, okay?” she asked.
“I’m on it, ma’am,” Conrad answered. “I should go.”
“Charge your phone,” she answered and hung up. Conrad was still grinning as he pulled another piece out of Troy’s phone and put it on the table next to the back. He held the phone out to Troy and pointed at a sticker with the screwdriver.
Troy felt his eyes bug out fractionally.
He knew that technology. Conrad nodded and quickly reassembled the phone, then pulled out of his pocket a block the size and shape of a melted golf ball and affixed it to the back of the phone.
“Those aren’t legal,” Troy observed casually. Conrad shrugged.
“I figure when you’re up against guerrillas, your list of options gets bigger,” he said. Troy took his phone back from Conrad and set it down on the table, trying to ignore it.
“I’d recommend losing that one,” Conrad said, motioning to Troy’s phone.
“The battery has been draining faster than it used to,” Troy said. “I should have noticed.”
“The heat was what tipped me off,” Conrad said.
Troy was trying very hard not to take inventory of everything he’d said, everything he’d heard, everything he’d been around in the last week, the last two weeks, the last two months, the last year. He needed to focus, and work through triage later.
What he needed to figure out was why they’d target Conrad, too.
Troy was an obvious target. His access to information and technology was unrivaled, and while the device couldn’t read, it could hear, and it could put out an electromagnetic pulse that would gather startling amounts of information about the shape, size, and material makeup of any space he’d been in. It could learn to identify people first by vocal recognition and then through biometrics, so even if someone never spoke, the bug would know who they were and where they were until they went far enough away that the pulses were no longer accurate, or went beyond a thick enough layer of steel.
The portal room had walls of a calibrated thickness intended to keep even a much-higher-powered version of this scanner from being able to see into it, but he’d carried his phone into the portal room innumerable times in the last twelve months. The data that the right set of eyes could pull out of that was staggering.
