She nodded, looking unsurprised. “I’m aware. But this is the only time the general can see you. You will return here afterward, and continue with your treatment.”
Jaime nodded and followed her out the door.
∞
It was the same green room from his visions or hallucinations. Jaime looked around, mouth open in shock as the general gently propelled him forward and gestured for him to sit.
“Sir? Before we go any further, I have to tell you that the magical enhancement procedure was not successful. In fact, there were some unwanted side effects.”
General Klaus nodded once. “I am aware.”
“You are?”
“Yes.”
“So, what am I doing here?”
The general took a seat opposite Jaime and clicked on the console embedded in the table in front of them. A file sprang up in front of Jaime, similar in design to the ones he’d seen in his visions. This one contained his own face and details.
“I’ve been studying your file, Mr. Hall, and some things stood out for me. You were born in a Terra Station slum, with barely any access to edification modules or apprentice tools. You’re self-taught, assimilating skills that enabled you to join the local guard when you were of age. You took advantage of their advancement programs to qualify for the Galactic Federation. You, my friend, are a resourceful man.”
Jaime shrugged. “It’s hardly a unique story.”
“It’s rarer than you’d think. What I’m saying, Mr. Hall, is that the Federation cannot afford to lose you.”
Jaime nodded, feeling oddly disheartened. “So what are you going to do with me?”
‘There’s a new unit I’m setting up…’
Jaime’s eyes widened and he cast about the room, searching for the source of that voice.
“There’s a new unit I’m setting up,” General Klaus said, “To handle specific cases.”
Jaime just stared at him, wanting to ask if he’d heard that other voice but he didn’t want to look crazy. General Klaus leaned over the table, pressing a red button. Files began flashing across the screens, just like in Jaime’s…visions, and the very familiar sounding AI began to read their stats.
“These are a new crop of recruits we’re putting together. With their skillset, they will be useful to the Federation,” General Klaus said as the AI droned on. Jaime didn’t know where to look, “But they need a leader.”
Jaime rubbed at his forehead, feeling a headache building. “And you want me to recommend someone?”
General Klaus smiled, looking indulgent as the AI’s voice got to Epone Fayza.
“We want you to lead it.”
Jaime’s eyes widened. He truly had not been expecting a job offer, let alone a promotion.
“Why me?”
“You have excellent leadership skills, you’re proactive, you know how to communicate well with your team. Even without magic, hell, because you don’t have magic, you are the best candidate to keep these people in line.”
“A bunch of ex-convicts and volatile misfits? Because I come from the slum?”
“Because you made it out, and you continue to display excellent qualities that your Federation is in need of. The Galactic Federation needs you, Mr. Hall. Will you take this opportunity?”
Chapter Two: Recruitment
Jaime leaned in, fingers linked on the table top. “General Klaus, there’s probably something you should know about me,” he began to say.
‘It’s a suicide mission. We need a bunch of expendable people. This group is perfect for that.’
Jaime froze, mouth half open as the voice continued. It wasn’t the AI’s voice anymore. No, this voice was also familiar because he was listening to it right now. It was General Klaus.
What did it mean by suicide mission?
“Go ahead,” General Klaus said and Jaime jumped, not knowing which voice was in his head, and which was real.
“I beg your pardon?” he said aloud, just to test the difference in sound quality.
“You wanted to tell me something?” General Klaus leaned forward as well; brown eyes warm as if with concern. Jaime didn’t know what to think. He leaned back, taking a breath.
“General Klaus, you said you needed me to lead this group of misfits. Which means I assume that there is a mission you want us to complete?”
General Klaus smiled. “You see what I mean? Quick on the uptake,” he said with a gesture at Jaime, as if he was talking to a roomful of people.
“What’s the mission?”
The general stopped smiling. “I can’t tell you until you take the job son. And sign a few agreements.”
Jaime nodded. “Even though I might not be fit for duty? I haven’t been discharged from the hospital yet.”
“You will be. Never fear.”
“How do you know?”
“We have it on very good authority.”
“Oh yeah? You know something I don’t?”
General Klaus turned away, going to the AI and turning it up. “These people would be your crew. Your squadron. It would be up to you to divide them into two teams with complementary skills.”
“I’d have to know what the threat was first.”
General Klaus nodded. “Indeed. For now, Alexia will escort you back to the hospital where you can obtain an official discharge. Then we can get to work.”
∞
They brought in a parapsychologist to explain his hallucinations to him. It freaked Jaime up even more than he already was. He wondered if maybe the surgery had worked differently than they expected.
“It’s the tumors,” the parapsychologist, Judith Schumer, said.
“What about them? They’re making me hallucinate?”
“It seems more like you’re seeing visions of the future rather than hallucinating. You said you imagined the green room you found yourself in today?”
“Y-yes…”
Judith leaned in, grey eyes wide as she stared at Jaime. “Talk to me, Mr. Hall. I can’t help you if I don’t know your concerns.”
“I…right there in the room while the general was speaking to me, I got a…flash of what he was gonna say next. Also of something I didn’t hear him say at the time. I don’t think he was even talking to me when he said the second thing…in my vision.”
Judith rubbed her chin pensively. “Seeing visions do not necessarily involve situations you are in directly. It could be something to do with you, someone talking about you, anything.”
Jaime pursed his lips, thinking about ‘suicide missions’ and the new squad the general wanted him to lead. Thought about doing his duty for his colony and the Federation and what little he had to live for anyway. His parents were dead. He had no siblings. He’d left what friends he had behind when he joined the galactic force. There was no reason not to go forward with this, especially given the tumors in his brain.
“So, what? What’s my prognosis? Am I going to get better? Am I gonna die?”
“We can keep you alive, as professor Okoye told you. That won’t be a problem.”
Jaime nodded his head, listening to what she wasn’t saying.
“You said the tumors are responsible for my visions? How so?”
“It’s to do with their location. There is a high concentration at the right parahippocampal gyrus.”
Jaime frowned. “I’m just a soldier. I don’t speak science.”
Judith put a placating hand on his arm. “All you need to know is that this is the area associated with psychic abilities. You also have a few significant tumors on your amygdala, which is associated with intuition.”
“So…what you’re saying is that the growths have heightened my natural intuition and psychic abilities?”
“Pretty much, yes.”
“Do you see this often?”
Judith smiled. “I usually don’t deal with medical cases like yours and certainly not anyone with such a wide growth of benign tumors lo
cated in different parts of their brain. You know that we only use 10% of our brains right?”
Jaime nodded.
“Well, it’s been theorized that if we connect the left and right hemispheres, we can jack that percentage up a bit. I think that’s a factor in what is happening to you.”
Jaime suddenly felt a lot better about everything. “So I might be a useful member of my team?”
Judith smiled. “But of course.”
Jaime sighed, feeling lighter and less like a failure. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. All I did was explain to you what was happening in your body. The doctor will be by to discharge you soon.”
Judith stood up with her ever-present smile and took her leave. Jaime lay back down on the bed, eyes closed with relief. He wondered if he would get any more…visions, but all he heard was the steady beeping of his heart monitor. Judith had increased the volume as she explained how the pace of blood pumping, perfusing his tissues, influenced his brain activity. He reached over and pressed the mute button, wanting to get some rest. He had some hard decisions to make and he needed to be rested when he made them.
‘If we send them in, there has to be a good chance of success. Otherwise, what’s the point?’ an unfamiliar voice said, sounding very upset.
‘The team has a seer, they have magicians, a robotic mad scientist, hell they even have a Marchiatto. You know the Brotherhood has been trafficking Toths and their AI tech to the Martians since the Marsupian treaty was signed. They know all the undocumented entryways and exits.’
That was definitely General Klaus’ voice. This time all he could sense were voices in the dark. No green room, or any other place, no light to see who the speakers were - just disembodied voices, floating in his head, or his dreams, like ghosts.
‘Still…’ the first voice said, ‘chances of success are less than 10%’
‘It’s a risk we have to take. We can’t let the Martians use the blink.’
Jaime startled awake, forehead sweating, looking around him like he wasn’t quite sure where he was. He caught sight of Aileen, at the foot of his bed, disconnecting the electrodes attached to the heels of his feet. Since each part of the foot corresponded to a different body part, applying electrodes on there was an efficient way to monitor the whole body.
Aileen looked up and smiled.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
Jaime shook his head. “You didn’t. It’s fine.”
Aileen nodded, going back to her work.
Professor Okoye breezed into the room, a smile on his face.
“I take it Judith explained to you what’s happening in your mind?” he said, clicking a button on his watch to bring up Jaime’s file.
“Yeah, she told me about the heightened capabilities the tumors have triggered.”
“You should know that we’re not sure what else they’ve done, so we will continue to monitor you closely as you are out in the field. You are, however, declared fit for duty.”
“Good to know.”
The professor reached out with his stylus and signed at the bottom of his file.
“There, you’re good to go. I believe a transport pod will be here for you later to take you back to the base.”
“V.I.P. treatment huh?” Jaime faked a laugh.
“Looks like it.” The professor returned his smile before leaving the room.
∞
The shuttle to Terra colony took no time at all on the hyperspeed train and Jaime settled back into this pod, resolving to get as much sleep as he could before his briefing. He woke, refreshed, eight hours later to find a familiar sounding AI waiting for him in the base cafeteria.
“General Klaus wishes to meet with you after breakfast,” it said.
“Oh. Okay, and what’s your name?”
“You may call me Golem.”
“Are you assigned permanently to General Klaus?”
“Affirmative.”
“Indeed. So…” Jaime cast about for a way to ask about the conversations he’d dreamed about. How much of it was true?
“I want to ask about the mission?”
“Negative. I am not authorized to give you any information on that.”
“What about-”
“Negative.” Golem interrupted, “I am not authorized to give you any information.”
“Okay then.”
Jaime turned back to his food, even though he’d lost his appetite. He gulped down his coffee and then stood up.
“I’m ready,” he finally said to Golem.
The AI turned immediately and began to lead the way to General Klaus’ office.
Jaime took a deep breath, trying to regulate his anxious breathing, and followed.
∞
General Klaus clicked the smart device on his wrist, sending contracts and agreements to Jaime’s palmtop. He quickly pressed his thumb to the slot which transferred his biometric signature to the documents.
“You’re not even going to read it first?”
Suicide squad flashed through his mind and he shook his head. “Plenty of time for that later. I assume it’s a standard contract?”
“Not quite. This is a black ops team, different rules.”
“Got it. But even black ops teams have standard quid pro quos.”
General Klaus nodded. “Fair enough.”
“Tell me about the assignment.”
General Klaus gestured to Golem who sent a bunch of files to Jaime. He barely had to glance at them to know what they were: personnel files on his team.
“These are the people you will be working with. They each have a special skill that you will need on your assignment. I’m going to tell you straight out, Mr. Hall, the likelihood of success for this mission is projected to be less than 10%.”
“I see. What is the mission?”
“The Martians have stolen a blink.”
Jaime stood up in horror. “No!”
“I’m afraid it’s true.”
“How? They’re the best guarded weapons in the entire realm!”
“They had help on the inside.”
Jaime’s mind was blown. “I can’t believe it.”
“It was a shock for all of us.”
“What do they mean to do with it?”
“Intelligence reports state that they have turned their Eye to Earth.”
“That’s bad. That’s really bad. What about diplomacy? Have we tried that?”
“The Federation has sent emissaries. We got them back with their heads inside little boxes.”
“Did you at least find out who the traitor is?”
“We have narrowed it down.”
“You’ve narrowed it down…great,” Jaime couldn’t really help the sarcastic tone though he tried.
General Klaus drew in an audible breath, clearly annoyed. “Whoever it was covered their tracks thoroughly. There was no way to trace their electronic signature. The nature of the help they gave could have happened remotely if they had the right key. So we’re forced to investigate everyone and go by a process of elimination.”
“That sounds…tedious.”
“It is. Made even more so by the fact that there are very few cleared agents who can do the searching.”
Jaime nodded. He could imagine how hard it must be to search when you didn’t know who you could trust.
“I understand,” he said, “What do you need from me?”
“I need you to take this team of misfits and shape them into a fighting force. You’re going to go in, and try to steal the blink back.”
Jaime just stared. Suicide mission indeed!
“The Martians have those barriers though. It’s almost impossible for anyone to get through if they don’t let you in.”
“One of your teammates, Jordan Adity Anand, holds the key to a back door.”
Jaime remembered him from his visions. He was the ex-mobster with the truth spell curse on
him. That must be a bitch for a criminal to live with. Especially with the things about his sexuality he wanted to keep under wraps. Jaime resolved to be very careful how he asked for information from him. He didn’t want to be the one to make Jordan reveal things about himself he wasn’t prepared to.
“Is he willing to show us?”
The general sighed. “Jaime, I brought you here to familiarize you with the situation as it stands. It is your job to liaise with your men.”
Jaime stiffened his spine, only just stopping himself from saluting.
“Yes, sir. And when will I be meeting with them?”
“We thought it best to take it one at a time. This is a volatile group and trust building has been a problem. They are currently housed on sub-sector six.”
Jaime blanched. “At this time of year? Isn’t it subzero temperatures over there?”
“Yes. It is. All the better to keep everyone cool,” the general said, almost with a smirk. Jaime was reminded of an old tale his grandmother used to tell him about the big bad wolf and what big teeth he had. The general had very big, very sharp teeth…and if he chose to use them to bite, Jaime could get very hurt. He resolved not to tempt fate.
Chapter Three: Sub Sector Six
Subsector six was a training facility for Special Forces in the Galactic Federation that was used only when grooming agents for extreme conditions such as the icy tundra of Uranus or PDA 70b, or extreme heat conditions in some of the newer planets just evolving. It was located on the southern side of the earth’s moon and could take no more than ten agents at a time.
This probably meant that they would be out there on their own plus maybe one or two trainers. Extreme conditions indeed if Jaime was expected to make them into a team. He’d been part of teams before, but he’d never led one. Not even on the smaller missions. To say he felt nervous was the understatement of the year.
The transport landed silently beside an entrance tube, and Jaime hurried to enter and seal the door behind him, even though he knew it was airtight - old habits from living in less than ideal conditions.
In spite of its limited population, the sector was far from silent. Jaime could hear music blaring from one of the rooms along the corridor and someone was counting very loudly from the same room. When he drew level with the door, he paused, listening to try and guess what the person in the room could be doing. From the grunts interspersed with the counting, Jaime figured whoever it was, was exercising. He raised his hand, fist curled in preparation to knock, but then changed his mind. He needed a minute to settle in, maybe think a little, watch the tapes the general had given him and plan a strategy.
Mage Marine Misfits: Book 01 Page 2
