Psion Delta (Psion series #3)

by Jacob Gowans

  “I doubt it!” Jeffie called out as she led her team to their exit.

  Once again, Tawhiri gave the teams almost no time to rest. Before Jeffie had much chance to talk strategy, their team hustled back into the Arena as the nerves in Sammy’s injured leg sent out their first mild complaints. The temperature was even colder than before, almost unbearably so. Every centimeter of his exposed skin itched, and every hair on Sammy’s weary body stood on end.

  “I think my goosebumps are sprouting goosebumps,” Brickert chattered.

  In the last match, Sammy had gradually grown accustomed to the cold, but it would not be the case this time. As they walked further into the Arena, he had to keep rubbing his hands together to keep them from aching.

  The setup was a warehouse, filled with the same kind of detail they’d seen in the office building last match. Immovable stacks of boxes, crates, pallets, machinery, all the same steely gray color, filled the Arena. The piles of storage boxes and equipment formed a simple labyrinth, but as far as Sammy could see, there was only one floor in this Game. Across the Arena, he could see Asaki and Li leading their teams down the steps into the fray.

  “Look for a hiding spot,” Jeffie said, and Sammy noticed that her lips had turned a bluish-purple. “We need to try to keep out of the fight until the other teams have hurt each other a bit.”

  “We’re going to freeze sitting around!” Kawai protested.

  “We can huddle up,” Brickert suggested. Sammy pretended not to notice the glance his friend sent Natalia, nor the tell-tale signs of emotion growing on his friend’s cheeks.

  “Fine, fine,” Jeffie said, “let’s find somewhere fast.”

  They didn’t have to search long. The warehouse design had several nooks and crannies where five teenagers could hide undetected. The enclosure they chose was cramped enough to trap some of their body heat around them and had plenty of ledges to allow them to climb if someone wanted to peek over the top of the boxes to investigate. Jeffie ordered Sammy to keep lookout, so he stayed perched above his teammates where he could easily peer over the ledge.

  “What do you see?” Jeffie asked him.

  “Not much from here,” Sammy told her over the com. “but I’m going to get hypothermia just standing here. Would you rather I scout?”

  “Okay, but be careful.”

  Sammy crept out and crawled along the tops of the stacks, ignoring the growing pain in his leg, and staying out of sight whenever possible. He finally found the two teams battling on two stacks of boxes, and reported what he saw back to Jeffie.

  “We’re going to move in on them,” she announced. “We’ll be ready to attack when their skirmish ends.”

  Sammy thought this unwise. They had a great hiding spot and plenty of time to kill before the match ended. What was her rush? But like a good soldier, he held his tongue and led the rest of the team to his position. They crawled along the boxes slowly, keeping their bodies pressed low like a small battalion of giant spiders. Jeffie directed each of them to their places and gave orders on how she wanted her attack coordinated. Asaki’s team was winning the battle and had only lost Levu. Li’s team was down to its last two fighters.

  As they watched the battle play out, Brickert said, “Li got hosed with Strawberry, Hefani, and Antonio on his team.”

  Natalia giggled, and Kawai nodded happily.

  “Move in behind Asaki’s team, but with caution,” Jeffie said. “I don’t want to be seen until we’ve taken out a couple of them.”

  Jeffie’s team performed as directed. They were nearly in striking distance when Asaki’s team spotted them. Asaki ordered half her team to repel Jeffie’s. Being at a positional disadvantage, Sammy guessed Jeffie would call for a retreat, but she didn’t.

  “Defense only!” she said. “Nothing but shields. Make it impossible for them to hit you unless they come down and engage us.”

  Sammy followed orders, still questioning Jeffie’s decision. Retreat, Jeffie. Make them come after us or let them get beat up by Li’s team. Jeffie’s group held their ground and shielded themselves effectively. Meanwhile, the remnants of Li’s team refused to lose, and pressed Asaki’s rear flank, commanding more and more of her attention.

  “Sammy, blast up there and disrupt Asaki’s team. Take out as many of them as you can.”

  Using his most powerful blast-jump, Sammy shot up to the top in one blast, landing shakily on his throbbing leg in between Rosa and Cala. When all seven of Asaki’s team turned, Sammy saw the brilliance of Jeffie’s strategy.

  “Fire!” she ordered the remainder of her team. “Take them out!”

  Sammy did his best to cause commotion, jump-blasting high above the heads of his enemy and firing down upon them. Several hands went up to shield. Sammy slowed himself down, hovering above them while both Jeffie and Li’s team pressed from the sides. After taking out Miguel, he focused on Asaki. Rosa went down next, caught by Antonio on her blind side. Sammy nearly had Asaki when Kobe came at him, both hands firing. Sammy put up a shield and fired back, but Kaden got a good jump on Sammy and forced him to land. When Sammy hit the ground, his bad leg buckled under his weight. He tried to shield himself, but three fighters pounced on him and deactivated him in seconds.

  When the match ended, Sammy found himself on the ground, having rolled down the large stack of crates. It was still bitterly cold, and his fingers and toes were stiff. Kawai helped him up, and he limped over to where the other Betas were marching out of the Arena. Jeffie saw him and marched toward him with a blazing look in her eyes.

  “I WON!” she shrieked, launching herself into him.

  Pain seared up his leg to his hip as he barely caught her. He wished he hadn’t when she squeezed the wind out of his lungs by hugging him so tightly.

  “I’ve never won before. You realize that, right? But I did, thanks to you!”

  Sammy set her down. “No, that was all you. Your ideas were perfect. I thought you’d made some bad choices, but you proved me wrong.”

  Jeffie constricted him even more until he thought his ribs might crack.

  “I mean it!” he managed to squeak out between gasps of air. “You did well!”

  Someone tapped on Sammy’s shoulder. Sammy turned, saw Kobe, and instantly let Jeffie go.

  “Dude, wow,” Kobe said, giving Sammy a good-natured punch on the arm. “That thing on the wall was way cool.”

  “Thanks,” Sammy told him.

  Kobe then gave his attention to Jeffie. “You won! That’s so awesome! Way to go!”

  “I know!” she squealed.

  Before he had to watch them embrace, Sammy hurried to the steps where Brickert was walking up with Kawai and Natalia. “Good game, guys,” he said.

  Brickert grinned and shook his head.

  “What?” Sammy asked.

  Brickert’s grin transformed into a hearty chuckle. “It’s like you picked up right where you left off.”

  “It’s true,” Kaden said, coming up behind Sammy. “You looked solid.”

  Sammy forced a smile of his own. “Thanks.”

  “Poor Kobe.” Kaden glanced back down the stairs. “He still hates losing as much as he used to, but Jeffie’s forcing him to learn to play nice when things don’t work out his way.” Kaden’s eyes rested on Sammy briefly before he turned his gaze back upstairs. “She’s been good for him. Mellows him out.”

  Sammy’s com saved him from the awkward moment by alerting him of a new message.

  Sammy,

  I’d like to see you in my office as soon as possible. Thank you.

  Major Tawhiri

  What does he want? Sammy wondered. When they reached the top of the stairs, he broke apart from the group.

  “Where are you going?” Kawai asked. “Celebration. Cafeteria. Oh-now-hundred-hours.”

  Sammy tapped his com. “I got a message from Tawhiri. He wants to see me.”

  Brickert, Kawai, and Natalia exchanged looks. Natalia began humming a tune for a death march, and Kawai joined in
.

  “Good luck with that,” Brickert said.

  “I’ll meet up with you guys when I’m done.” Quickly taking the stairs, Sammy knocked three times on Tawhiri’s door.

  “Come on in, Sammy-o!” his voice shouted.

  The apartment that used to be Byron’s looked much different than when Sammy had seen it a few days ago. Byron possessed a unique taste in furniture and style, while Tawhiri’s was much more tempered, bordering on dull. Not nearly as many pictures hung on the walls, but an appealing smell wafted in from somewhere unseen.

  Tawhiri poked his head around that corner wearing an apron and a chef’s hat. “Are you hungry?” he asked with a wink. “I made steak! Come grab a bite.”

  With a bit more eagerness than before, Sammy entered the dining area and took a seat. Tawhiri laid out his china and put all the trimmings on the table. He uncovered each dish with a flourish. The smell was savory and alluring.

  “Please, Sammy, tuck in.” He glanced up toward his forehead and tittered as he removed his chef’s hat. “I abhor finding a hair in my food.”

  They filled their plates and ate in silence for a few moments. Tawhiri watched Sammy out of the corner of his eye, but Sammy gave no indication that he noticed. When the major swallowed his next large bite, he spoke. “Good?”

  “Uh, me or the food?”

  “Both, I guess.” Tawhiri grinned in a friendly way.

  “The food is amazing. You should put this recipe in the Robochef.”

  “A talent of mine, I guess. If I hadn’t become a Psion, I’d have been a gourmet chef.” He cut two stalks of asparagus in half and put all four pieces into his mouth. “Mmm.”

  “How about you? Are you happy here so far?”

  “Leadership’s a burden, Sammy. It’s got ups and downs, and you’ve got to be able to take them both in stride.” Tawhiri nodded as though he believed Sammy knew exactly what he meant. “You’ll figure it all out sooner than later.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “My boy,” the major blinked at Sammy disapprovingly, “you and I both know you’re headed for great things. The youngest Alpha . . . possibly straight to squadron leader. Who knows? They may put you in Command before you turn twenty-one.”

  Sammy almost dropped his fork. “Who—what—the youngest Alpha?”

  “Yes, of course, you’re being graduated in a few months. Didn’t you know that?”

  Sammy’s heart beat quickened and his jaw set.

  Tawhiri regarded Sammy warily. “I take it you weren’t aware.”

  “Byron told me it had been suggested, but he also said that if I didn’t want to go early, I—I—” Sammy fought to subdue that quaking undertone in his voice. “I wouldn’t have to.”

  The major’s expression changed to one of great surprise. “And you don’t want to?”

  “No! I want to stay here with my friends.”

  “But what good is that going to do anyone? You’re a powerful Psion, Sammy. You don’t belong here anymore.”

  “Yes, I do.” Sammy glanced down at his half-eaten steak and found his appetite gone.

  “Perhaps you belong here for a few more weeks, months at most. But years?” Tawhiri clicked his tongue, shaking his head simultaneously. “I think you’re not being honest with yourself, are you?”

  “I—yeah, I am. I know what I want.”

  Tawhiri, it seemed, hadn’t lost his appetite in the least. Sammy sat in silence and watched as the major tucked into his food once more. Finally he looked back at Sammy and pointed his fork at him. “I’ve watched you this week. You’re unmotivated. You’re coasting through your instructions and simulations. I gave you an unbalanced team and you still won handily.”

  “That was Jeffie’s doing, not mine.”

  Tawhiri stared at Sammy blankly while taking another large bite of his food.

  “I’m serious.” Sammy sighed deeply. “I thought she’d made some bad decisions, but they proved to be smart. If I’d been honcho, I’d have done things differently and probably lost.”

  “You can’t know that for certain. Jeffie made decisions probably because she has more faith in you than you have in yourself. Even the worst military mind in an army can be victorious if the odds are stacked in his favor.”

  “The odds weren’t stacked in Jeffie’s favor.”

  Major Tawhiri covered his mouth with a napkin to hide his laughter. “You probably think of me as a guy who is pretty new here—someone who doesn’t really know what’s going on. If you do, you’re naïve. Ninety percent of the time Commander Byron left on recruiting trips or other business, I watched over the students. I know you better than you think.”

  Sammy didn’t respond.

  “Are you willing to admit that you’re unmotivated?”

  “No, I’m not unmotivated. It’s been hard getting back into the routine.”

  “Why? Was it difficult enjoying the sims when you first started here?”

  “No.”

  “So what’s the difference?”

  Picking up a stem of asparagus from his plate, Sammy bit it in half while he thought about his answer. “I don’t know,” he finally stated.

  “Really, Sammy?” Major Tawhiri had very bushy black eyebrows with one or two gray hairs in each brow. When they arched, the effect was more dramatic than on other people. “You really don’t know? Try and come up with something.”

  “I suppose it’s because I’m still recovering from—”

  “You look fine to me.”

  “It’s more mental recover—”

  “You rated very high on your mental health testing scores last week.”

  “That’s—I did?”

  The major crossed his arms over his wide chest. “Let me change topics for a moment. I’m not criticizing Commander Byron. He was an excellent leader, but our styles are different. I plan on making some scheduling changes. They’re probably not going to be popular among your peers. However, I’d like your support and I’d like you to lead your friends to support me as well.”

  “What kind of changes?”

  “Curfew enforcement on weekends, more emphasis on punctuality, those kinds of things. And I think respect is vital to having a proper disciplinary relationship. Do you agree?”

  “I, uh, I guess so.”

  “You’ve just given me an example. You don’t address me as ‘sir.’ Why is that?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Tawhiri’s large eyebrows furrowed tightly. “I think our friendship can be mutually beneficial. I’m highly regarded in Command, and that’s why I’m here. You are, too. As of right now, your Psion Panel is scheduled to take place before you turn sixteen. Part of that Panel is a written statement from the head of Beta regarding the Psion’s conduct and professionalism.”

  “Sir, I don’t care about my Panel!” Sammy leaned forward. “And I don’t want to graduate early.”

  “I have little influence over your graduation date.”

  “What do you mean?” Sammy argued. “You can tell Command I’m not ready! You can delay my Panel as long as you want.”

  “That’s not what you really want, though, is it?”

  “You don’t know what I want. If you don’t believe that, then watch me. I’ll fail all my sims and instructions. And if you force me to take the Panel, I’ll fail that, too. I’m not going to let Command jerk me around.”

  “But that’s part of our commitment of service,” Tawhiri reminded him. “And that’s what Command wants. They want you out of here as soon as it can be done. That’s why I’m here. That’s my job. You pretend that you and I aren’t—for lack of a better word—tools, but that’s what we are. Which is why we should help each other advance our careers, right?”

  “How could I possibly help you?”

  “I’m talking about networking! It’s as important to a career as anything else. Unfortunately it is sometimes more so. It’s the world we live in, dog eat dog. But you and I can help each other.”

&
nbsp; Sammy snorted. “Why would I want to be in Command?”

  “Because Command is where people like you belong. It’s a place for you to have a stable life and make decisions, not be acted upon by others. It’s a place off the front lines! You’re not a grunt, Sammy, you’re a wunderkind. You will have opportunities that most people don’t.”

  Sammy took a large gulp of his water while Byron’s words from long ago about great expectations swirled around his mind. “I don’t know anything about any of that stuff you’re talking about. I’m—I’m me.”

  Tawhiri grabbed his stomach and chuckled merrily. “That’s because you’re young! Let me try to explain. General Wu has been around a long time. You’ve heard of him, right?”

  Sammy indicated he had.

  “He started out as the head of Elite Command. When all these anomalies popped up, Wu created an entity called Anomaly Command, which he directed. Eventually, as the number of anomalies grew, Anomaly Command was split into three groups—Tensai, Psion, and Ultra . . . Eleven, Fourteen, and Fifteen—and Wu created Alpha Command to coordinate their efforts. General Wu, as the Director of Military Operations, oversees both Alpha and Elite Command. You still with me? Good.

  “Wu and Commander Byron go way back, but Wu is old and close to retirement. You can bet he will have significant sway as to who gets his job,” Tawhiri continued. “He’s on excellent terms with the president. If I were a betting man, I’d put everything I have on shaking hands with a General Byron in a year or two.”

  “General—you mean Commander Byron?”

  “I have little doubt,” Major Tawhiri said. “The general and the commander don’t see eye to eye on most things, but there’s no one Wu trusts more.”

  “I don’t think Byron would take the job.”

  “You don’t, eh? That remains to be seen, but the new director will almost certainly be someone from Alpha Command. With Byron’s recent promotion, lots of people think he’s being fast-tracked. Wu’s been at odds with Elite Command since moved up in the ranks, and lower-level Command members are hardly qualified for such an assignment.”