Pia hadn’t expected Lucia to follow them to the operating room. One look at Lucia’s face told her that she shouldn’t bother with a comment. The commodore would be staying with the captain.
“You’re nervous, Captain,” Nalia remarked, after Pia left and while directing Jess to the operating table. “There’s no need to be. The operation is quick, minimally invasive, and quite painless.”
“That’s not what worries me,” Jess replied.
“What concerns you, Captain?” Nalia asked.
“Having everyone learn what I’m thinking,” Jess replied.
“Do you have dark thoughts?” Nalia inquired.
“Probably not any more than most others,” Jess admitted, “but my thoughts aren’t always kind.”
“Jess,” Lucia interjected, “when you were part of the Sylian defense squadron, did you always share your thoughts with Commander Tzeena?”
“No, of course not,” Jess replied.
“Exactly,” Lucia replied. “You might have had a negative thought, but when you were on the comm, you expressed a professional opinion. An implant is a miniature communication device. You must connect to an individual, a group, or a controller before you can transmit your thought.”
“Is that easy to do?” Jess asked, looking for confirmation from Lucia and then Nalia.
“It’s the first thing you’ll learn,” Nalia said. “Are you ready, Captain?”
Jess nodded and lay down on the table. He glanced toward Lucia, and she nodded encouragingly.
Nalia placed a small medical device against Jess’s temple. His eyes closed, and his body relaxed. Then she activated the table’s scanner to assist her in placing the implant.
Within a few minutes, the operation was complete, and Nalia removed the inducer from Jess’s temple, which had rendered him unconscious.
Jess’s eyes popped open, and his body reflexively jerked. After months of fighting insectoids, he was startled by seemingly dozing off in a strange place.
“Easy, Jess,” Lucia said, in a calm voice. She signaled Nalia, who quietly left the room.
For decades, Pia and her staff had copied the example of how Renée had taught Alex the fundamentals of implant use. New Terrans and Dischnya had been primarily adults when they received implants, unlike Méridiens, who were young teenagers.
Jess sat up on the table, and Lucia took his hands. She guided him through the basic steps — focusing his mind on her, connecting, sending a thought, and blocking her comm.
Lucia had expected the initial steps to take hours, and she was prepared to be patient, a trait that she didn’t typically possess.
Within less than an hour, Jess had competent control of his implant comm. He also had a blinding headache, which was common for first-time users.
Lucia signaled Nalia, who returned and put Jess under.
“He’ll need rest, Commodore,” Nalia said, checking Jess’s bio data via his new implant. “In the morning, he’ll be refreshed.”
Lucia left, and Nalia waited until Jess’s breathing was deep before she removed her device from his temple.
Kasie was sitting in the lobby again, having completed her tests, and Lucia offered to guide Kasie to her cabin. Then she retired.
Pia shared Kasie’s test results with Emile, Juliette, and Esteban. There were reasons for the Omnians to be concerned. The implant would be placed in the region where Kasie’s empathetic signals were focused.
Emile sent, after examining the data.
Juliette sent,
Emile replied.
Esteban sent.
Emile added.
Pia offered.
Juliette added.
When the comm links closed, Emile returned to studying the data from the tests he’d conducted on Tacnock and the Crocians.
* * * * *
Jess woke in the early morning hours. He expected to feel some residual element of pain from the operation or his first use of the implant. Happily, there was none.
The stillness informed Jess that it was still night, but he checked his sleeve comm unit to confirm. It was four forty-eight hours by the Omnian cycle.
Then Jess wondered if his implant had a chronometer. He accessed the data region and located a folder of apps and was shocked to see the number available to him. This is the basic package, he thought, with amazement. Suddenly, he froze and checked his comm. He wasn’t linked to anyone, which meant he hadn’t broadcast his thought. Check your links first, he mentally lectured himself.
Choosing to test his implant comm, Jess realized that there was one group of Omnians who never slept. He sat up and threw his legs over the side of the table. Then he opened his comms app and mentally formed one name, Julien. In his mind, he heard, “Greetings, Captain.”
Julien heard Jess’s delighted laughter.
Jess sent.
Julien replied.
Jess summarized.
Julien replied.
Jess retorted.
Julien sent.
Jess requested.
Julien sent.
Jess observed the link close, and he marveled again at the implant’s capability. And Alex has two of these, he thought.
Nalia arrived and led Jess through a series of corridors and lifts to an upper deck.
“How do Omnians do this?” Jess asked, twirling his index finger in the air to indicate getting around the ship.
“Send that question to me with your implant,” Nalia instructed. Unlike Julien, she could allow Jess to explore his implant as fast as he wished. She carried her medical device, which could put Jess under, if he needed relief.
They were riding in a lift, which allowed Jess to close his eyes and concentrate. Fairly easily, he connected with Nalia. In his mind he received a link.
