Project X-Calibur by Greg Pace Read Free Book Online Page A

fidgeted, trying to get comfortable. The chair was in serious need of some cushions.
    â€œOveractive photo- or audiosensitivity, undetected bone or joint weaknesses that might hamper your ability to handle g-force duress,” Sourpuss counted off on her fingers. “Not to mention possible mental instability brought on by—”
    â€œThis is all just precautionary, knights,” Pellinore interrupted gently.
    â€œI’m sure it’ll be fine, Ben. No need to be afraid,” Malcolm said, looking over at me. He was at the end of the line to my right, one chair past Tyler. I
was
afraid, but why did he have to say it in front of everyone? Kwan, Tyler, and Darla looked at me like I was going to run home to Mommy.
    â€œAll good,” I mumbled, avoiding their gazes.
    Sourpuss continued. “You’ll notice that there’s a button under each of your hands. Your directive is simple. When you hear a tone”—she held up a finger and a low beep sounded throughout the room—“press the button corresponding to the ear in which you heard the tone. Is that clear?”
    I looked back and forth between Tyler and Darla on either side of me. Tyler looked confused and whispered nervously to me, “I just heard it in both ears. What do I do?”
    Suddenly, I felt a slight vibration and looked up to see a pair of mechanical goggles unfold out of the back of the chair. Darla looked really nervous, although I would never call her out on it like Malcolm had done with me.
    Once the goggles settled over my eyes, they pushed my head back into the chair. There was a tiny suction sound as the eyepieces fastened to my face, leaving me in pitch black. Ear buds were jammed into me. It was like being blind and having someone suddenly stick a cold finger into each ear. I did all I could to keep from panicking—
breathe in, breathe out.
    â€œCan I get a large popcorn with extra butter?” Kwan joked from behind his goggles.
    There was a muffled, aggravated sigh from Sourpuss. “Let’s begin. And if you close your eyes, I’ll know.
No cheating,
” she warned.
    I blinked a few times and tried to steady myself, even though I had no idea what was about to happen. “Good luck, everybody,” I said, but the only response I got was a sudden beep in my left ear. I quickly pressed the corresponding button.
    A second beep came right after that one, then another one, now in the right ear. As the beeps continued, I felt myself settling in; this wasn’t so hard after all. But then I spotted a small white dot of light ahead of me, to the lower right. The goggles were starting to
do
something.
    The light pulsed and then suddenly streaked right at me, leaving a light trail behind it like a comet. I instinctively dodged to the side as if trying to avoid it, but then another one, this time red, came from the other direction. Dozens of light streaks blazed across my vision like a multicolored strobe light. What about the other knights? Darla had definitely looked nervous about those goggles. And what about Kwan and Tyler and Malcolm? Were they okay? The thought of having to witness
any
of us having a bad reaction to this test frightened me. The assault was getting overwhelming: It felt like my head might explode, but I had to focus and keep pushing the buttons.
    And then . . . it was over. The ear buds retracted from my ears and the goggles lifted off my face with a
wha-slurp
sound, giving up their hold on my skin. It was like having an octopus yanked off my face. I looked over at the others. Thankfully, nobody was shaking uncontrollably or foaming at the mouth, though Darla’s shoulders were slumped. Malcolm actually had a big, ridiculous grin on his face.
    â€œYou all passed,” Sourpuss called out. “A couple of you—Benjamin and Darla—by the skin of your teeth.”
    I was surprised to hear my name, until I remembered that toward the end of the test I had