“It will all be explained to you after the
preliminary evaluation. However, it is imperative that we remain on
schedule. You need to report to Agent Pike immediately.”
I grabbed him as he turned. “Wait, I’m not
going anywhere until you tell me what’s going to happen at this…
evaluation.”
“Agent Pike is a minder; he has
extraordinary psychic ability. He will assess your potential.”
“So I am a Paladin?”
Pause. “That is up to Agent Pike to decide.”
He stepped quickly before I could grab again. I was trapped in a
short hallway inside a mountain about to meet a man named Pike. It’s just a little stick, Socket.
We walked into a leaper at the other end of
the hall. “We will be traveling at 189 mph in a northwest direction
exactly 33 degrees above ground level, covering 5,133 feet. Are you
ready?”
Hell, no. A falling sensation twisted
my gut.
“We have arrived.”
It was another short hallway, a gray archway
at the far end. Spindle walked with his shoulders square, his head
held high. My knees were unreliable, but I forced myself to follow.
I wanted to hold his arm, but I wasn’t going to look like a pussy.
Even if I felt like one.
“You will have to enter alone,” Spindle
said. “I will wait here.”
I brushed my fingertips across the chilly
gray archway. “So you’re saying he’s just going to ask questions,
nothing else?”
“Yes,” Spindle said. “And assess you.”
Assess me. Goddamn, I don’t like the way
that sounds. “Where’s Mom?”
“She is sorry.” His fluid voice faltered,
just a bit. “She is very aware of you.”
Was that supposed to calm me down? Don’t
tell me the truth or I’ll freak out. I was turning numb and
couldn’t stop nodding.
“Agent Pike.” Spindle patted my shoulder.
“He is waiting.”
The weakness in my knees was now in my
chest. If I waited any longer, I was going to fill my shorts. As I
saw it, there was no choice. Nowhere to run. The nurse never
says the shot’s going to hurt. She’ll say it’s just pressure,
that’s all you’ll feel. I put my foot through the archway, felt
Spindle’s hand slip off my shoulder, and plunged to the other side. But we all know that shot’s going to hurt like shit.
D I S C O V E R Y
Piked
Pressure.
It was around me as soon as I entered,
wrapped around my body, dimpled my skin like a golf ball. A frail
man sat on a chair, his hands on his thighs. Stubble shaded his
scalp. His narrow sunglasses partially wrapped around his head, the
lenses convex and black.
“Have a seat.” His voice was clipped, cold
and dry.
A similar chair emerged from the floor in
front of him. I pulled it away. We didn’t need to sit that close.
Tiny cracks appeared around his mouth. More pressure.
[Agent Pike has mental pressure at
level one. The subject is feeling discomfort, but seems to be
controlling his nerve response unconsciously.]
The thought was in my head. I looked around
the room, white and empty, and there was no one here except me and
this gecko-looking nutjob.
Agent Pike twitched. Nothing noticeable. His
eyebrows lifted a few microns. How did I notice that? Gecko. There, it happened again. He heard me. Is that right, Mr.
Gecko?
“I am Agent Pike,” he said, no warmer than
his greeting.
A servy emerged from the wall. Three arms
grew from the middle of its body. I pulled my arm away. It stopped,
turned its eyelight to Agent Pike.
“The servy simply needs to monitor your
vital signs and take a few samples. It will be painless.”
The eyelight returned to me. I could’ve
fought the thing, but they were going to get samples one way or
another. I had the feeling I was going to need all my strength by
the time this “evaluation” ended. One of its arms wrapped around my
elbow, turning it numb. The other two arms touched various parts of
my back, neck, and chest.
“You performed an unauthorized timeslice
today at 11:25 a.m.,” Agent Pike said.
“Yeah, I didn’t do
Matt Christopher, Ellen Beier