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It
took him a long time to leave. In fact, it wasn't until a doctor
walked in beside him that he managed to shift back from
her.

He
told the doctor she'd woken up, then he backed out of the
room.

As he
walked through the corridors of the medical bay, he felt
numb.

Her
whispered words kept echoing in his head.

She'd
been asleep, and they had meant nothing, but he couldn't stop them
from reverberating through his mind.

It
took a long time to shake off their effects, but he couldn't forget
them, no matter how hard he tried. Work, however, got in the way.
And soon enough Carson found himself pulled into one distracting
task after another.

He
didn't get a chance to go back to see her that day. In fact, by the
time he went to check on her, she'd been discharged
again.

This
time he didn't wait to chance upon her naturally. He went straight
to her apartment.

True,
he hardly knew her.

And,
yeah, people might start to wonder why he was paying ‘the worst
recruit in 1000 years' so much attention.

But
that didn't stop him.

Cadet
Nida Harper

She
tried to concentrate during her classes, but she couldn't. Her
attention kept on drifting.

She
swore she was seeing things. She even rang the medical bay to
mention this to one of the doctors, but they reassured her it was
nothing.

She
just needed rest.

They'd
released her about midday, and though she'd been given an order to
return to her apartment for some bed rest, she'd ignored
it.

It
hadn't been a direct order, and she really couldn't afford to miss
any more classes.

So
she'd headed to her next lecture instead.

She'd
slipped in the back of a lecture hall, yet again, just as Sharpe
was finishing up some prosaic talk on the history of telekinetic
implants.

She'd
tried to pay attention to him, she honestly had, but all too soon,
she'd realised that the people around her had stopped listening and
had turned to stare at her instead.

She
was no stranger to attention, but it only ever coincided with when
she was making an idiot out of herself. Other than that, all the
other cadets ignored her.

Well
they weren't ignoring her now. She could feel their collective
stares concentrate on the back of her neck with all the force of an
anti-matter laser.

She
tried to ignore it and focus on Sharpe, but she couldn't. Not only
was it seriously hard to brush off everyone's gob smacked gazes,
she simply couldn't focus. It felt as if her mind had been replaced
with fog.

Once
the lecture was over, she jumped up and scooted out the back before
anyone could ask her questions.

Clearly, news about what had happened last night had
spread.

She
didn't want to answer any questions, because she doubted she could
give a satisfactory reply.

She
had no idea why her implant had malfunctioned, and that was a
question only someone way smarter than her would be able to
answer.

Though
she tried to get away, it was hard, and she had to race past quite
a few curious cadets to get to safety.

She
quickly ducked down several corridors, feeling a little like she
was running away from the press.

Then,
finally, when the coast was clear, she felt a sudden burst of pain
stab hard through her chest.

She
doubled over and planted a hand on the wall beside her, breathing
hard.

“Harper,” someone snapped.

She
looked up to see Sharpe bearing down on her.

“Oh,
umm,” she straightened, thankful her shooting pain lasted only for
a few seconds.

Sharpe
shot her a withering look, but it didn't last. With a shake of his
head, he sighed. “What are you doing?” he asked, his exasperation
clear.

“Oh,
don't mind me,” she tried, patting at her uniform, trying to make
it neat. “I had a little accident last night.”

“Little?” he gave a disbelieving laugh, “it was a major
accident. And I know all about it.”

She
winced. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to,” she began.

“It
was hardly your fault, Harper,” he said.

“It
wasn't?” she asked stupidly.

He
gave a long-suffering sigh. Then he shooed several cadets along as
they walked up the corridor, gawking at her.

She
was silently thankful for his help. And it felt weird to be
thankful for anything Sharpe did.

Then
he returned his burning gaze to her, and she felt like withering up
and dying on the spot.

“I
thought your doctors told you to go back to your apartment to get
some rest,” he enquired with a snap.

“Um,
no, they suggested it. When I asked whether it was a direct order,
they said it wasn't,” she managed bravely.

“Ha.
So you thought you'd ignore their suggestion,” he stressed that
word, “and come to class. Well I admire your sudden enthusiasm, but
do us both a favour, and just go home.”

“I
can't,” she swallowed hard, muscling up some courage as she did,
“I'm too far behind.”

“You
can catch up later,” he snapped.

“No.
I'm fine,” she said with a firmer tone. “I can do this.”

“Harper,” he looked at her menacingly, “the doctors might not
have ordered you back to your apartment, but I'm going to. Go back
now,” he said each word slowly, “before someone has to carry you
back,” he added under his breath.

She
was used to being insulted by Sharpe; it happened nearly every
day.

She
usually didn't react; she would just tuck her chin in, nod her
head, and mutter a “yes, sir.”

But
this time she didn't.

Blame
it on the fog in her mind, or the power of the dreams still
haunting her, but she looked directly into his eyes. “You can't do
that, sir. You can't override a medical decision; you aren't a
doctor.”

Sharpe
looked shocked for a second, then his eyebrows descended darkly
over his eyes. “Are you challenging me?”

“No,”
she choked, now realising this had been a bad idea, but also
realising she couldn’t back down yet, “I'm just asking you to cut
me some slack for once,” her voice wavered.

Dammit.

She
hated showing weakness in front of Sharpe, because Sharpe treated
weakness as an excuse to harass you even more.

He
looked ready to shout at her, but he stopped.

He
stood back.

He
took a breath.

He
shook his head. “Fine, you can go to class. But take it easy,” he
said each word slowly, as if she were especially hard of hearing,
“and if you black out, I will use this as a personal excuse to kick
your ass. Do you understand?”

She
nodded.

Had . . . she just won?

Had
she stood her ground against Commander Sharpe and actually managed
to get him to change his mind?

“Be
careful,” he snapped as he turned away from her. “And, Harper, I'm
glad you're alright,” he added as he walked off.

. . . .

What?

Sharpe
was glad she was alright?

Was he
just messing with her?

Was
this an alien mind game?

No,
she realised as he walked off stiffly.

He was
glad she was alright.

Because although he spent his life making hers hell, she knew
deep down he didn't hate her.

Oh, he
loathed her weakness and general incompetence, yes, but he didn't
hate her.

Surprised at that realisation, she quickly ran to her next
class, though she was careful not to push herself too
hard.

Though
the other cadets all stared at her and tried to ask her questions
during her break, she managed to avoid them.

Then,
eventually, she made her way back home.

She
was exhausted.

Really, really exhausted.

When
she got in the door to her apartment, she greeted the place with a
shaking sigh.

She
wanted a steaming hot bowl of pasta topped off with mounds of
cheese. And she wanted it now.

She
also wanted to curl up on the couch and waste the night away
watching crap on the holo TV.

She
wouldn't get the chance.

As
soon as the doors closed behind her, Alicia was on her feet,
marching up to Nida's side.

“What
the hell happened to you?” she looked Nida squarely in the
eyes.

Nida
gulped, shrugging her shoulders as she brought her hands up to wave
Alicia off. “I'm fine.”

“Fine?” Alicia spoke the word with all the force of a slap.
“What do you mean? Have you seen your bedroom door?”

Nida
turned to look at her door. “It seems fine.”

“That's because it was replaced,” Alicia huffed. “After that
training cube of yours obliterated it.”

Nida
blinked her eyes closed.

She
didn't want to remember what had happened last night.

“Okay,
this is too weird. But what are you doing just standing there?”
Alicia snapped again.

“What
should I be doing?” Nida asked warily.

“Go
and sit on the couch, girl. Put your damn feet up. You almost died
last night. I mean, you totally ruined my double date with the most
eligible bachelors in all of the Academy, but you still almost
died. And I'm a pretty forgiving soul.”

Nida
looked at her flat mate askance. “Are you being nice to
me?”

“Yes,”
Alicia said defensively, taking Nida by the arm and leading her
towards the couch. She even fluffed up a pillow.

“Why?”

“Because you almost died,” Alicia pointed out peevishly. “And
I'm not a total bitch. And damn you for thinking I am,” she waggled
a stiff finger at Nida. “Now, what do you want for dinner? Wait,
no, I already know. One of those enormous bowls of pasta with
cheese, right?”

Nida
nodded happily.

“You're so predictable,” Alicia sighed. “Now tell me what
happened when you got to the med bay? I've been trying to contact
you all day, but you've been in classes. And what's up with that,
by the way? What are you doing going to class after you almost
died?”

It
felt strange to hear Alicia repeating that fact.

Nida
had almost died.

If it
hadn't been for Carson and his friend, Travis, she would
have.

She
felt cold, and gave a tight shiver.

Alicia
saw it, and immediately walked over to the panel on the wall,
turning up the heat.

“So,”
she asked after an almost polite pause, “what happened in the med
bay? Or can you not talk about it?”

“Ha? I
can talk about it,” Nida answered, confused at Alicia's
suggestion.

“Really? I thought they'd be keeping this under wraps until
they know exactly what happened to your implant. I mean, TIs aren't
meant to malfunction. They used to in the bad old days, but one
hasn't malfunctioned in years. So I just figured they wouldn't let
you talk about it until they are damn sure what went wrong, so they
can allay everyone's fears.”

Nida's
lips dropped open.

She
hadn't thought of that.

In
fact, she'd barely considered why her implant had stuffed
up.

It
was, strangely enough, the least of her problems.

Her
dreams, however, commanded her full attention.

“So
what happened?” Alicia prompted again, clearly eager to get the
full story.

“Ah,
nothing much. They recalibrated my implant, apparently, and fixed
me up. When I woke up this morning, Carson told me what happened. I
fell asleep again, and then they discharged me and I went back to
class. I'm afraid that's all I know. They didn't tell me anything
more.”

Alicia
turned, her mouth dropping open dramatically. “Sorry, what?” she
asked excitedly.

“They
recalibrated my implant,” Nida suggested hesitantly. “Do you think
that means it malfunctioned? Do you think it's serious?”

“I'm
sorry, skip back to the bit where you said Carson Blake told you
what happened. Did he go to see you?” Alicia asked
excitedly.

“Ah,
no; he was there when I woke up.”

Alicia
closed her eyes, then opened them wide. “What? He stayed with you
the whole night? Are you serious?”

“Ah, I
don't know. He was just there when I woke up. I think he'd been
sitting in the chair in my room, waiting for me to regain
consciousness.”