The Ninth (18 page)

“I’ve already got word from the Lazarus commission.  Tomorrow the recruits are to retake the traditional exams.  I guess someone already complained to the military.”

“I’ll have to give the troopers another day off then . . .”

“Nathan!”

“Sorry, Jack, but what do you expect me to do, order the divisions to drag the recruits to the next exam?”

“You might be on to something there, Nathan.”

“
What
?”

“We can’t bring the recruits to the next exam.  Maybe we can bring the exam to them!”

With that, Jack jumped to his feet and bolted out of the observation room.  Nathan stared after him, dumbfounded.

Brent was getting used to Medical.  He barely noticed the sharp odor of antiseptics anymore.  Once more, he was waiting idly while the others had been rushed into offices hidden from view.  Unlike his last visit after the brawl in the mess hall, he was almost alone.  The waiting room was nearly empty with only a handful of unscathed recruits.  Every now and then a doctor or nurse would arrive and quickly rush behind closed doors.  Brent had the sneaking hunch that the calm of the waiting room did not penetrate far.  He could almost feel the tension of the doctors working on his friends only a few yards away.  Owen had broken his collarbone, and, despite his argument to the contrary, it was obviously serious.  Hiroko’s knee was in pretty bad shape as well.  When Brent had seen the two walking hand in hand, he naturally assumed it was because of the moment they had shared.  Truth was, Owen was helping Hiroko keep pressure off her leg.  How he did it with a broken collarbone was beyond him.

“They’ll be all right, sir,” Dante said reassuringly.

Dante hadn’t suffered anything more than minor fatigue.  He and his double were too well matched to break their stalemate and hadn’t done any damage to one another.  Brent wondered how long the pair could have kept it up if he hadn’t switched partners.

“Do you think they’ll make us carry them to the next exam?”  Brent eyed the doorway to the treatment rooms.

“I doubt it.  The head physician here can override any order if she deems it a serious threat to the health of those under her care.  Bloom himself could order it to no avail.  Even
you
couldn’t persuade her, sir.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I know her, sir.  She can be quite stubborn when she wants to be.”

“You know her?  Have you been to the academy before?”

“Nope, this is my first time here, sir.”

Brent wondered how Dante knew the head of Medical.  As he opened his mouth to pursue the matter, he noticed a heavyset man entering Medical.  A worried expression covered his face almost as thickly as his perspiration.

“Dante, isn’t that Administer Bloom?”  Brent nudged Dante.

“I believe it is, sir.  Wonder what’s got him so worried.”

Bloom leaned over the reception desk and started whispering to the young lady currently on duty.  Before Bloom finished speaking, a nearby doorway burst open.  The sound made him jump.  A tall woman marched quickly toward the Administer.

“That’s her, sir.  The head physician,” Dante whispered.

As she reached Bloom she started shouting at him.

“You can’t be serious, Administer!”  Despite the force in her voice, it was easy to tell she was exhausted.  “This is preposterous!”

“Now, now, doctor Benedict.”  Bloom used a gentle tone of voice.  “Please calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down!  I just heard you are
not
postponing the last exam!”

“It’s out of my hands.  I wanted to postpone the exam.  Believe me, I
really
wanted to.”

“Well it might be out of your hands, but I won’t allow it!  You can tell
whoever
it is that’s pulling your strings I won’t allow the recruits out of my sight!”

“Then it’s settled.”  A harsh voice interrupted the conversation.  “The recruits won’t leave your sight and the next exam will begin shortly.”

Brent recognized the newcomer instantly.  It was the tall man in the shiny black uniform who had been standing next to the Administer when he made the announcement that morning.  Doctor Benedict took a step toward him.  They were the same height.  She stood firm as her eyes penetrated into his.  Dante shuddered momentarily.

“Look, I know you are used to throwing your weight around and getting your way, but it won’t work on me.”  Doctor Benedict sounded like she was ready for a fight.  “I’m not letting the recruits participate in any more exams, and if you don’t like it, tough.  You don’t frighten me.  Do your
worst
.”

“Now, Doctor Benedict . . .” Bloom started.

The tall man held up a hand toward the Administer, silencing him.  Bloom quickly glanced from the doctor to man and took a step back, cringing a little.

“You are wrong; I
do
frighten you.”  The man’s face was devoid of emotion as he spoke.  “Not as much as I’m used to, but there is still plenty of fear in you.  However, I want to make one thing perfectly clear.  I would
never
use my abilities in the manner you are preparing for.”

“There is no need to be so abrasive.”  Bloom tried being diplomatic.  “Doctor Benedict, I assure you.  Jack would never use his abilities where it wasn’t warranted.”

“
Jack
?”  Doctor Benedict sounded surprised.

The doctor visibly relaxed.  With her tight control released the signs of exhaustion were plainly evident.

“I know it’s been a long day, but please hear him out,” Bloom pleaded with the doctor.

“All right, I give up.  Let’s hear it.  The sooner you finish the sooner I can tell you it’s not going to happen and return to the patients who need my attention.”

A smile tugged at the tall man’s mouth.  Reaching into his pocket, he tossed a pad to the doctor.  She looked it over and started chuckling.

“You are serious, aren’t you?”  The doctor tossed back the pad.

“Always,” he answered as he caught the pad.

“So, will you accept this idea, doctor?  It won’t put any strain on those under your care, I assure you,” Bloom ventured.

“You know you could make it so he doesn’t worry so much.”  Doctor Benedict was apparently ignoring the Administer.

“He likes to worry.”  The tall man’s gruff voice had an edge of softness.  “So, I take it you’ll go along with us.”

The doctor nodded and walked off.  As she disappeared behind the doorway leading to the treatment rooms, a look of glee filled Administer Bloom’s face.  Dante let out a long sigh of relief.

“I see what you mean about a stubborn streak.”  Brent chuckled.

A thought jarred the Administer, and he turned to the tall man in black.

“Jack?”  Bloom asked apprehensively

“Yes, Nathan?”  The man’s response was plain and calm.

“Do I really like to worry?”

“Does a newborn like to cry?”

Again, the nearby door burst open.  Several nurses entered the waiting room and escorted the few idle recruits into the treatment area.  Brent scanned the beds as he passed them, entering deeper and deeper into Medical.  The recruits were all laying comfortably.  He couldn’t tell those with scratches from the ones with broken bones.  Brent watched as a nurse escorted Dante down a different path.  As he scanned the rooms as they ventured deeper in, he noticed he was now with total strangers.  They all wore the uniform of the recruits, but Brent didn’t recognize any faces.  One by one, the nurses led the last of the waiting room recruits to different rooms.  Finally, Brent was in his own room.

“Please lay on the bed.  I’m told your next exam will start soon,” the nurse said curtly as he disappeared back into the corridor.

Brent did as he was told and took a seat on the bed.  How could the next exam start if the recruits were scattered across Medical?  Brent hadn’t been waiting long when the door to his room swung open.  A man took a single step into the room.  He was dressed in a one-piece jumpsuit.  It was a dirty gray with grease stains and other fluids Brent couldn’t place.  The man studied Brent for a few moments before taking a step back to check the room number.

“Brent?” the man ventured nervously.

“That’s me.”  Brent’s eyebrow rose slightly.

“I can’t believe you’re the one,” the man said with sudden glee.  “They’ve been going on about you all day down in maintenance.”

“Oh?”

“Oh sorry, how rude of me.  I’m Johnny Perkins, maintenance group twelve dash T.”  Johnny offered his hand to the recruit.

“Pleased to meet you.”  Brent shook the man’s hand politely.

“We don’t get a lot of free time down in maintenance, so I haven’t actually gotten to watch, but from what I’ve heard you’ve been doing a bang up job.  Here is your 3P.”  The man handed Brent what looked like an extra thick pad.

“3P?”

“Sorry, Psych Projection Play.  We don’t get very formal down in maintenance.  Don’t tell anyone, but we’ve tapped into the mainframe; we’ll be able to watch this time.  Good luck.  I’ve got this month’s salary on ya.  Not that I’m pressuring you are anything.  See ya around.”

As quickly as he had entered, Johnny disappeared, leaving the pad and a slimy residue on Brent’s hand.  Brent wiped off his hand and tried to access the pad, but it seemed to be dead.  The phrase 3P meant nothing to him, and he had no idea what the thick pad did.  No matter what he tried, the screen would never stir to life.  If it were possible Brent would have claimed the device was taunting him with its stubborn refusal to activate.  Finally setting down the thick pad, he realized he was starting to feel the strain of the day.  He dreaded the idea of sleep and the accompanying nightmare, but if there going to be another exam he figured he could risk a minute or two of relaxation.

As he laid down on the bed, the pad sprang to life.  A strange fuzzy feeling came over him.  He tried to reach for the pad, but his arm felt too heavy to lift.  The room around him faded to a dark blue that hid all the details of the medical equipment.  Suddenly, a bright blue grid outlined the space around him.  Oddly, the dimensions of the room were all wrong now and the gird had the contours of a sloping hill.  Texture quickly filled in the grids.  As Brent looked around, the wire frame was filled in with a blue sky and rolling green hills.  The room was gone now and he was standing in a peaceful valley.  Stooping over, Brent plucked at the grass.  Snapping a single blade of grass, Brent examined it.  It felt real, even had the smell of freshly picked grass.

“Enjoying the scenery?” a familiar voice called to him.

“Owen?  Where are we?”  Brent turned to find Owen standing next to him.

“Physically?  Still in Medical, resting well.”

“So we are dreaming?”

“Not quite.  At least I don’t think so.”  Owen bashfully shrugged.  “I’m not too familiar with these things myself.  They are still pretty scarce on the rim.”

“Psych Projection Plays?” Brent repeated the phrase Johnny had used.

“Most people just call them plays or 3Ps for short,” Hiroko’s voice interrupted.  “Only the most stuck up of the core worlders still use the full name.”

“Maybe you can explain it better; I’d only confuse him more.”  Owen grinned.  “All I know is that my shoulder doesn’t hurt and that’s enough for me.”

“Normally, one interprets the world around them through impulses sent to the brain from sense organs.”  An overly loud voice rang in Brent’s ears.  “Your eyes see the landscape and send that information to your brain, which decodes the information.  The end result is you see colors and hues and realize you are in a meadow.  A Psych Projection Play creates artificial impulses that the brain interprets as the real thing.”

The voice seemed to come from every direction.  Brent spun, looking for its source.  He spotted the rest of his group and every other recruit off in the distance.  They were all gathered under a tall, lush tree, gently wafting in the mild breeze.  Dante waved the three over.  In the center of the recruits was a woman in the uniform of an instructor.

“Normally, Psych Projection Plays are used for personal relaxation or group entertainment, but today we’ve got something else in mind for them,” The instructor continued, her voice more tolerable now.

“This is the next exam?”  Owen sounded like a kid in a candy store.

“Not even close.”  The instructor’s voice was as soothing as the breeze.  “Think of this as a waiting room.  There are several recruits not linked up yet.”

“If you can create any environment you want, why not use 3Ps for the rest of the exams?”  Dante was twirling a leaf in his hands.

“That is an
excellent
question.”  The instructor smiled warmly.  “There are two factors that make this a less than perfect environment for exams.  The first is that every action you take here is an impulse intercepted from your brain.  When you take a step you are only thinking that you are walking; your legs are perfectly still in the real world.  As such, your stamina here is what you
think
your stamina is.  And we all like to imagine we have greater endurance than we really do . . .”

Several recruits interrupted her by starting to bolt around the tree as fast as they could, as if they
had
to test what she had just said.  The instructor watched the recruits running laps, but didn’t scold them for interrupting.  Brent couldn’t help but smile.  Owen wasn’t the only one amazed by the 3P.

“If we performed exams in here, the results would be exaggerations,” the instructor said sweetly.  “Likewise, your strength, agility, and other physical characteristics are impossible to measure accurately.  The second reason we don’t use them is that you all
know
this isn’t real.  If you were to fall here you would scrape your knee, and it would hurt just like in the real world.  However, when the exam is over, the Psych Projection Play will disengage, and you won’t have a scratch on you.  Knowing there are no consequences, recruits would take actions they would
never
consider in the real world.”  The instructor’s warm smile never faded once as she explained.