The Ninth (28 page)

“Well, that’s enough waiting.”  Davis’s harsh voice rang out in the warehouse.  “Looks like we are missing seven.  How unfortunate for them.”

Stepping out from behind a large stack of boxes, Davis startled most of the Weavers.

“How come we have to be here?” Jamie pouted more than asked.  “The Administer gave everyone an additional day off.”

“Because you don’t belong to the Administer; you belong to
me
.  Didn’t I already go through this?”  Davis stared squarely at Jamie.

Jamie remained silent.

“Excellent.  Today we are going to start slowly.”  Davis walked toward the Weavers, carefully looking each of them over.  “First off I’m going to assess your abilities.”

“Assess our abilities?” a Weaver questioned.  “But we already did that.  Isn’t a full report of our assessment on file?”

“Yes, there is; I’ve read through it already.  But there is a problem with it.”  Davis turned toward the questioning Weaver.

“A problem?” the Weaver continued.

“Yes, I wasn’t the one to conduct the assessment; the data in the report is useless.”  Davis sounded final.

After a moment of silence Davis continued.

“Good, looks like we’ve got no more complaints.  Then let’s begin.”  Davis smiled faintly.

On cue, several troopers emerged from behind boxes around the warehouse.

“Now the FF has generously volunteered several of its troopers to my disposal.  They
do
have the day off, so be respectful; they are donating their time for you.  On the floor you’ll notice several markings.  I want all the Weavers to follow the yellow line and line up at the far end of the warehouse.  The troopers will follow the blue lines and move to their starting marks,” Davis commanded.

Studying the markings, the troopers and Weavers quickly filed to their appropriate locations.  As Brent took his place at the end of the straight line of Weavers, he noticed that across from them was a long line of troopers, exactly seven longer than the Weaver line.  Matching them in his head, Brent found he was partnered with a familiar bulbous, white suit.  Davis walked down the line of Weavers, reordering them.  Brent remained at the end of the line.  Davis then walked down the line of troopers.  He paused behind the armored trooper for a moment, raising an eyebrow.  Shrugging to himself, he tapped the shoulders of the spare seven and pointed to the doorway.  They quickly fled with big happy grins on their faces.  Brent wondered if they had really
volunteered
.

“Now, I am going to explain this once and only once.  So pay attention!”  Davis spoke slowly and authoritatively.  “The first Weaver will tell me what emotions they sense from the trooper opposite them.  The trooper will then follow the green line and march away from the Weaver.  When the Weaver can no longer sense the emotions, they will raise their hand and the trooper will return to the starting position.  We will then repeat the process with the trooper following the red line.  After the Weaver raises their hand, the trooper will return to the starting point and then repeat the process one final time, following the orange path.  After the first Weaver finishes all this, the trooper is excused and may return to their day off.  The second Weaver will then run through the same process and so on and so on.  Begin.”

As Davis took his pad out, the troopers and Weavers glanced again at the intricate pattern on the floor.

“Annoyance.  With maybe some worry.”  The first Weaver started.  “Probably upset about loosing his day off and being the first to do this.”

“Skip the interpretation,” Davis cut in.  “That’s for big boys.  Just describe what you sense.”

The trooper waited a beat before he walked down the green line.  The line took him on a straight path away from the Weaver.  The Weaver concentrated on the trooper.  As the trooper reached the center of the room, the Weaver reluctantly raised his hand.  The trooper quickly ran back to the starting position and, after another beat, started down the red line.  The red path led the trooper around the warehouse, turning at random intervals in random directions.  After only a quarter as long, the Weaver raised his hand.  The trooper returned to the starting point and waited a beat.  The orange line took the trooper behind a large stack of boxes, obscuring line of sight for the Weavers.  As soon as the trooper left the Weaver’s sight, the Weaver raised his hand.

Gleefully, the trooper ran out of the room.  The process repeated over and over.  Brent was surprised at the variance in the Weavers.  Some could sense forever but only in a straight line.  Others couldn’t sense much until the trooper went behind the boxes.  A few even did their best when the trooper was moving around randomly.  As the last Weaver finished, it was Brent’s turn.  He stared at Cassandra in her armor but had no idea what he was supposed to do.

“Nothing.  I don’t sense a thing,” Brent admitted.

The other Weavers snickered.  Davis raised his hand, silencing them.

“Perfectly all right.  Miss, would you mind sticking around?”  Davis directed at the armored trooper.

As Cassandra nodded, Brent wondered how Davis had known she was a girl.  The suit completely masked all characteristics of a person; even the walk was mechanical and devoid of personality.

“Despite the military’s attempts, I see
some
potential in
some
of you.”  Davis looked over his notes on his pad.  “Several of you could become quite useful.  However, that’s for another time.  There is one more test for all of you, then you can go out and enjoy the rest of your day.”

The mood of the Weavers instantly brightened.  Davis guided Cassandra to the chair he had been sitting on through the first test.  As he returned to the center of the room, Davis snatched a chair that had been hidden behind a pile of boxes.  Brent wondered what else he had hidden around them.

“For the last test you will use your abilities.  One by one I want you to use your abilities on me,” Davis said as he sat in front of the Weavers.

The Weavers exchanged glances with one another.

“What do you want us to try to do?”  Jamie asked.

“I want you to try everything you’ve got,” Davis said with a grin.  “Whatever abilities are in those skulls of yours, I want you to use all of them.  No holding back, no restraints, no objectives.  Just go wild.  Trust me.  I am more than capable of dealing with
whatever
you throw at me.  When I’ve got enough to know what you can do. I’ll wave on the next Weaver.  Feel free to take a breather if you need it.”  Davis leaned back in his chair.

The first Weaver looked for assurance from his fellow Weavers.  The others shrugged.  Taking a step toward Davis, the first Weaver stared intently.  Oddly enough his right foot started tapping.  The longer he looked at Davis the quicker the tapping became.  After a few minutes Davis smiled and wrote something down on his pad.  When he finished, he waved on the next Weaver.  The first collapsed and was panting a bit.  The second stepped up to the plate and focused on the Master Weaver.  The second Weaver’s
ears
wiggled up and down with increasing speed.  One by one they worked down the line in this fashion.  Davis would write something down and wave on the next Weaver.  The new Weaver would then do some odd involuntary motion until Davis was satisfied.  Brent noticed Jamie’s eye did the same twitching it had done when Jamie had tried to manipulate him.  After a long while, all the Weavers finished; only Brent was left.  Most of them were still on the ground gasping for breath.  Brent wasn’t sure what Davis expected of him.  However, instead of waving Brent on, Davis stood up and approached the Weavers.

“Good effort.”  Davis helped the last few Weavers to their feet.  “Either you desperately wanted to impress me or wanted to seriously maim me.  Whatever your reasons were, I got what I wanted.  You are all free to go about your day as you see fit.  However, remember that using your abilities outside my training is forbidden.  I will see you all tomorrow.  Dismissed.”

“What about the new kid?” Jamie snickered.  “Isn’t he going to embarrass himself?”

“Perhaps you’d like to spend the
rest
of the day running laps around the docking bay?”  Davis quickly asked in a hostile tone.  “Perhaps every Weaver here would like to join you?”

“What?”  Jamie was shocked.

“I said
dismissed
.  That was an order.”  Davis sounded deadly serious.  “It wasn’t a suggestion or playful banter.  When I give you an order, you
will
carry it out.  If you plan to disobey my orders I will make them more demanding of you.  Is that understood?”

“Understood, Weaver Davis.”  Jamie snapped to attention.

“Excellent. 
Dismissed
,” Davis repeated.

At once, the Weavers quickly left the room.  Not one of them dared speak.  Following the order, Brent also calmly made his way to the doorway.  Cassandra didn’t budge.

“Brent, would you mind staying here for a bit longer?”  Davis shouted after most of the other Weavers had left the room.

As he nodded and worked his way back to Davis, it dawned on him that it had been a question, not an order.  Again, Davis reached behind a pile of boxes and magically produced another chair.  He set up the chairs so all three of them would be able to see one another in a small circle.  Brent sat in the chair Davis set out for him.

“Now Brent, when you look at us you honestly can’t sense anything?”  Davis questioned.  “Anything at all?”

As he nodded, Cassandra’s helmet quickly moved and fixed on him.  He couldn’t see her face, but it was apparent she hadn’t expected that response.

“Everyone starts somewhere.  Now Brent, I want you to listen closely to me and do exactly as I say, alright?”  Davis’ tone was calm.

The way Davis spoke struck him as odd; it wasn’t commanding or threatening in the slightest.  His tone almost sounded like a friend asking for a favor.  Brent nodded again and readied himself.

“Okay.  Close your eyes.”  Davis spoke softly.  “Let all other sounds fade from your attention; listen only to my voice.  Nod when you’ve done that . . . Good.  Now listen carefully.  Can you hear your heart beating?  Listen carefully.  Excellent.  Now study the pattern.  It’s like soft music isn’t it?  Now this is the hard part.  I want you to listen for that music.”

Brent strained his ears but could only hear his own heartbeat.  Its beating did form a rhythm, a primitive sort of music.  Every fiber in his being strained to hear that music.  He sifted through the room looking for anything.  Nothing.  Just as Brent was about to give up, he noticed a strange light.  It was dim, but it was as if someone was pointing a weak flashlight at his closed eyelids.  He opened his eyes, but the light was gone.

“I’m sorry, I can’t hear anything,” he admitted to Davis.

“Well, we couldn’t expect it to be that easy.  We’ll try again later.”  Davis sounded disappointed.

Brent shifted his gaze to Cassandra and jumped out of his chair.  Surrounding her armor was a deep blue hue.  As he backed away the color changed.  It was now a dirty yellow and far brighter.  He remembered the combat exam and readied himself to flee if the glow expanded further.

“Brent?”  Davis was startled.

“I’m the only one who is seeing an aurora around Cassandra, right?”  He asked as he tensely watched the glow.

As he spoke, the glow doubled in size and became pure yellow.  He kept his distance.  Davis looked at the armored girl and then back at Brent.  Brent continued to back away as the aura grew in size.

“You mean you
see
light?”  Davis was intrigued.

“And color.  Quite a lot of it really, and it’s getting bigger.”  Brent continued to keep a distance from the growing light.

The glow surged in size.  He tripped over a box as he dived out of the way of the expanse.

“Where are you going?”  Davis shouted at the retreating boy.

“Nowhere in particular.  Just not wanting to touch that stuff.  It was kind of unpleasant last time.”  Brent began to worry if he would run out of room.

“Last time?  You mean the combat exam yesterday?”

“So you saw it, too?”

“No, but I wondered what made you jump back from those recruits.”

“I have a request.”

“Certainly, what is it?”

“Can we discuss this when I’m not fleeing?”

Davis suddenly realized the boy’s predicament.  Instantly the glow faded to next to nothing.  Davis hadn’t turned, his foot hadn’t tapped, his eye hadn’t twitched, and his ear hadn’t wiggled.  Brent knew he had done something, but Davis hadn’t even needed to look at Cassandra to do it.  Warily returning to the chairs, he took his seat again.

“So you
can
sense something.  Tell me, what do you see around me?”  Davis was probing.

Hesitantly, Brent broke his lock on Cassandra and focused on Davis.  However, there wasn’t even a hint of light.  Davis was just sitting normally, no glow, no aurora, no nothing.  Quickly, he glanced back to Cassandra.  Her glow hadn’t faded; it was just as strong as it had been.

“I don’t see a thing around you.  Cassandra is still glowing, but not you,” Brent said, still staring at Cassandra.