When Sean next opened his eyes, he found himself in the same narrow alcove, but back in the chamber’s far end, stretched out on a second bed. He pushed himself to a sitting position and looked down to where Dillon still slept.
The doctor greeted him with, “Your brother is resting comfortably and will make a full recovery.”
Sean found a unique comfort in hearing the news sung to him. Everything he heard spoken in Serenese carried a sense of directness and honesty. He checked his wrist and was intensely glad to discover he was no longer cuffed. “Can I ask your name?”
“Sandrine. And you are Sean, yes? Did you enjoy being knocked out?”
He liked her smile and the easy way she claimed friendship. “At least the cops left me alone.”
“Only because your friend arrived. The Praetorian officer, Colonel Carver.” She motioned him over and touched a glowing pad, and the supposedly solid wall behind her slid back to reveal a washroom. “He and two others are waiting to speak with you. But first you should wash.”
“Who are they?”
“You will see. Ready yourself.”
The mirror above the sink revealed a face still stained by Dillon’s blood. Sean winced at the sight, mostly because it brought back the previous terror-stricken events. He then realized he had not contacted his parents. He opened the door and asked, “How long have I been out?”
“My world’s time-measurement system would mean nothing to you. You have rested well. That is enough.”
“Can I make a phone call?”
“To your outpost world?” Sandrine seemed to like that a lot. “Unfortunately that is beyond this clinic’s capacity. Now you must hurry. These are not people you want to keep waiting.”
He showered, rubbed his cheeks, and decided to use the razor left out on the sink. There were clothes on a shelf—a T-shirt and drawstring pants and slip-on cloth shoes. The shirt was slightly oversized and the shoes a half size too small, but Sean did not complain. His reflection held him as he brushed his hair, for the eyes staring back at him remained stained by shadows that no shower could wash away.
Sandrine nodded approval and said, “Good luck.”
It was all the warning Sean required.
Sandrine touched another pad and the wall behind her became a curtain that drew back, revealing three people in heated discussion. Carver was there, and Examiner Tirian. And a third person. She was taller than both men, an angular woman with silver-grey hair and the sternest face Sean had ever seen. Her elegant appearance jarred with the surroundings, as though she was dressed for a palace instead of a clinic’s waiting room. All three people turned at his appearance. Carver was the only person who seemed glad to see him.
His instructor asked, “How do you feel?”
“Okay. But I need to get in touch with my parents.”
“I have already been in contact. You are on a school trip. And your school has been informed that you and Dillon both have colds.”
The stern woman demanded, “What does that signify?”
“I have no idea,” Carver replied. “It was noted in their world’s regulations manual as a common ailment. And the school authorities accepted it.”
Those few words were enough for Sean to realize who the elegant woman was. “You’re Tatyana. Our language teacher.”
She looked very pleased. “You recognize my voice. How remarkable.”
The Examiner asked, “Counselor, you have been instructing this one?”
“Him and his brother.” She continued to inspect Sean. She wore trousers beneath a long overmantle, both a grey so pale they were almost silver. The clothes matched her hair and her eyes, which were the most remarkable thing about her. That and the bejeweled clasp over her heart, an emblem of some sort, shaped from emeralds and sapphires. “I inserted myself into their language program.”
The same emblem was sewn into the collar of the Examiner’s jacket. “May I ask why?”
Her response was cut off by a feeble cry from the other room. Sean excused himself and rushed back to find Dillon struggling weakly against the doctor. “Stay where you are, man.”
Dillon’s features were stricken by a fear as real as pain. “Did I kill them?”
Sean had never touched his brother much. Their family wasn’t one for hugs. But it came natural now. To lean over his twin, set hands on both shoulders, and say, “They didn’t exist.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I saw them start to turn into smoke.” Sean saw the doctor flash the same fear as the day before. “Just like the car we were chasing.”
“I thought I saw . . .” Dillon’s fear was replaced by a wince of real pain. “What happened to my side?”
“Later. Now lay down. Let me introduce you to Sandrine, the train station’s very own idea of a guardian angel.”
“No need.” Dillon allowed himself to be settled back. He switched to Serenese and continued, “The doc and I are already talking about where we’re going on our first date. Isn’t that right, Doc?”
“Most certainly not.”
Sean felt his own band of distress let go of his chest. If Dillon was able to flirt, he was definitely on the mend.
Dillon pointed to the trio who had entered the chamber and now stood behind Sean. “Who’s the one who looks like a queen?”
“Her name is Tatyana. She’s our language prof. Among other things.” Sean watched the doctor retreat to the side wall as Counselor Tatyana drew the two men forward.
When they stood by Dillon’s bedside, the Examiner said, “Really, Counselor, I must protest.”
Tatyana replied, “Explain your objection.”
“They are twin menaces,” Tirian declared. “I have no doubt whatsoever that they brought all this on themselves. Certainly there is nothing sufficiently remarkable about these two to alert our foes.”
Carver froze the twins with a look. “You are missing the point,” he said. “Sean shielded both of them. After four days of training, he transported himself and another individual. Something that only a handful of highly skilled—”
“He panicked. You know as well as I that even raw recruits can accomplish rare feats when terrified.”
“Not like this,” Carver replied. “Not in centuries.”
The Examiner sniffed and turned back to Tatyana. “What the colonel refuses to see is how these ruffians perpetuate everything that has happened.”
“Ruffians,” Tatyana repeated.
“According to what they told the station guards, the pair stopped to pick up strange women, thus setting the disaster in motion. This happened less than four hours after they assaulted an innocent bystander.”
“The student known as Eric was most definitely not innocent,” Carver said. “And you know of this only because I entered it into their official record. As testimony of how they made proper use—”
“You only have their word on this. Which I heartily discount.”
“They saved a young woman from assault.”
“Again, hearsay.” The Examiner’s bald head gleamed like a polished black globe. “I hereby fail both of them.”
Sean’s gut took a plunge down to the polished floor. The room became encased in a silence so intense that whatever Carver said next became tiny wisps of protest against a fate he knew they both deserved. Everything the Examiner said was true. The facts left Sean struggling to breathe. He and his brother were responsible. They were guilty. They were doomed. He heard Dillon groan and knew he had no comfort to offer.
Carver was saying, “These two have passed every test with flying colors. They have made great strides in learning Serenese. They have—”
“Failing them is within my charter!”
“With each external challenge they have enlarged their powers, and yet they have used them only to protect themselves and others.”
“They are irresponsible in the extreme. They are not fit to wield powers of any kind, much less join our ranks.”
Carver turned to the silent woman. “Counselor, you can’t allow this travesty—”
“She is not responsible for these recruits. I hold the authority to determine whether they pass their exams. I deem them unworthy. I fail them.”
Tatyana’s voice was as flat and hard as her gaze. “Duly noted.”
Carver showed a fury as intense as his distress. “Counselor, I protest in the strongest possible terms.”
“Also noted. Gentlemen, this matter is concluded.” She silenced Carver’s next objection with a single look. “Examiner Tirian, you are dismissed.”
“But . . . their mind-wipes are now my purview.”
“I shall see to all that is required. Your duties regarding these two young men are hereby concluded. Good day, Tirian.”
The Examiner cast the twins a single look, dark and contemptuous and dismissive. Sean let Dillon growl for both of them. Tirian wheeled about, took a half step, and vanished.
As the elegant woman turned back to them, Sean’s brain locked on a single thought, as though simple observation was all he could manage just then. Taking an easy breath was certainly beyond his reach. The thought was, This is what judgment looks like. For there in those light grey eyes was the implacable force of an individual who had cast verdicts on entire races. The force and the burdens and the merciless determination were all there. Aimed straight at him.
Carver’s voice sounded as strangled as Sean felt. “Counselor, I beseech—”
“I have no intention of erasing one iota of their potential.”
Sean felt so wrenched by the moment he almost missed Carver saying, “I’m sorry, what?”
“You tried to warn me about Tirian. His school has become a focal point for arguments over our training system. I assumed this was nothing more than a clash over methods.” To the twins she explained, “Tirian’s system is based upon identifying potential recruits at the youngest possible age, then sheltering them in a school that is isolated from all outside stimuli. He seeks to invoke his concept as a model for the entire system of identifying and training transiters. Your instructor disagrees with this method.”
“Not with Tirian’s school, Counselor. But to apply Tirian’s methods to the entire system would be disastrous.” Carver spoke more slowly. Carefully measuring each word. “A few of Tirian’s students have asked to become Praetorians. He urges his students to become Messengers or go into government. So there are not many. I only became aware of his school when I met these students at the academy. None have successfully completed academy training.”
“Fascinating.” She crossed her arms. “Tell me why.”
“They are very precise. Exactitude defines them. So long as they face situations that are covered in the manuals, they are the head of the class. But when their training shifts to real-life crises, anything outside the boundaries of logic or the rule book, they fall apart.”
“So the introduction of battlefield chaos . . .”
“Terrifies them,” Carver finished. “They cannot handle it.”
“Most interesting. So the Examiner is developing a cadre of like-minded recruits who are deeply loyal to . . .”
“Loyalty. That is what concerns me most of all.”
Tatyana nodded. “I have the authority to bring recruits directly under my personal supervision. Which I choose to do in these two cases. You agree to remain as their tutor?”
“I . . . Of course.”
“Tirian and everyone else should be allowed to assume these twins have been eliminated. He has allies among our power structure. I have no interest in further arguments regarding them and their studies.”
Carver said, “I assume you’ll want me to establish a protective perimeter.”
She dismissed that. “There is no such need.”
This time, however, Carver remained firm. “Counselor, there is the chance, however slim, that something or someone did in fact attack them.”
Tatyana looked ready to argue, but conceded, “Do so in absolute secrecy. As far as the Examiner and his allies are concerned, they have been dismissed. You may set one team of Watchers in place. Just one, and you must keep them well removed from the twins. Clear?”
Carver obviously did not like it, but all he said was, “Understood, ma’am.”
Sean interrupted with, “I’ve got some questions.”
“That makes two of us,” Dillon said.
But the lady was clearly not interested. “Carver will do his best to answer them.”
Sean decided one couldn’t wait. “So, this mind-wipe thing . . .”
“That level of your training is now completed.” Tatyana offered them a general’s frosty smile. “Welcome to our ranks, gentlemen. You will not always find it a comfortable place to reside. But hopefully the rewards will prove to be well worth the sacrifice.” She then turned to where Sandrine stood by the rear wall. “Doctor, I assume you understand what I am doing?”
Sandrine appeared as shaken by the events as everyone else. “Not entirely, Counselor. But I am happy to follow your orders regarding confidentiality.”
“Excellent.” She addressed the twins. “Now I want your report. Everything you told the authorities upon your arrival, and everything you have so far failed to discuss.”
Before Sean was halfway through his description, the Counselor was shaking her head in dismissal. “Impossible.”
Carver seemed conflicted, as though he agreed with the Counselor, but still asked, “Shouldn’t we hear them out?”
“You may do that on your own time. I for one am assuming some influence was formed upon their abilities to perceive their physical environment, or perhaps shock has impacted their memories.”
“But what Sean describes is in keeping—”
“Really, Colonel. Do you truly believe they would launch such an overt assault against two raw recruits?” She gave her fingers a backward flick, as though brushing the concept from the air. “We have never known an outpost world to be the focus of such an attack. Plus there is the one overriding factor, the one issue we know to be true above all others.”
“We are off cycle,” Carver muttered.
“Precisely.” Tatyana turned to the doctor. “Again, madam, I require your absolute discretion.”
“Granted, Counselor. You have my word.”
“Thank you.”
Sean had not followed most of what had just been said. But still he protested, “What I told you was the truth.”
“As you perceived it,” the Counselor said. “One thing more. You are forbidden to ever come back here. The station security has orders to arrest you on sight.”
Sean glanced at his brother and saw a mirror of his own pain in Dillon’s eyes. “That’s not fair!”
“Perhaps not. But you did bring minor havoc to the station. And this world is no friend to our kind.” She must have seen the arguments burning in their faces, for she continued, “Were you to disobey a Counselor’s direct order and become arrested by this planet’s security system, we would see no reason to work for your release. And I assure you, their prison system is far from pleasant. Not to mention how you would face further punishment. From me.”
Dillon gave her a sullen, “We got the message.”
“See that you obey.” Her gaze was severe but not unfriendly. “The Colonel tells me you both show great promise. Complete your preliminary training. We will meet again.”
She turned, and was gone.