24
The D-4 agent looked up from her pad and stared at Rev, her eyes boring into his very soul. Rev shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He’d done nothing wrong, but he had a history with the directorate’s security division.
At least he thought she was D-4. What else could she be?
The moment he’d set foot back on Enceladus, before he’d even gotten back to his cell, his pad had lit up with the message to report to this nondescript room in a nondescript corridor in a nondescript section of Camp Reyes.
Fox Company’s final two weeks on the Takagahara had been mostly uneventful. There had been a brief alert that had gotten everyone’s attention as they prepped for a possible mission, but whatever it was must have been taken care of through other means, and the ship proceeded to Jonnelle Pratt Station as scheduled.
The Mezame Concordat sprang for a huge party on the station, which was unexpected but greatly appreciated by the Fox troopers. They’d gotten close to the ship’s crew, and the party had been a good way to end the deployment.
That warm and fuzzy feeling had lasted through the final passage and return to Enceladus, all the way up to Rev reading the flashing alert.
Her silence was getting to him, and he opened his mouth to speak, but she held up a hand to shush him. At least that goaded her into action. She pulled out a wand, stood, and proceeded to scan the room.
Rev frowned. Now he was sure she was D-4.
Finally, she sat down. “Staff Sergeant Pelletier, I’m Special Agent Grenoble.”
Yeah, D-4 for sure.
Whatever this was, Rev hoped it wouldn’t take long. He was scheduled to take leave in five days, and another little stint as a “guest” of D-4 would destroy those plans.
“Before we begin, please put your AI to sleep.”
Rev didn’t like that. Why would he need to put Punch to sleep? His battle buddy couldn’t record events while on Enceladus, but to Rev, Punch was a security blanket.
“Staff Sergeant Pelletier?”
Rev considered refusing, but he knew it wouldn’t do any good. He may be attached to the Home Guard, but he was a Union Marine, and when it boiled down to it, the directorate controlled every aspect of his life.
Reluctantly, he said, “Sleep.”
The agent looked down at the same wand with which she scanned the room, then, with a satisfied look, raised her head again.
She can tell if Punch is asleep?
That was unsettling.
“I’m here to conduct your triannual debrief.”
That confused Rev for a moment before things fell into place, and his stress level dropped several notches. The stress didn’t completely disappear, however. This was D-4, after all. But he knew what was going on.
Back on New Hope, before coming to the Home Guard, he and the others had gone through memory training so that they could note things about their fellow troopers. With their AIs’ capabilities limited, this was how the Union could gather data to develop into intel.
To be frank, Rev had forgotten about the debriefs.
“This is well beyond the four-month debrief window, but with you deployed, we had to adjust. This will constitute your first two debriefs.”
She placed the wand on the table between them. Rev didn’t need her to tell him that this was all being recorded.
“I hope that your tour so far has been rewarding and that you have acquitted yourself well. I know there was an incident with a Mad Dog karnan, and that has taken an interesting turn.”
Rev raised his eyebrows at that. Of course, she’d know about Kvat and him. But the fact that she called them Mad Dogs somehow took a little of her D-4 mystique away. It made her more human.
“We’ll discuss that, but for now, I just want you to relate to me some of your observations.”
Rev tried to get his thoughts in order. He really hadn’t been expecting the debrief, and he hadn’t prepared a mental report.
“Well, the karnans, they’re much stronger than us. I mean IBHU Marines,” he blurted out, not knowing what else to say.
The agent didn’t sound impressed.
Crap. Of course, they already know that.
He took several deep breaths. One of the techniques they’d been taught was to associate observations with a class of objects, such as different birds, sports teams, or anything. For Rev, he’d chosen fruits.
OK, Reverent, just do it.
But for the moment, his mind was blank. He didn’t even know which fruit to use as a trigger. His thoughts bounced around his head like a songbird in a cage.
Strawberry! Uh . . . strawberries are red, and Akkeke’s combat suit was red.
“Uh, the Millsap combat suit can change to any color,” he got out in a rush.
The agent stared at him, her face an emotionless mask. Rev realized that wouldn’t be a revelation, but the dam was broken. Rev started going down his list of observations. To his surprise, the fruit thing seemed to work, and he thought he covered most of what he’d intended. It took about forty-five minutes to get through it, which was longer than he thought it would take. The agent interrupted a few times for clarification, but she mostly let him ramble on.
When he couldn’t dredge up anything else, he said, “I guess that’s about it.”
“Nothing more?”
Rev had been feeling pretty proud of how much he’d retained, and that was a little bit of a downer. It wasn’t enough?
She made some entries on her pad, then asked, “Do you remember AER from your brief back on your home planet?”
“AER?” he asked, wracking his brain.
“Applied Extractive Recovery.”
“Uh . . . not really, ma’am.”
“It’s nothing, really. Just a method that allows an interviewer to nudge a subject into retained memories.”
Rev raised his guard. He vaguely remembered hearing the term. It was something like hypnotism.
“So, what I’m going to do is administer a light sedative, and then we’re going to see what else you have for me.”
She reached into her briefcase as Rev recoiled, pushing himself back from the table.
“Isn’t a brainwipe illegal?” he asked, his eyes locked onto the small cylinder she pulled out.
She actually laughed aloud. “What makes you think this is a brainwipe? You Marines, for people so brave in combat, you get frightened over the tiniest things.”
“Then what is that?”
“This? Like I said, this is a light sedative. You’ll breathe it in, and it will help calm you down. Makes it easier to find those memories.” When Rev didn’t look convinced, she said, “A brainwipe is done in a hospital setting with a large staff. Does this look like that?”
“Punch?”
There was no answer, and Rev and a moment of rising panic until he remembered that she’d put his battle buddy to sleep. He really wished Punch was awake.
But what she said made sense. It was just that after being arrested and held prisoner by D-4, after being accused of treason by them, Rev’s trust level of Interior Security was less than optimal.
“So? You ready? Or do you want to spend the next day or so playing what else do you remember?”
Rev reluctantly nodded. It wasn’t as if he had a choice.
The agent reached out and pressed the top of the cylinder. A puff of mist shot out.
She looked at Rev, then, with an exasperated sigh, said, “You actually have to inhale.”
“Oh, sorry.” Rev hadn’t realized that he’d been holding his breath. “Try again.”
She held the cylinder closer and depressed the top again.
Despite his resolve, Rev held his breath again for a moment before he gave in and breathed in. There was a light hint of mint but nothing else. He took stock of himself, but he didn’t feel any different.
“Now, with that done, let’s see if we can proceed. Just as described in your brief, I’m going to be asking you some questions. Just speak freely. Remember, I can’t force you to answer anything you don’t want to. I’m just going to guide you as you try and recover memories that might pertain. You ready?”
Rev wasn’t so sure that she couldn’t dig things out, maybe things he didn’t want her to know. Maybe that was true; maybe it wasn’t. But he hadn’t done anything wrong, so he should be fine.
Should be.
“So, let’s start with this one. Who have you gotten close to during your time in the Home Guard so far?”
Rev had to consider it. No, that wasn’t what it was. He knew the answer, but he had to remember how to form the words.
“Bob. Rice. Toshi.”
Maybe that mist is having an effect on me.
“Who are they?”
“You know. Bob is Ting-a-ling. He’s a fry. Good guy, Bob.”
“OK, good. Let’s talk about Yellow-Master Tjivyrtzlin. Has he asked you for technical data on your IBHU?”
Rev mumbled a reply. He wasn’t quite sure what he said, but it seemed to elicit another question from the agent.
Question, answer. Question, answer. Rev was somewhat aware of the process, but nothing was sinking in. He had to imagine that nothing he said was making any sense, and that bothered him. The agent wanted answers, but he couldn’t give them. It was embarrassing.
He didn’t know how long this went on. An hour? A day? Time didn’t really mean much until everything seemed to come into focus. The agent was standing before him, the cylinder back in front of his face. The scent of roses, not mint, filled his senses.
“You back with me, Staff Sergeant.”
Rev scraped his tongue against his top teeth. It felt like it was covered with moss.
“Are we done?”
“Yes, we’re done,” the agent said as she slipped the cylinder back into her briefcase.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t help you more.”
She gave a chuckle and said, “Oh, you did fine. Better than most, in fact.”
“But I don’t know what I told you.”
“You told me a lot. You wouldn’t have been able to do that, though, unless you had used the techniques you were taught to anchor those memories into your neocortex.”
“Is there anything you need to tell me?”
“If not me, then someone will be in contact with you after we’ve analyzed your observations. But I don’t think I’m speaking out of turn to say we’re going to want you to get closer to Lieutenant Vreemish. That’s an excellent contact you made there. Really good thinking to use that connection, and good initiative. I think that relationship has the potential to become very useful.”
Rev wanted to protest that he hadn’t met with the MDS lieutenant for some sort of intel operation. He’d just wanted to meet his MDS counterpart on Earth, and then he’d discovered that he just liked the man. But he kept quiet. Protesting wouldn’t do him any good, and it could work against him.
There were some things they’d discussed that Rev had decided to keep to himself. Now he wondered how much he’d told her.
She stood up and offered her hand. “Good job, and I look forward to your next debrief.”
Rev took the hand and shook it. “Me, too, ma’am.”
“Go on. Get back to your unit. I imagine you’ve got a lot to do.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
He started to leave, glad that the debrief was over but wondering what instructions he’d be given based on an analysis of his answers.
“And have a good leave back home,” she said as he passed through the door.
Of course, she knows I’m going on leave. She’s D-4.
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