Only Human Read Free

pain there? Dizzy? Vision fine?”
    “No, no, yes.” She let him inspect the
triangular interface module embedded in her temple. He winced when he peered
through a probe to look for damage. His wince was for the abused technology,
not her face.
    “I wish you pilots would take a little more
care with the taps. Do you have any idea how expensive they are? Not to mention
the minor fact that they lead directly into your neocortex.” He attached a
small wire to the nodes on both sides of her head and consulted his diagnostic
displays. “Follow that light. Good. Run that simulation. So you are between
orders?”
    She obeyed his instruction and directed the
computer to build a complex geometrical shape out of smaller components. A
simple undertaking compared to using the neural link to operate her plane or
weaponry, but every single synapse was analyzed and charted during the short
exercise.
    "I am. I didn't apply for a transfer
and my past commander wasn't exactly thrilled when I got one, anyway. I don't
even think he knows where I am now. If he did, I'm sure he'd request to get me
back. My time is wasted here."
    The doctor regarded the bedraggled young
warrior in front of him, ready with a suitable comment to put her into her
place. He realized that he could do no such thing. She was wasting her time
here, he agreed. He tugged the connectors from her nodes and fused the loosened
edge to her skin. “Try not to collect any more injuries in your boredom. Come
back in two weeks for follow-up."
    Nova thanked him and continued on to her
room. The doctor had been right to chide her, she thought. She only recently
visited him with a dislocated finger sustained in hand to hand combat training.
Two previous injuries, both minor and caused by Fynn, were not the type of
accident one easily came to in combat.
    But here she was, playing war games with
junior officers while the real battles were fought elsewhere. For what seemed
to be the millionth time, Nova wondered why she had been transferred to Myra
and then forgotten.
    Moodily, she rounded a corner, now only a
few minutes away from her room and a clean uniform.
    "Nova!"
    She groaned inwardly and slowed her steps
to let Fynn catch up.
    "Yo, kid, I've been looking all over
for you." He had changed into his usual fatigue trousers and a black shirt
clearly meant to show his torso off to its fullest advantage.
    She held up her bandaged hand, shaped into
a fist. "Where the hell do you think I've been?"
    "Don't be cross. O'Neill sent me to
find you."
    "I'll get down to the test center as
soon as I've changed my suit. He'll have to wait a while if he wants to tell me
how badly I did today."
    He took her arm and turned her around.
"Walk this way, and quickly. Colonel wants to see you."
    "The Colonel?" Nova wondered why
the commander of the base wanted her.
    "Yeah, and you better hurry. He's been
looking for you for a while, I hear."
    "I can't see him like this!" She indicated
her sodden boots.
    But Fynn was already propelling her along
the hall, carelessly shouldering aside anyone of lower rank and smaller size.
"You got to. He's got everyone looking for you."
    "What can be so urgent? Why didn't he
just call me?" Nova looked at her wrist array and found it offline. When
did that happen?
    Fynn stopped dead and whirled her to face
him. "Listen, you won't say anything about my live fire on you today, huh?"
He pressed her arm as if to squeeze an answer from her.
    She pulled out of his grasp. "I
thought O'Neill sanctioned that. Didn't he?"
    "Well, in so many words. You know how
the Colonel is. Wouldn't put it past him to demerit me because of a bit of
roughhousing."
    Nova laughed humorlessly. Roughhousing!
"Some day they'll throw you out, Fynn," she warned. "Transfers
are coming up. We've got a hundred recruits coming in and some of us have to
leave."
    His features rearranged themselves into an
expression of apprehension. As much as Nova ached to leave this playground, he
wanted to stay. Here he