Andrea strained under the weight she was attempting to hold up. A few beads of sweat broke out on her forehead and slipped down the smooth skin of her cheek, where she tried to brush them away with her arm. She had been at this for three days straight now – test after test in the company of doctors Todd and Whitman. The days seemed to merge into one another, and she could hardly believe it was nearly a week since she had first woken up at the Superhuman Research Unit after the warehouse accident.
Today’s particular investigation was the first time she had actually felt like she was exerting herself during the many tests they had performed. She just prayed that didn’t mean she was about to experience another one of the extremely painful and paralysing seizures that had beset her attempts to access her abilities. Since her attempt at a bit of interior design with the stools in her kitchen, she hadn’t risked trying anything on her own, realising that maybe the scientists did know what they were talking about.
At the moment Doctor Todd had her under a weight-lifting contraption, in one of the specialist gyms at the army base. It could be made to simulate various weights electronically by increasing the down-force exerted on the bar she held aloft. Her arms wobbled slightly and she wondered just how much weight was on it right now.
“Are you ok?” asked Doc, monitoring her vital signs the whole time as he did every day.
“Yes, fine,” she replied, locking her arms once again.
Dr Todd flicked his dark eyes up from his computer screen. “You think you can take some more weight then?”
“Yeah, sure,” said Andrea confidently, “I mean, what are we up to now? A hundred kilos or so?”
The two doctors exchanged a glancing look, but didn’t reply straight away.
Andrea looked at them warily. “What?”
“Er…you’re holding up slightly more than a hundred kilos,” began Doc slowly.
“Go on…”
“Well, the down-force is currently 1500 kilograms,” he outlined, “That’s about equivalent to a small family car.”
“Helvete!” cried Andrea in surprise, the Swedish swear word slipping out. She lost her hold on the bar and just had time to dodge out the way as it came crashing back down onto its supports.
She dashed over to look at Dr Todd’s monitor, the scientist moving aside to allow her access. The figures shown were just as Doc had said. But that couldn’t be right, she told herself dazedly - the weight of a car? That was just…impossible!
……
Kate stood on the concealed side of the one-way glass, watching as Andrea dropped the bar and scurried across to look at Theo’s computer. Obviously something had shocked her, judging from the bemused expression that had now settled on her face. The pair of them hadn’t spoken directly over the weekend, since the argument in her office on Friday, and Kate considered that that was probably a good thing. Hopefully, a bit of space would have given Andrea the chance to calm down and start to accept the situation she was in. Judging by her current reaction, though, she was still having difficulty comprehending the fact that she now possessed superhuman powers.
From what Theo had discovered so far, it seemed her strength was phenomenal – they weren’t even sure what her limits were yet. Kate found that thought slightly disturbing - someone as volatile and headstrong as Andrea with all that power. She supposed it was down to her to ensure that Andrea accepted her abilities and learnt to control them, though she wasn’t sure how willing a pupil she was going to be.
Deliberating the prospect of trying to handle the wilful woman, Kate felt a pounding sensation building at the back of her brain. She still wasn’t certain if Andrea just liked being argumentative for her benefit, or if that was how she was with everyone. Kate had faced many challenges in her time in charge of the unit, both personal and professional, but the clash of personalities with Andrea was certainly up there with the toughest.
As promised, Kate had looked into why Andrea’s phone call had been cut off, hoping perhaps to try and show the younger woman that she was on her side. Apparently the surveillance team had been instructed to prevent any discussion of the incident at the warehouse that had landed Andrea with them. The strange thing was, Kate herself knew nothing of this order, meaning it had come from one of her superiors. She wondered what it was they were concerned about and were trying to hide.
Now Kate thought back to Andrea’s arrival at the unit, when she had been so disorientated and shocked, Kate suddenly realised what it was that had been bugging her about it. She realised there should have been no reason for Andrea to be brought to them at all. Before the accident, Andrea had been a regular person, with no indication that she had the dormant gene that could grant her superhuman powers. So how had they known she would wake up with superhuman abilities?
Kate may have only been transferred to the Intelligence Corps recently, but she had been in it long enough to know when something didn’t quite add up. She resolved to speak to General Parsons next time he made one of his regular visits to check up on progress at the base.
Seeing that Andrea had now resumed her place under the bar, Kate decided she really needed to get back to her office and the mountain of paperwork that sat waiting for her there. After all, Andrea may have been the most troublesome of her responsibilities right now, but she was by no means the only one.
…….
A couple of days later Andrea sat on a low bench in the gymnasium, wiping the sweat from her brow with a towel as the two doctors engaged in a heated debate. From what she could garner, Doc was of the opinion that Dr Todd was pushing her too hard. There had been a couple of times when Doc had been forced to step in when one of Andrea’s seizures had started during the experiments. She could see his point since the seizures were extremely painful, leaving her gasping and in agony as her muscles seized up. Luckily a quick injection from Doc was usually enough to counteract the effects, but she would rather not have to endure them at all.
“Ok,” said Dr Todd eventually, “How about we call it quits for today?”
“Fine by me,” agreed Andrea as they looked to her for confirmation, “Though I am curious to know when I’m going to find out the results of all these tests. We’ve been at this for days now.”
“I’ll be making a proper report to Major Jarvis tomorrow,” Dr Todd informed her, “You’re more than welcome to attend.”
Andrea raised a single eyebrow to indicate her slight surprise. “Really? Are you sure you don’t want to check with the Major first? You might have some top secret things you want to discuss about me.”
“I’m not trying to hide anything from you,” said Dr Todd reasonably, “You know everything we do.”
“All right,” conceded Andrea, getting up from the bench and flicking the towel over her shoulder, “Yes, I would like to attend, thank you.”
“Now that’s settled,” interjected Doc, “How about some dinner?”
Andrea weighed up his offer for a moment. Her instant thought was to refuse, and go back to her room on her own, as she had done every other night since she arrived. However, even she had to admit that it was getting pretty boring spending so much time alone. She was really starting to miss her home comforts and her friends. She had been provided with all mod cons in her quarters – she even had a Playstation to go with the massive television – but that didn’t make up for the lack of personal touch. What she wouldn’t give for some of her books right now, so she could bury herself in them.
She remembered that the Major had mentioned that she could have some of her belongings brought to the island, but that meant she would have to see the Major to arrange it. Since their last encounter, Andrea had been trying to avoid the other woman as much as possible. Andrea didn’t like the capacity the Major seemed to have to unsettle her normally unflappable demeanour. Something about her just made Andrea want to act up to see what happened, to see what reaction she got. She realised it was rather childish, yet she couldn’t seem to help herself. She supposed the report Dr Todd was going to deliver would give her the perfect opportunity to bring up the subject of her belongings without her needing to make a special trip to the Major’s office.
In the mean time, she guessed it couldn’t hurt to go along with Doc. She wasn’t so stubborn that she couldn’t admit that maybe she did need to socialise with the people there, if only to try and maintain her sanity. Anyway, she reasoned, Doc really wasn’t that bad and at least he wasn’t one of the military personnel. Andrea had continued to receive a chilly reception from most of the soldiers she had encountered, especially the annoying Lieutenant Chadwick. She sensed there was a more deeply routed antagonism between the majority of soldiers and the superhumans; one that had been there even before she had arrived.
“Ok, why not,” replied Andrea eventually, in response to Doc’s offer.
Doc was flabbergasted by her response. “R-really?” he stammered, “You’re going to come to the messhall? With me?”
A smile twitched the corners of Andrea’s lips when she saw his obvious surprise. “That’s what I just said, wasn’t it?”
“Yes,” agreed Doc, a stunned look still on his face, “It’s just that I’ve asked you every night and each time you’ve turned me down.”
“I guess you must have finally worn me down,” said Andrea jokingly, “Now come on, before I change my mind.”
Doc shrugged at Dr Todd, and then quickly scurried after Andrea as she headed for the door. As they made their way to the messhall, Andrea had to admit to herself that there was another reason she felt like company. She hadn’t mentioned it to anyone else, but ever since she had arrived on the island she had be plagued by nightmares.
Nearly every time she closed her eyes they were there – Walker, MacKenzie, Madison. Sometimes it was all of them, sometimes just one, but it was always the same theme – them chasing after her, her unable to get away from their bloodied faces. She shook her head to try and clear the images that were now impinging on her waking thoughts too. She had been hoping that the nightmares might lessen with time, but if anything they were getting worse. Doc had mentioned something in passing about counselling facilities, and she wondered whether she should speak to him about it. She had her suspicions that he had been prompted to mention it to her, though, and was concerned exactly how confidential any such sessions would be. The last thing she wanted was the Major and everyone else at the base knowing about her inner demons and insecurities. Maybe if she could find out more about what had caused the accident and who was responsible, it would help her lay those ghosts to rest. Though there wasn’t much chance of that while she was stuck on the island, she realised.
Stepping out of the lift on the ground floor, Doc led her to a set of double doors along the main corridor. As they entered the large dining hall, Andrea could swear that the level of conversation dropped a couple of notches. She could see several sets of eyes swivelling in her direction from the mixture of soldiers and civilian personnel that sat at the tables.
“Don’t worry,” Doc whispered too her, obviously having picked up on the reaction too, “They just don’t see many new people round here.”
“Really,” said Andrea doubtfully. More likely they had heard all about her from the likes of Lt Chadwick. She could see him now, at a table in the corner, laughing with a group of soldiers as his eyes flicked to her.
“Come on, let’s get something to eat,” offered Doc, heading over to the counter along one side of the room.
Andrea noted that the conversation seemed to resume as they made their way across the room and Doc handed her a tray for her food.
“Good evening, Doc,” greeted the man behind the counter, “And, who is this we have with you?” he asked, switching his attention to Andrea, a broad smile on his face.
He was another soldier, though he wore a short apron over the front of his camouflage trousers that rather detracted from the overall military impression. He was a short, stocky man, with an unruly shock of red hair.
Doc made the introductions, “Andrea this is Corporal Lister, Lister, this is Andrea,”
“Nathan, please,” said the cook, wiping his hand on his apron and extending it towards Andrea.
“Nice to meet you, Nathan,” replied Andrea amiably, shaking his hand.
Nathan took back his hand and looked at them expectantly. “So what can I get you?”
“I don’t know, what have you got?” asked Andrea, scanning the dishes laid out on the hot-plate surface as she did.
“Well, on the menu we have either spaghetti bolognese, salmon or some vegetarian thing that you’ll have to ask my colleague Bill about,” he informed her, “But if there’s something special you’d like, I’m sure I could rustle it up. We should treat our new guests well after all.”
“Spaghetti would be fine, thank you,” she noted with a smile.
“Good choice,” Doc whispered in her ear as Nathan dished some up, “You’re never quite sure what you might get when Nathan ‘rustles you up’ one of his specialities.”
“What was that?” asked Nathan, placing the steaming plate on Andrea’s tray.
“Nothing,” said Doc innocently, “Fish for me, please.”
“Hmm,” noted Nathan suspiciously, as he dolled out Doc’s request, “You don’t want to listen to this lot,” he added to Andrea, “I mean, are you really going to listen to the culinary recommendations of a bunch of squaddies and scientists? Philistines the lot of them!”
Having picked up their cutlery and a couple of drinks, Doc led her across the room. Through the troops she spotted the other superhumans at a table on their own, and realised that Doc was heading in their direction.
“Can we join you?” he asked when they got there.
Tom turned round and shot them a smile. “Sure, grab a seat,” he said, “Nice to see you here, Andrea.”
“Oh,” said Doc suddenly, just as Andrea was sitting down next to the young blond man, “You know what, I’ve just realised there was something I forgot to do back in the lab. I’d better head back down there,” he continued, turning to go.
Andrea frowned up at him from her seat, knowing when she had been set up. She supposed she might as well stay, now she was there, though she would be having words with Doc later.
“So, how are you doing? Settling in ok?” Harry asked Andrea.
“Fine, thanks,” replied Andrea, between mouthfuls of food. She noted that Tardelli was eyeing her suspiciously from beneath her eyebrows in the seat next to the dark-haired young man on the opposite side of the table.
“I’m surprised you haven’t gone nuts, locked down in those labs with just Doc and Theo for company,” said Tom.
“They do seem rather keen on their tests,” Andrea admitted, continuing to eat the Bolognese that actually wasn’t half bad.
Tom laughed out loud. “Keen? They’re bloody fanatics! We’ve all been through it, you know, when we first came here. I swear, there were times I was tempted to try and tickle Dr Todd, just to see if I could actually get a smile to crack that face!”
“Now that I would like to see,” remarked Harry, sipping his drink. “So what powers have you got then?” he asked Andrea.
“They don’t know for sure yet, some sort of super strength at least.”
“Ooh, better watch out who you’re shooting those looks at then, Bel,” said Tom, flicking a glance at Tardelli.
Tardelli narrowed her eyes at him, but said nothing.
Harry had spied the annoyed look on her face too. “She’s just jealous because she’s the human icicle,” he teased.
“Human icicle?” queried Andrea, picking up her own drink. As it touched her lips she realised it was frozen solid. “Helvete!” she exclaimed, setting the chilly glass down on the table.
“Very funny, Bel,” said Tom, rolling his eyes. Tardelli merely smirked at him in return.
Tom tutted once more, before switching his attention back to Andrea and fixing her with an eager look. “Anyway, enough shop talk, what we really want is the gossip!”
“Sorry?” asked Andrea, pushing her plate to one side having finally finished it.
“Oh come on,” he said in exasperation, “It’s not like we get many new people round here, at least not ones that aren’t bloody soldiers.”
“I see, and what exactly would you like to know?” Andrea asked warily.
He thought for a moment. “How about letting us know if there’s anyone special?”
“Special?”
“You know, a boyfriend, a husband?”
“No,” answered Andrea simply.
Harry sat up taller in his seat all of a sudden. “Really?” he remarked, “Well, if you need someone to show you around the base, show you the facilities then I’m your man.” He smiled warmly at her before taking another swig from his mug.
“I’m a lesbian,” stated Andrea succinctly.
Harry’s face suddenly went red as his drink lodged itself firmly down his windpipe. When he started making choking noises, Tardelli thumped him resoundingly on the back.
“You don’t have a problem with that, do you?” Andrea asked, half-jokingly. It never failed to amuse her, the varied reactions revealing her sexual orientation provoked, especially from men. The comments she got usually ranged from ‘but you’re too feminine’ to ‘can we watch’.
“Er…no…no…” stammered Harry, recovering from his coughing fit.
“You’ll have to forgive Harry, but we don’t get many beautiful women round here,” said Tom, desperately trying to stop himself from laughing. “So, there’s no girlfriend then?” he asked, correcting his earlier assumption.
“Not at the moment,” replied Andrea. She didn’t really want to disclose any more for now.
Tom shrugged in disappointment. “Ah well, probably for the best. What with you being stuck out here with us for the time being. Maybe we could go cruising for some action on the mainland some time, we can check out the women together!” He flashed Andrea another of his grins. “What’s your type anyway?”
“I don’t really have a particular ‘type’,” Andrea replied, “It depends on the person.”
“Ah, good answer,” he noted, nodding sagely.
Just then, Andrea became aware of another presence hovering behind her and Tom. She swivelled round to see that the Major was standing there. She was out of her normal stiff uniform, instead sporting the same more casual camouflage outfit as the rest of the soldiers, the sleeves of her shirt neatly rolled up to just above the elbows.
“Good evening, everyone,” the Major said, casting her eyes round the table and offering them a smile. The blue-grey eyes finally came to rest on Andrea. “I’m glad to see you here, Andrea. Getting to know the others are you?”
“Yes, thank you,” replied Andrea, a hint of insolence in her tone to indicate that indeed she was and that she was doing it quite well on her own.
Perhaps sensing the frosty atmosphere, Tom stepped into the conversation. “So…did you take The Flyer out at the weekend then?” he asked the Major.
The Major laughed, “You’re not still angling for me to take you on her are you?”
“Oh come on, I promise to be good,” he pleaded.
“Really,” noted the Major, a doubtful look on her face, “Why do I think it’s more likely that you’ll run the poor girl into the ground in an attempt to see just how fast you can make her go?”
He put his hand on his chest to show his mock hurt at the suggestion. “As if I would!”
“The Flyer is very picky about who’ll she’ll let handle her, you know” explained the Major, “She’s quite temperamental. You need to know how to use just the right amount of toughness allied with a soft touch.”
Andrea had to mentally shake herself when she realised she was staring at the way the Major’s lips formed the words ‘soft touch’.
“I can be soft and subtle,” insisted Tom.
Harry burst out laughing opposite him. “You’re about as subtle as a brick!”
“This from Mr Hit-On-The-Lesbian “ noted Tom, causing Harry’s face to redden at the reminder of his earlier faux pas.
Andrea spotted the brief quizzical look that passed across the Major’s face, as she tried to work out to what Tom was referring.
“So,” continued Tom, turning his attention back to the Major, “I presume that’s a no to me coming for a spin?”
The Major smiled down at him again, clapping her hand on his shoulder. “I’m afraid so, but keep trying, Mr Parsons, you may wear me down eventually. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll see you all tomorrow.” Andrea watched her striding confidently back across the messhall and out the doors, only realising she had been staring again when Tom prodded her in the ribs.
“Sorry, what did you say?” asked Andrea, turning back to him.
“I was just asking if the Major was your type,” he repeated.
“Definitely not!” she stated, perhaps a bit more forcefully than she had intended.
“Oh, shame,” he remarked, “Well, I certainly wouldn’t say no,” he added with a wink.
Andrea’s brows knitted together as she regarded him with a mixture of surprise and doubt.
“I think she’s rather attractive, don’t you?” he offered. Andrea found she was starting to get rather uncomfortable with where the conversation was heading as he continued with his explanation, “She’s got that whole older woman, power thing going on. And as for that voice…It almost makes you want to step out of line to get that husky dressing down.”
“Oh yeah, I know what you mean,” joined in Harry, nodding in agreement.
“Maybe,” conceded Andrea, “But she’s so…military!”
Tom laughed, “Well, yes, she is a Major! But once you get to know her a bit, you’ll
see there’s more to her than that.
She’s not like Chaddy and some of the other cretins round here. Most of them think we’re a bunch of freaks,
whereas she treats us like human beings.”
“If you say so,”
said Andrea sceptically.
“Just give her a
chance,” Tom suggested seriously, fixing his pale blue eyes on her.
“So what’s this ‘Flyer’ anyway?” asked Andrea, trying to steer the conversation off the present topic.
“It’s the Major’s boat, The Dorset Flyer,” explained Tom, “She’s got it moored over at Troon harbour and takes it out most weekends. You might have seen the model of it in her office?”
“The yacht on top of the drinks cabinet?”
Tom nodded, “That’s the one. I’ve been trying to get her to take me out on it for bloody months, but she always goes out alone from what I can tell.”
“Or maybe she just doesn’t want you along?” commented Harry.
Tom ignored his comment and the conversation shifted focus. Andrea was glad her personal life was no longer the main topic, as the others revealed more about themselves during the course of the discussion. At least Tom and Harry happily revealed more about themselves, Tardelli remained silent most of the time, looking like she’d rather be pulling her teeth out with a pair of rusty pliers.
There was another choking incident when they got on to discussing previous jobs, and Andrea revealed her background in the police. After composing himself, Tom had confessed that he had been in prison immediately before coming to the unit. In fact, he had been given the offer of staying in prison or coming there, which had been a no-brainer as far as he was concerned. Harry had also quite willingly joined the unit, wanting to discover more about his mutation. So it seemed Andrea was the only reluctant member of the group. Talking to the pair of them, she realised that perhaps she had been wrong to distance herself from them in the first place. They were in the same boat as her, after all.
When the messhall started to empty, they decided to head up to their quarters for the night. As they reached the corridor where all their rooms were located, Andrea pulled Tom back for a moment, to speak to him on his own. Harry and Tardelli continued on without them, though Tardelli shot Andrea a filthy look over her shoulder as they went. Andrea was rather bemused by the other woman’s behaviour, but she wasn’t going to lose sleep over it for now.
“What you said in the messhall, about going to the mainland…” she began, casting her eyes about nervously to check no one was in around.
“Yes?” prompted Tom.
“Were you just joking, or can you actually get off the base?”
He sucked in a breath for a moment, regarding her evenly, weighing up what he should say in response. “Not here,” he finally said.
“Huh?” said Andrea, confused by his meaning.
He cast his eyes up at the ceiling and over the walls. “You never knowing who’s watching or listening,” he explained quietly, “Let’s go outside…”
…….
The following
afternoon Andrea sat in the Major’s office, listening attentively as Dr Todd
outlined the results of his investigations.
She’d had an interesting discussion with Tom the evening before, once
they’d found a suitably secluded spot to talk out in the chill night air. It had certainly given her plenty to think
about in terms of how she might get off the island. For now, though, she was more interested in what Dr Todd had to
say.
He had started
off by explaining all the tests he’d been running. Since she knew all about those anyway, Andrea had taken the
opportunity to observe the Major as she sat behind her desk, nodding in
response to Dr Todd’s points. She
seemed genuinely interested in what he had to say, her eyes fixed on the
scientist who stood to the side of the desk so he could address all those
present, which included Doc in the seat next to Andrea.
“So, our
investigation are only really just beginning,” continued Dr Todd, “But we do
have some initial findings. I think
the best analogy for how we think your powers work is that you’re a bit like a
rechargable battery.”
“A battery?”
interjected Andrea doubtfully, not sure she liked being compared to a small
cylindrical object.
“It is just an
analogy,” he explained, “What I mean by it is that you take in energy, store
it, output it in another form when needed and then replace the energy you’ve
used once again. In your case the
energy you take in is in the form of light.
Even normal daylight or the artificial light in a room seems sufficient
to recharge you, though again that would be something we’d need to investigate
further. Anyway, this light energy is
stored in your body in the form of chemical energy which can then be used to
give you superhuman strength. As soon
as you use any of this energy, such as by lifting a heavy object, it is
immediately replaced automatically by your body, without you having to think
about it.”
“Ok,” nodded
Andrea, as he paused for a moment to check they were all still with him,
“Though I’m sensing there’s a ‘but’ coming.”
“And you would be
right,” he admitted. “As we mentioned
before, because your power-granting gene was never intended to be active,
though it is present, you don’t seem to have the necessary control over your
power. Basically, what happens is
you’re unable to control the absorption of the light energy by your body. What this means is, even if the “battery” is
fully charged, that is you’ve reached the limit to what you can store, your
body still keeps trying to absorb more.”
Andrea furrowed
her brow. “That doesn’t sound good.”
“No,” Dr Todd
agreed, “And it’s that which leads to the seizures you keep having. Whenever you access your abilities, you use
some of the energy stored in your body.
Then the re-charging process starts and doesn’t stop. The energy overloads your muscles until you
basically pass out from the pain, stopping the absorption process.”
“Great,” said
Andrea ruefully, “So what you’re saying is I can’t use these powers without the
prospect of becoming unconscious every time.”
“Not unmonitored
or without some external intervention, no.
And not only that, unconsciousness is not the worst that could happen.”
“You still
believe one of these attacks could kill me?” she offered through pursed lips.
“We don’t know
for sure, but it is a possibility, and not something we would want to chance.”
“Me either,” she
agreed, “Though, wait, I haven’t been passing out when we’ve been running these
tests.”
“Indeed not,” he
replied, “And I was just getting to that.
Though you can’t access your powers without risk naturally, we think we
may be able to give you a helping hand.
Doc has been working on something all week.”
Andrea and the
Major shifted in their seats to focus their attention on the balding man
instead.
Doc started briefly,
like he hadn’t been paying attention to the other doctor’s words, and had only
just realised all eyes were on him.
“Right, yes,” he began uncertainly, “Well, as you know we’ve had to give
you a few injections this week when you’ve had any problems, using an inhibitor
drug that we’d previously developed. So
I’ve come up with a special device based on that.”
He reached over
and picked up the box he’d earlier placed on the desk, opening it to produce
what looked like some sort of armband with small electronic equipment attached
to it. “You wear it strapped around
your arm so that it touches your skin,” he outlined, “What it does is monitors
the energy levels within your body and if they start to go over your threshold
then it delivers a very small dose of the drug to you. The dose is small because obviously you
don’t want your powers inhibited completely for any length of time. Instead the dose should be just about enough
to curtail the automatic energy absorption and that’s all.”
He handed the
band to Andrea and she studied it, turning it over in her hands a couple of
times. Something that she had been
bothering her all week was why exactly they had this inhibitor drug in the
first place, though she supposed she should be grateful that they did now.
“You’ll need to
wear it all the time, apart from when you’re sleeping,” continued Doc, “Since
you never know when you might accidentally activate your powers. There’s a refillable compartment on the side
there for the drug,” he said, pointing to where he meant, “Though you shouldn’t
need to top it up very often, since each indivdual dose is very small.”
Andrea flicked
her eyes back up to him. “Thank you,”
she said, “Though I guess this means I won’t be leaving here any time in the
forseeable future?”
“We wouldn’t
recommend it for now, no,” agreed Doc regretfully, “We still have so much more
to find out about your powers. There
could be other aspects of it that we haven’t even discovered yet. We may also find some better way to help you
control them.”
The room went
quiet for a moment as they all considered what they had heard. Andrea realised this made her dependant on
them for now, a position she wasn’t keen on.
“Thank you,
gentlemen,” said the Major eventually, now it appeared the two scientists had
finished, “If that’s all, I’d like a word with Andrea on her own.”
Both men nodded
and left the room, leaving the two women alone. Andrea wondered why the Major wanted to talk to her. Of course she herself had intended staying
behind to speak with the Major anyway, but the other woman had preempted
her. For some reason that galled
Andrea. The Major got up from behind
the desk and came round to perch herself on the front of it, closer to
Andrea. Her eyes regarded Andrea
evenly, giving no clue to the purpose of the upcoming conversation.
“We’ve not had
much of a chance to speak the last week or so,” said the Major, after a
moment’s perusal of Andrea, “I’ve just been wondering how you’ve been getting
on?”
“Getting worried
that I’ve been too quiet are you?”
The Major let out
an audible sigh at Andrea’s response, rubbing her hand over the back of her
neck as she did. “Why don’t we sit over on the couch?” she suggested, gesturing
in its direction and moving off, before Andrea had any chance to disagree.
Andrea supposed
the Major thought the comfortable setting might make her less
antagonistic. She hadn’t even intended
to be difficult when she came in, the previous sharp retort just slipping out. Getting up from her chair, she crossed to
the expansive sofa beneath the window, taking a seat next to the Major. Andrea sat up straight as the Major leaned
back into the cushions, crossing her neatly pressed trousers and placing her
hands on her raised knee. Despite the
outwardly relaxed demeanour, the Major’s eyes never left Andrea.
“Look,” said the
Major, “We can go on like this if you like, sizing each other up all the time,
playing this game of one-upmanship, or we can start to try and get on with each
other. Since it seems like you’re going
to be spending some more time with us for now, I think the latter is the more
preferable option, don’t you? However,
if you want to carry on with the former, I’m quite happy to oblige, though,
quite frankly, it is getting rather tiresome.”
As the Major
finished Andrea contemplated her words for a moment. She supposed it was all a bit stupid. She had been disorientated, not to mention
annoyed, when she had first arrrived at the base. Everything had seemed so far out of her control and no one was
giving her answers. In that situation
she didn’t see why everyone shouldn’t be as unnerved as she was. Now she’d had the chance to settle in, she
guessed there wasn’t much point carrying on with her confrontational attitude
all the time. Also, if she was more
willing to go along with them, she would arouse less suspicion. Hopefully that would give her more
opportunity to put her plan to get off the base into action. Though the revelation that she needed the
inhibitor drug to control her seizures certainly made that prospect more
difficult.
“Ok,” conceded
Andrea eventually, “We can call a truce if you like, though that doesn’t mean
I’m any happier about the situation. If
I had my way, I’d leave this island right now and never come back. I’d like to just forget all about mutations
and super powers and go back to my normal life. However, I’m not stupid, and I know I need your help for the time
being. But don’t think that I’m just
going to meekly play along from now on - I’ll still be asking awkward questions
and wanting answers.”
“Of course, I
would expect nothing less,” noted the Major with a hint of sarcasm.
“Hmm,” commented
Andrea, catching the tone, “Far be it from me to contradict anyone’s
expectations.”
The Major’s brow
knitted together in confusion at Andrea’s remark. “I’m sorry?”
“You read that
report on me before we even spoke for the first time, right?”
“Yes, some of
it.”
“So you can’t
tell me that it didn’t put a few preconceived notions in your head, about what
I was like, how ‘difficult’ I might be,” ventured Andrea, “Well, I don’t like
to disappoint,” she added raising her eyebrows and tilting her head to the
side.
The Major let out
an incredulous laugh. “So you’re
telling me that you’ve been acting up because I expected you to?”
“Partly,” agreed
Andrea with a shrug. She wasn’t going
to admit that it was hardly as pre-meditated as she was making out. It served her purpose better for the Major
to think she was in control and had deliberately acted the way she had, rather
than the truth that it was more a defensive by-product of how insecure she
felt.
The Major
ruefully shook her head. “Ok, in the
spirit of concession, I’m willing to admit that I may have made some
assumptions about what you would be like.
I was wrong to assume the worst,” she confessed, causing Andrea to raise
her eyebrows again.
“You looked
surprised,” noted the Major as she watched Andrea’s reaction.
“I guess I wasn’t
expecting you to so readily admit to any kind of misjudgement,” Andrea
disclosed honestly, “I thought you army types were always right and stuck by
your decisions.”
“So you had a few
preconceived ideas of your own then?”
“Sorry?” said
Andrea curiously.
“You saw my
uniform and thought – rigid, inflexible, rule follower?”
Andrea had to
smile at being caught out. “Ok, you may
be right,” she allowed.
“So we both got a
few things about each other wrong then?”
Andrea dipped her
head in agreement. She wasn’t sure why
the Major was being so accomodating all of a sudden, but she wasn’t
complaining. Or maybe the other woman
had been trying to be accomodating all along, and Andrea had been too caught up
in her quest to be as recalcitrant as possible to notice.
“How about we
start again, without all our preconceptions and judgements?” ventured the
Major, “Of course we do have rules here, and I would expect you to abide by
them, just as I would expect anyone else to.
But that doesn’t mean we’re totally
inflexible. I realise that
you’re a civilian and can’t be expected to follow all the strictiness of a
military regime, though I would presume you have some experience of following
orders from your time in the police.”
“I’m sure you
read that I wasn’t always the best in that regard.”
The Major made a
small laugh at Andrea’s frankness. “I
did read that, yes, but since we’re starting off on the basis of making no
assumptions, I shall reserve my judgement until I’ve got to know you and can
draw my own conclusions – how does that sound?
In return, I hope you can reserve judgement on me?”
“That sounds fine
by me.”
“Good,” commented
the Major, offering Andrea a smile of acknowledgement.
Andrea thought it
noticeably softened her face, making her seem almost human. She had to concede that maybe this was the
better way to proceed after all. Being
obdurate was all well and good, and it had made them realise she couldn’t be
easily bossed around or controlled.
However, now she felt less unsettled heself, she supposed there wasn’t any harm in co-operating. At least until they pissed her off in some
other way. Then they’d find that she
could still be a bitch on wheels.
“Since we’re in
the mood for concessions, you mentioned before about getting some of my
belongings brought here,” said Andrea.
“That’s right, if
you want to get someone to organise it for you, we can arrange for them to be
picked up and brought here,” the Major informed her.
“In which case
I’ll need to make another phone call,” said Andrea tentatively.
The Major’s eyes
met hers for a moment, though neither of them spoke. Andrea presumed the Major hadn’t forgotten the irate scene in her
office the last time Andrea had tried to call one of her friends either.
When the Major
spoke again, her tone had become notably more pinched, “That should be fine.”
“Just as long as
I watch what I say, right?” remarked Andrea.
“Since we’re on the subject, I may as well ask if you found out why my
last phone call was disconnected?”
“I did look into
it,” began the Major slowly, weighing up how much to reveal, “It was because
you started talking about the accident at the warehouse.”
Andrea regarded
her curiously. “Why would that be
deemed a topic unfit for discussion?”
“To be completely
honest with you, I don’t know,” admitted the Major, “The order to prohibit that
subject came from above.”
“And you’re
telling me you don’t know any more?” Andrea thought this was getting more and
more suspicious, and making her even more anxious to find out the truth behind
the accident.
“No, I don’t.
This is the army and sometimes I’m not privy to why my superiors order certain
things. There is a command structure,
so it’s not my place to question them either,” said the Major candidly. Despite her words, which were trotting out
the standard military response, Andrea couldn’t fail to notice the edge of
frustration in her tone.
“So,” continued
the Major, seemingly wanting to get off the subject, “How are things otherwise,
any other problems?”
“Apart from the fact that I suddenly have super powers and have to take some strange drug to control them?”
The Major’s eyebrows edged up her face, though she stopped from completely rolling her eyes. “Yes, apart from that.”
Andrea restrained herself from smiling at the expression on the other woman’s face. “Yes, I think everything else is ok.”
“Nothing else bothering you at all?” asked the Major again.
Andrea wondered if there was something specific she was probing for. If she didn’t know better she would think the Major somehow knew about her nightmares, but of course that was ridiculous. “No, nothing else,” she confirmed.
“In that case, you can go and make your call if you want.”
“Thank you,” said Andrea, getting up from the sofa, the Major following suit.
“I’m glad we had this chance to talk civilly for a change,” said the older woman, “I hope it’s a sign of better things to come.”
Andrea made a small smile since the Major was regarding her with a rather soft look on her features. “Me too,” she nodded, before turning and leaving the room.