Free Psion Delta by Jacob Gowans Page A

fact that he’d already
confirmed that it could be done.
    “Maybe
we could try a thermal imaging system,” another engineer suggested. “That would
give us a better idea of how to prevent burns in the future once we know how
everything works.”
    Dr.
Rosmir again interceded, this time with more force. “Unless any of you are
willing to submit your own digits to second and third degree burns, I suggest
we let Sammy recuperate and decide on his own if he wants to try again later.
He has more important things to do than char himself.”
    The
engineers said that they would work on some prototypes for channeling Sammy’s
ability, and Dr. Rosmir promised to coordinate their efforts with Psion Command
so Sammy could be brought in for more testing at a future date. After a few
more minutes of chatting, most of the observers departed until Sammy was left
with Commander Byron and Dr. Rosmir, who spoke with each other at length while
Sammy sat by himself, waiting. When they were finished, Byron gave his
attention to Sammy.
    “Doctor
Rosmir wants one last word with you, and then I will take you home.” Then Byron
added with a pat on the back, “To Beta, of course.”
    Feeling
instantly more cheerful at the news, Sammy got up and went with Dr. Rosmir into
a small office in the back of the engineering lab.
    “Have
a seat, Sammy,” the doctor said. Once they’d both sat, Dr. Rosmir put his hands
together and watched Sammy happily. “So you’re going home. Excited?”
    “Yeah,
of course.”
    “Good.
Listen, about your baseline exam, I know I’ve said it before, but I’m really
sorry we had to trick you. We had to see how you would react—”
    “Without
knowing I was being tested,” Sammy finished for him. “I know. I get it.”
    “Anyway,
the only reason we can let you go so soon is because your baseline went so
well. The results were very positive—”
    “Positive?”
Sammy exclaimed. “I practically peed all over myself. I turned my back on my
most dangerous enemy and went after Stripe! Where do you see a positive in all
that? And you kept me here for nearly a week? How is that soon?”
    “There’s
more to the test than how you react to the pinnacle of the exam. Anyone would
react how you did given everything you went through. But we looked at more than
that. You did well.”
    “If
I did so well then why—?”
    “A
week isn’t that bad, Sammy. Another one of the Psions on your mission to Rio de
Janeiro spent several weeks here in mental rehab. Consider yourself lucky.”
    Sammy
didn’t agree, so he shrugged it off. “So I’m good to go even though my Anomaly
Eleven isn’t back yet?”
    “That’s
correct.”
    “I
thought you and your doctors were going to help me recover that.”
    “You
have an oversimplified concept of what you’re dealing with. Think of your brain
not as a light switch that turns off and on, but as a city with hundreds of
thousands of light switches. Maybe even thousands of thousands. Most people
have only ten percent of those light switches turned on at a given time. When
you were at your peak, you had maybe eleven or twelve percent of them. When you
were tortured by Stripe, your brain had to shut off all those extra switches,
plus more, in order to help you cope with the tremendous pain.”
    “And
now I’m dumber than most people?”
    “No.”
Dr. Rosmir stifled a laugh. “Not at all. Your brain is rebooting all these
circuits to start turning the lights back on. I can already tell your brain’s
working better because today you proved that you can do something no one else
can.”
    “What
do you mean?”
    “What
do you think just happened in that workroom? Your brain is able to focus more
of your body’s energy into a powerful blast so concentrated that it superheats
the air to incredible levels. No one else can do that, and I doubt anyone else
will be able to until another multiple—excuse me—a double anomaly comes along.”
    “So
why hasn’t my skin melted