Free The Minus Faction, Episode One: Breakout by Rick Wayne Page A

in return you're going to do something for me."
    Regent was silent.
    The doctor pointed. "I'm going to walk out that door now and close it behind me. If what you told me yesterday is true, you'll be able to follow—on two legs—and I'll escort you, both of you, whatever, right out the door. Quick. Easy. No one's the worse for wear. And then you do me the favor and keep fighting . Get the hell away from them. Get a lawyer. Go to the press. Whatever it takes."
    Dr. Zabora took a deep breath. "But . . . if there's some reason why you can't do what you said, some excuse about radioactive interference or the moon in the wrong place or aliens in your brain or you're just too shook up, then I was wrong—again—and you need a lot more help than I thought. You're my patient. I'll do everything I can to help you, and that means keeping you right here where you'll get the treatment you need. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
    John nodded. He liked the doc. She didn't fuck around. And whether she had any patches on her arm or not, she was a genuine officer. She knew how it went. An officer can't complete the mission. The men and women under her command have to do that. That's their job. It's the officer's job to get her soldiers the right tools, to remove obstacles, and then to get them home safely to their families.
    Amarta stood and took another deep breath. "This is insane." She walked out and shut the door behind her.
    Regent watched the door close. He heard it click shut. Then he looked down at the lieutenant's unconscious body.
     
    § § §
     
    Amarta paced back and forth in front of the elevators. She was already having second thoughts. She looked down the hall.
    Still nothing.
    "Crap," she whispered. The little girl in her had really wanted it to be true, for it all to be more than just another story from a gifted teller. She had told the loitering hospital staff that the lieutenant would meet them in Conference Room B, that he was debriefing the captain and it might be awhile. They grumbled and left. She was already in one helluva lie. She looked down the hall again.
    Nothing.
    Amarta leaned her head back and looked up at the ceiling tiles. "Shit."
    One of the elevators dinged open and Ethan Brand walked out. "Gabriel is oka--" He stopped. "You don't look so good."
    Dr. Zabora exhaled through pursed lips. "Thank you, Ethan. I might have just screwed up. Did you need something?"
    "I saw in the computer that the captain's discharge was approved."
    Shit. "Yeah. Look. About that . . ."
    "I know we can't exactly throw a party, but there are a lot of people who would like to say goodbye."
    "Tell them to come to the lobby." It was the lieutenant's voice.
    Amarta turned. The young officer was pushing the unconscious captain down the hall. Her eyes got big. Her scalp began to tingle.
    "Uh. . . Okay." Ethan was surprised by the speaker. He didn't even know the captain and the lieutenant were friends. "Now?"
    "Lieutenant . . ." Amarta collected herself.
    "Better hurry though, Ethan."
    Ethan looked between the lieutenant and the doctor. The young soldier seemed unusually calm. He was normally a nervous wreck. And apparently they were on a first-name basis now. Ethan studied the captain asleep in his chair. Nothing. "Right . . ." He took a step back. "Hurrying." Ethan walked to the stairs.
    Amarta watched the nurse leave, then looked into the big lieutenant's eyes, back and forth. "My God, it's really you, isn't it?" she whispered. She raised her hand to her mouth. "This is . . ." She had no idea what to call it. "Oh. My. God."
    "Was he right?"
    "Who?"
    "Ethan." The lieutenant walked over and pressed the 'DOWN' button on the elevator panel. "About the discharge already being approved."
    The doctor shrugged. She looked at the man in the chair. The captain's eyes were closed and his head was tilted to the side. "How does it work? Do you just . . . reach out or something?"
    "Not out. In. You have to contract your mind and peel it away,