Free Project Aura by Bob Mayer

scientist works. And the Russians made a similar leap."
    To that Dalton had no reply.
    Hammond rubbed her eyes. "Oh, well. I need to get working on the program to see what the hell is going on."
    Dalton left her and went to the bunkroom. Jackson was lying on her back, hands behind her head, staring at the ceiling. Hammond's words bothered him. He had assumed from the very beginning that Bright Gate—and the Russian's SD-8 when he'd learned of it-had been the result of brilliant scientific work. But to have the lead scientist here say she was baffled was disturbing. He knew he'd have to call this in to Eichen at the first opportunity.
    "Sergeant Major?" Jackson was sitting up.
    "It's Jimmy," he said without thinking. He saw the surprise on her face. "That's the way we operated in Special Forces. Between a team leader and a team sergeant. Who respected each other. But only when they were alone, not in front of others. If that's all right with you, ma'am," he added.
    Jackson stuck her hand out. "Ljala."
    Dalton's eyebrows arched. "Excuse me?"
    Jackson laughed. "Ljala. When I was a kid, my friends called me Jerry."
    "Ljala," Dalton repeated. "I've never heard the name before."
    "It's Roma. From my mother's side. My surname is from my father's."
    "Italian?"
    "No." Jackson got up and sat down on the bunk across from him. "Outsiders call us Gypsies. Roma is what we call ourselves. You're gadje, an outsider."
    Dalton untied his boots, pulling the laces, easing the tightness. "You're a Gypsy?"
    "Roma," she corrected him. "The term Gypsy comes from early beliefs that my people came from Egypt. We didn't. And most Roma don't like the term Gypsy, as it's usually used in a derogative manner."
    "Roma," Dalton amended. "Where did your people come from?"
    "That's a long story that we don't share with gadje," Jackson said. She smiled. "I don't really consider myself a true Roma, though. I’m sorry if I was short with you. I haven't talked about it in a long time. My mother was a true Roma. That's why I got picked to be part of Grill Flame."
    Dalton had worked briefly with the classified CIA program that used psychics to remote view. "Because your mother was a Roma?"
    Jackson smiled, leaning back on the bunk "You know, crystal balls inside the dark tent, telling someone their fortune. Laying out tarot cards and reading them. It's in the blood. Makes sense, doesn't it?"
    "As much as anything does here," Dalton said.
    "There's a little bit of truth in myths and legends," Jackson said. "My mother was a true reader, as was her mother before her and the maternal line through the ages. They could see what others couldn't. A person's lifeline in their palm. The future in the cards. The sense of the spirits of the dead."
    "You believe that?"
    "Don't you now?"
    Dalton nodded. "Can you read; sense the spirits?"
    Jackson's smile was gone. "I rebelled against it. My mother embarrassed me. My father was so solid, so straight and narrow, I couldn't see why he’d gotten involved with my mother. He was gadje also, the son of a preacher, a manager in a lumber mill. My mother; I didn't understand why she gave up the road for him and turned away from her people. Maybe because he was so solid and steady. She, on the other hand, was beautiful and wild. Maybe opposites do attract. Who knows? My mother drove me crazy. My friends thought she was nuts. The clothes she wore and the way she acted. Setting up a room in our house and reading fortunes.
    "So I went as far from it as I could. To the Academy. The Army. And then they dragged me into Grill Flame when I completed a test everyone in my Intelligence unit was required to take and I scored highest on what they were looking for. I've thought a lot about it, since being here at Bright Gate. I ran from my heritage to be drawn directly into it."
    "And your mother?" Dalton asked. "How does she feel about it?"
    "She passed away my yearling year at the Academy."
    Dalton hesitated, then asked, "Do you feel her?"
    Jackson