《Adak》


 Prologue

    An uninvited ray of sunlight found its way through a gap between two slats of the partially shut white Venetian blinds and reached Ben McCoy¡¯s closed eyes yet another morning.


    The image of a vermilion shade rendered by his burning eyelids summoned him ¨C to the sound of a singing spotted towhee that rejoiced somewhere outside ¨C to welcome the new day that had arrived.


    Feeling slightly disoriented, Ben stood on his left elbow while raising the palm of his right hand in an useless effort to defend his eyes from the assault that was inflicted by the profuse brightness that seemed to reverberate in the bedroom¡¯s white walls, which momentarily made it very difficult for him to see anything at all.


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    Amid the blurry images that were taking form in front of his struggling eyes, Ben could discern the shapely figure of a woman that was sleeping in the semi-fetal position by his left side, covered to her navel by a white top flat bed sheet, with both arms wrapped around the white pillow beneath her head.


    Overwhelmed with happiness and relief, Ben did not notice that his lips produced an open smile at the moment that his eyes discerned the face of his wife, whose body was turned in his direction.


    With his right hand, Ben stroked carefully the beautiful woman¡¯s straight, golden blond hair while contemplating the few freckles that almost imperceptibly dotted the skin beneath and between her eyes, and leaned down to kiss her heart-shaped lips.


    As Ben closed his eyes, less than an inch apart from the woman¡¯s face, he felt the weight of a hand grasping his right shoulder with cautious firmness.

 1. Welcome to Adak

    Adak, Alaska


    A firm touch in the shoulder was enough to wake up Captain Benjamin McCoy, who fell asleep even before the airplane started accelerating along the runway of Joint Base Elmendorf¨CRichardson, in Anchorage, Alaska.


    ¡°Welcome to Adak. There¡¯s a vehicle waiting for you.¡±


    A bass voice indifferently delivered the message to McCoy¡¯s ears before he could open his eyes and see a remarkably robust black man, who he recognized to be Michael Iverson, the pilot.


    As Iverson walked back to the cockpit, Captain McCoy recollected that he was the sole passenger aboard the Army¡¯s ash gray Beechcraft C-12 Huron that had just brought him to Adak.


    Only the two black seats to the left of the light gray aisle, in the first row from the cockpit''s cream-colored door, had not been removed, and he was certain that nobody had sat beside him.


    Whenever possible, Captain McCoy would make reasonable efforts to take a window seat for traveling, especially in airplanes. He had always been fascinated by the idea that each place offers a unique perspective of its character from a landing airplane, which caused him to look forward to such moment with a certain exhilaration every time.


    McCoy had heard a few stories about how exciting it can be to land in Adak, not only because of the stunning views of Kuluk Bay and snow-capped mountains adorning the island, but also ¨C and mostly ¨C due to the adventurous conditions that may be rendered by the often unwelcoming local weather.


    That is why he felt somewhat disappointed at himself for missing the landing, but the feeling did not last for more than the deep breath that he took between looking out the window beside his seat and then turning his head to the opposite side of the aisle.


    Had it not been for the wooden boxes that were piled up all along the areas painted yellow to the sides of the aisle, where more seats could be placed if necessary, McCoy would have had the uncomfortable feeling that a considerable amount of taxpayers¡¯ dollars were spent for the sole purpose of flying him ¨C and nobody else ¨C to a boot camp.


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    McCoy stood up and started walking down the narrow aisle toward the airplane¡¯s rear, where the airstair had already been deployed. Upon reaching the door, he took another deep breath and made sure to start deplaning with his right foot.


    A white Humvee was parked only a few feet away from the small airplane, but the gelid wind that was blowing impetuously made McCoy wonder whether he could really get to the vehicle before being dragged all over the island like a grain of pollen.


    In spite of the twenty degrees Fahrenheit temperature and the inclement wind, Private James Fowler was standing at attention beside the light truck, thanks to the full body protection that was provided by the efficient all-white Extended Climate Warfighter Clothing System.


    With his right hand raised slightly above and to the right of his right eye, Private Fowler saluted Captain McCoy with a marked southern accent:


    ¡°Welcome to Adak, Sir¡±.


    ¡°Thanks. At ease¡±, McCoy responded while reciprocating the salute.


    Those were the only words that they exchanged before entering the truck. Thereafter, the only sounds that could be heard during the approximately thirty-minute drive to McCoy¡¯s destination were those produced by the vehicle.


    McCoy could not help thinking of how the cold weather and the melancholic scenery of Adak¡¯s harsh winter ¨C with deeply overcast skies and everything fully covered by thick layers of snow ¨C were a perfect match for a place that for a long time had been on the verge of becoming just another ghost town.


    The deteriorated houses and facilities across downtown Adak seemed to him like clear signs of the fate that was written for the island upon its abandonment by the Navy in 1997 as a result of the Base Realignment and Closure Program, in spite of the strategic localization that bestowed it a distinct military character.


    McCoy¡¯s thoughts shifted involuntarily to the mysterious woman who had been insisting on visiting his dreams every now and then since he was a teenager, but of whom he has never even had a glimpse in the real world.


    He did not have any expectation as to eventually meeting the woman that he had just dreamed of again; he just felt annoyed for not understanding the reason why she always ended up taking part in the miscellaneous stories that develop in his mind while he sleeps.


    It did not take too much time for McCoy to force himself into thinking about something else; the first thing that occurred to him was that he had always wanted to be a soldier because he felt that it would be as close as he could get to being a hero. He never could have imagined just how close he was about to get to seeing his childhood reverie become reality.

 2. Project H.E.T.O.

    Ben McCoy is the sole child of Jack and Sarah McCoy, a couple who owns a neighborhood market dedicated to local organic produce in Seattle. The Barn, as they called the shop, is located on the corner of East Mercer Street and the 21st Avenue East, in Capitol Hill¡¯s quiet neighborhood of Stevens.


    The McCoy family¡¯s two-story maroon brick house sits just across the street from The Barn, at 21st Avenue East. Some of Ben¡¯s fondest memories are intrinsically associated to his parent¡¯s home, where he was brought up with love and comfort.


    Jack always took his son to the games of Seattle¡¯s major professional teams, and it was in the stadiums that Ben developed a substantial patriotism that shaped his character decisively.


    Ben had fun going to the stadiums with his father, but he always felt particularly excited to attend games on military appreciation days. He nourished a sincere admiration for the members of the uniformed services from a very tender age.


    Hence, his decision to pursue a military career upon graduating from high school did not come as a surprise to Jack and Sarah, who did not try to dissuade him from his choice ¨C rather, they respected Ben¡¯s free will, as per one of the fundamental principles of the family¡¯s way of life.


    Nevertheless, they did not hide from Ben that they wanted him to take advantage of both his intellectual and athletic aptitudes in order to be admitted to a prestigious university and then become a professional athlete or succeed in a non-military and non-violent occupation.


    Ben did not have to wait too long before the Army made use of his services in important campaigns in the Middle East and in South America, which propelled his battlefield promotion to the rank of captain when he was twenty three years old.


    Two weeks after his commission, mustang Captain McCoy was getting ready to move on with his new routine at Joint Base Lewis¨CMcChord, a few miles away from Seattle, sipping a cup of sugarless black coffee to the sound of the morning rain beating down on the window of his office, when an e-mail sent by the I Corps¡¯ Lieutenant General caught his attention.


    The message was an invitation from the Department of Defense to the commissioned officers of the armed forces to take part in the last stage of development of a program that aimed at the formation of an elite multitask unit dedicated to missions of strategic interest to the United States.


    According to the e-mail¡¯s text, only selected officers were being offered such opportunity at that time, which should not be discussed with anyone who was not his superior officer.


    The brochure that was enclosed to the e-mail revived within Captain McCoy the desire to be a key element for the success of his country in protecting the American people and promoting world peace, which eradicated any possibility of hesitation in answering to what he saw as an extremely flattering call to duty.


    ***


    The attentions of certain high level members of the American government were turned to a project that was conducted by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency¡¯s Biological Technologies Office and was referred to by the acronym HETO.


    Project HETO was conceived by Dr. Paul Volkov for the purpose of achieving Human Enhancement for Traversing of Objects by applying microtechnology at the service of bioengineering.


    Dr. Volkov was able to convince all of the authorities that were involved in the approval of his project that traversing of objects is a mere question of comprehension and correct application of the principles of electromagnetism and quantum tunneling, and that the mastering of such specific knowledge would lead the United States to a higher degree of military superiority.


    Project HETO promised to deliver intangible soldiers who are capable of entering any premises simply by phasing through their respective walls, regardless of the materials from which they are built.


    The strategic advantage that the development of such technology would render transcended its use by the military and thus prompted the Central Intelligence Agency¡¯s Directorate of Science and Technology to allocate resources to the project.


    The theoretical research that had been carried out by Dr. Volkov at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology already was in a very advanced stage by the time that the government¡¯s high authorities took notice of his work, which helped him to persuade the DARPA¡¯s Director to seek the construction of Project HETO¡¯s facilities shortly upon its approval.


    Due to the need of a location that enjoys low temperatures and is isolated from external interference for the execution of the test phase, Dr. Volkov was glad to accept the Department of Defense¡¯s offer to build a research and development center in one of the most remote places in the Aleutian Islands, near the former site of a Naval Air Facility once called Adak Station, which was doomed to oblivion in spite of its relevant role for the success of the United States in World War II.


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    The selection of the scientific personnel that would be necessary to carry through the project had already been finalized when Dr. Volkov was informed that another of his requests was granted, so that the initial tests would be performed with inmates from the Military Corrections Complex at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, who would be relocated to Adak voluntarily in exchange for remission of their sentences.


    Once the Adak Research Complex was built and operational, it did not take too much time for Dr. Volkov¡¯s team to develop the first prototype of the HETO Microdevice. The first batch of inmates arrived shortly thereafter.


    It was clear from the beginning that the project¡¯s success was contingent on the harmlessness of the device ¨C which should feature an effective system to prevent the brain¡¯s electric currents from reaching hazardous levels ¨C and on the development of a program that could provide the subjects with the basic knowledge that they would need in order to make the implant work.


    However, the tests that were performed with early versions of the device showed unsatisfactory results, since the implant did not control the increased electricity that was generated by the brains of the subjects. At that point, progress meant increasing the time that lapsed between the device being implanted and then frying a subject¡¯s brain.


    When that problem was solved, Dr. Volkov was confronted with an even greater challenge: how to stop the subjects¡¯ particles from reorganizing randomly, which caused the displacement of organs and body parts.


    Sometimes the subjects would be found with a misplaced nose, sometimes their bodies and the gurney on which they were lying were amalgamated in the most diversified ways. They all died somehow in the end ¨C it was just a matter of how aberrational their condition would be.


    The efforts that were consistently rendered by Dr. Volkov¡¯s team eventually led to the development of an implant that did not kill the recipient subjects, who at that time were arriving from many other military correctional facilities.


    Even though the subjects had a general theoretical understanding of what they should do once they had received the implant, there were not a lot of practical guidelines as to how they should proceed in order to put into use the ability that was supposed to be provided by the device.


    The lack of a preexisting objective and detailed training program was due to the fact that Dr. Volkov wanted it to be the product of empirical knowledge, regardless of the resources that would have to be expended in the course of the experiments.


    The first significant attempt that was made by a subject to walk through a wall failed as expected, but not without giving Dr. Volkov some exciting news. It did not concern him that the subject materialized his body a few inches into the test wall, which obviously killed him; the only thing that mattered to him was that the subject¡¯s particles were not reorganized randomly as far as his body could be told apart from the wall, which suggested that conscious manipulation of electrons causes one¡¯s particles to retain their original configuration.


    Plenty of the subjects died or sustained severe damages throughout the tests ¨C many of the latter had more than one limb severed ¨C before one of them eventually succeeded. Upon successful replication of the latest improved practice guidelines, a final training method was deemed conceived.


    Upon conclusion of the test phase, Dr. Volkov sent a thorough report to the Secretary of Defense stating that the moment for mass production of human weapons had finally arrived.


    The report was accompanied with an operation plan comprising aptitude tests and the basic structure of a preparatory course that was intended for the best members of the armed forces.


    Dr. Volkov¡¯s report impressed the Secretary and the other authorities that were involved in the project, and the necessary arrangements for a preparatory academy to be established at Joint Base Elmendorf¨CRichardson were authorized.


    When the preparatory academy was ready for operation, the Secretary decided to call his brother-in-law, who happened to be the I Corps¡¯ Lieutenant General:


    ¡°I¡¯ve already told you about Project HETO, right?¡± ¨C the Secretary sounded somewhat apprehensive.


    ¡°Yeah. What about it?¡± ¨C the Lieutenant General seemed surprised that Project HETO would be the topic of their conversation.


    ¡°It¡¯s ready to go operational. We need to start sending men.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure it will work? I wouldn¡¯t risk losing good men over a mad scientist¡¯s delusion.¡±


    There was something in Dr. Volkov¡¯s report and the whole situation that the Secretary did not dare to tell his brother-in-law and that made him feel rather uncomfortable with the decision of proceeding to the production phase. Regardless, the Secretary replied affirmatively:


    ¡°Trust me, it works. I''ll tell you what: let''s start small. Just send someone that can be tested and, if he succeeds as expected, we''ll go full scale.¡±


    ¡°What kind of man do you need exactly?¡±


    ¡°We need to find someone that is good enough for the program and will be a useful resource if he succeeds, but it has to be a man we can control without the use of force.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡±


    The Lieutenant General already had someone in mind before his call with the Secretary was over. There were a few arrangements to be made, but one specific person was going to receive his e-mail with the brochure that had been prepared by the Department of Defense in anticipation of the production phase.


    ***


    Captain McCoy arrived punctually to the designated examination site after enjoying a good night¡¯s sleep at the private sleeping room that was provided to him within the barracks of Joint Base Elmendorf¨CRichardson, and soon realized with bafflement that he was the sole candidate to Project HETO¡¯s preparatory academy.


    He knew that the applications were restricted to selected officers, but it did not seem logical to him that nobody else was interested in such a unique opportunity to take a step toward the next level of human evolution.


    McCoy was submitted to several physical, psychological and intellectual aptitude assessment exams throughout the day, which included electroencephalography monitoring during some of the tests. The results showed that he was a suitable candidate and thus could be admitted to the program.


    By the end of the program¡¯s seven weeks of intensive preparation, McCoy had attended classes ranging from meditation to electromagnetism and was deemed ready to join Project HETO.

 3. The Compound

    The Adak Research Complex was built approximately eleven miles to the north of the airport, in a secluded area located between Mount Adagdak and Iixtagagiidax Bay, and is surrounded by a sixteen feet high, diamond-shaped, black wire mesh fence that is continuously electrified to lethal levels.


    Warning signs placed within a radius of less than seven hundred fifty feet from the fence advise anyone who would get too close that a restricted area lies ahead and that the use of deadly force is authorized.


    The facilities are guarded uninterruptedly by armed sentinels that occupy ¨C behind black Faraday cages ¨C the eight black, square watchtowers that are strategically positioned around the perimeter, adjoining the fence. Each side of the area is covered by one watchtower at each edge and one watchtower at the center.


    Each watchtower is occupied by at least two sentinels armed with Colt RO635 nine-millimeter submachineguns, with at least one of them watching the outside perimeter and at least one of them watching the inside.


    The electric fence and the facilities are energized by a melanin-powered generator. The colossal Tesla coils that are placed atop each watchtower are not meant to power any facility or equipment whatsoever as a primary function; instead, their main purpose is to prevent the subjects from escaping from the complex, which is achieved by using the blue, massive streamer electrical discharges that are generated ¨C in a seemingly random manner ¨C by the coils as weapons.


    The complex is composed of the white barracks that are used by the personnel that perform tasks that are not directly related to Project HETO, such as security and administrative routines, and the research facility that resembles a white warehouse from the outside, to which Dr. Volkov liked to refer as ¡°The Compound¡±.


    A short circular driveway links the area¡¯s sliding fence gate entrance and The Compound¡¯s building, identified by the American flag painted on the left side of its fa?ade and the DARPA¡¯s logo painted on the right side.


    The Compound was built with electrified wires inside all of its walls and doors in order to prevent the subjects from using their abilities to gain access to restricted areas. Dr. Volkov¡¯s theory that an electric shock interrupts the electromagnetic manipulation process that is used by the subjects in order to phase through walls was proven right in the wake of a few experiments that accounted for some of the casualties that occurred during the test phase.


    The first story of the building is divided into three sections: in the first section, on the left side of the hallway from the entrance door, is located the soundproof intensive care unit that is mostly used for the implant procedures and the follow-up monitoring of the subjects; the attending physician¡¯s clinic is situated right across the hall, and is served by an elevator adjoining the unrestricted access door that leads to the second section.


    The cold practice rooms that are used by the subjects are placed on both sides of the first story¡¯s second section, at the end of which another elevator, a gym and a small basketball court ¨C all of unrestricted access ¨C can be found.


    Past the unrestricted access door of the first story¡¯s third section, the newcomers¡¯ cold private bedrooms and practice rooms are set up. A restricted elevator travels behind a wall to the right of the hallway¡¯s end, connecting the second floor¡¯s restricted areas to the restricted emergency shelter in the basement.


    The second floor is divided into a cold unrestricted zone with dormitories, communal showers and a large dining hall for the subjects, and a warm restricted zone with laboratories, offices, meeting rooms, bedrooms and a restaurant for the scientific and medical staff.


    Dr. Volkov was in his office reading college football news over the internet while trying to keep his mind from starting the process that invariably led to several consecutive hours of theoretical reasoning on his project¡¯s newly found possibilities.


    He knew that the first subject that really was intended to be a beneficiary of his program was going to arrive within a few minutes, which discouraged him from engaging in intellectual activities that were going to be interrupted inevitably.


    Dr. Volkov started wondering what made the Secretary agree to sending an active and ¨C for all he knew ¨C valuable member of the armed forces to The Compound without seeing the results of the program personally or even reading his yet to be done supplemental report.


    He did assert in his final report that the time for production phase had come, which could not be called an outright lie because the program¡¯s main goal really had been achieved. Nevertheless, he was unwillingly aware that such assertion had been the product of self-indulgence rather than sound scientific judgment.


    Dr. Volkov did not hide from the Secretary that he still had not fathomed the implications of the unexpected ¨C although not unlikely ¨C side effects that the subjects were experiencing, which is why he did not believe at first that the production phase¡¯s start would be authorized at that point.


    He inferred that there had to be political pressure for the program to start paying its dividends at once ¨C his thoughts were interrupted by the telephone: the subject had just arrived.


    Even though Dr. Volkov was not particularly fond of human interactions, it was imperative that he was the first person in The Compound to talk to the newcomer, since there were things that were not mentioned in the preparatory academy but needed to be told to the subject.


    ***


    As soon as the final version of the device started being implanted in the subjects, Dr. Volkov learned that the problem of random particle reorganization had been solved, but not without opening a door to a whole uncharted territory.


    The bodies of the subjects started presenting a different kind of unconscious reaction to the device: instead of reorganizing their own particles, now they were manipulating the particles around them.


    Some subjects would be found floating asleep a few hours after the device had been implanted; others would repel objects such as food trays without ever actually touching them, even at distance.


    Dr. Volkov was still figuring out how to report to the Secretary that he had discovered the scientific bases for induction of psychokinesis when he personally saw a subject flying and moving objects around a practice room at will.


    It became clear to him that Project HETO was going to serve a much larger purpose than that which was initially devised. With so many possibilities to be explored, his research was far from over.


    Dr. Volkov was as desperate to know what other abilities could be presented by the subjects as he was aware of the fact that he would never get the chance to assess it without an even larger number of people to experiment on.


    He did not think it was fair to offer prisoners the privilege of taking a leap toward human evolution now that the device and its use were arguably safe as far as he could tell, which made it clear to him that he could not explore the new scientific frontiers ahead of him before the start of the production phase.


    Hence, Dr. Volkov knew that his report had to suggest that it was time to start producing the enhanced soldiers that the government had been so eager to bring into action since the project was commissioned.


    Nevertheless, he included in his final Project HETO report detailed information and evidence on the psychokinetic abilities that were accidentally acquired by the subjects, mentioning that more studies should be made focusing both on potential long term effects on their health and on methods of efficient control and security against them.


    It was not long until he was informed that his suggestion had been partially accepted: one man was going to be designated to receive the device and proceed to an area outside Groom Lake, in Nevada, for further testing as soon as he mastered his new skills. Safety measures and long-term health effects could be studied simultaneously with the preexisting subjects.


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    As weird as it felt to start the production phase with just one soldier, Dr. Volkov had been looking forward to Captain McCoy''s arrival to The Compound ever since he was informed thereof.


    While it did mean that the potential new discoveries that he desired were going to be postponed until the government was satisfied that the project is ready to go full-scale, it also meant that it was only a matter of time until his peers with enough clearance saw the outcome of his work and praised him as one of the greatest scientists of all times.


    ***


    As the Humvee got closer to the black fence that set the boundaries of the Adak Research Complex, Captain McCoy noticed that the strange lightning flashes that he had been seeing from distance actually were streamer arcs discharged by the metal tori of Tesla coils that topped the watchtowers that were spread around the area.


    Private Fowler halted the vehicle for the remote security check protocol to be briefly executed before the entrance gate was slid open. Captain McCoy jumped on his seat when an electrical discharge harmlessly struck the Humvee''s roof just a second before the vehicle started moving again as Private Fowler stepped the gas pedal.


    Afterwards, the truck was parked at The Compound¡¯s entrance, within the intersection of a structure that resembles a T-shaped acrylic glass jet bridge, which leads to the building¡¯s main door and protects anyone and anything under it from the discharges that are generated by the coils.


    Private Fowler stepped out of the vehicle and, accompanied by Captain McCoy, walked a few feet through the covered path toward a metal door, where he activated an intercommunication device:


    ¡°This is Private Fowler reporting that the newcomer has arrived.¡±


    ¡°The newcomer¡¯s entrance will be authorized shortly¡±, a male voice replied.


    ¡°Private Fowler requesting permission to leave as per protocol.¡±


    ¡°Permission granted.¡±


    Having to wait outside and endure that freezing cold annoyed Captain McCoy so much that he forgot the awe that had been caused on him by his first sight of the Complex, which made him feel like he was in some sort of movie or nightmare. The loud, steady noise of the Tesla coils did nothing but add up to his growing distress.


    When the metal door finally slid open, Captain McCoy saw that someone was waiting for him inside. It was a tall and skinny white man with unshaped, straight black hair and a stubble beard, approximately forty five years old, wearing eyeglasses, a black pullover and blue jeans.


    ¡°You must be Dr. Volkov¡±, Captain McCoy assumed as he walked in and the door closed behind him. He pronounced the Russian surname correctly, in spite of knowing that he was talking to an American.


    Captain McCoy was filled with relief upon noticing that the disturbing noise produced by the Tesla coils could not be heard inside the building once the door was closed.


    ¡°Welcome to my Compound¡±, Dr. Volkov answered as he shook the newcomer¡¯s hand with evident dislike. ¡°Come with me. I need to show you something.¡±


    As Dr. Volkov turned his back and started walking, Captain McCoy noticed that the building¡¯s main door was watched from the inside by guards armed with SIG Sauer P320 nine-millimeter semi-automatic pistols, wearing metal mail uniforms covered horizontally with constant blue electric currents at every half inch.


    As they walked over the big DARPA logo that was painted on the white floor, an automatic sliding metal door opened, revealing yet another excessively bright and white hallway with a slightly uncomfortable low temperature, where more guards could be found.


    Captain McCoy looked at one of the many large observation windows that exist on both sides of the second section¡¯s hallway and saw an Asian man wearing white pants and a white shirt, extending his left arm and hand toward a white mug that was resting on a white plastic table, which was placed a few steps from where he was standing, as if he were trying to reach it.


    The mug started floating as the man raised his hand; he made a loop with his hand, and the mug made the same movement in the air. The man moved the mug to the left side in order to make room for the table, which started floating to the command of his right hand.


    Captain McCoy looked to the other side and, through another window, he saw a Hispanic man flying in the room. The man, who was wearing white pants and shirt as well, accelerated straight ahead, stopped, moved diagonally to his upper right and stopped again, as if he were a hummingbird.


    ¡°What the hell is that?¡± ¨C a baffled McCoy asked Dr. Volkov.


    ¡°As you know, the device was designed to allow you control over the particles of your own body and of the surfaces you touch. It turns out that it also gives you the power to manipulate particles of the environment around you¡± ¨C Dr. Volkov could not hide his excitement. ¨C ¡°The cool abilities that you see now are the device''s side effects.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying I¡¯ll be able to do all those things?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. We never do. Each body has its own way of responding to the device.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know what¡¯s gonna happen to me?¡± ¨C that was the only answer that McCoy did not expect to hear.


    ¡°It¡¯s always a surprise. We¡¯ll find out together.¡±


    Captain McCoy was going to ask why nobody had told him about the side effects at the preparatory academy, but he was suddenly overwhelmed with excitement about the unthinkable possibilities that could be offered by bioelectromagnetism and thus decided that it just did not matter. Instead, he asked Dr. Volkov another question:


    ¡°Who are all these people? I thought I was the first to attend the academy.¡±


    ¡°That information is classified.¡±


    ¡°Of course it is¡± ¨C McCoy knew that he asked a naive question. ¡°How long until I know what side effect I will have?¡±


    ¡°It should manifest itself unconsciously within the first twenty four hours following the implant procedure.¡±


    Captain McCoy took a deep breath while his brain was processing all the information that he had just learned. Dr. Volkov seized the opportunity to put an end to their conversation:


    ¡°Let¡¯s go back. I need to take you to Dr. Minett¡¯s clinic.¡±


    Dr. Volkov knocked on the clinic¡¯s white wooden door twice and started turning the white, hard rubber knob even before he could hear a female voice telling him to come in. Dr. Minett was focused on a text that she was typing on her laptop when Dr. Volkov stepped inside the clinic and greeted her:


    ¡°Hello, Dr. Minett.¡±


    ¡°Hello, Dr. Volkov¡± ¨C she did not stop typing while responding to Volkov¡¯s salute, in spite of turning her head at his direction during the answer.


    ¡°I¡¯m bringing in your new patient.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure he has a name¡± ¨C she stopped writing, stood up from her chair and tried to see McCoy, who was standing behind Volkov. She addressed to the patient: ¡°Please, come in.¡±


    When he walked in the clinic and saw Dr. Minett, a woman with a well-proportioned body of ordinary height who clearly was yet to celebrate her thirtieth birthday, Captain McCoy felt his heart stop for a fraction of a second and then start pounding with the greatest intensity and speed that he had ever experienced in his life.


    A shiver that started in his spine rapidly spread to each and every part of him, and McCoy started feeling as if all the heat that there was in his trembling body had suddenly dissipated. He could not see nor hear anything that was going on around him, but his legs automatically brought him close to Minett¡¯s desk.


    Captain McCoy knew every detail of that fascinating face that was framed by her straight, long, golden hair and dotted by a few freckles that highlighted her emerald green eyes. There was not a shadow of a doubt that he was standing before the woman of his dreams.


    ¡°I¡¯m Dr. Susan Minett, the neurosurgeon in charge of your implant procedure. Welcome to Adak.¡±


    McCoy finally regained control over his body and recovered his senses. Dr. Volkov had already left the clinic.


    ¡°I¡¯m Captain Ben McCoy. Nice to meet you.¡±


    As both of them sat down, Dr. Minett resumed talking:


    ¡°You¡¯re probably worried about what¡¯s going to happen in the next few hours in the surgery room, but I assure you there¡¯s no reason to. The procedure is fast and simple.¡±


    When Ben saw a wedding ring in the fourth finger of Susan¡¯s left hand, he felt like fate had just stabbed him in the back. The disappointment of falling in love and getting his heart shattered in less than two minutes caused him to immediately stop listening to what she was saying. The only thing that he knew is that she said something about inserting the device in a microtubule of his brain.


    ¡°Do you have any question so far, Captain McCoy?¡±


    When he heard that last sentence, McCoy wondered whether that was the first time that Dr. Minett had asked him that question, hoping that she had not had to repeat it because of his distraction.


    ¡°Just one: when are you going to implant the device in my brain?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll undergo the procedure in five hours. Get some rest until then.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Where¡¯s my dorm?¡±


    ¡°You can ask the guards outside the clinic to take you to your provisional lodging. They know what to do.¡±


    Two guards took Captain McCoy to Section 2, where other two guards escorted him down the hallway of Section 2 and past the automatic metal sliding door to Section 3. One of them opened the first door to the right of the third section¡¯s white and bright hallway by typing ¡°7351¡± on the door lock.


    The small and windowless provisional bedroom features inside its white walls a single size bed with white sheets and a white pillow, a private bathroom separated by a white door, and another white door to the adjoining provisional practice room. A set consisting of a white shirt and white pants was placed on the bed, beside an acrylic box labeled ¡°7351¡± on all of its sides with big, black stickers for each number.


    The guards waited for Captain McCoy to undress, place his uniform and anything else he had in his possession in the box, and fill and sign a check-list form numbered ¡°7351¡± with his personal belongings that were going to be stored.


    When they left, McCoy decided to take a hot shower and stay in bed until it was time for the procedure ¨C it was not really a choice, since none of the subjects were allowed to watch others practice their skills or otherwise stand on a hallway, and it did not seem to him that there was anything else to do for the moment.

 4. Flatline

    Captain McCoy was lying on a gurney in The Compound¡¯s intensive care unit, waiting anxiously to undergo the procedure that he saw as a catalyst for the fulfillment of his desire to render strategically relevant services to his country.


    A machine that was developed by Dr. Volkov¡¯s team to perform the procedure was placed on a table that stood next to the gurney, a few inches away from Captain McCoy¡¯s head. The scientific and medical staff referred to the machine as Gawrro.


    Gawrro is a fifteen-inch tall, ten-inch wide rectangular metal box. On the side that is turned toward the patient there are four articulated mechanical rods that are placed as if they were the machine¡¯s arms. A small camera that is sustained by an articulated rod is installed on top of the machine, resembling a head and a neck respectively.


    Sitting behind Gawrro, Dr. Minett has access to two touch screen monitors that are placed along the machine: the monitor to the right shows the real time video footage that is generated by the camera; the monitor to the left displays information related to the health of the patient, such as the electrical activity of the subject¡¯s brain as recorded by electroencephalography, and the control interface.


    Dr. Minett activated a command for Gawrro¡¯s upper right arm to cut a microscopic circle in the preset area of Captain McCoy¡¯s scalp and pull the selected piece of his skull, exposing a micrometric portion of the patient¡¯s brain.


    Subsequently, Gawrro¡¯s upper left arm inserted a kind of needle into Captain McCoy¡¯s brain at the depth that was precisely preset by the coordinates that were registered in its data base and affixed the device in a microtubule, as if it were merely administrating a vaccine.


    Then, Gawrro¡¯s upper right arm returned the piece of scalp and skull that it had removed from Captain McCoy¡¯s head to its original place, following which Gawrro¡¯s lower left arm wiped off the tiny drops of blood that had emerged from the round incision. Gawrro¡¯s lower right arm cauterized the spot of the implant, which marked the end of the procedure.


    Dr. Minett stood up, caught her purse and asked Captain McCoy:


    ¡°How are you feeling, Captain?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m okay, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Good. You¡¯ll sleep here for the night. Please don¡¯t remove the electrodes in your head.¡±


    ¡°Don''t worry.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be back to check on you in the morning. Good night, Captain.¡±


    ¡°Good night, Dr. Minett.¡±


    Dr. Minett was desperate for a bath and did not mind trying to hide from her patient that she was anxious to leave the intensive care unit as soon as she could. In fact, she did not even notice the way that Captain McCoy kept staring at her with a smile on his face as they exchanged their last words and she started walking in a fast pace toward the door.


    Dr. Minett¡¯s private apartment is one of the lodging units that are contained within the second floor¡¯s restricted zone. In spite of its compact size, her apartment features a bedroom, a bathroom and a kitchen.


    As she entered the apartment, Susan withdrew the laptop that was in her purse, placed both items on the desk that stood between the bed and the closet, just below the window, and turned the computer on. She then initiated the remote monitoring software and left her cell phone between the laptop and the purse.


    Feeling that her work had been done and she could finally call it a day, Dr. Minett took her clothes off slowly, went to the bathroom and opened the bath taps with an intuitive accuracy that always made the temperature of the water perfectly warm for her.


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    While the bath tub was filled up, Minett went to the kitchen and took her time to choose a Cabernet Sauvignon from the bottles that were stored in her wine cooler. She opened the chosen bottle, poured some wine in a glass and then returned to the bathroom.


    Susan shut the bath taps, took a sip of the wine and immersed her body in the water. She was so tired from spending almost the whole day writing reports to Dr. Volkov that she could not help falling asleep in the tub shortly thereafter.


    ***


    As he looked at the wall and contemplated the Doctor of Philosophy diploma that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology issued in his name as a result of his original research in Bioengineering, sitting on a comfortable chair in his office, Dr. Volkov rejoiced at his professional trajectory while drinking a glass of eighteen year old whiskey.


    His childhood and adolescence in Brighton Beach, in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, were extremely troubled, with frequent episodes of physical and psychological abuse from his schoolmates and from his father as well.


    Dr. Volkov was still haunted by the memories of his father coming home filled with anger after a whole day of work with customer attention and letting go of all the stress by being aggressive and violent to him and his mother.


    On a good day, his father would just yell at everyone in the house for whatever reason or for no reason at all; on a bad day, he and his mother would feel his father¡¯s rage in their own flesh.


    Moving to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to go to college meant more than pursuing a career that appealed to him ever since he started reading science fiction novels at the age of eleven; it meant ceasing to be his father¡¯s punching bag.


    It was the professional and academic success that Dr. Volkov has achieved since he graduated from Bioengineering at the MIT that made his life worth living, almost to the point of compensating everything that he had to go through in the past.


    Amid his recollections, Dr. Volkov decided to check whether everything was in good order with his new research subject, even though he was certain that Dr. Minett had everything under control and would let him know if anything did not go as expected. He finished his drink, took one more look at his diploma on the wall, and went to the intensive care unit.


    ***


    Dr. Minett woke up to the shrill sound of an alarm that had been beeping from her cell phone, which could only mean that something was definitely not going well with Captain McCoy.


    ¡°Holy crap! How long has it been beeping?¡± ¨C she said aloud.


    Judging by the high pitch of the beeps and the short intervals between them, Minett knew that she had taken more time to wake up to the alarm than she was supposed to. She jumped out of the tub, dried her body as fast as she could and hurried to her laptop.


    The information that was displayed in the screen of Dr. Minett¡¯s laptop confirmed that the situation required her immediate attention. She turned off the alarm, wore a fresh change of clothes and left her bedroom.


    Upon arriving to the intensive care unit, Dr. Minett was surprised to find that Dr. Volkov was standing to the left of the gurney, glancing between Captain McCoy¡¯s body and the electroencephalography screen.


    ¡°Dr. Volkov! Why are you here?¡± ¨C Minett asked while walking toward Volkov¡¯s direction.


    ¡°Why were you not here, Dr. Minett?¡± ¨C Volkov¡¯s voice conveyed unmistakable peeve. ¡°What¡¯s going on with him?¡±


    ¡°I can''t give you an accurate answer at this moment.¡±


    ¡°His EEG is flat. Is he brain dead, Dr. Minett?¡±


    ¡°I need to run a few tests before I can tell you anything. Get some rest, Dr. Volkov. I¡¯ll brief you his situation in the morning.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting.¡±


    Dr. Minett waited for Dr. Volkov to leave the room before turning her attention to Captain McCoy. She decided to assess the patient¡¯s level of consciousness by using the Glasgow Coma Scale.


    ¡°Captain McCoy, do you hear me?¡±


    She watched him attentively, but the patient did not show any reaction. She raised her voice:


    ¡°Captain McCoy, open your eyes.¡±


    As the attempts to obtain a response to her verbal commands did not show any result, Dr. Minett moved on to test Captain McCoy¡¯s reaction to pain stimulus by squeezing the lunula of a fingernail.


    Susan could not help feeling attracted to Ben, who reminded her of the high school boyfriend that took her to their promenade. The sight of Captain McCoy brought her a rush of cherished memories of the high school years that she missed sometimes.


    While contemplating Ben¡¯s handsome face, Susan moved her right hand toward the index finger of the patient¡¯s right hand. She felt a shock upon touching his finger, which caused her to pull her own arm back in a reflex action.


    Dr. Minett looked at the screen near the gurney and noticed that Captain McCoy¡¯s electroencephalography patterns became those of a person who is dreaming. Not having a clue of what had just happened, she decided to take a chair and watch her patient until he wakes up.


    Minett sat beside the gurney, took a deep breath and whispered:


    ¡°Where the hell have you been?¡±

 5. A Piece of Information

    Ben and Susan were lying in bed, cuddling and exchanging caresses in the dark. He was stroking her hair while she was stroking his chest right next to where her head was resting.


    ¡°I had this weird dream last night, Sue.¡±


    ¡°What about?¡±


    ¡°I dreamed that I''d just met you, and you were married to someone else.¡±


    Sue started worrying about the direction that the conversation was taking. She tried to lighten the mood:


    ¡°Was he hot? Please don¡¯t tell me it was that creepy guy from the grocery store¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know who he was; all I know is that it wasn¡¯t me.¡±


    ¡°We all have crappy dreams sometimes. Just let it go.¡±


    ¡°You''re right.¡±


    Sue decided to bring up an entirely different topic:


    ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking about our vacations, Ben. We need to decide where we wanna go.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we go to Alaska? We¡¯ve always wanted to see the northern lights...¡±


    ¡°It must be a beautiful thing to see. We should do that someday.¡±


    ¡°And we should definitively start a day by riding dog sleds.¡±


    ¡°That would be fun¡­ but you know what would be romantic?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Strolling around New York in the winter. I love that city covered in snow.¡±


    ***


    Captain McCoy woke up and found sitting next to him the woman that he had been dreaming about ¨C it was the second time in a row that she was the centerpiece of his dreams. It looked to him like she had spent the whole night watching him from that chair.


    ¡°I thought you had a bedroom of your own, Dr. Minett.¡±


    ¡°Good morning, Captain. Did you sleep well?¡± ¨C Dr. Minett stood up from her chair and started walking in Captain McCoy¡¯s direction.


    ¡°Good morning, Doctor. I slept alright, same as usual.¡± ¨C Now that Susan was standing next to him, it was clear to Ben that she had stayed up all night. ¨C ¡°Did you sleep at all?¡±


    ¡°Yes. How are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m seeing some funny things. They look like a bunch of little colorful beams moving really fast in the air.¡±


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    ¡°Phosphenes. They are a result of your brain trying to adjust itself to the device.¡±


    ¡°Will they go away?¡±


    ¡°When you¡¯re ready to use the device you''ll be able to see electrons. It will look pretty much like what you¡¯re seeing now.¡±


    ¡°So I''ll see like this all the time?¡±


    ¡°No, the phosphenes should be gone by tomorrow. From then on, this shouldn¡¯t happen when you¡¯re not using your abilities. Anything else that I need to know?¡±


    ¡°No, I guess that¡¯s it.¡± ¨C McCoy forgot to tell that he felt a sort of shock in his limbs just before waking up.


    Dr. Minett performed all the tests of the protocol that she had established for the HETO program and did not notice anything unusual in Captain McCoy, which made the events that took place in the past night seem even weirder to her. When Minett was done removing the electrodes from McCoy''s head, she asked:


    ¡°Did you dream last night?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t remember.¡± ¨C Dr. Minett¡¯s question caught Captain McCoy by surprise and made him wonder whether he started talking in his sleep. ¡°Why do you ask?¡±


    ¡°Standard protocol.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll let you know if I remember anything.¡±


    Dr. Minett nodded and said:


    ¡°You¡¯re free to do your routine during the day, but I need you to spend another night here.¡±


    ¡°Why? Something¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°You exhibited an unusual EEG pattern for a moment last night. It''s probably nothing to worry about, but I''d like to keep an eye on you tonight.¡±


    Sitting on the gurney, Captain McCoy ignored Dr. Minett''s answer and decided to test something that he remembered from his latest dream:


    ¡°Do we get northern lights here in Adak? I mean, if there was a window I could look out¡­¡±


    ¡°No, we¡¯re not in the auroral zone. Even if we were, the sky is always clouded here, so¡­¡±


    ¡°Crappy weather, huh?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I don¡¯t remember the last time I saw a clear sky.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d love to see the northern lights someday.¡±


    ¡°Me too. It must be a beautiful thing to see.¡±


    The last sentence that Dr. Minett had just pronounced made Captain McCoy feel chills all over his body. Her interest on the northern lights was most likely a quite usual coincidence, but he chose to believe that there could be something about her choice of words ¨C the same words that she said in his dream ¨C in a rather general response.


    Euphoria took over. McCoy¡¯s breath was so short that he could not speak three words without having to breathe again. For a moment Ben was not aware of what Susan was saying to him or ¨C even worse ¨C what he was saying to her, but he managed to find a way to calm himself down and quit the autopilot mode that he had entered into.


    ¡°I¡¯ll let you get back to your work¡±, McCoy said as he stood up.


    ¡°See you later, Captain.¡±


    ¡°See you later.¡±


    McCoy headed to his provisional practice room and decided to turn the arguable excitement that he was feeling into motivation for what he knew was going to be a long day of hard training.

 6. First Drill

    Against every bone in her body, Dr. Minett went to Dr. Volkov¡¯s office as soon as Captain McCoy left the intensive care unit for his practice routine. Coffee could wait, as much as she needed it.


    Dr. Volkov was sitting behind his desk, leaning forward with both arms resting on books and papers that he had been reading recently. Dr. Minett sat and crossed both her legs and arms.


    ¡°How can you explain what happened to Captain McCoy last night, Dr. Minett?¡± ¨C Dr. Volkov was calmly focused on assessing the problem that they had to deal with in order to find a proper solution.


    ¡°The truth is¡­ I can¡¯t. There isn¡¯t a diagnosis yet.¡± ¨C Dr. Minett¡¯s voice conveyed unease.


    ¡°So why don¡¯t you tell me what you know?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve just ran every possible test and none of them showed anything helpful so far. I¡¯m working on finding a cause, but there doesn¡¯t seem to be an easy explanation as to why the patient entered a coma or how he came out from it so fast.¡±


    ¡°What happened when he woke up from the coma? Did he talk to you?¡±


    ¡°When the patient came out from the coma, he started dreaming and it was like he had been sleeping like any other person. The rest of the night was normal, and so was the patient when he woke up.¡±


    ¡°Do you think the device has something to do with it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s very likely that the device caused some unexpected injury to his brain, but I can¡¯t jump to the obvious conclusion without ruling out every other possibility. I¡¯ll monitor him closely until I¡¯m positive I have an answer.¡±


    Dr. Volkov started drumming his fingers on the book that had been below his right arm, looking at the book¡¯s cover while stroking his chin with his left hand. After interminable seconds of uncomfortable silence, Dr. Volkov looked back at Dr. Minett and asked:


    ¡°Has Captain McCoy manifested any ability so far?¡±


    ¡°Apparently no ability has been manifested yet, but there¡¯s still time for it.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know.¡± ¨C Dr. Volkov leaned back on his chair.


    ¡°Is there anything else you would like to discuss now?¡±


    ¡°No, you¡¯re free to go.¡±


    Dr. Minett sighed in relief. As she stood up and started walking toward the door, Dr. Volkov had an idea:


    ¡°Dr. Minett, one more thing:¡± ¨C he took a deep breath while Dr. Minett halted and turned around ¨C ¡°you may have another patient at the ICU tonight.¡±


    ¡°A new patient?¡±


    ¡°Not exactly. We¡¯ll talk about it later. You can go now.¡±


    Dr. Minett decided not to think about Dr. Volkov¡¯s strange answer before knowing what he had in mind. For the time being, her only concern was to get hold of a much needed cup of coffee.


    ***


    Captain McCoy was sitting on a white plastic chair in his provisional practice room. A piece of wood that was once used as a clipboard and a white sheet of paper were placed on the white plastic table that he was sitting at.


    The lack of a pen was an unintended reminder that the board and the paper were not there for writing. Such objects were there to be used as tools for the mind, indeed, but with a very different purpose.


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    Captain McCoy closed his eyes and started inhaling and exhaling at a steadily slow pace as he tried to clear his mind of any thoughts. He opened his eyes when he felt that the chair was an extension of his own body.


    McCoy took hold of the paper with his left hand and touched the object with the index finger of his right hand. He could feel the particles that made up the paper interact with the particles of his finger, but they were still repelling each other.


    For the next five hours his finger kept bulging the paper. Eventually, Captain McCoy pressed the tip of his finger against the paper and did not notice any bulge. Instead, he saw a few tiny light beams circling around the area where his finger met the paper.


    McCoy had finally managed to slow down the paper¡¯s particles in order to allow his finger¡¯s particles to go through. He carefully moved his finger forward until he could see its tip on the other side of the paper.


    As beautiful and exciting that sight was, Captain McCoy knew that he had to stay focused until the movement was completed. He pulled his finger back with caution and did not stop until he could see that he was no longer touching the paper.


    McCoy stood up from the chair, ran three yards, yelled and jumped with a spin while punching the air, mimicking Swedish former soccer player Tomas Brolin¡¯s signature celebration for scoring a goal.


    Upon hearing the shout, a guard that was passing by stopped and looked at the practice room through the observation window in order to check what was going on. He smiled at a poker-faced McCoy, nodded and kept walking.


    Feeling slightly embarrassed for getting caught in the act of celebrating his achievement, Captain McCoy sat on the chair and resumed working on his first drill. He spent the rest of the day trying to get his finger through the paper faster and farther.


    ***


    Dr. Volkov took a sip of black coffee while staring at the cover of a book on biocentrism, at which he had been looking since before talking to Dr. Minett about Captain McCoy¡¯s incident.


    A black man was sitting in front of Dr. Volkov, while five guards were standing between the subject and the door. Volkov was wearing a helmet that resembled a plasma globe, in spite of still not being sure whether it served its purpose.


    ¡°Good morning, Captain Armstrong. How are you feeling today?¡± ¨C Dr. Volkov sounded unusually friendly but clearly phony.


    ¡°What do you want from me?¡±


    ¡°I wanna offer you a deal.¡±


    ¡°I still can¡¯t read your mind through that stupid helmet, but I¡¯ve been in this place long enough to know there are no deals here. What''s the catch?¡±


    Dr. Volkov still was not sure whether the helmet was really preventing Captain Armstrong from listening to his thoughts, but he chose to believe that the subject was telling him the truth, which gave him the confidence to bluff:


    ¡°You know what? You can either listen to what I have to say and get something of it, or you can walk away right now and pray to God that someday things will be different. Your call.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t hold me here forever.¡±


    ¡°Wanna bet on it?¡±


    Captain Armstrong did not believe that Dr. Volkov would actually do anything good for him. On the other hand, Armstrong knew that he had nothing to lose and that Volkov would not offer him any deal at all without being desperate for help. He decided to stay and see how things turned out.


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯m listening.¡±


    Dr. Volkov explained that there was a new subject in The Compound, one who was not there for the same reason as everyone else and did not know where the other subjects had come from. He then told to Captain Armstrong that the new subject¡¯s brainwaves presented an unexpected pattern during his first night in The Compound.


    ¡°And what do you expect me to do?¡± ¨C Captain Armstrong did not understand how he could be of any help in that case.


    ¡°I want you to watch Captain McCoy while he sleeps. If he does the same thing tonight, I want you to try and understand what¡¯s going on.¡±


    ¡°You want me to read the mind of a brain-dead man? You gotta be kidding me.¡±


    ¡°Remember that he doesn¡¯t stay in a coma for too long. I just want to know what happens before and afterwards. Can you do that for me?¡±


    ¡°Okay. What¡¯s in it for me?¡±


    ¡°If you give me valuable information that¡¯s proven to be true, I¡¯ll sign your release and you¡¯ll be out of here and back to the action in three months.¡±


    Not only Captain Armstrong had to give Dr. Volkov some information, but also such information had to be verifiable and had to be true. Nothing in this task could be controlled or even influenced by Captain Armstrong anyhow, and the odds were that he would not find anything at all.


    It seemed like a downright lost cause, but the possibility of being released from The Compound and surprisingly reincorporated into the Armed Forces ignited a spark in Captain Armstrong:


    ¡°Back to the Marine Corps, and not in a body bag?¡±


    ¡°Not back to the Marine Corps. You¡¯ll be the first to join a new uniformed service. That¡¯s all I can tell you for now. What do you say?¡±


    The whole idea still seemed absurd to Captain Armstrong and he did not believe that Dr. Volkov would actually keep his word. Nevertheless, at the very least that deal would get him involved with new routines and give him a much needed perspective. He had to accept the offer.


    ¡°I¡¯m in. I¡¯ll be at the ICU tonight.¡±


    ¡°Great. I¡¯ll call Dr. Minett in, so we can discuss the details¡±.

 7. The Receiver

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    ¡°


    ¡°


    ¡°


    ¡°


    ¡°


    ¡°


    ¡°


    ¡°


    Ben was sitting on the carpet of a living room along with a blonde girl that seemed to be approximately seven years old and looked exactly like Sue. Both of them were coloring a page as the girl sang along to a cartoon that was broadcast on the television that was behind her.


    Susan walked down the stairs that led to the living room, wearing an elegant red dress, and, with a smile on her face, watched Ben playing with the girl for a few seconds before saying:


    ¡°I¡¯m ready, baby. Where¡¯s the nanny?¡±


    Ben looked at Sue, got up and answered:


    ¡°She¡¯s at the kitchen, baby. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    The little girl stopped what she was doing, got up and jumped toward Ben. He caught her, held her high in the air and started spinning around as she laughed. After a few seconds, Ben stopped spinning, kissed the girl¡¯s forehead, put her down on the floor and said:


    ¡°I love you, Claire. We¡¯ll be back soon, okay?¡±


    ¡°I love you, daddy¡± ¨C the girl seemed to be fine with her parents going out and leaving her with a nanny.


    Now Ben was in a restaurant looking at Sue while ordering their dinner to a waiter that was standing by their table:


    ¡°We¡¯ll have the Risotto al Gorgonzola and Amarone wine.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe it¡¯s been ages since I last ate my favorite dish¡± ¨C Susan said with a happy expression on her face.

 8. Confirmation

    Captain McCoy had been long awake when Dr. Minett entered the intensive care unit in order to perform the routine examinations on both of her patients; Captain Armstrong had not slept at all that night.


    ¡°Good morning, people! Is everyone awake?¡± ¨C Dr. Minett greeted both men enthusiastically.


    ¡°Good morning, Dr. Minett! Good to see you again!¡± ¨C Captain McCoy answered with as much enthusiasm.


    Captain Armstrong muttered a response as Dr. Minett went on to check Captain McCoy¡¯s state of health. Once the procedural tests had been concluded, McCoy did not waste the opportunity to try something that he had seen in his last dream:


    ¡°How do you like the food here, Doctor?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Don¡¯t you like it?¡±


    ¡°Do you get to have a real breakfast or are you stuck with rollmops and isotonic drinks too?¡±


    ¡°You need that breakfast to keep your electrolyte balance. It¡¯s important.¡±


    ¡°If you say so¡­ at least lunch is pretty normal.¡±


    Dr. Minett just nodded. Captain McCoy did not see any reason to stop what he was doing ¨C he had completely forgotten about the other patient on the next gurney at that point:


    ¡°I bet the food is different for you smart people.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not. Of course there are some differences because of the patients¡¯ dietary requirements, but overall our lunches and dinners are the same as yours.¡±


    ¡°Really? I thought there was a chef cooking special meals for you, like in a fancy restaurant.¡±


    ¡°I wish it were true!¡± ¨C Dr. Minett giggled ¨C ¡°The food here is good, but Gosh do I miss some really great dishes.¡±


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    ¡°Do you know what I miss? Risotto al Gorgonzola.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s my favorite dish.¡±


    ¡°No way! It¡¯s my favorite dish too! What are the odds?¡±


    Captain McCoy was happy about the honest coincidence of food preferences, but what made him really thrilled was to know that apparently whatever Dr. Minett told him in his dreams turned out to be true in real life.


    ***


    Captain Armstrong went to Dr. Volkov''s office at the scheduled time. He could barely believe the things that he was going to report, and he had seen everything with his own eyes and listened to everything with his own ears and enhanced brain.


    ¡°You''ll probably think I''m lying and, to be honest, I''m having a hard time myself believing what I witnessed last night, but I swear I''m gonna tell you the truth¡± ¨C Captain Armstrong did not know a better way to start reporting his findings.


    ¡°I''m all ears.¡±


    ¡°I knew I could read people''s minds, but I never thought I''d see anybody''s dream.¡±


    ¡°You actually saw his dream? That''s amazing! Why don''t you tell me how it happened?¡±


    Captain Armstrong described what he sensed and felt in the moments preceding the vision of Captain McCoy''s dream and shortly thereafter.


    ¡°Very interesting, indeed¡± ¨C Dr. Volkov pondered excitedly that he had just stumbled on an opportunity to discover and learn about two different phenomena with a single experiment: one phenomenon was whatever was happening to McCoy, and the other was Armstrong¡¯s reaction to it.


    Fearing that his account of the event would not be deemed valuable enough to ensure his release from The Compound, Captain Amrstrong reluctantly decided to get in details of Captain McCoy''s personal matters:


    ¡°But there''s more: before the target fell asleep he wished that he could learn something about Dr. Minett in his dream again. He''s not just dreaming of her, he''s actually learning information about her. From his dreams!¡±


    ¡°Are you telling me that it wasn''t just a dream?¡±


    ¡°I don''t know if he''s kinda seeing the future or what, but that''s definitely not just a dream.¡±


    ¡°Can you prove it?¡±


    ¡°In his dream he was ordering Risotto al Gorgonzola for him and Dr. Minett. This morning, the bastard found a way to make her tell him what her favorite food is, and guess what? It''s Risotto al Gorgonzola.¡±


    ¡°That could very well be a plain coincidence.¡±


    ¡°But it''s not! I know it wasn''t the first time it happened, I read it in his mind!¡±


    Dr. Volkov sighed, took off his eyeglasses, bit one of its temples and concluded:


    ¡°Then it''s probably gonna happen again...¡±


    ¡°He''s in love with her. I bet it''s gonna happen again.¡±


    ¡°...and you''ll be there to watch it.¡±

 9. Desperate Times

    Captain McCoy was informed by Dr. Minett that he would have to sleep at the intensive care unit until his secondary ability was known, since the lack of any sign whatsoever thereof thus far could mean either that the device is malfunctioning or that he had developed a still unseen ability ¨C in both scenarios, his life could be at risk.


    Furthermore, McCoy was instructed by Minett not to interact with the other patient who was also going to sleep at the intensive care unit for an indeterminate term, due to the fact that the status of both patients was strictly classified.


    Captain McCoy knew that his mission in The Compound was solely to acquire intangibility as fast as possible ¨C anything other than that should be deemed irrelevant or secondary at most, and thus should not interfere with his focus. Hence, he did not question or even think about anything that Dr. Minett had told him.


    Tunneling his whole arm through a sheet of paper got incredibly easy later that morning, which prompted Captain McCoy into thinking that the same mental technique that allowed phasing should work for other abilities as well, whether natural or acquired.


    McCoy spent a couple of hours trying to lift the sheet of paper from the plastic table it was on, but did not get close to succeeding. Feeling tired and frustrated, he looked to his left side, held the palm of his right hand up in the air, at the same height as his ear, and thrust his arm down.


    Having given up on his attempts, Captain McCoy turned around, shook his head in a negative motion and walked away from his practice room, failing to notice that the plastic table had moved about three inches upfront when his arm-sweep gesture was finalized.


    Even though he did not have any reasonable pretext or even a trace of a plan, McCoy decided to go to Dr. Minett''s clinic in order to try to talk to her about anything at all, just to satisfy his need to see her again.


    He was lucky enough to arrive at a moment in which she did not have a lot of work to do and thus was able to spend a few minutes on cheap talk. Captain McCoy eventually found an opportunity to ask:


    ¡°Have you ever been to New York?¡±


    ¡°I love that city, especially in winter.¡±


    ¡°Why is that?¡±


    Captain McCoy''s heart rate reached its peak when he asked that question. Dr. Minett smiled and answered:


    ¡°It''s so romantic when it''s covered in snow...¡±


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    It happened again: she had just given him the same response that he received in a dream. Captain McCoy was not sure of what to think about it, but he was certain that it was not a coincidence. He kept the conversation going:


    ¡°What''s your favorite part of the city?¡±


    ¡°I love Bryant Park, but my favorite part is around Union Square.¡±


    ¡°Those places are great, but my favorite part is City Hall Park.¡±


    ¡°Are you from New York, Captain? ''Cause you don''t sound like it.¡±


    ¡°Please, call me Ben.¡±


    ¡°I''ll try¡± ¨C Dr. Minett did not feel comfortable with first name basis in general. ¡°You can call me Sue.¡±


    ¡°Okay, Sue. I''m from Seattle.¡±


    ¡°It''s a nice city. I like the Waterfall Garden Park.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it''s beautiful!¡±


    Dr. Minett''s answers matched the knowledge that Captain McCoy acquired from his dreams. Thereafter, they started asking personal questions to each other and their relationship got closer.


    As days passed by, Captain McCoy successively achieved advancements both in regards to his practice routine and his relationship with Dr. Minett. It did not take McCoy too much time from moving a finger through a clipboard to walking through a cardboard panel. By the time that Ben was phasing through an oak board, Sue and him were already having intimate moments in her clinic on a regular basis.


    ***


    It had been a week since the last time that Captain Armstrong provided Dr. Volkov with any information on Captain McCoy''s dreams. Volkov believed that Armstrong was telling him the truth: McCoy had stopped dreaming about Dr. Minett since they started seeing each other.


    Dr. Volkov knew that he had a problem that could not wait any longer for a solution and that the only person who could help him address the issue at hand was Captain Armstrong.


    Volkov already had a plan in mind when Armstrong walked into his office that morning, for their daily meeting, and took a seat:


    ¡°Did Captain McCoy have a relevant dream last night, Captain Armstrong?¡±


    ¡°No, he didn''t. Same status.¡±


    Upon listening to Captain Armstrong''s reply, Dr. Volkov removed his helmet and placed it on his desk.


    ¡°No helmet today, Dr. Volkov?¡± ¨C Captain Armstrong could not help feeling surprised to see that Volkov was not trying to hide his thoughts from him.


    ¡°I don''t need to hide from you what I''m about to offer.¡± ¨C Dr. Volkov leaned forward, closer to the helmet that he was still holding with both hands, and asked: ¡°Would you like to leave Adak tomorrow, Captain Armstrong?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°If you help me, I can get you out of here tomorrow before noon. You''ll go to a detachment of Nellis Air Force Base between Mercury and Rachel, in Nevada, and be put to use by the armed forces. I don''t know the details, but you''ll get another chance at serving our country.¡±


    Dr. Volkov''s thoughts did not contradict anything that he was saying, which prompted Captain Armstrong to the conclusion that what he had just heard was the truth. Armstrong would do anything if it meant that he was finally going to be free, so there was only one thing that he could say:


    ¡°What do you want me to do?¡±


    As soon as their meeting was over, Dr. Volkov sent an e-mail to the Secretary of Defense stating that withholding a subject of extraordinary value such as Captain Armstrong for research would be a waste of a strategic asset and thus an assault against the country''s interests. He called the Secretary shortly thereafter.


    Volkov''s call was received by the Secretary as great news due to the fact that there had been political pressure for the program to go operational at once. All the necessary arrangements were made within a few hours.

 10. Desperate Measures

    Dr. Minett was drinking her usual daily glass of red wine in her bed while looking at some pictures of her family in her cell phone. Her daughter, Claire, was seven years old and looked exactly like Susan in every detail, almost as if the girl did not have a biological father at all.


    Even though she was not comfortable with the idea of being apart from her husband for the two-year term of her contract for Project HETO, what really hurt Susan was not being close to the only person that she actually loved: her daughter.


    Six more months would have to elapse before Sue could leave Adak, return to San Francisco and be with Claire. Minett did not regret the professional choice that she made, but the pain of being away from her daughter was becoming increasingly hard for her to bear.


    It was time for her daily call home. Claire answered the phone:


    ¡°I can''t talk now, mom. We''re going out to celebrate.¡±


    ¡°Really? What are you celebrating, sweetie?¡±


    ¡°Aunt Jessie is moving in.¡±


    Susan felt like she was stabbed in the stomach and thrown into a hole. She could not feel her legs, and her mind went simply blank.


    ¡°Mom, are you there? I have to go.¡±


    ¡°Okay, sweetie. Have fun.¡±


    Susan did expect to be cheated on by her husband, but it never crossed her mind that she would actually be replaced. It did upset her that her husband did not have the decency to tell her anything at all, but what really hurt Sue was the thought that her own daughter was replacing her as well.


    Sue did not know when was the last time that she cried, neither did she know if she ever cried so copiously at any other point of her life. She felt so devastated that it took her an hour to eventually manage to get out of her bed.


    Minett did have access to the gym of the restricted area, but she did not want to run the risk of being seen by anyone that might talk to her. Hence, she decided to take the elevator and go to the gym that was intended for use by her patients.


    Captain Armstrong was sitting on the floor of the basketball court that lies across the hallway from the gym, with the lights out, trying to find a way to fulfill his end of the deal with Dr. Volkov, when he saw Dr. Minett enter the gym.


    Armstrong did not expect Minett to go to the unrestricted area at that time of the night, unless she had to check on Captain McCoy for a medical reason, but there she was. Her misfortune had served him well.


    Since neither the gym nor the court had any door, there was not any obstacle for Captain Armstrong to hear Dr. Minett''s thoughts as she started running on a treadmill, listening to depressing alternative rock songs on her earplugs.


    When Minett thought about finishing her exercise, Armstrong flew into the gym and floated unnoticed above her, waiting for her to stop running. Covered in sweat, Susan hopped off the treadmill and reached for the metal outlet cover that was placed on the ground, to the left side of the equipment, in order to pull the machine''s plug.


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    As Dr. Minett''s right hand grabbed the plug and touched the outlet cover, Captain Armstrong started shooting unceasing electric currents from both hands at the piece of metal.


    The current flowed from the outlet cover to Susan''s hand and through her body. As her muscles contracted strongly, she could not inhale or exhale air. Cardiac arrest followed shortly thereafter.


    Captain Armstrong ceased shooting the currents, descended to the ground and checked Dr. Minett''s pulse over her carotid artery. Upon confirming that his mission had been accomplished, he walked out of the gym and went to his usual bed at a dormitory in the second floor.


    Around five minutes after Captain Armstrong had left the section, one of the guards that were standing at the hallway entered the gym and found Dr. Minett lying on the floor. He followed the established procedure and called the paramedics.


    ***


    Captain McCoy had been awake for over an hour when he saw Dr. Volkov enter the intensive care unit. As far as McCoy knew, that was the first time that Volkov had come to see him.


    ¡°You don''t need these anymore¡±, Dr. Volkov said as he started removing the electrodes from Captain McCoy''s head.


    ¡°What''s going on? Where''s Dr. Minett?¡± -¨C Captain McCoy could sense that something was wrong.


    ¡°Dr. Minett was going to discharge you from the ICU today. We think the device won''t cause you any side effect.¡±


    ¡°And why isn''t SHE discharging me now?¡± ¨C Captain McCoy questioned, now sitting on the gurney.


    ¡°I know you and Dr. Minett had a very close relationship, so I''m afraid I have bad news for you.¡±


    Captain McCoy felt a chill in the spine. The first thought that crossed his mind was that Dr. Volkov had fired Susan upon finding out that they were having an affair.


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°Dr. Minett suffered an accident at the gym last night. She was electrocuted while trying to unplug a treadmill.¡±


    ¡°How long until she''s back?¡±


    ¡°Susan is dead, Captain McCoy. I''m sorry.¡±


    Ben''s legs and head went numb, his arms started shaking and he felt like his body was being dragged into the ground. For a few seconds, he was blind and his heart felt as heavy as a wrecking ball. He could not help crying.


    ¡°Not Sue... she''s the woman of my dreams...¡±


    ¡°I''ll give you some privacy now. Please have a guard bring you to my office when you''re ready¡±, Dr. Volkov said as he walked away.


    Captain McCoy spent the whole morning lying on the gurney and trying to deal with the overwhelming pain that he was feeling. It was past noon when he got up and decided to go to the clinic.


    McCoy tried to open the door of the clinic, but it was locked. Having failed his attempt to see something that could bring him more good memories of Susan, Ben asked a guard to take him to Dr. Volkov''s office. He had completely forgotten about Armstrong by then.


    ***


    Dr. Volkov and Captain Armstrong stopped walking and looked at each other for the last time. They had not said a word since Armstrong entered Volkov''s office three minutes before, wearing a black camouflage uniform that was designed for the members of the Elite Force that complete their training at the Compound.


    Neither of them was willing to shake hands, each for a different reason: Volkov despised to be touched by strangers, and Armstrong despised Volkov. A reciprocated nod was deemed enough by both of them.


    As Dr. Volkov entered the intensive care unit in order to talk to Captain McCoy, Captain Armstrong started walking down the hallway toward the exit door of The Compound, behind which Private Fowler was waiting for him. Fowler and Armstrong entered the Humvee that was parked a few feet ahead and left to Adak Airport.


    Later that day, Captain Armstrong felt overjoyed as he set his feet on the soil of Homey Airport, within the zone of the Nevada Test and Training Range popularly known as Area 51, since he did not know when was the last time that he saw the sun or felt the warmth of its beams. He soaked in that small moment of happiness.

 11. The Deal

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    Ben and Sue were strolling along snow-covered Bryant Park, in New York City, holding Claire''s hands. At the Nikola Tesla corner, Ben saw a tall white man with unshaped black hair and a stubble beard, wearing eyeglasses.


    ¡°Did you see that man that just passed by?¡± - Ben asked Sue.


    ¡°No. What about him?¡±


    ¡°He looked familiar... I guess I''ve seen him before...¡±


    THE END

 Epilogue

    America woke up to the breaking news that the North Korean dictator had been found dead by electrocution in his bathtub in the Ryongsong Residence, without any evidence of the source of the shock.


    All of his successors had been killed in similar circumstances, and all nuclear weapons had been sabotaged. North Korea''s future was uncertain, but the world''s population breathed in relief knowing that the threat of nuclear warfare had been mitigated.


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    Dr. Volkov took pride on each of the Elite Force''s achievements every time that he saw them on the television in his office, since none would have been possible at all if it was not for his brilliant work.


    While Volkov was watching the news, Dr. Kiyotake knocked on the door, entered the office and reported:


    ¡°I''m afraid I have bad news: one of the newcomers, Captain Nick Wentz, strangely generated electric current from his limbs and entered a coma. I think he''s going to die.¡±


    Dr. Volkov smiled and answered:


    ¡°He won''t die.¡±