A*F*T*E*R*M*A*S*H
April 14th, 2056
Luna Base
Amanda O'Reilly sat at the console, her eyes squinched up tight beneath her thick glasses, searching for the small red dot that meant there was an enemy ship in the vicinity. In her left hand was an almost-empty cup of coffee, from which she occasionally took long sips without realizing that there was nothing left but dregs; under her right hand was a keyboard console. The clunky realtime-sim goggles were giving her a headache, and the molded plastic was making her head sweat and itch. She had been patrolling this particular sector of space for five hours straight, but she didn't really care, just as long as she could blast some Bugs.
There was a disturbance in the upper right-hand field of vision. She tensed up, anticipating the amalgamation of red pixels that would come from…just…right…there. She tapped the FIRE button on the console, instantly obliterating the alien ship as it edged into the picture.
The image flickered out. Her shift was up.
White letters appeared in the center of the screen.
SHIPS BLASTED: 36
BUGS KILLED: 47
AVERAGE REACTION TIME: 0.1 SECONDS
ACCURACY: 100%
CONGRATULATIONS USER 1814118-4077: AMANDA O'REILLY
The programming team had been working on making the interface seem like a video game. The official reason was that seeing one's statistics would improve morale give an incentive to work harder, but Amanda knew that the real reason was that it was a lot more fun to play an old-fashioned arcade game for five hours straight than to bore yourself watching empty space.
Amanda grinned, flipping her goggles up. She was exhausted and exhilarated, and she needed a shower.
"So, how'd you do?" Jenny Blake, the base commander, was standing over her shoulder.
"Take a look for yourself." Amanda indicated the stat screen.
Jenny whistled. "Shit! You've been—"
"Racking 'em up," Amanda finished for her. It was a little game she played, finishing other people's sentences. It might have been commented upon in a normal citizen, but in the hackers and computer geeks that now made up the majority of the Terran army, a little eccentricity was considered a healthy thing.
Anyway, it impressed her colleagues, and it was easy to do. People could be so predictable—it was easy to tell what they were going to say next.
"Yeah, exactly. You know, you've got the best stats of anyone here." Jenny clapped her on the shoulder. "Why don't you come get a cup of coffee with me? I want to talk to you."
Amanda carefully added five sugars to her coffee and sat down with Jenny. "So what's up?"
Jenny sipped her brew. "Manda, you ever been esper-tested?"
Amanda nodded. "Yeah, once."
"Then why—"
"Why aren't I in the esp-corps? Not strong enough. Apparently, I'm a latent-intuitive-generalized. That doesn't do anybody any good."
Jenny frowned. "That's sort of weird. Most people with any psi ability at all have some kind of focused ability. How'd you end up a lowgrade?"
"Well, my abilities are hereditary, not mutated."
"But there isn't any history of psi abilities in your family at all. I've checked the files."
"You must have not gone back far enough." Amanda tried the coffee. It was a lot better than she was used to. Well, they had a shiny new caff machine in the officer's lounge, instead of the crummy BrewMaster she used at home. "My mom always told me that my great-grandfather had the same abilities I did. He was in the Korean War, over a hundred years ago."
Jenny nodded. "Now, he's the only member of your family that's ever been in the Army, right? I mean, besides you."
"I think so. Why?"
"And he's also the only member of your family that's had these abilities."
"So far as I know." Amanda lowered her Styrofoam cup. "Why is that important?"
Jenny leaned forward and lowered her voice. "Mandy dear, you may be the main subject of a top-secret study in the next few weeks. I got the memo yesterday."
Amanda sat up. "No kidding! That's…wow. What's the study about?"
"Well, some comichead in Intel decided that latent psi abilities are sharpened during periods of sustained hostile activity. I mean, when there's a lot of hostile energy going on around you for a long time. He thinks that the stress and emotional energy somehow sharpen the psi. I think he's full of bull, whoever he is, but the government has asked me to supply any suspected latent espers I might have, and you're really the only one that fits."
"That does sound like bull," Amanda admitted. "So you're supplying me. What does that mean?"
Jenny shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "Um. Therein lies the problem, you see. I'm not actually sure what exactly they want you to do, and—"
"—you're not even authorized to ask about it." Amanda nodded. "That top-secret, huh?"
"'Fraid so. Anyway, they're going to be starting…whatever it is they're doing next week. In the meantime, I highly suggest that you go home and get some sleep. Take a few days off."
"Days off? Wow, I haven't had one of those since…Wait, who's going to take over for me? I know we're short already."
"No problem, babe. I can cover for you for a week or so. Actually, it'll be a nice change…I haven't sat down at a console for years." She grinned. "Probably won't be nearly as good as you, but I'm pretty sure I can still handle a joystick. I was pretty competent in my day."
Amanda nodded. The break was almost over, and it was time to go. She stood up. "Jenny, thank you for the opportunity. And the coffee."
Jenny downed the dregs of her brew. "No problem, babe. Just go home and get some rest, okay? And say hi to Norah for me."
Amanda opened the door to her flat. "Norah, I'm home." Norah came running up to greet her. Amanda tickled her under the chin. "Hello, precious. Did you miss Mommy?" Norah licked her face and said, "Meow."
Amanda put the orange tabby down and wandered into the kitchen. "Let's get you something to eat, okay? But first Mommy's gotta fix herself a snack."
Jenny had given Norah to Amanda for her birthday a few years ago. Amanda had just started at the compound then, and was still homesick, even though her flat was in the same building with the rest of the kids at her base. After Amanda had brought home the kitten, the little apartment had seemed like home. Norah knew when to comfort Amanda and when to leave her alone, and Amanda could always tell whether Norah was hungry or tired or wanted to play.
Norah followed Amanda into the kitchen, mewing. "Hold on, honey." Amanda pulled some crackers and cheese out of the cupboard and popped some into her mouth. "Yum. Okay, we got…" She glanced at Norah's food bowl. It was still full. "You haven't eaten what I already gave you."
Norah sniffed at the bowl.
Amanda bent down and inspected the bowl. "Oh, I see." She tipped the dish of food into the garbage. "Someone's a little tired of the same old same old, eh? Hey, in a few days I'm going to be getting a raise, and it'll be smoked salmon from now on." She got a can of tuna out of the cupboard and got out the can opener. The plastic lid sizzled as the laser cut through it.
Amanda was woken up at 4 AM by the insistent beeping of her message center. It was the sharp buzz of an extremely urgent message, the kind you get when your mom breaks her leg and doesn't want to bother the police.
"Ms. O'Reilly, this is Luna Base Intelligence Center. We would like to see you at the Base Center at 0600. We will send a vehicle to pick you up at 0500 hours."
Amanda just rolled over and went back to sleep. Unfortunately, the Humvee was at her door before she woke up again.
Norah jumped on her chest. "Mraaaaaaaaaaah."
"What? Honey, you just ate…" Amanda glanced blearily at the clock. "Ah, yiff. I'm late."
There was a pounding at the door. "Ma'am, we have to go. Would you please open the door?"
Amanda dashed to the door in her pajamas. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'll be there in a second." She opened the door. "Could you just hold on a second? Let me…" Someone pulled her out the door and kicked it shut.
"Ma'am, you will have to come with us. We are already behind schedule."
"But Jenny said you weren't going to be ready for another week."
"She was misinformed. Anyway, you're an esper. You should have seen this coming."
"I don't have that kind of power. Can we stop at a McDonald's? I could really use some coffee."
"No."
The ride to the compound was short and bumpy. After they got there, Amanda went through a series of tests that didn't seem to accomplish anything. She was given a blue jumpsuit and a shot of something that instantly cleared her head, then taken out to the tarmac.
She climbed into the jet and studied the controls. They were exactly the same as they were on her console. There was a good reason for that; the jets were, in fact, remotely controlled by the consoles.
Space got sort of boring after a few hours, and Amanda was relieved when the sector finally appeared on her monitor.
She flew around for a few minutes, checking out the perimeters. Nothing for half a parsec…wait. There was something at…
A BUGSHIP! It was coming her way fast. There was nothing on the monitor, yet she knew that it was there.
A white speck appeared on the monitor. There it was! Amanda grinned and flew toward it. Soon she and the Bugship were engaged in battle, swooping around each other in a dizzying display of agility. Amanda had never flown before, but thanks to her hours of practice on the console, she felt like she was doing something that she had been doing all her life.
The Bug squeezed off a phaser beam at Amanda, who avoided it by a long shot. She tightened her grip on the little red button…and…
PHOOOOOOOOOOOWM
The Bugship exploded.
As the debris flew past her, Amanda felt
the shell of her abdomen cracked, splitting painfully as the spongy flesh ripped, sending waves of pain through her body. Her legs were ripped off one by one as the vacuum of space claimed them. Bits of metal crashed against her body, creating little craters in her fragile body. As the shell of the ship dissolved around her, the cells in her head contracted into themselves and then exploded
"NOOOOAAAIIIEEERRRRGGGGGHHH!" Amanda screamed and clutched her head. Mercifully, everything quickly went black.
She woke up to find Jenny standing over her. "Manda, are you okay?"
Amanda groaned. "How did…"
"We were monitoring you, honey. It's okay." Jenny squatted down to Amanda's level. "What happened out there?"
"Jenny, I died. I felt it." Amanda struggled to get up, noticing her surroundings. She was back in her flat.
"You didn't die. That was the Bug that died. You blacked out for no reason at all."
"I felt it," Amanda insisted. "I mean, my skin cracked open…" Jenny was staring at her. "What?"
"Honey," said Jenny softly, "they didn't test you for animal empathy, did they? When you had your tests the first time."
Norah jumped into Amanda's arms. She stroked her absentmindedly. "No. They don't usually test for it. Why?"
Jenny nodded, as if something had confirmed her suspicions. "I'm going to have to talk to the testers, have you reevaluated." She got up.
The next day, Amanda tendered her resignation from the Bug Patrol. She had decided to become a medic. For the Bug side.
