Memory

Chapter Twenty- Dimitri

Trystan!

I find myself gaping up at the screen. Ashley makes a small smile that can categorize as a giggle, and turns to me again. “You’re looking through her eyes, Dimitri,” she says. “Once the Tracker is inserted and we touch their names on the Holomap, there are tiny micro-cameras that travel up to the eyes, allowing us to see through the bearer’s eyes.” She taps Ethan’s name, and another live video comes up next to the first one, this time showing Trystan looking down at her hands, her slender eyebrows furrowing in thought. Her body is moving side to side, and so is Ethan’s, being that each video is not steadying. When I look behind them both, I see the other soldiers either leaning against the walls or sitting on the benches provided inside the...whatever it is that they’re riding in.

“This is amazing,” I murmur, gazing up at the videos. I am mostly looking at Trystan, and I feel myself shiver with an uncanny feeling of jealousy. It isn’t fair that Ethan is that close to Trystan. I can see the color of Trystan’s eyes ever so clearly. They must be sitting next to each other.

But that fact aside, it’s incredible that those tiny cameras know exactly where to go and how. Ethan’s screen blacks out only for a millisecond, suggesting that he had blinked. It goes back to normal, and this time he is looking up at Lindsey.

She towers over him, and she is looking down with contempt. Ethan’s eyes follow her gaze, and I see Trystan frowning, her jaw tightening, as if biting back a sharp comment. I switch my gaze from Ethan’s eyes to Trystan’s, trying to see each reaction at the same time.

“So,” Lindsey sneers, “Just hop from one guy to the next, why don’t you?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Trystan replies, her voice thin and tired.

Lindsey leans in closer, and I watch with dismay as Trystan stands up slowly and advances in her face instead. Oh God, don’t let her fight. Not now. Don’t let her mess up.

But she looks so hot when she’s angry.

Ethan’s height rises, and I see his arm reach out to push Lindsey back. She tries to nudges his hand away, but he pushes her farther from Trystan.

Ashley’s hand wipes across the Holomap, and the videos, along with the names, fade away. I scowl at her, but I quickly calm down as she sneaks a glance around the room. I do that too, and I see that most of the workers are staring at the Holomap with a look of confusion and suppressed interest.

I sigh, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Now is not the time for drama,” a deep voice says behind me. I turn around, and I see Forrester standing against the doorframe of the entrance/exit with a grim expression on his face. How long has he been standing there?

I watch as he walks over to us, and Ashley back away slightly. Forrester looks at me, and sighs gently, patting the top of my head. “Don’t spy on your girlfriend,” he says.

My face flushes white-hot and I exclaim, “She’s not my girlfriend!”

“Yet,” Forrester adds over his shoulder, and I look away, my heart thundering in my chest at the thought of Trystan being that connected with me. His hand waves slightly, and Ashley scurries over to his side. He bends over a chair in front of a beeping black-and-green screened computer, muttering things into the chair’s occupant’s ear. The woman in the chair nods, and types even faster.

“Now,” the Lieutenant says, clapping his hands once and turning to me. “Let’s get you started. You’ll be needing a lot of training now.”

 

My head runs and reels with the new technical information Ashley and Forrester is giving me. It actually hurts trying to memorize each and every computer code, audio and image control, voice recognition, hand motion commands for the Holomap and a lot of other things that are slipping my mind. I am having trouble paying attention to the Lieutenant, and instead my mind is focused on worrying about Trystan and even Ethan. They aren’t back yet; they left at ten something in the morning, and it’s already 4:30 p.m.

“There is a headset that allows you to communicate with one and any Tracker bearer,” Forrester is now saying. “You just punch in their name into the keypad right here, and then the headset will immediately connect to the said person you wish to speak to.”

I nod at the right time so he doesn’t get mad. Yeah, I am listening, but I pocket the information he gives me in the back of my mind. I just can’t get my worries out of my thoughts.

“Excuse me,” a woman’s voice says. I look to see the familiar gray head of the lady in front of the computer hours ago. Forrester nods to her, waiting for her response. “There is a problem,” she continues.

Immediately Forrester gets serious and walks over to the computer she was at. A coded message appears on the screen, and he calls out, “Decode Initiation process. Now!”

After a few minutes, another message pops up below the first one, presumably the decoded one.

Send for allied help. Government retaliation heavy. Few soldiers missing. Group A holding back enemy in frontlines.