Read Tell Me No Spies for Free Online

down at his
red-clad belly and chuckled again. “I’m sure you planted this idea
in my subconscious mind and I fulfilled it,” he agreed. “I didn’t
know if you’d remember me, though.”
    “I might not have made
the connection if you didn’t look so… so…”
    “So much like Santa
Claus,” Spider finished for me, grinning. “I thought so, too, but I
didn’t want to say anything.” He eyed us eagerly. “Tell me the
story.”
    “When I was a kid, Dr.
Kraus used to come by the house a couple of times a year,” I
began.
    “Call me Sam,” the
doctor interrupted. “I think we can dispense with the formalities
under the circumstances.”
    I shot him a smile and
continued. “I was pretty young. I can’t even remember how old I was
when we first met.”
    “You were four,” Sam
supplied. “You’d started kindergarten a year early.”
    “And you thought he
looked like Santa Claus,” Spider prompted.
    Sam chuckled. “No,
when I first met Aydan I was about your age, and just as skinny as
you.”
    “Oh. Right, I guess
that was a long time ago.” Spider flushed. “Sorry,” he stammered.
“I didn’t mean you’re old… Either of you. I just meant…”
    “It’s okay, Spider,” I
assured him. “No, he didn’t look anything like Santa Claus. But the
first time he came, it was right around Christmas, and I didn’t
have a really clear concept of Santa Claus at the time. So when he
told me his name was Sam Kraus, I got all excited and blurted out
‘Santa Claus’ because I knew Santa Claus was coming soon, and it
sounded so similar. It became a family joke, and I always called
him Santa Claus after that, even when I was a teenager.”
    “Talk about a small
world,” Spider exclaimed.
    “Yeah…” A faint
thought nagged at me, but it fled as Stemp addressed us.
    “You’ll carry on with
your normal activities, and Dr. Kraus will observe. You’ll be
working in the secured facility where the doctor has his lab set
up.”
    Spider’s head jerked
up, his mouth opening, but Kane spoke first. “You know that’s not
acceptable. Aydan can’t work in the secured facility.”
    Stemp waved an
irritable hand. “I realize it’s not feasible for the long-term.” He
turned to face me. “As soon as you begin to have difficulties,
we’ll find an alternate solution. But I know you can deal with it
in the short term, and by then, Dr. Kraus may already have the data
he needs.”
    Kane made as if to
speak again, but Stemp overrode him. “This is not open for
discussion. You have your orders.” He turned and left.
    Sam’s bright eyes
darted from Spider’s expression of pure dismay to Kane’s scowl to
whatever might be showing on my face. Abject terror, probably. I
wrestled for calm.
    “What’s the problem?”
Sam inquired with concern.
    “No problem,” I told
him. “I’m claustrophobic, so I’m not very happy in the secured
facility, that’s all. No big deal for the short term.”
    “Aydan, the last time
you worked in the secured facility, you nearly died! Twice!” Spider
sprang to his feet and began to pace, his lanky limbs flailing
awkwardly. “He can’t make you do this!” He whirled and turned a
pleading face to Kane. “Can’t you talk to him? Or talk to General
Briggs? Make Stemp change his mind?”
    Kane twitched a
shoulder. His face was composed again, but the gunmetal grey of his
eyes gave away his mood. “Briggs won’t override the civilian
director unless it’s military-related. We have our orders. Until
Aydan has a problem, we’ll follow them.” He turned to me. “Aydan,
now isn’t the time to be a hero. The instant you lose control of
the sim, the instant you can’t sleep or start having nightmares,
you tell me. That’s an order. Got it?”
    “Got it,” I
agreed.
    Sam’s jolly demeanour
had evaporated while he followed our exchange, and he turned to me
with a crease between his bushy white eyebrows. “You nearly died in
the sim? I didn’t think that was possible.