Page 57 of One Step Sideways

“All four C.O.s were highly experienced, and all gave the same account.”

“And what investigation—”

“None,” Connaught said, cutting me off. “The investigation concentrated on the riot and preventing it from happening again. Once it was established that Diaz and the other prisoner weren’t involved, no one was interested in what they’d done.”

He clasped his hands and rested them in front of him on his desk. “The government has spent the last forty years trying to control the problem. Hide it. There have been a couple of ill-thought-out attempts to make money from it. One idiot hoped to give regular humans an enhanced ability by experimenting on enhanced children, and I believe a group of enhanced thought they could make their own mercenary unit, but no one has ever considered what a great asset these individuals can be to the country as a whole.”

“I can think of a few times I’ve been in combat where the outcome might have been different,” I said.One in particular.

“Exactly,” Connaught agreed. “And the only way to do utilize them, in my opinion, is to embrace their abilities, not fear them.”

I decided to push a little, because while I might in many respects agree with everything he was saying, if this man was responsible for the enhanced going missing, then he wasn’t giving them a choice. I’d read a few books on militaryhistory and found that in the past, forced conscription was often used instead of a jail sentence. It had been rife in the Napoleonic wars, but even that wasn’t like this. This was kidnapping, pure and simple. “And you think they’re more likely to share with me than any of the C.O.s.” I didn’t phrase it as a question.

He leaned forward. “Can you imagine how—properly utilized—vital this group would be to combat terrorism?”

I could. But there had also been enough times throughout history when certain groups of people had been denied a basic choice, generally because of the color of their skin, and it never ended well. Seemed like we never learned.

Over the next few days, I discovered a few more things. Every room had hidden voice recording abilities, but it had to be activated, and all occasions logged and justified. The warden had wanted it on constantly, but an ethics committee had actually done its job this time, and only allowed it on all the time in areas where warning notices were displayed. The clinic didn’t have one at all.

Since I was never allowed to be with a prisoner on my own, I couldn’t speak to Kane, which was increasingly frustrating. Then on the third day, Ringo escorted Kane to the clinic. I waited until the door was closed and Ringo nodded. I wanted nothing more than to rush at him, but while the audio might be off, the video definitely wasn’t. We kept the pretense up in case Connaught was watching, as Kane was his current obsession and he had grilled me after I had seen Connaught the first time. I pretended to give him a regular exam, but I took my time, smiled a little.

“You’re the boss-man’s pet project,” I said, rubbing my lip idly as if scratching an itch. None of us could be a hundred percent certain no one had lip-reading ability. “I’m genuinely sorry you’re back in here,” I said, uncovering my mouth. “But I was hoping you might help me establish some medical baselines. I know you guys have rapid healing, but as a medic, I need to know what I can do to help.” I glanced at Ringo. “Can I get his wrists undone, please?”

“Sorry,” Ringo said. “Not allowed when anyone other than a C.O. is present.”

I sent a regretful look at Kane and continued. “I especially don’t want to hinder the healing process, so it might mean we have to see each other more often, and it’s probably going to be boring.”

Kane’s expression didn’t change, but I saw a glint of humor in the flash of silver in his eyes. “Doc, any time out of my cell is less boring than being stuck in there.”

I nodded, pulled out my tablet, and began to take notes. All for show, but each time I bent it made it harder for someone to read my lips. I quickly told Kane and Ringo what I knew about the other enhanced here. I interspersed each fact with an ordinary question about Kane’s medical history as a child. I also told him what the warden had asked me to do. “I need to give him something to show progress.”

“Night vision? Accurate vision? Those seems pretty innocuous.”

I nodded. “Yeah, and it shows we’re establishing trust. Read the bottom line of that.”

Kane glanced at my tablet where I’d written that I hadn’t seen Shae, just him, Cherry, and Blaze. Ringo looked at the clock on the wall.

“You gonna be much longer, Doc?” He rubbed a hand over his beard as if he was bored and it covered most of his next words. “Diesel told me that’s he’s adding a gambling problem and huge debt to your backstory after you said the warden seemed friendly.”

I stood up and put out my hand to shake Kane’s awkwardly as he was tied, thanking him for his time. Kane pretended to be shocked, and Ringo marched him out.

I could count the seconds on one hand before the warden came into the room.

I glanced over at the warden and nodded a greeting. “I just saw Diaz—sorry seventy-three—and he seemed quite open to coming here.”

Connaught waved my apology off. “Psychological clap-trap to call them by a number,” he said. “Did he tell you anything?”

“Do we have it recorded anywhere that he can see in the dark? I couldn’t find anything.”

“No,” Connaught’s eyes widened, and I could practically see him rubbing his hands.

“I got the impression his vision’s pretty accurate, and he didn’t come out and say it, but you know the standard vision tests you get in any eye doctor’s office?”

He nodded eagerly. “Well, I tried him with my tablet on the bottom row. Can you read this?” I passed it over. I’d been prepared for this as it was something I’d wanted to know myself, but with last weekend, we simply hadn’t had the chance. Even someone with perfect vision wouldn’t be able to read it, and I’d only just put it a couple of levels below that. I suspected Kane’s eyesight was better.

He squinted at the tablet and shook his head. “Not even with my glasses on.”

“Kane can,” I confirmed.

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