Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 18:15:55 +1300
From: arthur carkeek <artcart65@gmail.com>
Subject: Pathos Chapter 3

				  PATHOS


				 CHAPTER 3


				 BY ARTHUR


CONTACT AUTHOR:

Artcart65@gmail.com

authors note:

please help support the nifty archives to keep it free for all.



Andre could not believe his luck, all that remained now was for him to
learn everything he had to so he could fulfil his contract with Leon and
the Government, as yet he did not have the faintest clue what he was going
to be expected to do but it had to be better than what his future held as a
lowly pleasure boy looking for contracts.

After a late dinner, Conrad adjourned to his own small apartment at the far
end of the penthouse, Andre went to his new large bedroom, he tried to get
a feel for it, it was so large he could still not get his head around the
fact it all belonged to him, finally, as the need for sleep came over him
in a rush that a full belly helped along, Andre stripped naked and
collapsed into the majestic bed and was asleep before his head hit the
pillow.

When he awoke late into the morning on his second day of being a home
owner, Andre went to look in on his mother, she lay in her bed looking even
more frail and ill than the previous day, Andre was now really worried
about her, calling for Conrad he asked about medical help for her, within
seconds, Conrad was on his communicator and only thirty minutes later a
health crew was there.

After the health crew looked over his Mother, the senior of them pulled
Andre aside.

"It does not look good Sir, she is very undernourished and this has led to
some of her vitals breaking down, all we can do is take her to the hospital
and look after her until her time comes, if she stays here with you I
cannot promise she will see out the rest of the week."

Andre could feel the tears welling up in his eyes, he had never thought
that his Mother was so ill that she had little time left, the realisation
hit him hard and he collapsed onto a nearby chair, tears began to fill his
eyes as he thought of all that his Mother had sacrificed for his future and
now she was going to die because of those same sacrifices.

Suddenly a large hand was placed on his shoulder, looking up he saw the
face of Conrad looking down at him with sadness.

"Andre, you have to do what you think is right, this is something no one
else can decided for you, as your mother told you, you are now the man of
the house so you have to decide."

Andre sniffled and gave a deep and heartfelt sigh, he had to do what was
best for his Mother.

"Thank you, yes I think you must take her to hospital, please do everything
you can for her, I will be in tonight to see her once she is settled."

"Which hospital would you prefer Sir?"

Conrad interrupted and gave the man a card.

"This is where you are to take her, they will be ready by the time you get
there and are expecting her, all your fees are to be charged to this
account."

Conrad gave the man another card.

"Thank you, is she still conscious, I'm sure she would want to see her son
first?"

"No, I'm sorry she is still passed out, we will make her comfortable and
take her to the hospital, perhaps it is best that she sleeps for now."

Conrad hugged Andre close as the men went in to load his Mother on the
trolley for transport, this was going to be a hard day for such a young
boy, one that had always been so dependent on his Mother for his
decisions. Conrad stayed close to Andre as the trolley was wheeled out,
Andre broke into stronger sobs as he saw his Mother taken away in such a
state, he hugged closer to Conrad, he felt his bright new life had just
been torn away.

"Conrad, what should I do now?"

"Now we go to see your Mother settled then we see what we will see."

Andre went to his room and dressed in better clothes, there seemed to be no
shortage of them now that he had spent a day shopping. When he was nicely
dressed he went down in the private elevator with Conrad and got in his
car, thirty minutes later they were at the gates of a private
hospital. Entry was by card only which Conrad took from the glove box and
pushed into the waiting slot, next thing they were parking close to the
main doors.

Andre followed Conrad as he lead them through four floors until they came
to a private room. Outside the door were five Doctors, all seemed very
involved in looking through a file folder, the looks on their faces did not
help Andre's feeling of dread.

The oldest of the Doctors looked around and saw Andre, whispering to the
others he left them and came towards the boy. When he was standing in front
of Andre he held out his hand, Andre took the hand and gave it a single
shake as was the form for a first meeting.

"Sir, I'm very sorry but your mother is in far worse shape than at first
thought, we have done all the tests we can do and the prognosis is not
good, I think you should prepare yourself for her loss, we think she may
not last out the night, do you feel up to going to see her?"

Andre could only nod his head, how could she have deteriorated so quickly,
Andre felt Conrad's comforting hand grasp his shoulder then walk beside him
as the Doctor lead the way to the private room. The first sight of his very
ill Mother only caused more tears to flow down his cheeks, he looked down
at the thin sallow face, his Mother's eyes were dark and sunken even
further than before, the tears increased.

Andre reached out and took the slack hand in his own; even he could feel
the waxiness of the skin as he held her hand. His Mother's eyes flickered
open and she tried her best to smile at her little boy, she had done
everything she had set out to do and now she could rest, he was well
prepared, had a good and wealthy sponsor and was on his way, she sighed and
gripped his hand as best she could.

Andre could not believe she had slipped into this condition so quickly, he
felt he still needed her, he was not old enough to look after himself, even
though now he was in a better position than any pleasure boy had ever been
but it looked as though it was all ready to fall apart, without his Mother
to advise him he would be walking on thin ice.

Somehow his Mother could almost read what he was thinking, gripping his
slender hand as tight as she could manage, she forced herself to speak, she
well knew she had little time left, the last two weeks she had been living
on pure adrenaline so he would be ready for the world outside before her
time came, giving Andre a warm smile she said.

"Baby, you can do it, it's your time now, you know everything you need to
know, remember, be the best pleasure boy you can be, try to be the best
that has ever been seen on Pathos, even if you don't succeed at least try
for it, I'm very proud of you my little boy but now it's your time, always
remember I love you and will always be watching over you."

For Andre it was almost as though his Mother was just waiting for this
time, as he held tightly to her hand he heard a deep long sigh escape from
her lips, she shuddered for a few seconds and then he felt the warmth
leaving her hands and her eyes closed as her head tilted to one side. As
she stopped moving all sorts of alarms began to beep and ring, within
seconds there were medical staff running through the door and trying to
usher him outside.

Andre felt the strong hands of Conrad guiding him away to the waiting room,
as he did so Conrad pulled his communicator from his pocket and made some
calls.

It took no more than a few minutes before the same elderly Doctor walked up
to Andre, the look on his face said it all, Andre now knew he was alone,
the tears flowed harder and he could not hear a word the Doctor was saying,
he felt to devastated to even try to make sense of it all, Conrad took over
and Andre was left alone with his agony.

It was two days later when Andre next saw his Mother's body. She had been
prepared by an expert and looked as though she was just taking a rest. The
service was short but meaningful and as he watched her body taken away for
cremation, he turned and buried his head in Conrad's chest, there seemed to
be no way to turn off the tears.

The next day Andre got a call from the Councillor, after giving his
condolences the Councillor told Andre they had postponed his training until
he felt better. Andre told him not too, he needed to keep busy and as soon
as his Mother's ashes arrived he would be ready to leave for the
camp. Conrad watched as the small thin boy pulled himself up to his full
height and seemed to glow with a new strength and determination, the boy
had guts he thought to himself.

Andre's Mother's ashes arrived that afternoon, once he had shed the last
tears he promised himself to ever shed again, he set about packing a small
bag for the trip to the camp the next morning.

When the sun rose on the next day, Andre thought they would be travelling
by car, instead, when he got to the parking area, he saw a three man hover
jet just setting down on the fresh green lawn. He was eventually to learn
that agency people only moved and were supplied with the best of equipment,
the flight to the training ground took the jet two hours and that was at a
speed Andre could not even guess at.

The camp turned out to be placed on an Island far out in the ocean between
the two major land masses of Pathos, it was a very large Island situated
close to the equator where it was like an oven on high during the day and
an oven on medium during the night, it also seemed to rain in buckets for
two or three hours every other day, it was torrential for the time it fell
but then would stop as suddenly as it had started, it was a new experience
for the small city boy.

When he stepped from the jet he was met by an older man, the man took one
look at the small thin boy and shrugged his shoulders before saying.

"Fuck, are we getting this desperate?"

Conrad was quick to step in.

"This is Captain Lightfoot, he is under the protection of the Councillor,
see that he is treated properly or your head will be on the block, he is to
get his own quarters and be treated as though he was an officer of high
rank, you will assign a Cadet to see to his needs, I will be staying here
as well."

"And who are you, this is my facility, we're not here to cow-tow to prissy
little pleasure boys."

Conrad did not answer the man he just took out his communicator and dialled
a number, it took less than a second to get a connection, everyone within
ear shot heard him speak to the disembodied voice on the other end of the
connection.

"Councillor, we have a problem with the commanding officer of the facility,
he seems to not want Captain Lightfoot here...yes Sir...very good
Sir...thank you Sir."

Conrad replaced his communicator in his pocket then turned to the officer.

"Where is your 2nd In Command?"

"In the office where he should be."

"Call him here now by order of the Councillor."

The Senior Officer did not look happy as he talked into a shoulder mounted
communicator, but within two minutes a younger officer was seen running
towards them, when he came up to the small group Conrad turned to him.

"By the Order of the Councillor for Security, Leon Sadan, you will take
full command of this facility and escort this officer to a place of
detention; he is to receive no visitors until Councillor Sadan has approved
it."

The younger officer looked as though he had just been punched in the face
but managed to stutter out a prompt "Yes Sir, is there anything else Sir?"

"Yes, you will assign a young Cadet to take care of Captain Lightfoot; I
believe he is expected at the medical office right now."

"Yes Sir, I shall attend to it immediately Sir."

While Andre was trying to see if Conrad had made a mistake, the younger
officer started giving orders to other personnel that were close by, within
moments Andre had a young teen by his side and the older officer was being
escorted away, no one was ever to see him again, the younger officer
suddenly found himself with a promotion that gave him two more stripes on
his epaulet.

Andre and Conrad followed the young cadet, he looked to be about fifteen
and wore a single white stripe on his shoulder epaulets to denote his
junior officer status, Andre wanted to ask Conrad about the fictitious rank
he had given the man before but did not get a chance before they stepped
into the medical centre.

Waiting for him were four male doctors and a male nurse, they all had a
stunned look on their faces as the three walked in, they had been told that
a new recruit for the ministry would be arriving but had expected the usual
adult and not a small boy that looked very much like one of the pleasure
boys from the capital.

Conrad took over immediately.

"Doctors, this is Captain Lightfoot, you have the list for the procedures?"

"Ahm, yes but we were expecting an adult, this is just a young boy, will he
be able to control the equipment?" asked the elder of the doctors.

"That's why he is here to be trained, now, Cadet, what is your name?"

"Junior Cadet Simmas Sir."

"Well Cadet Simmas, you will go to the Captains quarters and make them
ready for when he leaves the medical centre, you will inspect his uniforms
and make sure he has everything he ever needs including his weapons and
clothing, as of this minute you are assigned to watch over him, anything he
needs you will get for him, you will be permanently assigned until he
leaves, any questions?"

"No Sir, I'll get to his quarters now Sir."

Once the cadet had disappeared, Conrad looked at the doctors.

"How long will it take before he can leave?"

"Three days Sir."

"Good Take care of him he is under the personal orders of Councillor Sadan,
I'll be back to collect him once he is done."

Conrad left the medical centre and Andre was left in the hands of the
strangers, he only hoped he would still be in one piece after they finished
with him, the older doctor now smiled at him.

"Are you ready for this young man?"

"I don't know what `this' is yet but I suppose I have to be now."

"Good, good, now come this way we have everything ready for you."

Andre followed the group of five into another room, this one had a chair
and a small narrow bed along with a small wardrobe. The doctor then asked
him which was his dominant hand, after telling him it was his right and the
doctor inspected both his hands for himself, he was told to strip and lay
down on the bed, the last thing he remembered was the clear mask being
placed over his mouth, from then on there was only a comfortable warm
darkness.

Andre awoke with a start, he almost immediately began to panic, he could
now only see out of one eye, the other was covered with something, both his
hands and feet felt a little numb and there was a soft background hissing
in his head, suddenly the familiar voice of Conrad came through the soft
hissing.

"Hey it's Ok, everything went well you just have to adjust to the extras
now, stay calm it's all Ok."

Andre looked to his right and saw the familiar face, Conrad looked calm so
Andre began to settle down.

"What did they do to me?"

"It's all good stuff, you just need one more day and then you'll be back to
normal then we can start your training, are you hungry?"

"Yes I'm famished, it's like I haven't eaten for days."

"You haven't, it's been three days since the procedure, wait and I'll call
for the Cadet to find you something."

Andre relaxed back onto the pillows, he was now not so sure he had made the
right decision, what if they had ruined his ability to dance the Terrasan
or even worse, had made it impossible for him to be a pleasure boy any
more, before the panic could set in once again, Conrad returned with the
Cadet carrying a large tray of food, Andre's need for food overtook anymore
worries he had.

Andre spent one more night in the medical centre before the doctors began
to remove the pressure bandages from his hands and feet, after it was all
done he was allowed to go to his new quarters, as usual they turned out to
be far better than he would have expected of a military camp, everything he
would need was set out for him by the cadet.

His uniform was the normal grey one piece, on the epaulets were the two
gold embroidered bars of a captain and over the breast was his new name and
a number, Cpt. Lightfoot on the right and 0001120 on the left, he still did
not know why he was a Captain.

The Cadet brought in a tray of food for Andre and Conrad sat in a chair
opposite as the boy began to wolf down the food, Andre's hands and feet
still tingled a little but at least they had feeling, the soft hissing was
still in his head but the blackness of his left eye was still a worry to
him.

When he had finished eating, Andre looked over at Conrad who had been
sitting silently while the boy ate.

"What have they done too me, I'm blind in my left eye and my head is all
fuzzy?"

"Firstly you are not blind, you have a patch over your eye to protect it
from the light, we can take it off soon, the hissing in your head can
easily be turned off and, as for the rest of you, I think you will be
pleasantly surprised, from this day on you will never have to be afraid of
anyone again. Over the next two weeks we are going to train you to use all
those special things the doctors gave you."

"Ok but why can't I see, if I can't see then I can't dance?"

"Alright Captain Lightfoot, then let's start with your eyes, I'm going to
turn down the room lighting until you get used to the difference you now
have, just a moment; Cadet Simmas!"

"Yes Sir?"

"There is no need for you to see or hear any of this, it is all classified
so you can leave, we will call when you can return, until then you will
keep all personnel away from the Captains quarters."

"Yes Sir, Very good Sir."

The Cadet saluted and left the quarters, the walls, unknown to Andre were
soundproofed so there was no way for anyone to overhear what was about to
be disclosed, after dimming the internal lighting, Conrad walked back to
stand beside Andre's chair.

"Ok Andre, I want you to close your left eye, don't open it until I tell
you."

Andre nodded and waited as he felt Conrad fidgeting with the patch over his
left eye, he had to concentrate to keep it closed, when he felt the patch
being removed he took a small breath and waited.

"Ok Andre, now I want you to close your right eye and keep it closed, when
you have done that you can slowly open your left, at first it's going to be
very bright and then out of focus but just be patient, it will clear in
time."

Andre did as he was told, as he opened his left eye the bright flash of
light made him wince and draw in another sharp breath, slowly he opened it
further until it was wide open, the room was still dim but to his new
vision it seemed too bright, everything around him was blurry and he tried
to clear his sight by shaking his head a little.

"It's Ok, Andre, that's normal, just be patient, it will clear soon."

True to Conrad's word his vision began to clear, it took a few more minutes
but soon he was able to have Conrad brighten the lights to normal, there
was now just a hint of blurriness to his sight.

"It's still not fully clear Conrad, how can I dance if I can't see
properly?"

"Well you might try shutting the camera off."

"What camera, what do you mean?"

"You have a miniature camera inserted in your left eye behind the pupil, it
can be turned on and off by pressing your finger to your left temple with
your left hand, try it. Place your finger on your temple and feel around a
little, you should feel a small hard bar just under the skin, when you have
it just tap lightly on it once and your eyesight will come back to normal."

Andre did as he was told, it took a few seconds to find the narrow thin bar
just under the skin but, when he tapped it softly, his left eye came back
to normal, he almost grinned with satisfaction as he looked at Conrad with
a wide smile on his lips.

"What Else did they do?"

"Well now, the hissing in your head is from your transceiver, press your
right finger just behind your ear lobe, you should feel a little, hard
bump, press on that and the hissing will stop."

Andre did as he was told and immediately the noise in his head stopped.

"The reason it was hissing is that you have not been given a frequency yet,
you'll get that before we leave here, when you have that you will not have
that noise anymore, now for the next surprise, stand up and stamp your feet
on the floor."

Andre did so and was surprised to see the floor slats bend as though a
heavy weight had fallen on them.

"Your heels and the balls of your feet have been injected with liquid
Stelgel, you will find that your knuckles are also done with the same
material, this will still give you all the flexibility you need to dance
but now you can smash bricks or people with them."

Andre lifted his small hands up to his face, he could barely make out the
micro surgical scars on the skin over his knuckles.

"Now you hands and feet are for protection, if you want to go on the attack
then you have the second finger of your right hand, hold your right hand
out flat and upwards, good boy, now with your thumb press on the pad of the
third joint close to your palm."

Conrad watched as Andre followed his instructions.

"Do you feel that hard little button under the skin?"

"Yes."

"Press down hard with your thumb."

Andre did as asked, there was no sound but he now had a small silvery
needle about two inches long sticking out of the end of his finger, it had
a small drop of yellow liquid dripping from the tip, Andre's eyes shot wide
open as he looked at the small needle, there had been no pain or anything
to indicate the needle was under his skin.

"What is it?" He asked Conrad.

"That's Sunburst Scorpion venom."

Andre leapt to his feet and stared at the drop of yellow liquid, the
Sunburst Scorpion was the most venomous and dangerous of all the insect on
Pathos, the single drop sitting on the end of the needle was enough to kill
a grown man in seconds, he could only look at the drop with utter fear,
what had they done to him, Conrad saw the fear on the boys face.

"Don't worry Andre, you are now immune to it, in fact as the venom is so
virile you are now immune to most any other venom in existence, the doctors
injected you with a special enzyme from the Sunburst Scorpion, your own
body now produces it so you are immune, you know what it can do so if you
have to use it you don't have to worry about your own safety."

Andre could only stare down at the yellow drop in awe.

"What do I do now?"

"Lick it off and press the pad again, the needle will withdraw and your
hand will look normal again, then there is only one thing more to see."

Andre could not quite believe what he had just been told, did they really
think he would purposely put a drop of Sunburst Scorpion venom in his own
mouth. He looked up at Conrad to see if he was joking, he wasn't. Conrad
just stood there and nodded for him to do as he was told. Tentively Andre
lifted the thin needle to his mouth, closing his eyes thinking this was a
very stupid thing to do, he poked his tongue out and licked the yellow drop
off the end of his finger. Seconds later he was still standing, much more
of a surprise was that the venom tasted a little like a sugar drop, he
relaxed as Conrad began talking again.

"Now for the last item, look at the nails on your left hand, tell me what
you see?"

Andre looked closely but could see nothing different about his finger
nails.

"Nothing, they look just like they always did, well perhaps they are
cleaner and a little more polished but that's all."

"Good, Ok now flick your wrist as though you were trying to shake something
off your hand but do it sharply like something is very sticky."

Andre did as he was told, when next he looked at his nails they were now
longer by an inch, he looked closely at them but could still not see
anything different apart from being a little longer, he looked up at
Conrad.

"How did that happen and why?"

"The nails on your left hand have been replaced with Tetrylon; you now have
four very sharp knives, to hide them again just run your right hand flatly
over the backs of your four fingers, you will feel the small bumps under
the skin, they lock back into the first joint for safety. You can cut
through most anything except steel with them but they are mainly used to
cut anyone that attacks you."

Andre stood there with his mouth open, he was now like a walking arsenal,
he only hoped he would have time to learn how to control all these things,
it was soon answered for him by Conrad.

"Now for the next seven days you will be working day and night to control
all of those extras, how to use them and more importantly, when to use
them, you will also be taught how to use your legs and feet as weapons for
unarmed fighting, at the end of that you will have one more operation to
undergo, but for now it's not important, it would be a good idea now for
you to have the rest of today off and practise a little on your own,
tomorrow the real training starts."

Andre could hardly believe it all, he had heard that there were many things
that went on in the security division but he had never thought it would be
anything like this.

"Does everyone that works for Leon have these things?"

"No Andre, you're the first, why he decided you were the one I will never
know but personally I think he was right in selecting you, now time to get
some rest, do you want your cadet to come back?"

"No not yet, I want to practice a little more, do you think it would be ok
if I asked him to bed with me, I... well...I sort of feel horny after all
this."

Conrad laughed and then said.

"You just tell him what you want, he has his orders to look after anything
you want, make good use of him, it's the last free day you will have for
some time, enjoy it."

Conrad left the room so Andre could investigate his new body, firstly he
wanted to make sure he could still dance with all these new things inside
his body, he turned to the music station and began to dance one of the
minor dances, it was the Tildan, a dance that used most of his body but
lacked the insinuations of sexual delight like the Terrasan.

As he danced, Andre tried to work out what other operation Conrad had
meant, there was little left for them to do too him, he had little option
but to wait and see, he only hoped that it did not interfere with his
dancing, it was the one thing he was really good at and thoroughly enjoyed.

The Cadet arrived and began to get his bed ready, Andre could see from the
corner of his eye as he danced that the Cadet was trying not to watch him
as he twisted and twirled in the dance, when the music ended he asked for
the ablution room and went to wash up, afterwards it was a light snack and
then he was ready for bed, Andre decided to throw caution to the wind and
asked the Cadet.

"I would like you to sleep with me."

The Cadet answered promptly.

"Yes Sir, I would like that as well, do you wish me to be a top or bottom
Sir?"

"A top please."

"Very good Sir, I hope you enjoy it with me."

There was little time for talk, it took the two boys little more than a
minute to become naked and slide into the large soft bed. In the morning
Andre had little to complain about, the Cadet was not as well endowed as
Leon but he was very enthusiastic. After their tryst, Andre slept well and
awoke to a hot breakfast waiting for him on a tray, it took a while before
he realised it was only 4.00am, within thirty minutes he was in full
uniform and being marched to his first training session.

Sixteen hours later and feeling as though his body was broken in small
pieces, Andre dragged his aching body back to his quarters where the Cadet
was waiting for him. He had been put through a wringer, every muscle in his
small body ached even though he would have been considered exceptionally
fit by other standards his trainers had shown him what fitness was really
about.

Every exercise was also designed to not only improve how he already was but
to not interfere with his natural flexibility and dancing needs. The
hardest exercise was the unarmed combat, he had never been a boy that liked
confrontation but now he had to learn from scratch how to attack and defend
in a lot of scenarios as well as when and where not to use is extra
weapons.

It was Conrad who took him for training on his extras, the Ministry did not
want anyone else to know what he had been given, everything about Andre now
had a top priority security clearance, he was to be an invisible deadly
weapon.

As each day passed, Andre got better and better until the last day of
training arrived. He could now feel the extra strength, speed and
flexibility he now had, there was only the final operation to be done,
Conrad had told him it would be another three day operation but he would
not need two days to get over it, as they arrived at the medical centre the
same four doctors and the single nurse were waiting for him, minutes later
and he was in blackness.

When next Andre opened his eyes he was still on the medical bed, Conrad was
again sitting beside him with a smile on his face.

"How are you?"

"I'm not sure, what did they do this time?"

"Just finished off your additions and activated your communications wave
length, switch your transceiver on and see, there should not be any of that
hissing now."

Conrad waited until Andre had checked his transceiver and then smiled at
the boy again.

"Now close your eyes and tap the camera bar twice quickly, like a double
tap but keep your eyes closed."

Andre did as he was told, as he saw the changes he almost opened his eyes
and yelped, on the inside of his eyelids he could see a miniature heads up
display, opening his eyes he looked at Conrad.

"How do I switch it off and what use is it?"

"Just tap again like with the camera and it's for getting instructions
without sound or you can use the planetary maps, you scroll through the
menu by blinking your eye lids and with practice you can change it with
your thoughts, there is a nodule implanted in your head to activate it, you
will have to practice as we go for that, it's time for us to leave, the jet
will be here in an hour so you better get up and get your things ready."

Andre rolled off the bed and stood up; when he blinked he still saw the
menu behind his eyelids, he reached up and tapped his left temple and was
back to normal. When he reached his quarters the Cadet was there waiting
for him, everything had been packed including his uniforms, he did not
think he would be keeping them as he could not see where they would be used
in his new life.

Hours later and Andre was back in his new apartment, he had no sooner
settled into a chair and rested his head back than the door buzzer
sounded. Conrad waved him back into the chair and went to the security
panel to see who had arrived, it was the young man that had met them there
on the first day. Conrad pushed the door button and the young man came into
the lounge.

"Good morning Master Lightfoot, I have drawn up some sample scenes for your
apartment, if you wish to approve any of them or change them it would be Ok
and then we can start to make the changes you would like."

Andre could only nod his head as the young man took out a large portfolio
of drawings. Andre now felt that as this was going to be his home forever
he might as well try to make it as homely as he could. He went through each
drawing until he found what he wanted, the only alteration he wanted was a
large real oil picture of his Mother to be made and hung in the lounge.It
would be done from one of the only two photographs he had of her when she
was still young and healthy.

After the young man left he heard a soft click inside his head, his
transceiver had been switched on without his using his hand, in his head
came the calm and friendly voice of Leon.

*Hello Andre, or should I call you Captain Lightfoot*

Andre couldn't resist a giggle and talked in his normal voice, Conrad
seemed unmoved by the conversation Andre was having.

"Hello Councillor, I've just got home from camp."

*Yes I know, now I have something for you tomorrow, do you remember the man
that wants you to do the Terrasan for him?*

"Yes."

*Well it turns out he is having a group of important diplomats to watch
you. I have seen his guest list and I will be there as well but it is the
Ambassador for Karapak that I want you to try to get close to. I'll be at
your apartment first thing in the morning to talk it all over with you so
for now, have a good night's rest and I'll see you in the morning.*

"Ok, thank you Leon."

Andre heard the soft click in his head as the Councillor left, he then
turned to Conrad and asked.

"Is there anything to eat here, I'm starving?"

"No sorry, the apartment has been closed while you were away, you may want
to think about getting a servant to watch the place for you when you're
away, we can look for one and have him cleared by security."

"Yes that sounds like a good idea, now can we go out and find a restaurant,
I could eat ten Bactra's in one sitting."

A Bactra was a meat animal about the size of the normal dog and was the
main protein animal for Pathos, it had a slightly gamey taste but was high
in iron. For Andre it was almost like a luxury after his life in Quadrant
seven, for those living in Quadrant four it was an everyday meat, there
were other animals used for high end meals.

After he got changed into street clothes from his new wardrobe, Andre and
Conrad left in his car for the city centre. It was time to spend some of
his credits and see some of the sights he had missed growing up. It was
another new adventure, his young body seemed to glow with a new found
health after the training camp.


TBC.


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