Chapter Five

INTERIM PROGRESS REPORT: OPERATIVE DILLON…STANDARD EMOTIONAL RESPONSES: DOUBT, CONFLICT, SUSPICION…CURRENT SUCCESS RATING: 61%

'How are you?' I asked Bryant. 'You don't feel queasy, sick, like the infection is still in your system?'

'No. I feel fine, a little tired, perhaps, a little groggy.' He glanced at his shoulder, swathed in fresh bandages, and shrugged. 'Well, as fine as a man can feel after losing an arm like that!'

This was typical of Bryant, someone I'd always admired, a fearless, highly experienced operative who took everything in his stride.

'I don't know if you remember,' I said a little uncertainly, unsure how to broach what was no doubt a troubling memory, 'but when we were out in Sector Seven, when that–that thing attacked you, we found a journal.'

'Journal?' he said in such a doubtful way I could tell he possessed little or no recollection of the incident. 'What kind of journal?'

'An official account of an operative's visit to the Facility.'