“It certainly doesn’t help, sir,” I managed.
He glanced at the data tab in his hands.
“Is this a recent occurrence?”
“No sir, I’ve been deaf most of my life.”
“That makes your performance scores even more impressive. You’ve matched multiple times, I see.” He looked me up and down. “You’re young yet. You could still find your Bonded.”
“It’s—that’s highly unlikely, sir. I was recently removed from Touchpoint consideration. All four of my previous matches chose other Somas.” I guess it was actually five now, wasn’t it? Since Luke was going to Bond with someone else.
“You have excellent scores,DekaneasKatastrofis,” he said. “Omada would be lucky to have you. Frankly, we tend to get people whoaren’tvery good at fighting. Or rather, people who have given up fighting.”
He thumbed a little further through my record before setting the data tab down.
“Hearing challenges or no, joining Omada is not something you do on a whim,Dekaneas. Omada takes the hopeless cases, the missions from which it is highly unlikelyanyonewill return from. Do you have friends? Lovers? Who is…DekaneasDagan to you?” he asked, referring back to the paperwork I had completed.
“Dagan is my friend, sir. A fellow soldier. He recently met his Bonded at the last Touchpoint,” I said in way of explanation. “I met him in basic training.”
He harrumphed.
“No family. No other…connections?”
I shook my head as he continued to review my file.
“Wait. You’re the Soma who was pulled from the rubble of the explosion at the Pavilion?”
I nodded in answer to his question.
“That was a helluva thing. How did you survive?”
I shrugged. “There was an Earth Mageia there who shielded us. He’s the one who saved us.”
“Hm.” He looked down again. “And this Mageia—was he Bonded?”
I wasn’t sure where he was going with this, but I shook my head.
“He wasn’t that day, but I understand he will be soon.”
“He’s going to be insanely powerful, then.”
He looked at me a moment longer, with perhaps more comprehension than I was comfortable with. He seemed to sniff the air for a moment, as if he smelled something that confused him, then sneezed. I didn’t blame him, the pollen from the flowers that were everywhere in the complex were making my eyes water.
“I just want to be of use, sir. It doesn’t look like that’s going to happen as a Bonded, so I’d like to find something that would be… worthwhile.”
“You have excellent scores,DekaneasKatastrofis,” he said again as he looked through my records, almost as if he couldn’t believe them. “I just want to make sure you know what you are getting yourself into.”
“I do,” I said quietly. The despair I was feeling must have shown in my face as he looked at me compassionately. I rubbed my nose, suddenly realizing the man in front of me smelled like nutmeg, of all things. Was I going crazy? I’d always had a sensitive nose, even as a kid, but the last few days it seemed like everyone I was running into needed to lay off the cologne. Or, in this guy’s case, the baked goods.
“You’re very young, Katastrofis. I’m impressed with your performance but being disqualified from the Touchpoint program had to have been a shock. Some Somas do find their match outside the program.”
“I’ve matched four times now, sir,” I said tonelessly. “My disability makes it unlikely I will ever be chosen as a Bonded. This, at least, is something I can do to help my country.”
He stared at me solemnly for several moments before handing me a packet of materials.
“I will accept your request for transfer, but I want to be clear that up until mission launch, any Omada member is able to resign their commission and return to their regular duties. Once a mission isa go, though, we complete it without hesitation. Damn the consequences.”
I nodded. I had expected little else. He shook my hand and told me they would be contacting me in the next few days.
