The Wrong Side

Chapter 12

My sister. I have a sister?

I open my mouth to ask the question that Venning already knows that I'm going to ask. He holds up his hand before I start talking and waits for me to close my mouth.

"Not what you were expecting?" He asks.

"I don't know. It seems so cliche after having movies and books as my only way to see human nature."

"Well movies are usually very far from the reality," Venning says.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Because then you'd start asking questions that I wouldn't answer."

"You're going to tell me about her," I say. It's a statement, not a question or request. It's actually more of an order.

"Yes I will, but not now. Once you hold up your end of the deal, I'll tell you everything," he promises.

"Wait," I trail off a little as something dawns on me. "How exactly do I get into the Freeborn? Do I have to figure that out on my own, or are you going to help me with that?"

"Don't worry. I've had a plan for a while. You're going in undercover to try and lead the three Irvings to the Endurance. I've tested out the procedure on one of our spies and it went flawlessly. Unless you manage to royally screw it up, you'll be safe from being discovered."

For some reason, this doesn't comfort me that much. I'm almost certain that I'll blow my cover somehow. Is Venning an idiot? He knows that I have no experience with real people and that I am very unskilled when it comes to hiding things. I have never been able to fool anyone in my entire life. I don't lie -- I can't lie if my life depended on it. I can't even lie by omission.

"Have you thought this through?" I ask carefully.

"Yes I have." Venning opens a drawer to his desk and takes out something small which looks like a case. He spins it around in his hand with his index and thumb holding it in the middle while flicking it with the other.

"Are you certain? You know that I can't lie or hide anything. Why do you think it's a good idea for the most honest, antisocial teenager in the world to go undercover in the base of our enemy?"

Venning tosses the case at me and I almost miss it. It's really small and shiny and black. I open it and inside there's something that looks like a computer chip.

"What's this?" I say, taking it out of the case and waving it in front of Venning's face.

"It's the life and memories of a boy named Caden Tarasi. The real Caden in the custody of the Endurance and his father is being charged with treason."

"How is this relevant?"

"You bear a very similar resemblance to him. We are going to use his story as your cover story when you go into the Freeborn."

I laugh. I feel like Venning hasn't been listening to a word I've been saying these past few minutes. He waits for me to stop laughing before he continues.

"There's a procedure we're going to do so that you know everything about Caden Tarasi. You're going to have all his memories so that there's total coverage for your story."

"Have you not been listening to what I was saying, sir?" I ask, very frustrated now.

"Yes I have, Damon, and I know that you cannot hide anything from anyone even if your life depended on it. You can stop stressing that point because I have had this plan for a good period of time and I've had beta testers for it."

"What's your perfect plan then?" I ask a little sarcastically. I'm actually interested in what Venning has to say to this.

"I told you about what I did with your friend Dawn. I told you how I made her memories of you very fuzzy. She probably won't remember her encounter with you at all, and if she does, it'll be just a dream."