Page 79 of My Tiny Giant
“H OW MUCH LONGER?” I asked the Army Headquarters AI. Its screen was mounted on a stand that reminded me of a stick vacuum cleaner on wheels.
“The evaluation is still in progress.” Its impassive voice scraped against my last nerve.
I’d been pacing the reception area for what felt like hours. This morning, Agan’s medical evaluation had been taking much longer than ever before. I suspected it had something to do with his sudden increase in size overnight.
What if there were complications after all?
The lack of updates tortured me.
“I need to know why it’s been taking so long,” I demanded from the AI. “Is there a problem?”
“I’m not authorized to provide you with updates.”
“Then who is?” I raised my voice at the device. “Someone should be able to tell me what’s going on.”
The sad truth was that no one was actually obligated to provide me with any information in regard to Agan. General Hicrai was absolutely right when he’d said I had no claim to Agan.
“It’s lunch time, Lieutenant Novak,” the AI suggested in a friendly but totally unhelpful tone of voice. “Why don’t you go to the upper floor and enjoy a meal in the court garden?”
I gazed at the screen with a fake smile and said, matching its tone, “Why don’t you stop telling me what to do and tell me what the hell is happening in that lab, instead?”
“The lab is currently being cleaned and sanitized,” the AI suddenly replied.
“What do you mean? Is it currently empty, then?” I realized that as the AI wasn’t authorized to update me on Agan’s status, it had not been explicitly prohibited to share the status of the area with me. “There is no one there anymore?”
“No. The examination room is empty.”
“How long has it been empty?” I narrowed my eyes at the screen.
“For twenty-two minutes.”
That was more than enough time for Agan to be returned to me.
Where was he?
No one had bothered to inform me of him being moved. Why would they? I wasn’t Agan’s family. I didn’t belong to his Army or even to his home planet. No matter what he thought about me or what I felt for him, as far as either government was concerned, I was a nobody to him.
How would I be able to find him, now?
“Have any other rooms in the building become recently occupied?” I asked AI. If they had decided to detain Agan without telling me, they had to put him somewhere.
“How recently?”
“In the past twenty-two minutes,” I said then added quickly, “Make it twenty-three, now.”
“Yes. Two meeting rooms became occupied during that time.” The screen lit up with floor maps and room numbers. “Would you like me to book any of the available ones?”
“No.”
I recognized the location of the two rooms highlighted on the AI screen. One of them was the same room where Agan and I had the meeting with Rick and the Voranian General, before our mission at the Professor Voltuds’s house.
“On second thought,” I said to the AI. “I think I’m going to take your advice and go get some lunch. If anyone is looking for me, please locate me through one of your devices. I’ll also check in with one of your drones in the gardens or the cafeteria.”
I intended to do just that, right after I’d checked out the meeting room first, though.
Leaving the lab reception area, I took the glass tube elevator up to the floor where the meeting room we’d used last time was located. The closer I got, the stronger the feeling that Agan was there grew inside me.
Approaching the white frosted door of the room, I placed my ear to the glass, listening to the voices behind it. I didn’t recognize any of them as Agan’s, but the deep drawls of both generals were unmistakable. At least one of them should be able to give me some answers.