I Am Automaton: A Military Science Fiction Novel Read Online Free PDF Page A

course, all of this is confidential, and you’ll report only to me. Is that clear, Captain London?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    Major Lewis flashed a warm smile at her. “I knew you were the right person for the job.”
    “I’ll do my best, sir.”
    “If we can get this program off the ground and run successful pilot tests in Mexico, the implications for unconventional warfare will be quite profound.”
    “I understand, sir.”
    “Dismissed, Captain.”
     
    ***
     
    Peter was sore from his physical therapy session and was irritable. He was in no mood to see a shrink.
    He detested army shrinks. They could not possibly understand what a real soldier went through. They were noncombatants and never saw any action.
    He winced as he walked down the corridor to her office. Captain Fiona London. She sounded to him like an actress or model, or a WASP who enlisted in the army to piss off daddy.
    He pressed the blue button for the retinal scan. A beam scanned his eye, and a tone signaled the confirmation of his identity.
    “Enter,” he heard from inside.
    He stepped into the room, closed the door behind him, and saluted the captain at her desk.
    “That won’t be necessary, Sergeant.”
    She gestured for him to sit down in the chair in front of her desk.
    As he sat, he took in her office. It was different from the other officers’ offices. It wasn’t minimally decorated with that Spartan sensibility so characteristic of the army.
    No, Captain London apparently was going for homey, but only as much as the military would permit. There were curtains on the window, even a valence. Impressionistic paintings hung on the walls, probably by famous painters, not that he would know the difference.
    Then it dawned on him. It was his parents’ living room from his childhood. Nice touch. Just enough to make him feel at home.
    He sized up his new therapist. Captain London obviously had some sophistication to go with her fancy degrees, and she was not terrible to look at either.
    “So, Sergeant Birdsall…may I call you Peter?”
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    “I think that we can dispense with the formalities. I think that it is important that you feel comfortable in here.”
    “Well, I’ve never been to a…shrink before.”
    “That’s okay. I think you’ll find I’m the least painful army doctor.”
    There was something very easy-going about her demeanor. Peter felt that it was almost as if she was flirting with him, but there was no flirtatious body language. She was being folksy.
    “Let’s see.” She was poking the touch screen of her Cybernetic Digital Organizer. “Sergeant Peter Birdsall. Age 24, 6’ 4”, 220 pounds. Texas native. Played high school football. Hobbies include hunting, fishing, and camping. Good all-American boy.”
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    She put down the Cybernetic Digital Organizer and looked him right in the eye. “So, Peter, I see from your file that you had experienced the loss of your squad in Tijuana.”
    Boy, she didn’t mince words.
    “Yes.”
    “And Corporal Delroy Apone was a friend.”
    Peter swallowed hard. “Yes, that’s correct.”
    “I’m very sorry to hear about that.”
    “Thank you.”
    Captain London paused briefly, deciding which route to go with the session. She wanted him to open up, but she didn’t want to be too direct and shut him down. “If you don’t mind me asking, how on earth did you manage to get out?”
    “I believe it’s all in the file.”
    “Yes, in the file it states that you fought off your captors with hands bound and fled to the city where someone had apparently taken you in.”
    Lucita. He never saw her again, was never able to thank her. “Yes, that’s correct.”
    “Well, Peter, you are very lucky to still be with us.”
    He hated that everyone said that to him. “I don’t feel lucky.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I mean that I walked my men into an obvious ambush. I saw my men gunned down…no, executed in front of me. And now I get to live with that the