“Dr Black and I go back a long way, Gonzalo. I’ve told you that. I’ve not hidden it from you.”

I was back in Abram’s office, in front of his desk, where I had been a little less than a week ago.

I shifted my weight in my chair. “Yes, sir, but isn’t information about The Base and our missions, like, sort of, confidential?”

“Yes, to most people,” said Abram immediately from the other side of his desk, with a dismissive wave of his hand. “But I can tell who I want about it. Even I needs friends I can talk things over with, Gonzalo. Just like you and Mute.” He smiled.

Something felt wrong. Abram still wasn’t being as reassuring as I’d hoped he would be. “But he threatened me, sir. He told me he would make my life ‘hell’ and ‘a nightmare’ if I ever disobeyed you again.”

Abram’s forehead creased a little under his bushy eyebrows. “Yes...you mentioned this on the phone. As I say, I will have words with Alistair about that, Gonzalo. Just out of interest, how was the meeting with him and your mother going, before he said those things?”

My eyes tilted up and to the right, which is where people look when they’re remembering something—I had learned that in interrogation class here at The Base. I also didn’t want to keep eye contact with Abram because I felt embarrassed. I had learned that being a puny weakling. “Er...yes...well...it had been a bit difficult. I suppose I hadn’t behaved....perfectly up till then…”

“Aha,” said Abram. “That would explain it. If you were giving him a hard time for dating your mother, he probably lost his patience a little and said some things that he didn’t really mean. Don’t worry about it, Gonzalo. I promise you, I will speak to him and straighten things out. Even adults lose their temper and say things they shouldn’t, sometimes.”

“Well...ok…” I said, not really feeling ‘ok’ at all. “If you say so, sir.” This doesn’t feel right. But I didn’t think this was the time to press the issue. As far as I could tell, I had only narrowly avoided being kicked out of Miracle Force this week.

“Good,” said Abram. “Now, if you’ve nothing else to raise with me, let’s turn to the reason I called you in on a Saturday.”

I blinked. I thought that he had called me in on a Saturday to talk about Dr Black. To be honest, right now I just wanted to go home and have a lie down. I had been through a whole rollercoaster of emotions in just a few minutes. What did he have for me now?

“You really did not behave as you should have on the Iran mission, Gonzalo.”

My gut tightened. Oh, come on. Not again. Not now.

“You disobeyed me and potentially jeopardised the mission.”

Why is he doing this again?

“That’s why,” said Abram, “at first I was very disappointed in you.”

Why is—huh? ‘At first’?

Now there was a twinkle in Abram’s eyes and I could have sworn that for a second the hint of a smile might have tugged at the corners of his mouth.

“Then I thought about it some more,” he said. “In doing what you did, you showed a great deal of initiative and courage. You were under extreme stress and pressure yourself, with the lives of a fellow soldier and several innocent civilians under threat. And you had already witnessed some casualties on the mission, which I know was a first for you. Nevertheless, you thought on your feet and took a huge risk in order in the end both to achieve your primary objective and keep one of your teammates alive. You didn’t put achieving the mission objective above the life of your teammate, but to the best of your ability given what you knew, or thought you knew, about the situation, you acted in order to safeguard both of them.”

Huh. Well, when you put it like that, it didn’t sound too bad...

“That’s why I’m ending your disciplinary leave early and promoting you,” said Abram.

“What?!” The word just burst from my mouth as for a moment I forgot all protocol and proper terms of address.

The Commander didn’t seem to mind on this occasion. “Yes, that’s right, Gonzalo, I’m promoting you. I’m making you the Captain of Miracle Force.” Now he really did smile, big and wide, showing his teeth. “Congratulations, Captain Weakling.”

Abram stood up from his desk and held out his hand for me to shake.

I was trembling. But I thought I should stand up too so I did, banging my knee on his desk, and shook his hand at once.

“Th-thank you, sir,” I stammered. “I won’t let you down. I promise.”

“I know you won’t.” Abram’s grip was surprisingly firm, even for my super strong hands. “That’s precisely why I’m making you Captain. But let me also be quite clear.” He released my hand and sat down again. I mirrored him. “The way you behaved in the standoff with the terrorists and Mute should be the very rare exception, not the rule. I am still disappointed in you about that. But I am willing to make an exception in this case because you were not aware of all of the information about Mute’s powers that was influencing my decision—and that is my fault as much as anyone else’s. I don’t expect you to make a habit of disobeying my orders.”

Relief had been spreading through every muscle of my body, but now they tensed again.

Abram must have read my face, because he said “I know it’s a little unusual—promoting you right after you’ve been on disciplinary leave—but I’ve thought about it and I’ve concluded this is the best way to deal with your actions in Iran. Let me be quite clear: I am promoting you for showing initiative and acting as best you could given what you knew, and having also disciplined you for disobeying my directive. Do we understand each other?”

“Yes sir,” I nodded quickly.

“Good,” said Abram. “Now, I have a task for you.”

This day was just full of surprises.

Abram opened a draw on his side of the desk and took out a paper folder which he lay on the surface. It had the boxed word ‘CLASSIFIED’ stamped in the top corner in official-looking red letters. He flipped it open. On the first page a photo had been paper-clipped: a black-and-white head and shoulders shot of a woman in a burqa.

“Amina Amari,” said Abram. “Actually, Captain,”—for a moment I wondered who he was calling ‘Captain’, then I remembered; that was going to take some getting used to—“you are not to address her by her civilian name. In the normal course of things, you would not know it, as is the case with you and Mute.” Actually, Mute did know my name through mind-reading, but I didn’t think this was the time to bring that up either. “However, you needed to know it in this instance for the purposes of identifying her. And you used the information well on the mission, by the way.” My chest puffed out just a little. “You should do your best to forget it, though. It will be changed in any case. Instead, you are to address her by her own codename, which she has recently chosen.”

Intrigue loosened my tongue. “What would that be, sir?”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Djinn.”

Djinn. “That has a nice ring to it,” I said.

“It’s Arabic,” said Abram. “Djinn is a devout Muslim, however she has chosen a slightly ironic codename, just as you and Mute have done. The word originally means ‘demon’ and refers to a kind of invisible, malevolent spirit created from smokeless fire. It’s highly appropriate, given her power set, don’t you think, Captain?”

“Oh...um...er...yes sir.” I didn’t know what to say. He was addressing me as if I had authority.

“Indeed. Anyway, Djinn has very sensibly agreed that she will stay at The Base and become a part of Miracle Force, just as you did. Everything has been explained to her and she has signed the necessary legal documents. Her English is very good, as you discovered. However, she has not yet had her tour of The Base or begun proper orientation. I was wondering, Captain, if you would be able to give her a tour, just as Mute did for you when you first arrived?”

“Oh.” Is that it? “Er, yes, of course, sir. I’d be very happy to do that.”

“Wonderful. You can begin right away. She’s waiting for you in the mess hall. Dismissed.”

“Oh, right, OK sir.” Gee, that was a quick turnaround. What if I had said ‘no’?

I got to my feet with Abram. He didn’t move or say anything again for a moment. Was there something I was meant to do?

With a very quiet sigh, Abram saluted.

Crap! That was it! I gave him a hurried salute.

“Thank you, sir.”

“Very good, Captain.”

I grimaced as I turned away from him. As I reached the door, Abram called after me “Oh, and Gonzalo?”

I looked back at him, calm and authoritative behind his enormous desk. I couldn’t get the hang of these different terms of address.

“Be gentle with her,” said Abram. “Djinn has been through a great deal lately, and she is new to this country. She’s estranged from her family, and her process of getting here was quite traumatic, as I’m sure you will remember. She will require a...sensitive touch. I’m sure you can provide that, can’t you?”

“Yes sir.”

I shut the door behind me, leant against it and breathed out. This was becoming my standard routine on leaving Abram’s office.

That had really not gone how I had expected. I shut the door behind me and leant back against it, breathing out a heavy sigh.

Abram had not really done anything to reassure me about Dr Black at all, except to say that they knew each other and that he would have words with him. Something weird was going on here.

On the other hand… Abram had thought about my actions on the mission some more—and promoted me!

I could barely believe it.

“Captain Weakling,” I said to myself, quietly, testing out my new title.

I liked the sound of that.

And he had given me something to do. Better go to the mess hall and find Djinn.

I was nervous at the thought of giving her a tour already. Why should I be, though? I didn’t know if I was a military Captain or a scared teenage boy. I supposed I was both.

{Hi Weakling,} spoke a voice in my mind.

“Argh!” I jolted, nearly jumping out of my skin. “Mute!” I said quietly. I hadn’t seen him approaching me in the corridor outside the Abram’s office. “You nearly scared the crap out of me!” I motioned for him to walk with me, away from the office door, hoping that the Commander hadn’t heard my startled exclamation.

{Sorry...} said Mute telepathically with a pained expression as we made our way down the corridor. {I just wanted to come and find you before you gave Djinn the tour...}

“Don’t worry,” I said, glancing at his pasty face and bright red hair. “It’s good to see you.” Abram’s door had stayed shut.

I hadn’t seen him since our mission in Iran. As soon as the helicopter had found us in the desert and airlifted us to the nearest UN base in Lebanon we had been split up to be examined by different medical teams. I hadn’t seen him or spoken to him for over a week.

Truth be told, I had missed Mute quite a lot while he had been away—our friendship had grown stronger over the past few months as we had trained and practiced using our powers together. And I was longing to dissect the Iran mission with him.

{It’s good to see you too,} said Mute, but he didn’t make eye contact. {Look, Gonzalo—I just wanted to say…thank you. I didn’t get a chance to say it properly after the mission. Everything happened so quickly and I was still kind of in shock from nearly having had a bullet put through my brain, but...but...you saved my life on that train. So: thank you, Gonzalo. I can’t really express how grateful I am. I’d have brought you a gift or something but that seemed a little...lame. And I couldn’t think of anything that you’d want…}

If you didn’t actually get me a gift, why bring it up at all? I thought. Classic Mute. There must be very few people in the world that I could give tips about social interaction to.

{Ha,} Mute chuckled inside my mind. Of course I had forgotten that with our minds linked, Mute would have overheard my thoughts. Luckily, he’d found what I’d thought funny. {You’re not wrong there.} At last he met my gaze with a sheepish smile. I guessed we knew each other well enough now that my thoughts hadn’t offended him.

We turned a corner as we walked down the white-walled corridors of The Base, hung at intervals with the expensive-looking paintings that still neither of us knew were real or not.

{I mean it, though,} Mute said. {I’m very grateful to you for what you did on the mission, Gonzalo. Thank you.}

“Hey, come on, don’t mention it,” I said shyly. “You’d have done the same for me. Anyway, really it was Amin—I mean, Djinn who saved you when it came down to it. And from what Abram says it’s not like you were ever in any real trouble, were you? Apparently your telekinesis is way stronger when you’re under pressure?”

{Apparently so…} said Mute. {But you still went for the guy who was holding me captive rather than the primary objective.} I didn’t look directly, but I was pretty sure he was blushing. {And you got me to shut the Commander out of the mind link when he was telling you not to do that...}

“Yeah, he was pretty pissed about that…”

{Really? Oh, sorry, Gonzalo. I didn’t realise he’d be angry with you as well. What did he say?}

“No, actually you’re right, he was angry but he wasn’t too angry in the end... In fact…” Why hadn’t I told him yet? Just tell him, Weakling, he’s going to find out sooner or later.

{Tell me what?}

I shook my head. {There’s no use hiding your thoughts from a telepath is there?}

{It’s not my fault; you think very loudly!}

“Mute,” I said, “he promoted me. To Captain.”

Mute stopped dead in his tracks and I was forced to stop too, in the middle of one of The Base’s long corridors. His eyes stretched and his mouth hung open, unspeaking.

What was I worried about? Was Mute jealous? Would he feel insecure that he hadn’t been chosen as ‘Captain’ (whatever ‘Captain’ even meant)? Would it damage our friendship?

{No, none of those things!} said Mute in my mind. {That is so great!} The smile that beamed from his face looked genuine. {That’s amazing, Gonzalo! I mean, ‘Captain’!}

He saluted me and I saluted back, unable to prevent a grin from sneaking onto my face too. This wasn’t going to hurt our friendship.

{How did it happen?} he quizzed me as we reached the elevator and I thumbed the button to call it. {What did he say?}

I told him.

{That is so cool!} Mute said once I had finished. The elevator arrived and its doors slid open. {I mean, it sucks about your disciplinary leave, but a promotion...‘Captain Weakling,’} Mute mused, testing the title out on whatever his mind’s equivalent of a tongue was as the elevator began to descend. {I like it. It’s kind of oxymoronic, isn’t it? Like a contradiction in terms. A bit like Saint Paul in Two Corinthians: ‘when I am weak then I am strong.’}

A Bible quotation. That was Mute’s Christianity coming out. It hadn’t taken very long into our friendship for me to discover that Mute was a very committed Christian. He had seemed embarrassed by it at first, but I soon realised that was just because he was afraid I wouldn’t want to be his friend anymore when I found out.

Once he’d realised that wasn’t going to happen, though, he was anything but embarrassed by it. It was what drove his life. It was what had motivated him to fight crime by himself in London before he had been picked up by Miracle Force and it was what kept him going now. Every opportunity he got, he had begun trying to ‘evangelise’ me, saying that as a Jew by birth I was halfway to Christianity already, but I wasn’t interested. I didn’t really mind his religiousness all that much, though. I could overlook his quirks. I was just grateful to have a friend.

{Yeah, my codename is a bit of a joke now, isn’t it?} I said inside my mind. {But I also think it’s kinda cool. Hey, thanks for taking this so well and being so understanding about all this, Mute.}

{Not at all!} Mute said as the elevator doors opened onto Floor ‘Minus Seven’ where the mess hall was found. {Why would you think I’d be jealous? I’m much better at following orders than giving them. And

{Gonzalo, you saved my life! Probably. In fact, you know what? When we’re talking like this, just between us inside our minds, you don’t have to call me by my codename any more. My real name is Thomas. Thomas Tarrance. But you can call me Tom.}

And there it was. More valuable than any physical gift he could ever have offered me, Mute had given me the most precious thing he owned: his secret identity, his true name.

We reached the doors to the mess hall. I didn’t want to make too much of a fuss over the bigness of what Mute had just done, for both our sakes, so I said “Are you coming with me to give Ami—I mean, to give ‘Djinn’ the tour?”

{No, it’s OK,} said Mute. {I’ve met her already. Abram thinks it’s better if just one of us gives her the tour. He doesn’t want us to swamp her. I’m off for a session in the workout room. Maybe see you in there?}

“I’ll be sure to end her tour there.”

I waved him off, looked at the door to the mess hall and took a deep breath.

Ok then, here we go. ‘Djinn.’

I knocked three times.