her head and then asked, “Was there anything special that happened at school yesterday?”
Leila looked down at the floor and said, “We took our administrative placement test yesterday.”
Danielle could tell there was something wrong. She said, “I took mine before I left to transfer here. That was a long test, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. And I don’t think I did very well.”
“Why not?”
“Well, I didn’t get much sleep the night before, and I was exhausted when I took it.”
“What’s your quantitative point average?”
“Before the test it was 99.6.”
“Holy mother of pearl,” Danielle thought. She had never heard of a point average that high. She graduated with a 96.4, and she was number two in her class. “This girl is more than smart. If that point average is correct, she’s brilliant,” Danielle realized.
“Wow! You’re smart. You probably did better than you think.”
“No, I’m pretty certain I didn’t. I’m concerned that after the bad grade on this test all my other scores will be questioned.”
“Well, let’s hope for the best. I’m new here and I’d appreciate it if after all this is over you would show me around.”
Leila’s face brightened and she smiled at Danielle and said, “I’ll be glad to. See me during our lunch break and I’ll start introducing you to everyone.”
“Thanks Leila, I really appreciate it,” Danielle said, and then pressed a small black button on her communicator band.
John Sinclair felt his communicator vibrate and leaned over and said quietly to Colonel Ortiz, “She’s got something. Go take her out of the office to an interrogation room.”
Colonel Ortiz turned and went inside the building to the office where they were being held. He opened the door, pointed at Danielle, and said, “You’re not on the student roster. What are you doing here?”
“I’m a new student, sir. I’m transferring here because my parents were moved here for a new job. This is my first day.” Colonel Ortiz was doing an excellent job of looking extremely suspicious. He gave absolutely no clue that he knew her, and his tone of voice was saying that he didn’t believe her.
“What’s your name?”
“Danielle Ashford.”
Colonel Ortiz looked at a small screen he held, looked up at Danielle, and then looked back down at his screen and said, “Miss Ashford, I am going to take you to an interrogation room where there will be a truth field. I recommend you answer all questions honestly. The interrogator will know if you don’t.”
“Yes sir,” Danielle said meekly and got up and followed Colonel Ortiz out of the room. She glanced at Leila on the way out and shrugged her shoulders.
As soon as they were in the hall, Colonel Ortiz placed her hands in a containment field behind her back, which held her hands together, and walked her up the hall through all the students that were standing in the corridor.
Danielle kept saying, “Hey, I’m a new student here. This is my first day. I don’t deserve to be treated this way.” The students in the hall didn’t recognize her and felt bad for her.
Once they entered the interrogation room, Colonel Ortiz removed the containment field from her hands and said, “What’s up?”
Danielle smiled and said, “Boy, you’re tough, Colonel.”
“Call me Eddie.”
“I know why our Superman took the test.”
Colonel Ortiz said, “You never cease to amaze me. I didn’t think we’d ever have an answer for that.”
“I think he did it because he cares a lot for the girl.”
“What?”
“I don’t think she even knows it’s missing. Matter of fact, I’ll make a five credit wager with you she not only doesn’t know it’s missing but won’t have a clue as to who took it.”
“I just look stupid. After last night, there’s no way I’ll make a wager with you. Tell me why you say that.”
“Leila Barber is the girl whose test was taken. She told me, a complete stranger, that she knows she did poorly on the test because she didn’t have any sleep the night before. Eddie, she has a 99.6 quantitative point average.”
Colonel Ortiz whistled and said, “Is that possible?”
“Call the front office and ask.”
He picked up his communicator and said, “John, check the school records for a Leila Barber’s quantitative point average.”
There was a pause, and then John said, “You’re not going to believe this. It’s 99.6. This is one smart cookie.”
“Okay, so what happened, Danielle?”
“I think someone who cares a lot for Leila heard her tell someone about how poorly she did on the test. You know that these test results are used for future job placement, and the results will play a large role in what kind of life she’s going to have. Leila even thinks that this poor grade will cause all her other scores to be questioned. The only way to prevent the test result from hurting her future was to prevent it being graded. Eddie, I just met her and I wanted to steal the test myself. Our Superman has a heart.”
At that moment the display screen on the wall came on and they saw Inspector Connor, who said, “I understand you have some information, Miss Ash.”
“Yes sir,” Danielle replied, and then she explained what she had uncovered.
“That makes sense,” Esa said, “but what makes you think that she doesn’t know who took it?”
“Because I don’t think our Superman is stupid.”
Esa furrowed his brow for a moment and then said, “Go on, Miss Ash.”
“Think about it. What do you think would happen today if the attack didn’t take place last night? Sergeant Garcia told me he was arranging for his security department to bring in a truth field and question everyone involved. Of course that was before the attack at the wall, our connecting it to the theft of the test booklet, and his uncovering the temperature data. Our Superman had no possible way of anticipating the attack on him or the use of the climate system to prove he was there. Without the attack, wouldn’t we have just concluded that the climate system fluctuated? That would have been easier to accept than our Superman. It’s only by combining the two events that we were able to uncover his existence. But he knew that the missing test booklet would be investigated fully. He wouldn’t have run this risk if there was any way that Leila Barber could be implicated or him connected to it. Couple that with the fact that I don’t think there’s a deceptive bone in this girl’s entire body, and I think it becomes clear that she knows nothing about it.”
Inspector Connor was quiet for a few moments and then said, “I’m inclined to believe you, however, I’m still going to go through the interrogation process in the hope that the pressure will cause someone to crack. I have a profile team working on what our Superman is like. This information will help them. Is there anything else, Miss Ash?”
“Yes sir. I would like for the test administrator to have Leila retake the test immediately.”
Inspector Connor and Colonel Ortiz were both taken aback by this request.
“And why would we do that?”
“Inspector Connor, I just spent less than five minutes with this young woman and came away highly impressed. I sincerely believe she knows nothing about what happened and is innocent of any wrongdoing. I also believe that she did poorly on the original test, which would not properly measure the talents she has to offer our society. She was taken with me by security as soon as she stepped off her floater and went through the security portal. She doesn’t know what’s going on. I think it would be in everyone’s best interests to have her retake the test before she comes out of the room and discovers that her test booklet was stolen. If she scores like I think she will, there will be three of you fighting to have her on your staffs. I’ve run across two women that highly impressed me in the last twenty-four hours. Julie was the first, Leila was the second. There’s also one other reason. If she retakes the test, then our Superman will think he was successful and just might let her know he did it. I think it’s a long
