“Exactly!” Nicole flashed. “It’s a game with him, a front. He’s laughing at us behind our backs, just waiting for a chance to make us look like fools.”

“Travis?” the Major said without looking up. “Do you agree with that?”

His dark eyebrows pulled together as Travis considered the question. “Yes and no.” He smiled at Nicole to soften his disagreement with her. “I think Nicole and Clayne are right in that he’s merely waiting. But I don’t think it’s a game with him. Whatever he’s up to, he’s deadly serious about it.”

“Absolutely,” Clayne agreed. “His Mister Innocent routine is a deliberate, calculated attempt to keep us all off balance. But he and his family are threatened. It’s a matter of survival now. What you said, Travis, is exactly right. He’s deadly serious about this whole thing.”

“Isn’t that just a bit overdramatic?” Nicole asked dubiously.

Clayne shrugged, and for a moment he hesitated. He liked Eric—very much, in fact, and he knew that his report could drastically alter what happened to him. But on the other hand, if they didn’t stop Eric soon, he was going to do something very foolish, and a Stage Three implantation would be the result.

“Well?” the Major probed, taking off his glasses to watch Clayne steadily. He seemed content for the moment to collect all the data from his staff before making a decision.

“I don’t think you fully understand how deeply this whole thing has affected him,” Clayne answered. “He’s far too shrewd to throw any more stools through the window. He realizes he made a serious mistake in getting himself implanted. It cut him off from the easiest way out of here.”

“Meaning going through the Outer Perimeter?” Nicole asked.

“Yes, so now he’s fighting with the only weapon we have left to him—his mind. So he treats each of us in exactly the right way to get the reaction he needs. It’s a carefully calculated strategy with him.” He turned to Nicole. “If he was gushy sweet to you, what would you think?”

She answered instantly. “That it was a snow job.”

“Exactly. So he needles at you constantly to keep you half angry, but not enough to bring you to the point where you say he’s beyond hope.”

Before Nicole could protest, he swung around to face Travis and the Major. “He knows I’m the second most important factor in determining what happens to him, but with me he’s the model trainee. And with you, Travis? How has he been?”

Travis leaned forward and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Since that first day, fine. Cool and reserved, but polite.”

“Do you think he’s forgiven you for betraying the village and getting his father killed?”

“Well, I suppose forgive is a little strong, but he does seem to have accepted it.”