`` assignment , '' was sam 's short , uninformative answer and my mind harkened back to them talking earlier , something i completely forgot about and since i was not supposed to have heard it and he did n't know i did , i could n't ask if travis 's assignment was official or if , perchance , it was unofficial and further if , perchance , sam was also taking unofficial assignments which , frankly , scared the beejeezus out of me .