Jane’s vision blurred. “Of course. Of course I will.” Perhaps Ajaya could understand if she told her the rest. She swallowed and blinked, then finally said, “I’m sorry. I’ll be more forthcoming in the future, I promise.”
Jane scooped cold scrambled eggs out of a pouch, but didn’t taste them. She was itching to get back into that ship. She didn’t want to stay cooped up in the capsule for another twenty-four hours, where she couldn’t see anything firsthand.
She resumed scrutinizing the symbols, concentrating on the images taken from the exterior of the storage crates with the granular contents. The cipher was elusive. She could almost see a hologram, but it was hovering just out of reach. It didn’t help that her mind kept wandering, going back to all the things the voice had said to her the day before.
“There is plentiful foodstuff, as you have already discovered.”
She blinked, stifling a startled gasp as the hologram sprang to life.
Nourishment, sustenance…palatable, appetizing…satiety…healthful, wholesome…aggregate, composite, blend.
She wrinkled her nose. The crates were filled with some kind of nutritive food-base, a raw material used to manufacture food. The concept that formed in her mind was completely foreign. She was puzzling over that as she cleaned up the debris from breakfast, when the radio squawked. “Providence. Gibbs. Over.”
Ajaya picked up her two-way. “This is Providence. Over.”
“Just checking in. Did you get the pictures? Over.”
Jane picked up her own radio. “Yes, Ron. I’ve got eight new images. I need a little more context to be able to decipher them. I’d like to join you. Dr. Varma has determined there’s nothing seriously wrong with me. Over.”
Gibbs’ cheerful drawl came back, “Copy that, Jane. We’ll get back to you. Over.”
Moments later, the radio came back to life. “Providence, this is Walsh. We’re splitting into two teams. Gibbs and Compton are going back to get some extra shots for context and Bergen and I are going forward. Walsh out.”
“I could meet you—”
“Stay put, Holloway. Walsh out.”
Jane ground her teeth. Hiding in the capsule couldn’t protect her from what happened the day before, she was certain of that. Of course, they didn’t know that.
While she waited, she prepared a pack of things she’d need when she did go back in there, all the while ignoring Ajaya’s disapproving eyes on her. As she pulled an air canister out of its compartment, a delightfully dreamy drowsiness came over her. She blinked slowly, her limbs drifting around her, pleasantly thick and heavy.
Her heart started to pound.
She fought down panic and contemplated her options. She could try to resist. That hadn’t been an effective strategy the day before. It had only served to wear her down, exhausting her. She’d gotten next to nothing out of that interaction—certainly nothing that anyone would believe.
The hum had already begun. It was happening again.
She reminded herself that this was an opportunity to get answers. She closed her eyes and concentrated on breathing deeply. The throbbing buzz grew stronger. Her thoughts slowed. She schooled herself to stop resisting, relax, stay in the moment….
She felt a surge of pleasure as awareness of a presence filled her mind.
She drowsily opened her eyes in the casita. “Hello?”
“Dr. Jane Holloway—you did not explain to the others about our arrangement.”
Jane snapped to alert. The voice sounded…pissed. Could a computer sound pissed? She slowly turned in a circle and forced her expression to be neutral, though it felt wooden and uneasy. “Hello? You haven’t told me your name—”
He interjected, sounding impatient, “I do not understand. This is vital information. You must make them aware.”
She shook her head. “They won’t believe me. They—I have no proof.”
She thought about what she was doing—producing virtual words from a virtual mouth—because her body was actually inside the Providence, unconscious, floating around, probably bumping into things. She sank on the bed, suddenly unsure. “Maybe I am crazy.”
“Dr. Jane Holloway, there is an urgent matter to which you must attend. This is no time to indulge in delusional fantasies.”
She stood, wary. This bizarre interaction had a way of disarming her. She was forgetting how precarious their situation was, forgetting her normal caution, forgetting all the questions she needed to ask. “What?”
“I cannot protect them from peril. I have attempted containment and exclusion, but the controls are not responding as they should. The nature of the infestation disrupts the applicable neural-electric pathways. I am fixed, immutable. You are the only possible liaison. The others are not open to me. I cannot influence them. You and you alone must act.” The voice resonated with a note of hysteria.
Jane tensed, suddenly filled with dread. “What are you talking about?”
“I presumed that your personage would accompany any exploratory efforts. I could guide you, dissuade you, if necessary. However, at present, there are four individuals occupying two discrete chambers and two of these are perilously close to endangering their very existences. I do not wish for their extinguishment.” He sounded haughty, self-righteous.
Her hand reflexively clutched the back of a chair. “Extinguishment? Are you saying the other astronauts are in mortal danger?”
“Dr. Jane Holloway, I expect you to forestall the impending disaster.”
“How? Tell me how. Tell me what to do. What’s the danger?”
“Standby. Sending data now.”
Jane staggered. The buzz inside her head magnified exponentially. Awareness converged inward with a new, unnerving acuity. She could feel the vibration on a heretofore unknown scale—the progress of each tiny bee, making connections, individual neurons firing far faster than they could possibly be meant to. She felt detached from herself, blandly observing, as the space between her ears expanded to accept….
She gasped. Three-dimensional maps of the interior of the Target, replete with what appeared to be itemized lists of each sector’s function and contents, swamped her conscious mind. She fell to her hands and knees and struggled to comprehend the deluge. “Oh, God,” she choked out.
“If you wish, I would be gratified to debate the existence of deitous life forms, but perhaps we should attend to the matter at hand? It would have been preferable to defer a bit longer before imprinting the command and control engram set. However, in this moment, it is expedient. Are you ready to commence?”
“No! Just…stop!” She writhed on the rough, dusty floor of the casita, her hands clutching her head. Tiny, blazing bees zoomed within, making connections, overwriting, leaving searing trails in their wake as they rendered data. “Make the bees stop! Please—it’s too much!”
“Dr. Jane Holloway, you are overcome. I will assist.”
She felt a lifting, a lightening, a shedding of pain. She opened her eyes to darkness, but felt no fear at the change, only simple curiosity. She felt embraced, warm and welcome. It was wonderful, but also worrisome. “What did you do to me?”
“I merely separated the cognitive layers. You are still there, and there, but also here. I dare not shield you for long. It could create cognitive dissonance. I have no idea how your species will react to such interventions.”
She felt like she was wandering farther and farther from reality. “Where is here?”
“With me.”
“Where are you? Physically?”
“I am here.”
This individual was not the straightforward type. If it weren’t such a dire situation, she’d laugh out loud. “What is this form of communication? How are we doing this?”