Ajaya spoke up for the first time. “Is this what he’s telling you, Jane? Is this what he wants?”
Walsh was shaking his head derisively, but stayed silent.
She raised her chin, refusing to back down or try to deceive them. “Not directly, no. He’s not like us. He doesn’t speak plainly about anything. But, yes, I think that’s what he wants.”
Gibbs asked, “Why isn’t he doing the maintenance?”
“He can’t. He’s not…he’s integrated into the ship somehow, stuck in one location. He can’t move around the ship.”
Ajaya said, “But, what purpose does he serve here, then?”
“He’s the ship’s navigator. Look—you all have to learn the language and then you can ask him all the questions you want. You can talk to him like I do. There’s a language lab on this deck. It’s meant for adolescents, but there’s no reason why I can’t use it to teach you. We can use these crew quarters. We don’t even have to go back to the capsule for supplies—there’s plenty of food here. We could thrive here—do work that will go down in history. Just give me the chance to show you. Trust me. I want us to succeed.”
Walsh glared at her. “If you’re so sure it’s safe here, tell me, Holloway—why is he the only one left?”
Jane breathed deeply and squared her shoulders. “I won’t gloss over this. He trusted me with the truth and I’ll share it. The universe is a dangerous place. We—Earth is completely unprepared. If we don’t get up to speed, our home and everything and everyone we love could become food for another species. The people that came here inside this ship were peaceful scientists. They were looking for allies against these kinds of predators. They intended to help us prepare to fight. They all died trying to bring us this knowledge. Someone didn’t want them to find us first. Someone engineered some kind of disease that wiped them out, all at once, before they could make contact with us.”
Ajaya was instantly concerned. “A disease? What kind of disease?”
“I don’t know. They all just stopped functioning—all at the same time, all brain activity blocked, and they died of starvation within days…. What?”
They all looked alarmed, every last one of them. And they all turned to look at Tom Compton, who was standing there, staring off into space, drooling.
13
“Tom?”
Bergen watched as Jane approached Compton slowly and touched his arm. Tom didn’t respond to her.
She turned, stricken. “What happened?”
“It sounds like you know more about it than we do,” Walsh uttered with slow, menacing calm.
She opened her mouth to speak, and shut it again, pivoting back to Compton. “Tom?” she said, shaking him gently. She touched his sagging face. Nothing happened. He didn’t make eye contact with her. “Oh my God. What do we do now?”
Ajaya said urgently, “Jane—how is this disease transmitted? Are we all exposed?”
Jane turned, her eyes glittering with unshed tears. “I don’t know any of the specifics. I’m just a linguist. I’m so sorry.”
“Holloway,” Walsh boomed. “This is why we have to get out of here. Before something worse happens. Can you get us back to the capsule?”
Jane was slowly shaking her head. “Yes, but….”
Ajaya cut in, “Commander, if this is contagious, we can’t risk returning to Earth and exposing the population there.”
“They’ll put us in quarantine,” Walsh countered, irritably.
Ajaya scowled and snapped, “We don’t know what the vector is. Just getting through the atmosphere may be enough to transmit it to Earth. We don’t have the right to risk that. It sounds like we’ll be dead long before we get there, anyway..”
“Ei’Brai said they found the agent just before they…. It wasn’t enough to save them, but it could save us. We—he—he’ll help us. We’ll figure this out.” Her voice trembled as she spoke.
“No!” Walsh grated at her. “Don’t you see? That’s what he wants. He’s pulling the puppet strings, through you. I can’t stop you from going back there. I’m asking you—no, I’m ordering you—do not go back there, Holloway. I don’t believe any of this is real. This is a mind game. He’s amused by us. We’re like zoo animals to him. We’re going back to the capsule and then we’re going home, goddamn it.”
“I don’t know, I don’t know….” she murmured.
Walsh grabbed her arm roughly. “Pull yourself together, Holloway! You’re the only one who can read the symbols. We need you to get us back.”
Jane looked shattered.
Bergen couldn’t hold back anymore. He shoved Walsh away from Jane. “That’s enough! She heard you. Lay off her.” Walsh took a swing at him that almost made contact, but Bergen’s reflexes were faster. He ducked and barreled into Walsh, shoulder down, knocking Walsh stumbling back into the wall. Bergen took a step back and waited. Walsh was staggering to his feet and coming back for more when Gibbs and Ajaya pulled them apart.
“Come on, man, this isn’t helping anything,” Gibbs chided.
Ajaya shot him a censorious glare. Walsh was shrugging her off, pushing away any attempts at checking him over.
“Where’s Holloway?” Walsh snarled.
Bergen’s heart stopped. She wasn’t in the immediate area anymore.
Gibbs shone his light up and down the corridor. Jane was curled up some distance away, back against the wall, knees drawn up to her chin, head on folded arms.
“By God, if she’s gone there again,” Walsh spat.
Ajaya turned him away, murmuring in placating tones.
“Jesus, Berg. I think you better go talk to her,” Gibbs said, tilting his head toward Jane.
Bergen nodded agreement and sauntered over to her. She didn’t react. He settled down next to her, mimicking her pose. She didn’t stir.
Was she there?
Her hair was spilling over her face. Normally smooth and neat, it had dried in long, lanky waves. He reached out a hand to pull it back so he could see her expression. Her grey eyes gazed back at him with a bleak expression.
“It’s a symptom,” she said softly. Her eyes shut tight, wrinkling with strong emotion. She sat up. “I…didn’t realize at first, because you two bicker so much,”
“What?”
“Some of the Sectilius became aggressive before they succumbed to the illness. They were peaceful people, yet in those moments, some of them came to blows over nothing. They knew they were fighting something, they just didn’t know what. It manifested like this. Ei’Brai showed me.”
He shook his head. He’d been hoping for an opportunity to throttle Walsh for months. “Jane—”
She shook her head and looked anguished. “I don’t believe that he’s bad or evil. Am I crazy? Am I a fool?”
“No,” he said firmly.
She pressed her lips together in a tight line. “Ajaya’s right. We can’t go home like this.”
He stretched his legs out and tried to relax. He’d been carrying Jane for over an hour. This was a welcome break. “I know.”
Gibbs withdrew the light as they spoke, leaving him and Jane in near darkness. The others were breaking for a meal. Ajaya must have convinced Walsh to give Jane some space. She was occupied with trying to feed Compton. They were huddling around the glow emanating from the open doorway.