“You ok?”
She realized she was lying flat on her back on a bed. She sat up. “Yeah. I think so.”
Alan’s lips twitched into a secretive-looking smile before he averted his eyes and turned toward the door.
“What happened?” she asked him.
“I’m, ah…I’m going to get Ajaya. She told me to get her right away when you woke up.”
“Wait a minute,” she called after him. But he was already gone. She looked down and cursed. Why the hell was she always waking up naked? She pulled the filmy sheet up and wrapped it around herself, then eased herself to the edge of the platform bed. The sheet worked its way up onto her lap as she scooted, revealing her leg. It was unmarked, pristine. There was no evidence that it had ever been broken and torn. She was still puzzling over that when Ajaya strode into the room, exuding brisk efficiency. The lights came up to full-strength.
“Jane. It’s so good to see you awake. How are you feeling?” Ajaya was already taking vitals, testing reflexes. She was wearing a tunic similar to the one Alan had been wearing. It was Sectilius, Jane realized with a start.
Alan did not reenter the room. It was just the two of them.
She searched for an answer to Ajaya’s question. Disoriented? Overwhelmed? Unnerved? “I’m not sure what happened. What’s going on?”
Ajaya met her eyes, briefly, and nodded. “Understandable. May I?” Ajaya gestured at the uncovered leg.
Jane nodded and mentally braced herself for pain as Ajaya ran her hands over her leg, pressing and feeling the long bones under her skin.
“Feel any pain when I touch here?” Ajaya asked, peering at her quizzically.
“No.”
“How about here?”
“No. Nothing. It feels normal.”
“Good.” Ajaya held out a hand to Jane. “Let’s try putting some weight on it, shall we?”
Something was wrong. Why wasn’t anyone explaining anything?
She slid down from the bed and stood, slowly, carefully, clinging to Ajaya’s firm, warm grip. She expected the blood to rush to her feet, to feel weak or sick or incredible pain, but nothing happened. She just stood up.
Ajaya tilted her head to the side. “How does that leg feel now?”
“It feels completely normal. Like nothing happened.”
Ajaya nodded, looking thoughtful and pleased.
“What did happen Ajaya? Are we safe now? You have to tell me something!”
Ajaya smiled indulgently. “We are safe. Things are progressing quite well. We’ve accomplished a great deal. We still have plenty of concerns, issues, but things are falling into place. You need not worry, Jane.”
That was a paltry explanation. “Why is that all you’re saying?”
Ajaya sighed and settled on the edge of the bed, primly, assuming her most patient air. “Jane, I hesitate to say too much, because I have no idea what you experienced, what you know. I think it might be best if you tell me what you remember. Then I can fill in the blanks for you.”
She felt a surge of anger. Ajaya’s answer was infuriatingly pat. “I’m not a mental patient, Ajaya!”
Ajaya raised her brows and spoke slowly. “Of course you’re not.”
Ajaya’s methods were always cautious and considered. Jane knew that. She swallowed her anger. She was not a petulant child. “I’m sorry. I’m feeling overwhelmed.”
Ajaya nodded and waited for her to begin.
“I was heading for Tom. I…the gravity went out, then came back on. When I fell, my leg was broken—”
“Did you see your leg? How did you know?” Ajaya interjected.
Jane ran her fingers through her hair, pushing it back in a practiced, unconscious gesture and wished she had something to tie it back with. It felt clean and silky. That was unexpected and she filed that fact away with some confusion as she continued, “I’d never felt pain like that before. It looked wrong—really, really wrong.”
“Yes, that’s what Walsh and Alan said. It was the angle.”
Jane nodded, slowly—the mental picture coming quickly to mind: that horrible, disgusting angle—and then the bone, the ragged, bleeding tissues through the gel. “Yes. Then Tom came and rescued me. Except it wasn’t Tom.”
Ajaya’s eyes narrowed, but she betrayed no other sign of emotion.
Jane hesitated, not sure Ajaya would believe her. “It was Ei’Brai.”
Ajaya nodded curtly. “That would explain it.”
Jane stared at Ajaya hard. She’d expected disbelief. Blithe acceptance felt wrong. Warning bells were going off in her brain, but she couldn’t figure out for sure what they meant.
“He carried me and put me in some kind of medical device. He put Tom in one too.”
“Yes. That’s where we found you. Thomas is still submerged.”
“Oh. He—is he ok?”
“I believe so. Every indication is yes. Of course, my methods of measurement are primitive by comparison. The device is still working on him. I have the impression he’ll be in there a long time. We’ve submerged Walsh as well.”
Jane took an involuntary step back and put her hand out to the wall to steady herself, the other still clutching the sheet to her chest. What the hell is going on here? She looked up and noticed Alan was standing in the doorway, holding a ship-colored, plastic object in his hand, listening intently to their conversation. How long had he been there?
“Walsh? You put him in a tank? Why?”
Ajaya stood and moved briskly to a large protuberance on the wall. She touched it lightly and it slid open. She pulled out a voluminous article of clothing—greenish, just like theirs—and extended it to Jane. “We had no choice. He became catatonic, just like Tom. The rest of us appear to be fine—for now, anyway. We’re working on it, Jane. We’re going to find a solution. I’m confident of that.”
Jane looked from Ajaya to Alan, bewildered.
He surged forward. “Are you hungry, Jane? The food we’ve managed to make has a weird texture, but some of it doesn’t taste too bad. We’re still analyzing the parameters of the printer’s output. The technology is pretty fucking amazing. It’s fun to tinker with.”
Ajaya rolled her eyes. “Yes, Alan and Ronald have spent a lot of quality time with the food machine. Do you want to get dressed first or nibble on something?”
Jane swallowed hard. “How long have I been out?”
Ajaya grimaced before answering, “Seventeen days, Jane.”
She sat on the bed heavily and let all of her disbelief show on her face. It had felt like a long time, but not that long. “How—when—did you find me in the gel? Did you pull me out?”
Alan ducked his head. “I tried to cut you out with a knife. The tank didn’t like that. It sort of…fought back.”
Ajaya patted Alan’s arm. “We decided it might be wise to leave you alone and just observe you for a while.”
“It healed my leg.”
“So it would seem,” Ajaya agreed. “I’d like to get back to work, if you don’t mind? I think Alan can take it from here?” Her voice was light, breezy, but she sent Alan a meaningful look as she left the room.
Jane watched her go, completely nonplussed.
Alan perched himself casually on the edge of the bed a couple of feet away.
“Back to work? What is she doing? How did you all get past the nepatrox? Food machine? What the hell, Alan? Start talking!”
“A lot’s happened, Jane. Sure you don’t want to eat?”
“Do you want me to drink the Kool-Aid, too? No, Alan—tell me what’s going on!”
He smirked and rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, the most valuable thing that’s happened is we’ve had some very primitive communications with your alien friend.”
“What? Ei’Brai? How? I thought he couldn’t communicate with us unless we could speak Mensententia?”