“No. It’s a gesture of—”
“Ah. Friendship. I see. Quaint. You will understand if I insist on using my own title?”
She let out a single, baffled laugh at this.
Indignation rolled off of him in waves. She could see plainly in his mind that the prefix Ei’ indicated his high status and rank, earned over many years of faithful service. “Of course. It’s short and to the point.”
“Indeed.”
She withdrew from the contact slowly, tentatively, feeling her way back, and gradually became aware of jostling movement and discomfort. There was something hard jammed into her midsection. Was she upside down?
“Aughpf,” she wheezed, trying to orient herself. A hand tightened… on her ass? “What the—?”
“Shh,” someone hissed in the dark.
Apparently she was being carried, bodily, over someone’s shoulder. That person stopped moving and stooped. She slid down slowly, becoming aware, as she did, of a familiar, masculine scent. Her eyes adjusted to the dim light, but she already knew she was face to face with, pressed tightly up against, Alan.
His bearded cheek slid over hers, his breath warm against her ear. Good grief, he feels good. She hadn’t been held like that for far too long.
“Are you okay? You were out for hours,” he whispered. He sounded worried.
She replied, whispering too, a million questions tumbling over themselves inside her head. Why was he carrying her in the dark? Why was he embracing her so ardently? Why did everything change every time she turned around? “Yes, yes, I’m fine. What’s going on? Why were you carrying me?”
“It’s Walsh. I fell behind, but he’ll notice soon. He’s flipping out, Jane. He wants to retreat to Mars already. He’s trying to get us back to the capsule, but, well, I think you know you’re the only one who can do that. We’re lost. He’s tried several times to use the deck-to-deck transport, but he has no idea how to select the right deck. He—”
“Keep up, Bergen!” Walsh’s voice rang out sharply. The light from a flashlight blinded her momentarily. She heard some quiet cursing and heavy boot steps, heading their way.
Alan squeezed her tightly and murmured in her ear before releasing her, “Careful, Jane. Walsh doesn’t trust you.”
“What? Why?” But there was no time for him to answer.
“So, Holloway, what do you have to say for yourself, now?”
She drew herself up straight and turned away from Alan, shielding her eyes with a hand against the glare of the flashlight that Walsh had aimed directly at her face. She had a quick insight into why this corridor was dark—Ei’Brai did not approve of this excursion. “Why does that sound like an accusation, Dr. Walsh?”
“What have you been doing all this time?”
She took a step toward Walsh. He tensed, his posture defensive. She slowly reached out and pushed down on the flashlight, aiming its bright focal point a little lower, so she could see. “I was doing the job I was recruited to do—communicating with our host. What about you? I thought we agreed we were going to make camp in the medical facility?”
“Things have changed.”
Jane darted cautious looks at the others. They all looked uneasy. Walsh was adroitly using his military background—they were more comfortable with his leadership style. Technically, she was supposed to have taken command under any scenario where the Target was inhabited, but all that changed with the new orders from Houston and he was capitalizing on the lack of a clear chain of command. Nothing had gone according to any of the plans they’d laid out at Johnson. Nothing.
“I didn’t know you were such an impatient man.”
“Not impatient. Practical.”
“Is that why we’re eleven decks away from the capsule?”
Walsh’s eyes narrowed. Jane studied the others’ reactions. Was there hope they’d hear her? Alan stood behind her. He’d warned her; she could count on his support. Gibbs looked conflicted. Varma was watchful, assessing the situation. Compton seemed strange, blank.
Walsh spoke, distracting her from Compton. “Am I supposed to believe you know exactly where we are? Just like that?”
“I know precisely where we are. This level is primarily crew quarters.” Jane gestured at a nearby door. “Through that door is a cafeteria.”
Walsh nodded at Gibbs, who then cautiously opened the door, then stepped inside. The floor lights came on, illuminating a vast room full of an eclectic mix of tables and chairs of various shapes and sizes, in the same murky green as everything else in the ship.
Jane took a step toward Walsh. “Is this exploration or escape?”
Walsh’s lips tightened. No one said anything.
“Escape, then. From what, exactly? There’ve been no threats from the alien—quite the opposite.”
“I disagree.”
“What are you basing that opinion on?”
“This is pointless. I have no way of knowing if I’m even talking to Jane Holloway.”
“What are you talking about? That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it? You said yourself he’s inside your head. Even if you’re you, there’s no way you can be objective.”
“That’s simply not true. Look, you haven’t given me a chance to explain anything. There’s a lot as stake here. This is bigger than all of us. Bigger even than Earth.”
“I’m sure it is. I’m sure he’s told you how he’s a victim of circumstance. How he needs your help to survive.”
“He—I…” Jane took a step back, nonplussed, and glanced at Alan. He had a thunderous expression on his face.
Walsh pressed his advantage, “He’s told you you’re special, you’re the only one who can make a difference, you have to convince everyone what he says is true. He hurts you and then he makes it better? Right?”
“You don’t know what he’s said to me,” she retorted hotly, trying to mask her confusion while she figured out what was actually happening.
“It’s classic Stockholm conditioning, Holloway. I can see it all over your face. Everything I’ve just said is true.”
“You’re twisting everything before I’ve even said a word. NASA—”
Walsh spoke over her, cutting her off. “I’m trying to protect you. I’m trying to protect all of us. I don’t know what that thing wants. None of us do—least of all you.”
“It’s not like that, dammit! I’m not going to allow you to discredit me this way. Is this going according to plan? No. I can understand how that would make you uneasy. You aren’t in the loop. You don’t know what’s going on. That’s scary. I get that. But, we can’t run away from this. We can learn so much from him. This is an opportunity of a lifetime—”
“It’s going to be a very brief lifetime, if we stay here,” Walsh cut in acidly.
Bergen surged forward. “Quit bullying her. Let her talk.”
Jane grabbed him by the arm and pushed him behind her before things escalated out of control. She filled her voice with conviction. “Listen to me—this ship has been vacant for decades. There’s been no one here to perform routine maintenance, so some things have gotten out of control. We can work around that. We can perform the maintenance, if necessary. We can still do what we came here for—we can learn about the technology. You’re all capable of meeting this challenge. You’re experts at the top of your fields—electronics, computers, engineering. I think that if we worked together, diligently, we could learn to fly this ship. We could take it home, with his help. We don’t need to shut ourselves up in the Providence for another year and a half. We don’t need to run. We can do this. This is why we’re here.”
Varma 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. This wasn’t like him at all—to not even listen. What had happened in the brief time she was away?
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 a
nything. 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.”
Varma 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.”
Varma 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. Compton 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?”
Varma 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 …”
Varma 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.
Varma 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 Varma pulled them apart.
“Come on, man, this isn’t helping anything,” Gibbs chided.
Varma 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 there with them 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.
Varma 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 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. “Varma’s right. We can’t go home like this.”
Gibbs withdrew the light, which left Alan and Jane in near darkness.
Alan stretched his legs out and tried to relax. He’d been carrying Jane for over an hour. This was a welcome break. He sighed. “I know.”
The others were breaking for a meal. Alan could see them huddling within the circle of light radiating from the open doorway. Varma was trying to feed Compton. She must have convinced Walsh to give Jane some space.
Bergen huffed. Why didn’t the idiots just go inside and leave him alone with Jane?
Jane said, “We do have to go back to the capsule—but not to leave. We have to send a transmission to Mission Control, as soon as possible. I have to tell them everything Ei’Brai told me, everything we know, in case we don’t make it back. The future of Earth may depend on this information. They’ll be ready, then, when they send the Bravo mission. They’ll be able to protect themselves. We have to give them a fighting chance.”
He nodded slowly, agreeing with her. “Okay. How do you want to handle that?”
“I think… Oh, God, this is awful.” She had her hands clasped together and she ran the knuckles of her thumbs up and down her forehead from the bridge of her nose to her hairline, rhythmically. “I thought Walsh understood, that he could see the value, the potential. But everything’s changed. Now I can see that won’t work. Walsh—I suspect, from the moment I first lost consciousness—has decided I’m unfit.”
&nbs
p; She met his eyes, seeking confirmation. He gave it. She was right.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’ll pretend to go along with Walsh’s wishes. It’ll be easier that way. Ajaya will be with us. She knows what’s at stake. We just have to figure out where Ron’s loyalties lie, without tipping Walsh off. We have to know if he’ll fight us, or help us with Walsh. If we have to, we’ll use a weapon.” She swallowed and looked panicked for a moment, but quickly concealed that. “Then we’ll find a laboratory. We have to try to solve this. I want to go home.”
“Me too.”
He was painfully aware that this moment might be the only chance they would ever have to be together in any sense whatsoever, now. He snuck his arm behind her and she leaned against him, the top of her head against his cheek. He swallowed thickly. He still didn’t have any idea if she felt the same way. It seemed like maybe she did. Or was this just friendship to her?
“Are you… Do you feel normal?” she murmured.
“I feel fine.” He did. He couldn’t sense anything out of the ordinary happening. If the disease was doing anything to him, he was blissfully unaware of it.
“I do too. Walsh and Ajaya seem a little different to me, though. Ajaya doesn’t lose her temper. Ever. She just yelled at Walsh. And Walsh…”
“Yeah. I noticed.”
“I’m sorry, Alan. You seem different too.” Her voice broke.
He squeezed her tighter. She thought he was doing this because of some germ? “No. I’m fine. I’m telling you, I’m thinking clearly. I’m okay.”
She moved slightly, glancing at him then back down. “Okay. I just… Alan, it’s not like you, it doesn’t seem like it’s in your personality to believe the kind of things I’ve been saying. I just, I would expect you to be more skeptical. It’s scaring me a little bit.”
“You’ve presented plenty of evidence, Jane. It’s fucked up. It’s weird. But, I believe you’re communicating with him.”
“I know, but it seems to me that you would be more likely to side with Walsh in this.”
“No. I trust you. I trust your instincts.”
“But why? Walsh has more experience—he’s done tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. He’s been in tight spots before. He’s a good leader. He’s a hero. I’m not anything like him.”
[Confluence 01.0] Fluency Page 15
