They were jogging at a steady clip when Carmen realized they were once again heading towards the banging sound. They had come full circle.
“Help me find a door.”
She let go of Jenna and proceeded to keel over and slam into a wall. At least she didn’t fall. There was a phantom pain as if she had struck her head but the sensation wasn’t real. None of this could be, she reminded herself. But willing herself to wake up wasn’t working. She tapped and probed at the smooth surface as they continued along.
The banging up ahead stopped. A doorway had appeared and a spindly robot stepped into the hallway. At first she thought it was the mom-creature. But this was a new robot, or more accurately, a machine identical to their bodies, but the head screen showed Peter Vogel’s face. His fingers were fused together, his hands like blades. His eyes were wild and darting about. He looked around the corridor before his gaze fell upon them.
“Peter?” Carmen said softly.
He cut loose with a howl and charged.
Chapter Eight
“Peter, snap out of it!”
But the metal skeleton with Peter’s face on its monitor wasn’t slowing down as it bore down on them. Carmen stepped in front of Jenna. When Peter got close, she smacked him aside, sending him into a wall. He lay still for several seconds before getting up.
“It’s Carmen. Jenna’s here too. Get a hold of yourself. We’re all in trouble.”
His face blurred for a moment. He looked past her at Jenna.
Carmen held up a warning hand. As a person Peter was far too strong. But here? She could only hope their strange bodies were equal in strength.
His voice was a choked mutter. “What did you do to me?”
“We’re figuring that out. First you need to calm—”
He sprang towards her. Too fast. They collided and slammed into the opposite wall. He flailed at her and struck her across the head. Pain—she felt a ringing pain. But the sensation passed quickly. She caught one of his blade hands and held him.
“Jenna? A little help?”
But her sister was frozen in place. Whatever momentary composure she had during their flight down the corridor had evaporated.
Carmen shoved at Peter but he pushed back. What would happen to either of them if they got hurt? Could they die? There was too much she didn’t understand.
“Peter, please. It’s Carmen. Listen to my voice. We’re friends. Try to control yourself. I didn’t do this to you. We’re all trapped her together.”
He managed to wedge an arm under her head. Lights were flashing around her. The corridor had grown brighter with floating shapes she couldn’t take time to make sense of. Carmen felt pressure at her neck and could only wonder how much punishment her new body would take before something broke.
She managed to get a foot around one of his legs, ignoring the fact that her own leg was bending at an impossible angle. With the extra leverage, she hurled him off, but one hand continued to grip hers and he yanked her off balance.
His other hand rose up and was poised to chop down at her head.
The mom-creature appeared behind him. She grabbed Peter and flung him against the wall. She proceeded to smash him over and over, each impact sending shock waves through the floor.
Carmen was free. She collected her sister and they retreated back the way they came. The corridor would eventually loop back, but getting away was all that mattered for the moment. The floating light shapes followed her, stuck in her vision no matter where she turned her head.
Some kind of controls or gauges? Didn’t jet pilots have similar displays? The lights reminded her of the nicer cars with their speedometers cast into the windshield. But none of the symbols or colors meant anything to her. With her free hand she swiped at them yet they persisted. She had only succeeded in conjuring a fresh pair of floating dials.
Jenna stopped in the hallway. “Wait. Mother’s here. We have to go back.”
“That’s not Mother. I don’t know what that is. But she did something to us. We can’t stop here and wait for her to catch us.”
“But it’s Mother’s voice and Mother’s face. Just like it’s your voice and your face. Am I like you?”
Jenna held her gray fingers before her eyes and once again looked like she was on the verge of panic.
“Come on. We’re going to figure this out together. But we have to move.”
When she pulled on Jenna, her sister stiffened. Carmen only managed to drag her a few inches. The fight behind them continued as a series of hard thuds reverberated.
Carmen made a helpless gesture. “I can’t carry you.”
But the Jenna bot took a knee and gazed back down the corridor.
A wall next to Carmen on the inside of the looping hall shifted. A new doorway appeared.
“Jen, we can hide in here.”
When her sister still refused to budge, Carmen left her to investigate. She entered a circular room where portions of the ceiling and floor morphed before her. Tuning out the commotion in the hallway, she forced herself to calm down and think clearly. Surely the lights in her display served some purpose. And now the room was becoming something, as portions of the furnishings sprouted lights and their own floating symbols.
She focused on the pair of round dials that clung to the left side of her vision. Tried to will them away. Searched for a handy “X” at the top right-hand corner as if dismissing a window. But all she could accomplish was to turn the lime-green symbols a deeper shade of olive.
The mom-creature had demonstrated complete mastery over the walls, ceiling, and floor. Whatever this place—this spaceship?—was, it followed directions given by its master or captain or pilot.
