Play it cool.
She was surprised when Agent Barrett offered to get her a cup of tea.
“There’s also water or coffee. It’s instant, but it’s what we can get you without breaking containment.”
“Water. Thank you.”
He returned with a bottle. She opened it and sipped and realized she was parched. She drank half of it as he consulted a device strapped to his wrist.
A light in the tent began flashing. A couple of the spacemen hurried past from the other room.
“We have a third survivor,” one of them said.
Agent Barrett moved to follow. “You wait here.”
Carmen set the bottle down. “What about my sister?”
“You’ll be informed of any change as soon as possible.”
She was alone. Surely there were others in the network of tents, but for the moment at least she was free to try and learn something. Because Agent Barrett wasn’t telling her much.
Through the tent came the flashing lights of emergency vehicles. A motor revved and a reverse beeper alarm sounded.
She examined the nearest table and found several drawers with specimen containers, glass slides, first aid supplies, and lots and lots of needles. A cabinet held medicine and drugs. A flat-screen monitor appeared to be connected to a mobile MRI. On a folding table near the door she discovered a laptop. When she opened it the interface asked for a user ID and PIN.
No good.
On the MRI a yellow stenciled label read USAMRIID.
She moved to the next tent. A spaceman had his back to her and was typing with his index fingers at a workstation. A tray filled with the vials of Carmen’s various tests sat near him next to a small machine that hummed.
Beyond the workstation lay another plastic doorway like the one they had passed through from the restaurant.
An exit?
But even if it weren’t guarded, she wouldn’t try to escape. They had found their mother. Or something with their mother’s face and voice who was confused about Jenna and Carmen’s identities. And now Jenna was inside the sphere and apparently connected to something.
“You need to go back to the exam room.”
The spaceman had turned on his stool and was getting up.
“I’m trying to understand what you’re doing here. No one’s identified themselves.”
Carmen saw enough of the face to realize the spaceman was a spacewoman. She seemed distracted as she got up and escorted Carmen back into the exam room.
“USAMRIID. Is that you?”
“Yes, that’s us. The agent in charge should have told you. Our commanding officer isn’t here yet to meet you. You’ll be properly interviewed soon. Then you’ll have time to ask your questions. I’ll need you to also undress and put on a gown. There’s a changing screen here.” When Carmen hesitated, the spacewoman added, “It’s not a request.”
After Carmen moved the screen so she’d have privacy, she paused to listen. Voices approached, followed by a rustling at the restaurant-side entrance. Agent Barrett led the spacemen as they wheeled another gurney into the exam room.
Carmen hurried to see Jenna. But it wasn’t Jenna who lay on the gurney, but Peter. His eyes had rolled up into his head and he was foaming at the mouth. She was unceremoniously pushed out of the way as the team tore open Peter’s shirt and began to attach white sensors to his body and hook him up to the machines. Peter’s entire body was shaking.
There were so many people working around him, she could no longer see him.
She felt herself tensing up as she watched. Her throat tightened. She didn’t like Peter. But she needed to understand what had happened to him on board the spaceship. He had attacked them. Might have killed her mom. Yet at that moment, watching him suffer and perhaps die, she could barely hold back the tears.
Agent Barrett stood next to her and was likewise observing the team work on Peter.
“He was inside the sphere too, wasn’t he?” Carmen asked. “You said Jenna was attached to something. Was Peter also connected? So why is he having convulsions?”
When the agent looked at her as if deciding to answer, she grabbed his arm so she could see his face.
“What did you do, Agent Barrett?”
“One of the scientists tried to sit him up. That was when he started to have a seizure. We got him out of there and then the sphere closed.”
“Is Jenna still in there? Did you touch her?”
“She’s still inside the sphere but she was breathing and doing fine when we last laid eyes on her. And no one tried to move her.”
“Take me to her. Before you make another mistake like this. I’ve been inside that thing and it took us someplace without moving our bodies. For some reason I woke up and they didn’t. But they were both with me wherever I was.”
“You know we can’t put you at risk.”
“Please! I may not know much, but I know my mom sent that sphere here for us to make contact. She’ll talk to me.”
“I’ll take it under advisement. Let the professionals do their work.”
“Like killing Peter?”
Agent Barrett ignored her.
All the beeps and pings of the machines along with the rumbling motors outside and the incessant reverse alarm bore down on her. She felt exhausted. But she made herself watch as the spacemen continued to try to save Peter Vogel.
Chapter Eleven
According to the monitors, Peter was breathing and had a heartbeat. His skin was pale. Carmen couldn’t figure out the purpose of some of the machines he was hooked up to. At least the convulsions had stopped.
A pair of spacemen remained at his side. They ignored Carmen.
Agent Barrett remained busy
