which I watched intently as though taking my eyes off the screen would somehow curse them.
“Dr. Anderson?” came a raised female voice from behind me, making me jump pulling the earbuds out and let out a small, strangled cry as I tried to hide the tablet from her sight. I turned to see the tall medical doctor, who I knew was called Kelly, but we had never really spoken much.
“Sorry,” I said, “I was, er …”
“No need to explain,” she said, holding up a hand and wearing a tight smile of embarrassment, “we all need our releases. Anyway, I was hoping to speak to you regarding the computer control of some of our medical equipment?”
“Yes, er, I …” I stammered, “but you could just ask Annie and she could tell you if she can manage it or not.”
“Oh,” she said, pulling a face which clearly indicated how taken aback she was.
“Annie?” I asked, still looking slightly up out of habit. She responded via the nearest speaker, which was part of a computer terminal, with a loud chime of acknowledgment.
“How can I help, Dr. Warren?” she said in a sweet, businesslike tone.
“I was wondering,” she said hesitantly, her head inclined up but her eyes watching me warily, “if you could assist with the control of some of our medical equipment?”
“I’m happy to assess your needs and offer solutions. Shall we discuss this further in the medical area?”
“Yes, er …” She shot me a final glance for help, but I just smiled. “I’ll, er, meet you there?”
“That’s fine, Dr. Warren.”
As I watched her walk away, her words finally dawned on me, making me shout after her.
“I wasn’t,” I yelled, stopping myself just in time, “it was research footage Annie was showing me,” I finished lamely, seeing her turn back and offer me an embarrassed smile.
Sitting down again, defeated, I looked back to the tablet and put the earbuds back in to drown out the mocking laughter from Annie on the speaker.
~
Unaware that they were being monitored, at least by anyone except Annie who they saw as their technical backup, Amir and Hendricks stepped out of the dense jungle and into a clearing which spread out before them until the high, wooden and metal walls rose at a right angle to the flat ground to loom upwards.
Those walls, Hendricks noted, were a good deal higher than their own metal ring of space pods. Shouts ahead of them rang out, and noises from inside the walls drifted down to them.
“Hold your arms out,” Hendricks muttered to Amir, who copied the gesture and spread his arms to show an unthreatening pose and to prove that he carried no weapons. Keeping their hands spread wide, both men continued side by side toward the gate until a shouted challenge halted them twenty paces away.
“Stop there!” called a harsh, guttural voice from above the gate.
Both men stopped, waiting for the next instruction. They had discussed their plan on the long journey there, deciding to withhold the fact that they had met Harrison and Tori from Three Hills, or that they knew a version of events which placed these people in the category of being the bad guys, and decided to announce their presence simply to their neighbors.
“Who are you?” came the next shout, prompting Hendricks to clear his throat.
“We came down from space,” he shouted back, “didn’t you see us?”
A face appeared above the wooden ramparts, presumably belonging to the man who shouted at them, and he regarded them quizzically. He turned back, clearly conversing with someone else, then turned back to shout.
“What do you want?” he yelled finally.
“We want to talk to”—he paused, almost mentioning Tanaka’s name and cursing himself silently—“whoever is in charge here.”
No answer came for a while, making the two men stood in front of the gates increasingly nervous, until the heavy gates creaked open.
The scene before them widened to show a man stood centrally, wearing a battered jacket of dark brown leather. His arms were behind his back, and his face showed a look of hard-bitten malevolence. He did not, in any way, seem like a man capable of kindness.
He was flanked on both sides by larger men holding an array of weapons ranging from bows to spears, all of which were held low toward the strangers. All of those weapons then turned to bow to their leader, with a worn semi-automatic handgun holstered at the front of the leather jacket man’s waist.
“I am in charge here,” he announced in a voice far