Alone in the Crowd (The Chronicles of Anna Foster Book 3)

by Patrick Stutzman

  “What if I beat it out of you?” threatened Jason.

  “Jason.” Anna stepped in. “That wouldn’t do any good. Remember the sphere?”

  Jason shook his head and fell silent.

  “So, what do you remember?” Cary asked. “Does anything come to mind now?”

  “I do remember a period of time when I first arrived here on Paradise, when I…” Anna began.

  “Paradise?” Cary asked, confused.

  “Haven, sorry. I had called this moon Paradise when I first arrived. Anyway,” she continued before the scientist could interrupt again. “Shortly after I crashed here, I discovered the pyramid and fell into the same trap we did earlier. Sometime later, I woke up outside again and found that I had no memories of what happened over the previous month.”

  Cary nodded. “That’s probably when it happened.”

  “I’ll go first,” interjected Tomomi. “I’m still in a bit of pain myself.”

  She stepped toward the bed next to Anderson. She glanced at Jason and gave a brief smile before lying down and placing her free hand atop her waist.

  “Cary,” Anna muttered. “Are you still hurt from our fall earlier? Why don’t you join her?”

  He frowned. “If you don’t mind, I think I’ll wait to see what happens first.”

  A few seconds later, a blue strip of light passed over Tomomi from head to toe, and her image appeared above the console. The image immediately indicated her broken arm.

  “You have a broken arm, too.” Bryce’s comment carried an unemotional tone. “Beginning repairs.”

  He gestured into the holographic interface, and a wire grid in the shape of a small tower composed of blue light formed at the foot of each bed. The towers developed a more solid appearance after another half-second. Once complete, they each beamed a stream of white light at Tomomi’s and Cooper’s arms.

  Jason and Cary stared at the tower on Cooper’s bed, puzzled expressions on their faces. Jason stepped over to it and knelt to look at it at its level.

  “Be careful, Jason,” warned the scientist. “We don’t know what it could do.”

  “What can it do?” Jason continued to stare at the small tower. “It’s only a hologram.”

  Jason reached out his hand with outstretched fingers toward the base of the tower, until his fingers touched its surface. Surprised, Jason looked back at Anna and Cary over his shoulder. “It’s solid!”

  “What?” Cary moved with haste toward Cooper’s bed. “That can’t be!”

  “It is! See for yourself!”

  Jason stood and stepped back, letting Cary touch the tower.

  “That’s impossible; a solid hologram?”

  Watching the scene unfold with raised eyebrows, Anna turned to Bryce and rested her hand on what felt to her like the boiled wool of a high school letterman’s jacket.

  Anna gasped. “Are you real?”

  “About as real as you created me, Anna,” Bryce answered. “In truth, I am a hard light projection of your ex-boyfriend from high school, produced by your bilsintik.”

  “Bilsintik?”

  “A bilsintik is a personal computer assistant. It…I was issued to you shortly after your first arrival here.”

  “My first…how long ago was that?”

  Bryce swept his hand over the image of Anderson’s body and a wire frame of a metallic box formed over him. “I was assigned to you over kas wathenal ago.”

  “Kas? How many is that?”

  Bryce tapped the surface of the console thirteen times.

  “Thirteen. How long is thirteen wathenal?!”

  A brief second passed before he answered, “That is over genat dogen of this moon’s revolutions around the planet.”

  “Genat dogen?”

  “That is a double-digit number. Genat puts a seven in the ikat’s place. As for dogen…” Bryce tapped the console fourteen times.

  Anna’s face screwed up as she concentrated. “What kind of numerical system do you use?”

  “We have what you would call a quindecimal system.”

  “Base fifteen?”

  After a second’s pause, he nodded.

  With a thoughtful nod, Anna calculated the time in her head and verbalized her results a few seconds later in a whisper. “That’s almost ten years ago, the time I first entered the pyramid.”

  Chapter 19

  Horrible thoughts and images raced through Anna’s head of what may have transpired while she was in their care. She snapped her gaze toward Bryce and slowly backed away. She mouthed words, but nothing came out for a few seconds. “Wh…what did you do to me?”

  Bryce turned and faced Anna, a look of serenity on his face. “I’m sorry, Anna. I’m not at liberty to say.”

  “Classified, right? Why do you have to keep secrets from me? If you trust me enough to grant me a bilsi…whatever and give me computer access, why can’t you tell me what you did to me?”

  “I cannot disclose everything that happened during your stay,” Bryce said. “Those files are classified, as you said. But, I can tell you this, Anna. We saved your life. Bron found you in the caves, broken, bleeding, and near death. He brought you in, and we healed you much like what we are doing for your friends now. Beyond that, I cannot say.”

  “Okay, you healed me. Thanks. I appreciate that. But, what did you do beyond that? Stick a probe up my ass?”

  Bryce stepped toward her, his hands casually extended before him with palms outward. “Anna…”

  “You keep away from me!” She backed away another step, pointing at him. “Stay away!”

  “What’s the matter, Anna?”

  “What’s the matter? I don’t trust you!”

  “You don’t trust me? How can you not trust me? You chose me.”

  “I…” Anna’s face softened as Bryce’s comment sank in. “What?”

  “You may not remember this. But, you chose my appearance and my personality, because you said Bryce was the one man around your age who you trusted the most.”

  Anna balked. She wracked her brain trying to find the slightest memory of the incident Bryce described, but found none. With a suspicious expression and slight tilt of her head, she asked, “How do I know you’re telling the truth?”

  “Several reasons: I’m a computer module and incapable of deception, evidence such as my ability to speak English indicates your cooperation, your ability to get in means you are allowed to pass through our security defenses. Do I need to go on?”

  Anna bowed her head slightly while contemplating his words. He had not given any reason to doubt his intentions. At the same time, he could be withholding information to paint a better picture of himself.

  “If you wish,” offered Bryce. “I could scan you again while one of your companions watches. This way, you can see that we did not violate your body in any way.”

  Anna glanced at Jason and Cary, who stood next to Cooper’s bed with looks of concern and empathy on their faces while they watched her argue with Bryce. Cary seemed to snap back to reality, and he turned slightly to look at her.

  Cary stepped forward. “It’s okay, Anna. I can watch it for you.”

  Anna sighed, then nodded her acceptance of Bryce’s offer. As Cary moved to stand next to Bryce, she walked to the empty bed next to Tomomi at the end of the row, sat on the edge for a few seconds, and finally lay back. Bryce activated the scan, and Anna watched the light pass through her as it swept to the foot of the bed.

  Anna lifted her head and saw her image appeared in the holographic screen. With her likeness at the same size as the other three, she did not see anything out of the ordinary and laid her head back down.

  “Are you able to zoom in on her?” asked Cary.

  Without a response, Bryce touched the image with his hand, dragged it to the center, and used his hands to zoom in on her abdominal cavity. With the image size sufficient for him, he looked over the hologram for anything out of the ordinary.

  Cary said a few minutes later, “You passed, A
nna. No foreign objects, except for those dots on your shoulder.

  “That reminds me,” he continued in a low voice to Bryce. “Can you remove those glowing dots from her shoulder?”

  Bryce did not miss a beat. “We will not be removing the glowing dots from her shoulder.”

  Cary furrowed his brow, repeating the response to himself for several seconds. “Why not?”

  “That’s classified.”

  “Did you put them there?”

  “No.”

  Crossing his arms, Cary opened his mouth to ask something else, when Bryce continued, “They were there when we found her.”

  “Anna?” Cary looked toward her. “How did you get the spots on your shoulder?”

  She lifted her head to look at the pair standing behind the console. “What? How did this come up? You know what? Never mind. It was an accident that occurred before I came to the moon.”

  Cary shrugged. “Okay, you’re off the hook.”

  “May I get up now?” Anna sounded somewhat like a little girl pining for her favorite toy.

  Bryce smiled. “Yes, Anna. You’re done.”

  As she swung her legs over the side and stood, Tomomi commented, “You know what? My arm is starting to feel better.”

  “Good!” Anna grinned. “Maybe it was good that we stopped here after all.”

  Tomomi smiled back and closed her eyes. A flash of white from Cooper’s bed caught Anna’s attention, and she hustled over to Jason to watch several more beams firing at other points on the sergeant’s body.

  “Could the other two of you please lie down to be scanned?” Bryce requested. “The sooner you do, the sooner we can revive your deceased companion.”

  Anna looked at Jason. “Could you, please? It shouldn’t take long.”

  He glanced at Cooper for a second before facing her again. With a nod, he moved to the bed behind him and lay down. Seconds later, Cary reached the bed Anna had been on moments before and took his position. The scans began while Anna walked back to the console to monitor the results.

  A brief moment later, Cary and Jason were standing by the console with Anna looking over the three patients. Bryce focused on Anderson’s body and, after toggling several holographic switches, released at least a dozen white beams at various points on his body.

  “His recovery will take a while. The female should be ready in a few nathal, and the other male should be conscious in about another glasal.”

  “Hopefully, that won’t be very long,” Jason said.

  “It shouldn’t be.” Bryce prepped the beds for the scans before casting his gaze toward Anna. “In the meantime, would you like to wait somewhere more comfortable? There is a recreation room a few doors away.”

  Cary’s eyes lit up. “I wonder what passes for entertainment for these beings.”

  “We should get back to the colony and report what we’ve found,” Jason said. “They are probably wondering what’s going on, especially if that shield is still up around the pyramid.”

  Anna nodded. “But, we can’t leave them behind, while we go running off. If Anderson can be brought back from the dead, we should wait to see if Bryce’s efforts are successful. Why don’t you two wait in the recreation room? I can see if I can make contact with the colony to let them know what’s happening.”

  Tomomi sighed from her medical bed. “Guys, I’m still awake. Please don’t leave me alone.”

  Bryce turned to Anna. “Would you like me to administer a bilsintik for her to keep her company?”

  “You have more than one here?”

  “We are capable of generating a bilsintik for each of you, if you wish.”

  Jason shook his head. “I don’t want one. I’m fine with the company I have.”

  Cary, on the other hand, leaned closer, curious. “What does getting a bilsintik entail?”

  “We run a scan for a person in your past with which you have a strong attachment, and we recreate that persona for your bilsintik.”

  “And, how do you scan for that?”

  “We run a brain scan of you.”

  “You…you scan our minds?”

  “Yes. It’s the only way to get a true representation of the persona you choose.”

  Cary looked down at the floor and crossed his arms. “I’m not sure I want one now. I don’t want a strange computer poking its way through my head.”

  “It’s harmless. After all, I wouldn’t be here, if Anna had not permitted herself to be scanned.”

  “Yeah,” Anna interjected. “About that…”

  “I assure you that you granted permission for the scan to be done, Anna. And before you ask, the rest is classified.”

  Anna frowned. “No surprise there.”

  “Actually,” Cary said, looking toward the medical beds. “I think I’ll wait here with Tomomi. It’s the least I can do for her.”

  Anna glanced at him with a crease in her brow. “Are you sure?”

  Cary nodded. “I’m sure.”

  Bryce stepped away from the console. “Very well. What about the two of you? Shall I accompany you to the recreation room?”

  “I’d like to find a means of communication, so I can contact our colony,” Anna said.

  “And, I want to stay with her.” Jason emphasized his statement with a raised hand and turned his head toward Anna as she glanced back. “No point in being alone.”

  As they turned toward him, Bryce said, “That should be fine. Follow me, please.”

  The trio left the room. After passing through the door, Bryce led them deeper into the facility down the featureless corridor.

  “How do they know where to go?” Jason expressed his thought aloud, not realizing he had done so.

  Anna shrugged. “I don’t know. Perhaps they have something on the walls that is outside the visible light spectrum. Maybe they can see it, but we can’t.”

  “Maybe.”

  The two fell silent and walked behind Bryce for a while. Another question crossed Jason’s mind. “Have you tried calling the colony from in here with your communicator?”

  Anna cocked her head as she considered the possibility. “No, I haven’t. Want to give it a try?”

  “Does your boyfriend have a problem with it?”

  Anna rolled her eyes at Jason’s teasing remark. “He’s not my boyfriend. He just looks like an ex from my high school years. I’m sure he looks different now.

  “Bryce, is it okay if Jason tries to call the colony from here?”

  “He may do so.”

  Anna nodded with a smile, and Jason pulled the communicator from his backpack and initiated the call.

  “Haven, this is Jason Fuller.”

  He waited a few seconds but received no response.

  “Haven, do you read? This is Jason Fuller…Haven, come…”

  “Jason, we read…your messa…in garbled… again.”

  “Haven, we hear you. Please respond again.”

  Anna rested her hand on his forearm. “It’s okay, Jason. Let’s try the communications system for this place.”

  He nodded and returned the communicator to his backpack.

  Bryce gestured to the hallway ahead of them. “We’re almost there.” He opened another doorway and led them into a room roughly the same size as the medical facility. In this one, six separate consoles lined up in a row stood between them and six transparent circles, each about a meter in diameter, on the floor.

  “Six circles and six panels in here,” Jason observed, his voice barely reaching Anna’s ears. “Six beds in the infirmary. I wonder what their fascination with the number six is.”

  Bryce walked to the nearest console and activated the holographic panel. “Anna, could you please indicate where you wish to communicate?”

  Anna stepped next to him and examined the display that showed a three-dimensional image of the area around the lake, complete with the colonial structures and people moving about. She pointed to the large central building. “The communications center is within this buildin
g. Let’s try there.”

  “Very good. I will set the coordinates. Go ahead and stand on the circle, Anna.”

  While Jason watched, Anna strode to the center of the circle and turned to face Bryce. She took a deep breath and nodded to him. “I’m ready.”

  Bryce nodded and pushed one last switch in the hologram floating before his face. The circle under Anna’s feet glowed dimly for a second. Without warning, the room changed to the inside of the communications center at the colony, making her feel that she was really there. She turned back toward the front of the room. The man sitting at the dispatch panel was familiar, and behind him stood Danica, Colonel McClaskey, and another high-ranking military officer. Though McClaskey, the comm operator, and the other officer wore the normal fatigues, Danica wore a loose-fitting white blouse and blue jeans.

  “Am I really there?” Anna asked aloud. As she spoke, all three heads turned her direction.

  Although the colonel flinched, his hand went straight for his holstered pistol. “What the hell!”

  “Anna!” yelled Danica, surprise and joy mixed together in her voice. She bolted toward her before the colonel had a chance to seize her arm.

  “Wait!”

  Anna threw her arms in front of her. “No, wait!”

  Through the activity, Bryce’s voice came through. “No, you’re not really there. What they see is a holographic version of you.”

  Danica skidded to a halt about a meter from Anna’s image. Her face twisted to demonstrate her confusion. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong,” answered Anna. “Well, all things considered. I’m not physically there with you. This is just a holographic projection.”

  “Where are you?” the colonel asked.

  “Long story, and I’ll explain later. What’s important is that we have news regarding the expedition at the pyramid. The pyramid created a defense shield around itself…”

  “We are aware of that, missy,” McClaskey interrupted.

  “…that shuts down all forms of our technology within the bubble,” she continued, raising voice while throwing him an annoyed look. “I have Jason, a couple of scientists, and a couple of soldiers with me. We entered the pyramid to try to shut down the shield but fell through a trap into an underground cavern. Some of us are injured, but we are tending to them now. Meanwhile, I am continuing to search for a way out of the caverns as well as the means to shut down the shield.”