“The interesting thing is that the development of language wasn't dictated so much by external factors but more by the physical evolution of the human brain itself.”
Dane felt Chelsea pressing against his leg and he could hear the steady drumming of the plane’s engines. He was aware that Freed was moving about the cargo bay, pulling the parachutes out of their wrapping and preparing them, but his primary focus was on Sin Fen.
“That's where the bicameral mind comes in,” Sin Fen continued. “The human brain consists of two halves that are almost identical, but have very little actual physical connection to each other. Scientists believe the two sides developed that way to give us redundancy in critical brain processes.
“The speech centers in the brain are present to almost the same extent in both hemispheres yet in ninety-seven percent of people they are functional only in the left hemisphere. What happened to the speech centers in the right? They are still there, three distinct areas that work together to produce speech: the supplementary motor area, the least important; Broca’s Area, in the back of the frontal lobe; and Wernicke’s area in the posterior part of the temporal lobe, the removal of which produces a permanent loss of meaningful speech.
“These areas function together to produce speech from the left hemisphere for most people, but they are also present on the opposite side, but apparently non-functioning. Some believe that these opposite side speech centers working together is where the telepathic ability resided. Initially, man's brain was more connected between the two sides and the speech centers worked in harmony so that all humans could ‘talk’ to each other the way we have.”
Sin Fen smiled, revealing even, very white teeth. “You’ve always been able to sense things, even hear ‘voices’ sometimes that others can’t hear, haven’t you?”
Dane nodded.
“Of course, since the verbal language wasn’t yet developed, the only messages that could be sent were very basic and really just a surge of raw emotion. Warnings of danger by a burst of fear, for example. In a way, it required the development of a verbal vocabulary for man to add the depth and subtlety to language that allowed us to move forward as a species, yet in losing our telepathic capability we regressed in a certain way also.
“But think if some humans have come full circle! What if some of us have the verbal language in our heads, but also retain the telepathic capability? This is what we are!
“Our speech centers are developed equally in both sides of the brain. The two hemispheres of our brains are also more connected than a normal human's. I have seen MRIs of my own brain and know this to be a fact. This is how we can communicate telepathically and how you have your ‘sixth’ sense that has served you so well. It is simply your brain functioning on a higher level, analyzing more sensory input in a more efficient manner than the normal person.”
Dane stared at Sin Fen. He’d always known he was different, but because he hadn’t known what normal was, he hadn’t known how different he truly was.
Sin Fen continued. “Physiological psychologists at the very least agree that Wernicke’s area in the non-speech side of the brain does exist. It can be removed in most people without causing any apparent problems. But there are those who hypothesize that this apparently non-functioning area is the center for our imagination, the place where we hear the voices of the Gods.”
Dane started in surprise. He’d heard voices in his head all his life and he knew from the way Sin Fen’s voice resonated in his brain that she wasn’t referring to ‘Gods’ in the traditional sense, but a higher order of awareness.
“Not only does this area give you the ability to ‘speak’ to me,” Sin Fen said, “but it gives you many more capabilities, some of which you are not even aware of yet. You have some of the power that the ancients ascribed to the Gods.”
Dane could see Freed running his hand along the steel static line cable that stretched the interior length of the cargo bay from front to rear, checking it.
“What does that have to do with where we are going?” Dane asked, trying to bring this back to a level he could cope with.
“We don’t know,” Sin Fen said.
“Who is we? Who do you work for?”
Dane started forward as he saw the image that flittered across Sin Fen’s consciousness, before a mental curtain came down over it. “Foreman!”
“What?” Freed yelled, barely audible above the plane noises. “What did you say?”
Dane broke contact with Sin Fen, earning an approving bark from Chelsea. “What?”
“You said something,” Freed yelled.
“Nothing,” Dane said.
“Time to rig for the jump.”
Dane looked over at Beasley who appeared to be less than enthusiastic at the moment. As he stood, he projected his thoughts toward Sin Fen:
I want to know the entire truth. Sin Fen’s dark eyes met his. I will you tell you all we know, but it is not much.
“Where’s Mansor?” Ingram was holding Ariana’s arm, his fingers squeezing into her bicep. She knew he was afraid she was in shock, but she wasn’t ready yet to come back to reality. She wanted to be in shock, to forget what she had just witnessed.
They’d hauled her back using the co-ax cable, pulling her into the hatch. Ariana looked up. The hatch was still open above their heads. That brought her back like a slap in the face. “Shut it! Shut it!” she screamed at the others.
Lisa Carpenter jumped up on the desktop and pushed the hatch closed. She spun shut the locking latch.
“What happened to Mansor?” Ingram asked once more as she peeled his fingers out of her arm. “Is he out there? Should we get him?”
Ariana stared at him, choking back the insane laughter she felt welling up in her chest. She spread her hands indicating the blood she was covered in. “This is what happened to Mansor. This is Mansor.”
“Sweet Jesus,” Ingram muttered, sitting down in shock.
“What about the SATCOM?” Carpenter asked.
Ariana held up the cable, where it had gone to Mansor. The end was cleanly cut. She pulled the loose end through and undid the knot she had around her wrist. She could feel pain in skin where the cable had tightened down on her, but it was distant, not sharp. She threw the cable down and collapsed in a swivel chair.
She took stock of the situation, getting herself under control. There were only five of them left. Hudson was in a chair, his wounded legs propped in front of him. Herrin was huddled in the corner, his glazed eyes telling Ariana he was long gone and could not be counted on. Ingram seemed all right, but age was against him. Carpenter seemed ready, muscular black arms folded over her chest. But ready for what? Ariana wondered as she absently ran a hand across her face. It came away sticky and crusted with blood.
“Here,” Carpenter said, holding out a towel.
Ariana took it and wiped herself clean as best she could.
“What happened out there?” Ingram asked.
So Ariana told them. When she was done, silence reigned, until Carpenter spoke. “What do we do now?”
“Nothing,” Ariana said. “We do nothing. We wait and we pray but I don’t even know if that will do any good, because as far as I know, we may already be in hell.”