“You have five minutes to come out and let me treat you all,” Dr. Hamblin said, her smile still unnaturally wide. “I don’t want to send my sisters in to bring you to me, but I will if you don’t accept treatment of your own accord.”
“At least the mute button still works,” Sam said with futility dripping from his words. “You three,” he pointed at Velasquez, Braxton and Carpenter, “put a short report together with the critical information for our team back home in case we can find a way to transmit.” He looked back at Chauncy, Gullivan and the technician. “Any luck establishing communications?”
Gullivan shook his head. “She was right about the satellite uplink being down.”
“You could use your watch,” Regina said, surprising herself. The coherence of thought associated with her suggestion quickly swept away like dandelion fluff in the wind. Regina fought to reclaim her drifting thoughts.
“Wouldn’t do any good on an island this far from the mainland,” Sam lamented.
“Not necessarily,” Gullivan said. “During the failed invasion, NASA warned that an attack like that could easily destroy all satellite communications, so the federal government funded the modification of cellular towers to allow tower-to-tower transmission in cases of emergency. Cellular devices automatically switch when satellite communication is not possible, but they can only transmit to other cellular devices via that network.”
“My watch is plugged into my computer at my lab,” Regina said.
Sam gave her a compassionate look as he told his watch to dial Regina’s. “Can you link the vid to the lower monitor, so we can see in here, but they can’t see down there?” Sam darted his eyes toward the factory floor.
“I’ll work on it,” the tech said.
Why does Sam look so sad? Regina thought. Something in her stomach lurched and she vomited. Her insides cramped like someone were twisting her guts with a wrench. She clutched at her midsection as she heard the sounds of unanswered ringing being picked up by the office audio. She looked and saw Colby’s bulging eyes on the lower monitor. Something moved. Her stomach roiled and her hands could feel what she had through were simply a few extra pounds around the midsection had grown into a bump. The realization chilled her and she shivered uncontrollably.
Sam made sure Colby was recording the conversation, and gave him concise instructions to get the recording to the Board immediately. The use of alien technology in the release of Phase One has initiated a Third Alien Contact on Earth. All shipments must be halted and returned to this island. Any woman who has used a Space Toilet must be quarantined, held under security, and monitored for unnatural pregnancy for at least six weeks by a medical professional. Braxton will be transmitting instructions for locating the compromise in the coding. Until the code has been cleaned, all tech based on the code is unsafe.
“We have a toilet on the Thirteenth Floor,” Colby said solemnly.
Regina could see Dianne approaching the watch, next to Colby. “She’s pregnant,” Regina said, knowing without doubt it was true. There was a glassiness to her eyes that somehow made her sure.
“What are they saying?” Dianne asked as she approached.
Regina could see a bead of sweat rolling down the side of Dianne’s face.
“Did you understand my instructions?” Sam asked with a serious tone.
Colby nodded, sadness filling his large eyes.
“It’s ready,” Braxton said, holding a sheet of paper filled with coding and symbols.
Sam walked over to the monitor that still had an image of the alien DNA strand on the screen. He pointed the camera first at the hand-written instructions and then at the monitor. “Colby, please confirm the note and image on the monitor are visible on your recording.”
A few seconds later, Colby nodded once more.
Regina scooted her chair closer, but dared not let the camera capture her image, for fear of seeing herself on the monitor. She called out to her friends in Houston, “Have a great day and see you tomorrow.” The last part was a lie, she knew, but one that might put Dianne more at ease.
They said goodbye and the call ended.
Women on the stairs started to pull on the door.
“Hold them off for a minute,” Sam said. “We have one more call to make.”
Seconds later, Regina cried as her twenty-one-year-old Jess’s smiling face filled the bottom screen. A large pasta pot boiled behind her. She always loved making ravioli.
“So good to see you,” Sam said, his voice sounded surprisingly normal, but Regina could see his legs were shaking.
“Hey Dad! Nice party you’ve got going there – is Mom with you? Heard you were checking something out on the island.” She smiled and lit up the room.
“I’m here, just working on something.”
Sam looked back and motioned to move the camera so Jess could see her. Regina shook her head no, and Sam nodded. The look in his eyes told her that was the right choice. Tears glistened when he saw her stomach. Turning back to face the watch, he smiled and said, “I’m so sorry, sweetheart, but we are going to be tied up for a while and won’t be back in time for dinner.”
Jess’s smile faded, “That’s okay – the salad greens are wilted and brown in too many places. I can make dinner tomorrow and do a better job of it.”
“That sounds great.” Sam said.
Regina wiped her own tears, which had left the image of her daughter blurry. “We won’t be back until its very late, maybe tomorrow. So, don’t wait up. Do you want to share your news with us?”
“Who said I had news?” Jess asked.
“That mess in the kitchen,” Regina said. “It’s code for we need to talk.”
Jess’s expression grew serious, and her eyes seemed to glisten, “We should wait until you’re back. It won’t change by tomorrow, anyway.”
Not glistening, glassy – like a doll’s eyes. Oh, no! Regina sobbed. Not Jess!
Pounding on the door grew louder. Regina chanced a glance and could see two women with guns were ascending the stairs.
She made herself sound as normal as possible, but emotion made her words sound thick and strange. “Yes, your news can wait until tomorrow. But I really need you to do me a favor tonight, Jess. Promise me you will take that delicious dinner to Colby and Dianne at my lab. They will be working late for me, and you can’t eat all of that food by yourself, anyway. Make sure you tell Colby there is a problem with our Space Toilet, and ask him to send a technician to our home tomorrow. I know that’s a weird request, but will you do it?”
“Of course, Mom. Gotta run. Love you both!”
“Love you,” Sam and Regina said together as the image faded.
Sam cried openly as he clearly realized what Jess’s message was from Regina’s reaction. Regina and Jess were both pregnant and they had to hope she would go to Colby like she had promised and that he would catch the clues she would offer. For ten seconds, they held each other and cried.
Moments later, they were led toward the medical office through a sea of pregnant women. Regina’s thoughts were resigned, though something inside was numbing her pain and covering what was broken. She thought, Why invade and destroy the planet with war when you can people the world with your own and claim it without a fight?
Why indeed, Mother? A strangely accented voice spoke to her mind as the something in her stomach twisted.
A TALE OF LAZARANTH PRISON
By Kristin J. Dawson