There is an uncomfortable number of rings before I hear a very tired voice answer the phone. “Uh, this is Deirdre Skye. What’s the emergency waking me up at night?”
“Deirdre, it’s Mariah. You remember I’m here, right?” I reply, voice laced with desperation. If this turns into another round of hallucination negotiation, I might lose it.
“Oh! Yes, um, you know, I thought that was a dream, but I guess not.”
“No, no, no—I’m not a dream.”
“But what’s going on that can’t wait for tomorrow?”
“I’m at Dr. Gupta’s lab,” I start. “I—”
“Why are you there?”
Now I do lose it. “Because she grabbed me off the street! And, and did surgery to me, and injected me with things, and I, I…” I can’t get enough air. My hand feels icy as I hold my head.
“Mariah! Mariah! I need you to take a deep breath, okay?” I try to, but I’m definitely slipping into panic here. “Are you safe right now?” Deirdre asks.
“Not if she comes upstairs!”
“Okay, is there anyone else who knows you’re at Dr. Gupta’s lab?”
“Uh, Steve, your secretary, connected me. He said he’d send Xiao here.”
“Okay, that’s good. That’s very helpful.”
“But I don’t know how to reach Marina.”
“She doesn’t have a comm in her apartment,” Deirdre tells me. “I’ll send someone to find her.”
I’m starting to feel more and more cold. A shiver runs down my spine, which causes the room to tilt and my vision to blacken around the edges. It’s hard to piece together words. “I’m not sure how long I’m going to be able to—”
“Mariah, stay on the phone with me,” Deirdre urges. “Stay with me!”
“If I pass out and she comes upstairs, this is all just going to happen all over again.” It’s quiet desperation this time, not excited panic. I’ve spent all the energy I had for that.
“Hang on! Mariah, I just need you to keep talking. Tell me more about what this planet has shown you. Describe to me what those landscapes look like.”
I know what she’s doing here, trying to keep me engaged, and I play along. Maybe it will help me calm down. But I’ve already talked to her about the land and shown her what I see as well. So instead, I ask her if she’s met any craws. She just knows of them as somewhat large crab-like critters. I tell her about my experiences with them, about how I can understand them and how clever and shrewd they are. It does help—for a little while. But before long, I’m describing to her what the Progenitors did to the craws they captured and tortured. And once I get to the point of telling Deirdre about how Checkerboard needs help, I’ve wound myself up again. “Oh my God, I’m like Checkerboard, too,” I groan.
“It’ll be okay, Mariah. I’m going to stay with you on the line until Xiao gets there, okay?”
“Okay,” I echo, taking another set of deep breaths to compose myself. “And thank you.”
“No, don’t thank me. I’m terribly sorry that this happened to you. We’re going to get this straightened out. And please, tell me if anything changes in your situation. Now, I need to wake myself up, but I’m right here,” she assures me. Her voice grows more distant, but she reiterates, “I’m still on the line.” I hear rustling and other noises. She must have put it on speaker while she gets dressed or gets a coffee. “Ugh, first Jack, and now this,” she mutters; I don’t think that was meant for my ears. She told me she was dealing with a lot these days. Perhaps family trouble is one of those, if Jack is caught up with the Cult of Chiron. I’m sorry that I have to be another burden on her—not that any of this is my fault. I shouldn’t be the one apologizing.
And I should do something to protect myself, even just a little. As we continue talking, I slide across the floor over to the entrance. I push the solid door closed and lock it, then lean back against it. I’m sure Dr. Gupta has a key to her own office, but this should slow her down some. And if I do pass out, my body will be an additional obstruction to her reaching me again.