Chapter 41
Alice
She did not know how long she had rested there for. But when she blinked her eyes open, the consciousness returning to her in a snap, Alice saw that night had fallen.
It was thick and dark around her, and yet it could not touch her; the complete shield was still in place all around her.
The light of it reflected over her skin, dancing over the hull around her.
‘Conscious, conscious,’ Helper chirped from her side, ‘you have regained consciousness. Act immediately. We must leave.’
Alice tried to push through her confusion.
In slow snippets her memory returned to her.
She opened her eyes wider.
She shifted her head around, pushing her face to the side.
She didn’t seem to be capable of pushing herself up to her feet; her body throbbed with fatigue. All of that energy she had given up to create the complete shield had practically drained her.
So instead she just lay there, her head on the side, her body still crumpled around her. And she stared forward.
That was when she noticed that there was somebody just beyond the edge of the force field.
Alice herself was close to it; her face was barely 30 centimeters from the edge of the flickering field. And whoever was on the other side was just as close.
They leaned down further. Their black armor glinting under the reflected light of the shield.
She recognized the armor.
Someone brought their face into view, planting a hand onto the hull, angling their head down.
John Doe.
He no longer had his helmet on; but Alice could see that the force field that had taken its place was in effect, glistening and glimmering as it no doubt picked up feedback from the complete shield.
But that was not what held her attention.
His gaze did.
His expression was . . . unreadable.
Surprised. Amazed. Confused. Overcome. Suspicious.
Everything.
All jumbled into one.
‘Rupture the shield,’ Helper said from behind her, ‘you can momentarily use it to destabilize the anti-gravitational chamber. This will be the distraction we require to escape.’
Maybe John Doe couldn’t hear Helper, because he didn’t suddenly jump to his feet and shake his fist at the little robot.
No, he continued to stare right at Alice.
And she continued to stare right back.
‘Though the complete shield will last for as long as we require, we should not allow them to gain reinforcements. I have been monitoring radio traffic, and several Union Force ships have been redirected to this area. We must take this opportunity to leave. It will take no effort on your behalf, just a simple command in order to shut down the shield. I will take everything from there.’
Alice still didn’t move. She just stared up at him.
John Doe.
In fact, she had no idea how long she stared up at him, and she had no idea how long he’d been staring down at her. She had been unconscious for some time; long enough that day had dwindled into a dark night. Had he been leaning there against the shield, as close as he could get to her, for that entire time?
Maybe.
She wanted to pull herself away. Do exactly what Helper suggested, and take the opportunity, maybe the only one they would get.
She couldn’t.
Something about his eyes seemed to hold her in place.
Stop her.
Freeze her.
Or maybe she did that to herself.
Maybe that’s what she wanted most. To stop the paranoia, to stop the escape, to the stop the running.
And right now she could appreciate how it felt. To be safe for a flickering moment, and yet to face her fears in the exact same breath.
Because wasn’t that exactly what John Doe represented? A Union Commander hell bent on finding all of the Old Tech he could get his hands on. He was Alice’s worst nightmare.
Well right now she was staring up into the eyes of that terrifying apparition.
And rather than push her away, and force her back into her life of escape, they seemed to pull her in.
‘Alice, we must go. We must find your people. I analyzed the woman Evelyn’s speech patterns, biological readings, and I accessed her history from the ICN. I do not believe she is lying.’
That got Alice’s attention.
Perhaps the only thing that could.
‘We must regroup and ascertain whether this information is correct. The strategy has altered,’ Helper chimed.
The strategy had altered.
Alice closed her eyes.
The last thing she saw was John staring down at her.
Then she shut it off.
She sent the command to the complete shield.
The rest she left up to Helper.
He zoomed in, fixed her in a holding beam, and then shot away with Alice in his electronic grasp.