The Silent Room

“I’ve isolated the power from the main injections unit. This sector should only receive enough power for life-support systems. Give me some juice, Bob.”

“Copy that, Chief.”

“Oh yeah. Tuck, can you bring the biometer here? I left it at the EVAM. Get over here when you’re done on that side too, Bob.”

“Roger. Hey, don’t forget to send power back to the tanks.”

Fortunately the life-support systems didn’t suffer much damage. Still, I couldn’t take the risk of breathing in here. Not until I’ve confirmed that everything’s normal. I could hear Tuck coming in from the chute. He’d be surprised to see this. Gravity has come back on. I took a few more steps to inspect the large chunks of crystal. The fine crystalline hairs crumbled to dust under each footstep. Just then, Tuck’s head popped out from the chute.

“Whew, I never thought I’d go up a garba-whoa,”

I knew it. The way his eyes went all glassy and the gaping mouth was so hilarious I had to bite my tongue just to get a grip. I asked Tuck to sample the air for toxicity. If it’s safe enough I would very much like to take off my helmet. I rested my hands on the shiny blue surface of one of the crystal spikes. A slight tingle ran through my fingers. I continued to inspect the blue obelisks with a piece of metal I found on the floor. Hmm, can’t scratch it with steel, that explains the major bursts, alright. The finer hairs probably crumbled under my weight. Geez, you’re not telling me to go on a no-meat diet are ya?

“Matter of fact, you could lose a bit of that fat.”

“Who said that?”

Tuck looked at me blankly. He’s giving me this weird look, as if I just showed him how to cook some Malaysian curry.

“Who ya talkin’ to, Chief?”

“You said I could lose a bit of fat, didn’t you?”

“Na’uh. I was just lookin’ at those pretty crystals. By the way, biometer readings are all okay. We can breathe in here,”

It was a great relief for me to hear those words and take off the suit helmet. But still, something whispered to me. A voice full of sarcasm no less. I scraped some of those crystals off the floor and kept it for sampling. RnD would be having a field day with this. Bob soon arrived, and reacted exactly the same way Tuck did. These guys are real jokers.

I looked into the obelisk. I could see my distrorted reflection on its shiny surface. But it looks funny. As though it’s grinning back at me. I’m having delusions. Must be the lunch that I missed.

“Meet me at the EVAM once you’re done sight-seeing, boys. I’m hungry.”

Rescue shuttles, press ships and military units from the nearby station arrived just as we were about to leave. My head suddenly felt a throbbing sensation. It got gradually stronger and the pain soon got unbearable. I fainted.

**********************

What? Where is this place?

“Hey there, hot shot.”

“What, who are you?”

“Hmm… we’ll that’s a pretty tough question.”

What is that voice? What is it talking about. It sounds very much like… me.

“I am that crystal you touched. At the same time, I’m also – well, you.”

This is getting too confusing.

“You’ll need some rest. I’ll get back to you when you’re feeling better.”

**********************

I woke up to the smell of fresh coffee. My head still hurt a fair bit, but the throbbing eventually went away. Apparently the boys laid me down on the office sofa, and have been taking turns watching over me. Tuck placed a steaming mug of black coffee next to the couch and sat down.

“You were out cold for like, what, 2 hours? Had us worried, there, Chief.”

“Sorry about that. I don’t know what happened.”

“Well, Bob’s went out to get us some Chinese take-out. They say the Chinese put medicinal shit in their food.”

“You make me feel like fainting again.”

“Heard they especially like frog legs, and lizard tails and…”

“Say one more weird food, and I’m telling Pablo to stop selling you anymore pastrami.”

“… I was gonna say ginseng but, okay.”

The coffee was strong. Just what I needed. But that dream. I’m still puzzled about it. The crystals. I remember touching them. I remember the tingling sensations. I remember the faint glow when I first saw it in the darkness. It was calling out to me. That, and the fact that I myself am drawn to it. I can’t tell if I’m being delusional or not.

The only thing I understand now, is that I really need to find out more.

Continue to Part IV

Previously:

• Part II
• Part I