here?”
“Not a lot, no,” Margaret said. “There are more labs than scientists, I’ll be honest. But we’re still building out.”
The corridor was bringing them past glass doors which themselves led to other internal corridors. At each door was a set of pegs from which hung identical white cloth coats. They were laboratories, Eve decided, and these were protective garments.
It called into question Rick’s concern that no real science was being performed in this facility. Eve didn’t know exactly what real science was versus any other kind, but active laboratories seemed like a strong positive indicator. Although she didn’t know what they were working on, and couldn’t be certain that the same set-up would or wouldn’t be required in a place where holistic vitamins were manufactured.
Ahead, the corridor ended at a set of steel doors with rubberized seals on their borders. The doors were the full height of the corridor.
“What’s in there?” Rick asked. “Is that where we’re going?”
“No, no,” Margaret said. “That’s a storage room. We’re over here, last room on the left.”
There were wooden double-doors to the left and the right. They were neither see-through glass like the ones behind nor steel like the ones in front. It was very much the sort of entrance one might expect of a conference room.
When Rick saw Margaret pull out keys to unlock the door, he made the obvious observation.
“So I guess they aren’t here ahead of us.”
“Who’s that?”
“The doctors we’re here to meet. Because you’re unlocking that door there, so…”
“Well you might be the first ones here after all!” She turned from Rick. “So, you’re Eve, right?”
It was a confusing question.
“I am.”
“I mean, the Eve. We’ve heard a lot about you, that’s all.”
And then all the lights in the corridor went out.
Hands grabbed Eve from behind—how did she not notice someone behind her?—and she was lifted and pushed forward so fast she lost her footing and fell awkwardly onto a rough carpet.
She heard Rick call out in alarm, and then a muffled thump, and then nothing.
A door lock was engaged.
The lights came back.
She was on her knees in a conference room. A large wood table rested in the center, surrounded by leather chairs. Glass rectangles were hung along the walls, one every few feet. Televisions, she assumed.
Only one or two things can sneak up on me , she thought. There are non-humans in this building .
She got to her feet. The doors she’d been shoved through—the conference room doors Margaret had opened—were now closed, and a quick check verified they were indeed locked again.
None of what had just happened made sense. This was hardly a prison cell, but it could also not be called a meeting if she was alone. The darkness, the sudden violence, the separation of her from Rick… none of it was necessary to corral two parties who had arrived willingly.
The only thing self-evident was that there would be no gathering of specialist doctors for a conversation about emerging diseases in the non-human community. Beyond this, she was at a loss.
She wondered if they had hurt Rick.
I promised to protect him .
There was no sense of urgency to the thought. He was either already dead or they were keeping him alive. If it was the former, it didn’t matter how quickly she acted. If it was the latter, it made sense to learn their intentions before any redress.
Whoever they were. That was very much an open question.
One of the television screens blinked to life. It was a still image, a picture of another picture of a fresco, depicting the goddess Demeter.
A second screen lit: Isis in a hieroglyph. Other screens: a modern artistic rendition of Hel, a statuette depicting Shiva, and on it went. Each television had a different goddess from a different culture from one historical epoch or another.
They were all
“Not a lot, no,” Margaret said. “There are more labs than scientists, I’ll be honest. But we’re still building out.”
The corridor was bringing them past glass doors which themselves led to other internal corridors. At each door was a set of pegs from which hung identical white cloth coats. They were laboratories, Eve decided, and these were protective garments.
It called into question Rick’s concern that no real science was being performed in this facility. Eve didn’t know exactly what real science was versus any other kind, but active laboratories seemed like a strong positive indicator. Although she didn’t know what they were working on, and couldn’t be certain that the same set-up would or wouldn’t be required in a place where holistic vitamins were manufactured.
Ahead, the corridor ended at a set of steel doors with rubberized seals on their borders. The doors were the full height of the corridor.
“What’s in there?” Rick asked. “Is that where we’re going?”
“No, no,” Margaret said. “That’s a storage room. We’re over here, last room on the left.”
There were wooden double-doors to the left and the right. They were neither see-through glass like the ones behind nor steel like the ones in front. It was very much the sort of entrance one might expect of a conference room.
When Rick saw Margaret pull out keys to unlock the door, he made the obvious observation.
“So I guess they aren’t here ahead of us.”
“Who’s that?”
“The doctors we’re here to meet. Because you’re unlocking that door there, so…”
“Well you might be the first ones here after all!” She turned from Rick. “So, you’re Eve, right?”
It was a confusing question.
“I am.”
“I mean, the Eve. We’ve heard a lot about you, that’s all.”
And then all the lights in the corridor went out.
Hands grabbed Eve from behind—how did she not notice someone behind her?—and she was lifted and pushed forward so fast she lost her footing and fell awkwardly onto a rough carpet.
She heard Rick call out in alarm, and then a muffled thump, and then nothing.
A door lock was engaged.
The lights came back.
She was on her knees in a conference room. A large wood table rested in the center, surrounded by leather chairs. Glass rectangles were hung along the walls, one every few feet. Televisions, she assumed.
Only one or two things can sneak up on me , she thought. There are non-humans in this building .
She got to her feet. The doors she’d been shoved through—the conference room doors Margaret had opened—were now closed, and a quick check verified they were indeed locked again.
None of what had just happened made sense. This was hardly a prison cell, but it could also not be called a meeting if she was alone. The darkness, the sudden violence, the separation of her from Rick… none of it was necessary to corral two parties who had arrived willingly.
The only thing self-evident was that there would be no gathering of specialist doctors for a conversation about emerging diseases in the non-human community. Beyond this, she was at a loss.
She wondered if they had hurt Rick.
I promised to protect him .
There was no sense of urgency to the thought. He was either already dead or they were keeping him alive. If it was the former, it didn’t matter how quickly she acted. If it was the latter, it made sense to learn their intentions before any redress.
Whoever they were. That was very much an open question.
One of the television screens blinked to life. It was a still image, a picture of another picture of a fresco, depicting the goddess Demeter.
A second screen lit: Isis in a hieroglyph. Other screens: a modern artistic rendition of Hel, a statuette depicting Shiva, and on it went. Each television had a different goddess from a different culture from one historical epoch or another.
They were all
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