Down by Ally Blue

Author:Ally Blue [Blue, Ally]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Published: 2015-01-14T05:00:00+00:00

An hour later, Armin, Youssouf, Poole, and Mandala all huddled around the small conference table at the back of the lab, discussing their findings and trying to decide what it all meant. So far, there had been much speculation—not all of it friendly—but nothing in the way of solid conclusions.

Armin felt light-headed and strung out with exhaustion. His colleagues didn’t look in any better shape. Entirely aside from that, they were wasting time talking in circles while the situation beyond the lab door deteriorated by the minute.

He cut off yet another of Dr. Poole’s wild theories about mass hypnosis by slapping his open palm on the table. “This is ridiculous. It would be lovely if we could go step-by-step and test all the possibilities, but we don’t have that luxury. The longer we sit here and talk, the harder it’s going to be to fix this before it’s too late.”

Mandala stared at him in transparent shock. “I can’t believe you just said that, Doctor. The scientific method is the basis of everything we do.”

“I’m aware of that.” Armin rubbed his dry and stinging eyes. “But this isn’t a lab experiment. We need to do something concrete, soon, before everyone on this pod dies.”

Youssouf nodded, her face thoughtful. “You’re right. I wish we could be more careful, but we can’t.” She covered a wide yawn with both hands. “Excuse me. So, what do we know for sure?”

“Nothing, really.” Poole slouched in his chair, arms crossed. “This is all some sort of mass hallucination. What we need is a psychiatrist.”

Youssouf didn’t even bother to look at him. She held up a hand and ticked off points on her fingers. “We know that we have six dead people on this pod, three of whom have measurable physical growths in their brains. Testing shows that those growths are not cancer, or abscesses, or in fact anything else previously known to medical science. Those same three people showed psychotic symptoms prior to death. Ryal Nataki and Neil Douglas both showed outward physical changes. We’re not able to verify any physical changes in Carlo since he wasn’t seen before he went out into the ocean and the massive trauma he suffered obscured any macro-level changes. We also know that this rock you found turns out to be made up of something previously unknown to science. Even Poole can’t deny that, because he saw the spectral readout for himself.”

Poole scowled, but for once didn’t argue. As a geologist, he’d recognized the bizarre nature of the spectral analysis the moment he’d seen it.

Mandala planted her elbows on the table, clasped her hands together, and rested her chin on her steepled index fingers. “Perhaps the object gives off some sort of radiation that we’re unable to detect. If that radiation causes these brain growths, might that lead to the sort of strange behaviors we’ve seen?”

“That’s a good thought.” Armin stood and paced in an attempt to get his sluggish mind moving. “Amara? What do you think?”

“It’s entirely possible.” Youssouf pressed her thumbs together, frowning.

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