46
Heather had almost forgotten how good the alien headset felt on her temples. As soon as she entered the cave, climbed up into the ship, and slid the elastic metal band in place, a warm feeling engulfed her, almost like coming home.
She was the first to enter the room they called the medical lab, followed closely by Jennifer and then Mark, each wearing their own headset. Almost as if the ship knew what she was feeling, the colors in the room shifted to a softer shade, which highlighted the smoothly flowing elegance of each of the pedestals. Dear Lord, it was beautiful.
“I’ll go first,” Mark said.
Heather turned to face him. “Why you?”
Mark’s grin was ear to ear. “Because I’m the man.”
“Really?”
“Besides, I already know how to manipulate the biofeedback. It’s too bad we don’t have more than one of these tentacle tables or I could talk you through things as I’m doing it.”
As if in response to his wish, the door in the far wall dematerialized, the one through which they had never been able to gain entry.
Heather gasped, then rushed forward, as if any hesitation might close off the newly opened doorway before she could peer inside. Mark beat her to it, leaving only Jennifer hanging back. No shock there. Jennifer had always been the only one in the group with any sense.
The room was smaller than the medical lab, with a single large couch amidst a forest of the clear tentacle tubes they had experienced on the table in the medical lab. These were bigger, though, filled with moving lights, almost like soap bubbles moving through a viscous fluid. If she hadn’t been so excited by this new discovery, Heather could have just sat down and watched.
Mark stepped into the room, the clear tubes melting away from his path as he advanced toward the couch.
Heather reached for him. “Mark. Be careful.”
“Why?” He turned to face her. “This ship could have killed us a hundred times by now.”
“You make it sound like it is making a conscious choice not to. For all we know, if we press the wrong button or misuse a device, that could still be the ultimate outcome.”
Mark shook his head. “Maybe, but I’m not getting that feeling about this place.”
Heather concentrated, doing her best to send an intelligible query through the headset to the ship’s computer system. Although her head flooded with imagery, she failed to make sense of it. Mark was right about one thing, though. This new room just felt right.
She glanced back at Jennifer. But if she was expecting her friend to inject a word of caution, she was disappointed. Jennifer had moved into the room with an air of expectation on her face. If Heather hadn’t known better, she would have thought that Jennifer had seen it all before.
Seeing no further objections, Mark slid onto the couch and leaned back. The room’s response was startling. The tentacles swarmed over him, each one sprouting thousands of others, their supple, needle-sharp points each moving to establish its own connection to his skin. If it had not been for the feelings of relaxation she was getting from the alien headband, Heather doubted she could have kept herself from screaming. And even though the look on Mark’s face was one of complete relaxation, Heather had to concentrate to slow her own breathing.
As Heather’s attention focused itself on what was happening to Mark, unnoticed beside her, a slow, satisfied smile lit Jennifer’s delicate features.