Page 34 of The Alien's Private Redemption

If she's cutting out the doctor, she's trying to get away with something,the voice in the back of her head insisted.You can't let her do that. She'll hurt you.

"I'm not sure I'm up for it," Angela said, putting all her exhaustion in her voice. "My brain is still kinda raw and I didn't get near enough sleep."

"And sounding the warning took a lot out of you," Zoric agreed.

"Have we heard if the base was actually attacked?" Angela asked. "I know it followed us for a while but have we heard if it doubled back and hit the base?"

"We'll have to ask the Colonel when he returns," Dr. Phillips said. She sounded exhausted but the ever-present edge of anger was no longer in her voice.

"Do you think it's likely?" Ae-cha asked. "None of the rest of us noticed the vibrations when you did which speaks to it being something you're likely to have more information about than we will."

It wasn't an accusation but Angela could suddenly feel the walls closing in on her. Did they think she was faking it? Warning them about something that didn't exist? The Colonel had evacuated them from the base and watched the disturbances in the sand from the helicopter with her. Whatever they thought she had done, Angela knew he believed her.

"I could feel the wall shaking while I was asleep," she said, defensive. "Colonel Schuh said they'd caught something on the instruments but it didn't look like anything they recognized."

"Then it wasn't in your imagination," Zoric told her.

"Of course," Ae-cha said. "We all heard the explanation. And we believe it. We just have less experience with that kind of disturbance."

Her people have tunneling technology that my people could only dream of,Zoric told her across their Bond.And they know what it looks like on human systems because they cheat and look.

Angela suppressed a smile but sent the amusement she was feeling back to him. He returned the sentiment with a hug and a warm feeling of acceptance and an emotion she wasn't willing to name. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

"Be that as it may," Dr. Torres said. "I still think it would be helpful if Ae-cha could look for more triggers, maybe try and find a pattern to them. A psychic fingerprint? Whatever it would be that would set apart the malicious commands from the more benign ones."

"Agreed," Dr. Phillips said. "Though I worry about taking some of the controls off the process. We had observers for a reason."

"I'm an observer," Dr. Torres said. "We don't have cameras but I can be considered a reliable witness and I'm willing to record my observations. And Dr. Phillips can still direct the questioning."

A wordless wave of panic and revulsion at the suggestion rolled through Angela and she had to fight her desire to stand and flee.

"Maybe, instead of looking for more triggers, we test what Ae-cha is planning on something more benign. A memory? I can use my Bond with Angela to make sure she's safe and Ae-cha can ask her to remember something that couldn't possibly have a trigger attached to it." Zoric's voice cut through the panic and she wondered what, exactly, she'd missed.

What does Ae-cha want to do?she asked him.

She wants to look at your brain as a whole and try and find the signature of the command to stop breathing when someone asks you a question that you're not supposed to answer. Instead of asking you leading questions and making you say them out loud, she wants to trigger a memory that will let her into your brain, so she can get deeper.

I don't want her poking around in my brain with no limits or controls. It's why I worked so hard last time.

I know,Zoric sent, along with a wave of reassurance.I'll be there to keep her from things you don't want her to see. It will be my energy keeping your boundaries up, not yours. It should be less taxing for you to deal with everything that way.

Do you think I should do it?She felt so small, asking him like that. As though she wasn't an adult who could make her own decisions, have her own agency.

I think what Ae-cha is proposing is interesting, and Dr. Torres has some good questions. I don't want you to feel pressured into any of this and I will defend your right to say no to my last breath if you don't want to.

It wasn't an answer but it made her feel better.

"What Zoric said," Angela told Ae-cha. "With the caveat that we stop the minute Colonel Schuh returns."

"As soon as it is safely possible," Ae-cha corrected. "An immediate cessation might be dangerous and I won't risk it. But I'll disengage as quickly as it's safe."

"Alright," Angela said. "Where do I need to be to do this?"

"You can stay where you are but Zoric will need to turn so you're facing me. Dr. Phillips and Dr. Torres can move so they can see us both," Ae-cha instructed. "If there's space," she amended when they struggled to move their chairs.

"Do you need the light turned off?" Dr. Phillips asked. "There's only one."

"No, that will be too dark," Ae-cha said. "Angela can focus on my eyes and my voice with the lights on, can't you Angela?"

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