Page 3 of Drengr
With a deep breath, I followed the sound of her voice, past some of the other women who'd stopped walking. Whoever had screamed had now fallen blissfully silent. Probably one of the younger girls.
A light beckoned in front of me, warm and inviting. Someone stood in front of it, short but curvy. Pam.
"Come on in, come on in," she repeated. "Holly, isn't it? Come in, join the others. It's warmer inside. This night is getting a wee bit cold."
Now that my eyes were used to the dark, the light made it hard to see just where it was coming from. I stumbled forwards, towards Pam, blinking into the light. When I reached her, she patted me encouragingly on the arm before giving me a gentle push.
"Alright, I'm going," I muttered, feeling a bit like a sheep being herded towards an unknown future. It could be a juicy pasture or it could be the slaughterhouse.
Instead of steps, a ramp led into the vehicle. Still blinking, I stumbled along, up the ramp, until I finally got used to the light. This time, I didn't blink like crazy because it was too bright. No, I simply couldn't believe what I was seeing.
3
Holly
Athousand thoughts and theories raced through my mind, starting with a surprise Halloween party - it was the beginning of October, after all - all the way to an elaborate hidden camera prank. I didn't even consider that I could really stand inside a spaceship. It was a hoax, but why?
The other women all huddled in the centre of the narrow room, eyes as wide as mine as they took in this strange place. It was still about the shape of a bus, but three times bigger, with small circular windows that resembled portholes running along the two longer walls. The walls themselves were curved, giving the impression that we were standing inside a metal tube. At the other end of the room was a closed door with five rune-like symbols lit up above it. The same runes were all over the room, painted on the backs of some of the futuristic chairs lined up against the walls, carved into the ceiling, even embossed in floor tiles. The strangest part of it all was the hologram halfway between our group of women and the door. A perfect 3D representation of Planet Earth hovered about a metre above the floor, turning slowly around its own axis. Several bright green dots blinked in the position of major cities, each one following its own rhythm. I glanced at the ceiling, looking for a projector. Something that would explain how this ball of lines could just hover there, without a screen or obvious source.
I'd never seen anything like it. Scratch that. I had seen it in the sci-fi TV programmes my dad used to watch on Sunday afternoons.
"Please take a seat!" Pam shouted from behind me. "We're already behind schedule. Everyone, sit down."
I exchanged a look with the closest woman, a tall redhead with green-rimmed glasses. She frowned, shrugged, then sat in the nearest seat. I was tempted to do exactly the same, but then decided to skip the frowning and shrugging, and simply took a seat next to her.
"What is that thing?" she whispered to me, not bothering to introduce herself.
"No idea. Some kind of hologram? I wonder what happens if we touch it. I'm Holly, by the way, Holly Lancaster."
"Shona. And I wonder if it's just some kind of optic illusion. Has to be. It's not like we're in Star Wars."
"Maybe-"
"Thank you," Pam interrupted, still shouting. Everyone had finally sat down, although the expressions around me ranged from dubious curiosity to outright fear. "I will explain everything in a moment, but as I said, we're behind schedule. Our perfect launch window is about to close, so we'll have to hurry. Hold up your arms now. No questions, just do it."
I looked at Shona, who seemed just as confused as me. I slowly lifted my arms while trying to get a glimpse of Pam, who sat next to the door we'd entered through. It was now closed, meaning we were shut in. A shudder ran down my back. Locked into this metal tube, a bout of claustrophobia teetered at the edges of my conscious. I'd suffered from claustrophobia as a child, so much so that my parents had sent me to a therapist. Over the years, it had dissipated, but now that familiar icy clamp around my chest was back.
A low hiss was the only warning we got before seatbelts shot out of the walls and wrapped around our waists like living things. At the same time, two other straps moved down from near our shoulders, slower but no less controlled. Like snakes. I shuddered again. I didn't like snakes.
I tried to move to test the restraints, but they pulled me back into the seat.
"Lovely," Pam said, and I realised her voice was being amplified through hidden speakers behind me."We're about to launch and it will get a little loud, so I'll tell you the most important things first. I find it's easiest to just break the news without beating about the bush. We're on a space shuttle that will take us into orbit around Earth. The men you're going to meet eventually are aliens. Yes, aliens are real. We aren't alone in the universe. And no, they don't have tentacles and don't want to eat you, nor do they have any plans to invade Earth. That's the very short version. I'll let you process all that during the launch. Once we're out of the grip of gravity, we'll watch a short introduction video that my colleague Steff prepared. Questions will be answered once we're on board the Valkyr. And now - hold on, ladies, it's about to get a wee bit bumpy."
I just sat there, not believing my ears. Aliens? Spaceships? Tentacles? It was a hoax. In a moment, a camera crew would emerge, laughing their heads off at our gullibility. I wouldn't fall for it. So I relaxed in my chair, leaning back as comfortably as I could, and waited for the cameras to appear.
Instead, after ten seconds of stunned silence, a loud hum erupted from beneath us. The room shook, the floor vibrated beneath my feet, and a strange pressure pushed me deeper into my seat. It reminded me of how it felt to be in a plane that was taking off, just several times more intense. Okay, they really were pulling out all the stops. Was this a flight simulator? I didn't know they came in such a large size, but then I also hadn't realised hologram technology was this advanced.
It took about a minute until the shaking lessened and the hum became quieter. I kept a tight grip on the chair's arm rests, just in case they wanted to catch us unaware with another bout of earthquake simulation.
"Look!" a woman to my right shouted. "Look out of the window!"
I had to twist my head a little to gaze through the porthole opposite me. While around me, the other women oh-ed and ah-ed, I laughed. It was a slightly hysterical laugh that didn't sound like myself at all. They'd really thought of everything. What I'd thought were windows had to be screens that now showed nothing but black space on one side and Planet Earth on the other. This was ridiculous. Surely, none of the others believed this was real?
I turned to Shona, who stared out of the window with an expression of awe. Everyone else had similar stunned, captivated expressions. I couldn't be the only one who saw the truth. This was all an elaborate set-up. The cameras would appear any moment.
I craned my neck to see Pam. She looked at us all with an amused smile. When her eyes met mine, her smile widened. I knew it. This wasn't real. And Pam was in on it. Was anything she'd said true? Had they even matched us to eligible bachelors, or was that part of the ruse?
I was so angry that I could have screamed. Pam had to realise, because her smile wavered a little. She reached for a tiny floating sphere and positioned it in front of her mouth.
