away.
Go!
There was a slow
murmur underfoot. The secrets hidden underneath the earth were being
dug up and overturned, and the earth did not like this. As Chal
listened, she felt the rumbling begin to shake her cheek and her
palms, and the mesh fence in front of her quivered so hard that its
chain links rattled like so many wind chimes.
Chal thought of the
Robert Frost poem her fifth-grade teacher had read to the class. It
was one of the first assignments she had been given after they had
immigrated to the United States, and she had loved the lyrical
quality of the words that she had just begun to understand:
Something there
is that doesn't love a wall,
That sends the
frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the
upper boulders in the sun
The ground rumbled
and shook, and still Chal’s ear was glued to the ground. She
reached out her hand toward the girls, and saw her younger self stand
up and look out, away, toward the mountains.
RUN!
She screamed but
there was no sound. Between the mountains, miles away, she saw the
earth begin to crack, the chasms breaking their way through the crust
of the desert faster and faster. The black cracks were like lightning
across the playa floor, and Chal saw the ground split and crumble,
coming closer to the girls.
No!
She saw the earth
give way under the girls, and her heart was wrenched inside of her
body as she strained to rescue them but could not move. There was no
chance. They fell in a second and when Chal blinked she found that
they had disappeared from view. The floor under them was gone and
then they were gone, and there was nothing but a black pit remaining.
Her face felt hot and there was a roaring in her ears, the sound of
earth cracking and crumbling.
When the ground
split underneath her, she felt her fingers scrabbling at the sand,
but then she was falling, falling, deep into the darkness and the
earth’s core. Falling–
***
“Dr.
Davidson?”
Chal woke with a
start, her fingers clutching the blanket. She blinked in the bright
light. Standing in the doorway was a young lab assistant, his long
blond hair greasy but smoothed back into a ponytail. The hair of a
researcher who didn’t care when he got his next haircut. His
face was chubby with baby fat that he hadn’t yet lost, and Chal
got the distinct impression that he was suppressing a smile.
“Dr.
Davidson?”
“Yes?”
she said.
“Hi there,”
the lab assistant said, and his face broke out into the hidden smile
Chal had seen. Although he was not handsome by any stretch of the
imagination, when he grinned his face looked so friendly that Chal
felt they were already intimate. “My name’s Evan. It’s
an honor to work with you.” He took two steps towards her and
tripped, catching himself on the cot and extending his hand eagerly
for a handshake.
“Mmmhhmm,”
Chal mumbled, blinking as she shook his hand.
“I’m
sorry to wake you, but they’re almost ready to start.”
“Start?”
Chal said, disoriented. Her heart was still pounding from the terror
of her dream.
“To wake up
the prototype,” Evan said.
Chal rubbed her eyes
and ran her hand through her hair. A surge of excitement ran through
her, clearing her mind almost immediately.
“Yes, of
course,” she said, standing up. “Let’s go.”
“First I’ll
need to spray you down with disinfectant,” he said.
“I’ve
already been in the lab,” Chal said, trying not to sound as
irritated as she felt. He was so good-natured that she felt bad about
her irritation. “I’m decontaminated.”
“I’m
sorry, Dr. Davidson,” Evan said, with a look of sympathy.
“Anyone in contact with a prototype must be disinfected first,
just to eliminate any remaining trace bacteria. Everyone down here
has already undergone full decontamination. I, ah, ahem–”
He motioned for her to take off her clothes, obviously embarrassed.
Chal unbuttoned her
top, frowning.
“Why do I need
to be disinfected?” Chal asked. “I’m not going to
be
Go!
There was a slow
murmur underfoot. The secrets hidden underneath the earth were being
dug up and overturned, and the earth did not like this. As Chal
listened, she felt the rumbling begin to shake her cheek and her
palms, and the mesh fence in front of her quivered so hard that its
chain links rattled like so many wind chimes.
Chal thought of the
Robert Frost poem her fifth-grade teacher had read to the class. It
was one of the first assignments she had been given after they had
immigrated to the United States, and she had loved the lyrical
quality of the words that she had just begun to understand:
Something there
is that doesn't love a wall,
That sends the
frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the
upper boulders in the sun
The ground rumbled
and shook, and still Chal’s ear was glued to the ground. She
reached out her hand toward the girls, and saw her younger self stand
up and look out, away, toward the mountains.
RUN!
She screamed but
there was no sound. Between the mountains, miles away, she saw the
earth begin to crack, the chasms breaking their way through the crust
of the desert faster and faster. The black cracks were like lightning
across the playa floor, and Chal saw the ground split and crumble,
coming closer to the girls.
No!
She saw the earth
give way under the girls, and her heart was wrenched inside of her
body as she strained to rescue them but could not move. There was no
chance. They fell in a second and when Chal blinked she found that
they had disappeared from view. The floor under them was gone and
then they were gone, and there was nothing but a black pit remaining.
Her face felt hot and there was a roaring in her ears, the sound of
earth cracking and crumbling.
When the ground
split underneath her, she felt her fingers scrabbling at the sand,
but then she was falling, falling, deep into the darkness and the
earth’s core. Falling–
***
“Dr.
Davidson?”
Chal woke with a
start, her fingers clutching the blanket. She blinked in the bright
light. Standing in the doorway was a young lab assistant, his long
blond hair greasy but smoothed back into a ponytail. The hair of a
researcher who didn’t care when he got his next haircut. His
face was chubby with baby fat that he hadn’t yet lost, and Chal
got the distinct impression that he was suppressing a smile.
“Dr.
Davidson?”
“Yes?”
she said.
“Hi there,”
the lab assistant said, and his face broke out into the hidden smile
Chal had seen. Although he was not handsome by any stretch of the
imagination, when he grinned his face looked so friendly that Chal
felt they were already intimate. “My name’s Evan. It’s
an honor to work with you.” He took two steps towards her and
tripped, catching himself on the cot and extending his hand eagerly
for a handshake.
“Mmmhhmm,”
Chal mumbled, blinking as she shook his hand.
“I’m
sorry to wake you, but they’re almost ready to start.”
“Start?”
Chal said, disoriented. Her heart was still pounding from the terror
of her dream.
“To wake up
the prototype,” Evan said.
Chal rubbed her eyes
and ran her hand through her hair. A surge of excitement ran through
her, clearing her mind almost immediately.
“Yes, of
course,” she said, standing up. “Let’s go.”
“First I’ll
need to spray you down with disinfectant,” he said.
“I’ve
already been in the lab,” Chal said, trying not to sound as
irritated as she felt. He was so good-natured that she felt bad about
her irritation. “I’m decontaminated.”
“I’m
sorry, Dr. Davidson,” Evan said, with a look of sympathy.
“Anyone in contact with a prototype must be disinfected first,
just to eliminate any remaining trace bacteria. Everyone down here
has already undergone full decontamination. I, ah, ahem–”
He motioned for her to take off her clothes, obviously embarrassed.
Chal unbuttoned her
top, frowning.
“Why do I need
to be disinfected?” Chal asked. “I’m not going to
be
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