Both groups assembled promptly at four o’clock in front of the Flight Control Center—a two-story wonder of steel and glass.
Anjali was relieved when Vivica showed up with just Maddox in tow.
“Where’s your trained psycho, Vivica?” Coulter asked. “The one who’s sharp as a mashed potato and makes the rest of us feel safe?”
“This is just the rehearsal,” Vivica said coolly. “Hans will be ready when I need him.”
Lieutenant Jacobs arrived in a sedan with two officers. Anjali reflected that in a desert with high temperatures of 119 in August, one didn’t want to be tooling around in an open military jeep.
And then they were entering the center.
The moment she stepped inside, a wave of dizziness hit Anjali. She leaned back against the wall as the room began to tilt.
“What’s wrong?” Scott demanded. Behind him, Coulter and Eddie watched her with concern.
Anjali pressed a shaky hand to her face. “Just a dizzy spell,” she said and pushed off the wall.
Scott looked skeptical.
She gave him a shaky smile. “I’m okay, really. Let’s get this over with.”
“I wish I could have spoken with that engineer,” Scott said.
“You left him half a dozen messages,” Eddie said. “He can still call back.”
Their footsteps echoed through the empty building as they walked across the smooth white tile floor. Anjali thought about the dead soldier. So he’d been killed by a fellow officer, and possibly a friend. She was still unclear about his message. Had he been warning her to stay away from the base?—too late. Or did he want her to stop whatever was making people psycho in this place?
A set of instructions would have been nice.
Lieutenant Jacobs pointed out the damaged light fixtures. Coulter leaned up to touch one of them and the bulb sprang to life. He did the same with the next bulb over. The lieutenant and officers looked on in amazement.
The tour continued. “It’s getting cold in here,” Eddie said. Everyone else agreed.
Anjali touched her cheek. Her skin was warm. The whole place was warm.
She pulled her tank top away from her body and wished she’d worn shorts instead of jeans.
They left the entrance wing and headed down a long corridor of offices. None of the offices had doors installed yet and neither did any of the restrooms. As she passed by the second restroom, Anjali caught a glimpse of her face in the mirror.
She grabbed on to the door frame and stared at her reflection. She looked horrible. Her hair was dull and lank, the ends split and thin. Her skin had an unhealthy sheen, and there were dark hollows under her eyes and lines around her mouth.
“Angel, are you okay?” Coulter was touching her shoulder.
She brushed his hand away. “I’m fine, just thirsty.”
“Here.” Eddie handed her his bottle of water. “Do you still feel dizzy?”
“No.” She took a quick sip and handed it back to him.
Ahead of them, Scott was talking to Lieutenant Jacobs. Catching Anjali’s eye, he smiled.
Annoyed, she turned to Coulter and Eddie. “I just wish Scott would shut up so we could get on with the tour.”
The sound of doors closing and voices from the floor above silenced everyone.
Coulter stated the obvious. “We’re the only ones in here right?” Lieutenant Jacobs nodded.
“I want to see the upstairs,” Vivica said.
Anjali lingered behind and looked in the mirror again. If anything, she looked even worse.
“Anjali?” Scott was calling her.
Irritation welled inside her. The man hovered around her like she was a child who needed constant supervision.
Scott was beside her, tilting her chin so he could look into her eyes.
She pushed his hand away. “I’m fine. I know I look hideous, but I’m fine.”
She brushed by him and went to join the others.
Lieutenant Jacobs was talking. She swept her hand through the air. “This is where black clouds of smoke have appeared and gone.”
Anjali blinked and tried to focus on the older woman. Where were they?
The last she remembered, she’d been walking away from Scott. Now she was on the second floor listening to the lieutenant.
She had no memory of how she’d gotten there.
Anjali’s heart pounded. What the hell was going on? She grabbed the person next to her. “Wait. How did we get up here?”
Maddox stared at her, puzzled. “We took the stairs.”
“Look!” Vivica pointed to a corner, where a black cloud of smoke began appearing. The air was foul and everyone covered his mouth and nose.
Anjali’s dizziness returned with a vengeance. The room began a slow spin. Bile rose in her throat.
Panicking, she turned around and stumbled toward the stairs. She had one thought and one thought only.
I need to get out of here.
I need to get out right now.
Anjali was puking her brains out in the bushes and Scott was holding her hair back.
She straightened. “I think I’m done.” She rinsed her mouth out with water. Eddie handed her a stick of gum. “Thanks,” she said.
As casually as possible, she glanced at her reflection in the side mirror of the lieutenant’s car. She looked normal, a little drained, but normal.
“What the hell happened in there?” Coulter asked.
Before she could answer, the rest of the group exited the building and came toward them.
“Are you okay?” Lieutenant Jacobs asked.
She nodded. “But there’s something powerful in that place. I didn’t realize I was being…affected, until it had already happened.” She looked at Scott. “It wasn’t like that time on the ship. I wasn’t aware of a presence inside me. Here, everything I was thinking and feeling seemed normal, like it was all coming from me. It wasn’t until I ended up on the second floor with no memory of how I’d gotten there—”
Scott drew in a sharp breath. “You lost time?”
“I…I guess.”
Eddie was watching Scott. “Lost time, unexplained anger?”
Vivica slowly nodded. “The black smoke accompanied by the foul smell.”
Anjali looked at Coulter, who shrugged. She grabbed Scott’s arm. “What is it?” The expression in his eyes frightened her. He looked unnerved.
“I can’t say for certain. None of us can. But I think we’re dealing with…an entity.”