| |
ICELAND:
Sliven swallows two more painkillers and leans back in his office chair, hoping to get rid of the pain in the back of his eye sockets. It started on the drive to work the morning after the meeting. The sun had seemed more intense, and his sunglasses didn’t stop the irritating pain from the glare. At first, being inside any structure helped, but now, even with the window shades closed, the pain remains.
He hears more angry voices from the parking lot. When the recording of the meeting with Pandora first appeared on social media that afternoon, he was plagued by people asking if the recording was real. He grew tired of repeating ‘no comment’ and stopped taking calls from unknown numbers and visitors.
His door opens and the light is intense before his receptionist steps inside and closes it. “I see you are one of the chosen. I mean, you having blue eyes. Good grief, listen to me sounding like one of those crazy protestors on TV, making eye color seem like the new racial tension. I’m sorry. What can I do for you?”
“There really isn’t anything for me to do right now, and I’m a little nervous about trying to get through all those angry students. Most of those people have brown irises and they are saying how unjust it is, being discriminated against because of the color of their eyes. They’re taking their bitterness out on people like me.” She glances back at the door.
“Of course, you should leave right away. I think it might be like this for a while, so I’ll call when things settle down.”
“Thank you, Director.”
Sliven holds his arm up to block the light when she opens the door and leaves the room. From what he has learned, many more people are suffering the same effect as he is, with intense pain in their eyes. Pandora is keeping her promise, and there is nothing anyone can do about it. Except perhaps Alex Cave.
***
NAS FALLON, NEVADA:
Ramey is laying on an examination table, and cups his hands behind his head for elevation as he stares up at the woman with a stethoscope hanging around her neck. “Are those things considered part of a Navy doctor’s uniform?”
Lieutenant Commander Amy Burkhart grins. “It’s in the handbook.” She turns serious. “There is some kind of irritation on your retina. I’ve been seeing this a lot lately, and it only seems to affect people with brown irises.”
“Have you seen that recording of the supposedly alien female saying bad things about brown-eyed people?”
“Yes, but it has to be some kind of hoax. Those sparkling eyes have to be computer-generated. There’s no way eyes can sparkle like that.”
“What are you talking about? They were blue and pretty, but they didn’t sparkle.”
“You know, I’ve heard that before as well. It seems no one with brown eyes can see it.”
“I wonder if this is the plague the woman was talking about. Do you think that’s her real name? Pandora?”
Amy stares down at him. “I don’t know. If it is, it seems her box has been opened. I’m sorry.”
Ramey lay back down and stares at the ceiling, wondering how long it will take before his wife and daughter feel the pain in their eyes.