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to move my legs as if I was walking. I did. I kind of walked and floated. My heel would touch the ground
at each step. That would propel me through the air for two or three feet. I walked and floated
alternately."
"Did they take you to a specific place on the ship?"
"Yes. We traveled like that until we came to a door. We went in.
We . . . went in. Oh, God!"
"What, Daniel? Don't lose me. Stay calm. What do you see? Tell me exactly what appears before you."
"I see . . ." Daniel could feel himself hyperventilating, slipping into panic.
"It's not happening now, Daniel. It's over. You can face it because it's not happening now." He felt Ann's
hand on his arm, trying to comfort him. "Tell me what you see."
"There are tanks. They're clear, like fish tanks. Little tanks with blue water in them. No, not
water-thicker than water. Almost like oil. And in the tanks are . . . fetuses. Each tank has a fetus. There
are fetuses in the tanks. Oh, dear God."
"Now, Daniel, look carefully into the tanks. Describe the fetuses to me. Shape, color, size,
characteristics. Give me a picture so clear, I will be able to see it in my own mind."
"I'll try. The fetuses are . . . are two inches, maybe three inches long." He struggled to speak. They look
white or light gray. They could be human fetuses but I'm not sure. They're not moving. They have little
black eyes."
"Completely black?"
"I'm not sure."
"Get up very close to one of the tanks. Look carefully. What do you see?"
"The eyes are all black."
"All right. How are the fetuses suspended in the tanks?"
"They are . . . I can't tell you."
"Try."
"They have . . . they have . . ."
"Daniel, at the count of three you will be able to see how the fetus is suspended in the tank. One, two,
three . . ."
"They have rods stuck through their heads! From one side to the other! The rods are stuck crossways
right through their brains! My God, the Zeta are crazy!"
"Do the beings know you are upset at seeing this?"
"Yes. They say it's all right. They say it doesn't hurt them. They say it but I don't believe them. They're
nuts. I don't believe them."
"Why are there rods through the fetuses' heads, do you suppose?"
"There are tubes attached to both ends of the rods. The tubes come out of the top of the tank and are
attached to some kind of device that runs all the time. It's like a life support system, I think."
"Can you hear this device running?"
"Yes. Just one device running gives off a slight humming sound. But the whole room is humming with the
sound of these devices. It's humming like a huge bee hive!"
"How many tanks are in this room? Can you make a guess?"
"They take me down rows and rows of these tanks."
"The beings?"
"Yes. The beings and Saul. He never left my side."
"So, how many fetuses are in this room, Daniel?" Ann pressed.
"More than a thousand."
"Daniel, that seems incredible. Could you be mistaken?"
"No. There are well over a thousand tanks. I can only assume that every tank holds a fetus. Every tank I
see has a fetus in it."
"Try to remember what you thought when you were walked . . . floated or walked?"
"Both."
"What were you thinking when you saw all this?"
"I thought I was floating through a nightmare. This ship hovers above us, above Eagle Bluff, and in it this
is going on. I'm not even sure this is the only room that has fetuses. There may be more."
"Was this the end of your experience?"
"No. No! There's more to it. More happened."
"Tell us."
Daniel felt a small hand clutch his wrist. "I'm all right, son. We'll be finished in a minute. I just need to get
my memories out so I can face them." Daniel felt the hand let him go.
"I'm so upset by what I see. Our baby could be in one of those tanks. I become angry with the beings. I
tell them they are cruel, unthinking animals. They say they are caring beings who have only our welfare at
heart."
"Did you threaten the beings in any way? Did they threaten you, maybe?"
"I lost control of myself. I began to run-no, float and run-among the tanks. I was screaming. I wanted to
find my baby. Goddamn it, you've got my baby up here! You've got my daughter's baby up here! I'm
going to find my babies!" Daniel, in his rage, heard Eric say tearfully, "Daddy?"
"Then what happened?" Ann asked.
"They dragged me to the back of the room to a different tank. It was larger than the fetus tanks."
"How large is it?"
"It's . . . about twenty feet long by fifteen feet wide. It's depth is maybe twelve feet, or so. It's hard to
know, exactly, because its depth is below the deck."
"So the edge of the tank was pretty much flush with the deck?"
"Yeah."
"What was in the tank?"
"The same kind of thick, blue fluid that was in the smaller ones. There are lights in the water. I can't see
where the lights originate, but the whole volume of fluid is evenly lit . . ."
"And then?"
"I'm not sure I can go on with this."
"Maybe we're near the end of your experience. What happened next?"
"They tell me to take my clothes off."
"Do you?"
"I have no choice. I refuse, but several beings start pulling at my clothes, so I tell them I'll take them off
myself. I do that, but I leave my exoskeleton on. I'm surprised that they don't insist I take that off, too."
"Did they give you a physical examination?"
"No. They tell me to go into the tank. I tell them I'm not going in. We argue. They insist I go in."
"What was Saul doing at this time?"
"He tells me to go in and get it over with. He says it isn't as frightening as I might think, to just go ahead
and go in. But I won't go in. Three beings come towards me. Before I can brace myself, they push me
into the tank."
"Since you are floating, do you lose your ability to float when they push you over the edge of the tank?"
"Not at first. I kind of skid through the air and end up over the center of the tank. Then I lose my ability
to float. I go straight down into the . . . into the . . ."
"Take it easy, Daniel."
"I can't take it easy! It's so horrifying, I can't bear to remember it!"
"You will remember at the count of three. One . . . two . . . three. Tell me now," Ann commanded.
"I fall into the fluid and hold my breath. I know I'm going to drown. I sink to the bottom, but the depth is
so great that when I stand up I'm still below the surface."
"You can't swim upwards?"
"No. The density of the fluid must be less than the density of water. I can't swim up in it. I hold my
breath for as long as I can. When I can't hold it anymore, I let out my air, and then I inhale deeply. It's
just a natural reflex. I have to inhale because I'm strangling."
"Since you're still alive, tell me how you survived in the fluid."
"That's the strange part. I start breathing the fluid. It's like I am breathing air. It's . . . just like breathing
air."
"How long do they leave you down there?"
"I have no way of knowing, I guess. It seems like hours, though. Looking up through the fluid, I can see
the beings and Saul standing at the side of the tank. Then one of the beings jumps into the fluid and
comes down to me. He has a rod in his hands."
"A rod?"
"Yes. It looks like metal, but I could be wrong. The blue tint of the fluid could have given me a wrong
idea of what it is. The rod is about a foot long, I think. It has . . . it has a sharp point on one end.
Somehow I know what the being is going to do with the rod."
"The being telepathed his intention, perhaps?"
"Maybe. Yeah, probably. I'm so upset when I realize he is going to stick it through my head that . . ."
"Wait a minute, Daniel. Are you telling me the being stuck a metal rod through your head?"
This time Daniel felt both Eric's hand and Sara's hand on his arm. "The being tries to hold me down, but [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]