Vee sat in the desk chair. No. That was not going to get her anywhere. But she couldn’t just sit here. She had to do something.
Almost idly, she flipped open her briefcase and accessed her drawing programs. She unclipped the stylus from her holder and opened the gallery. Maybe she could draw the scene from the accident, just to pass the time. She could begin with clips from the gallery. She had the backdrops she’d used for her simulations to show Angela, but they were strictly second rate. Might do for a base to build on. Needed color though, and a different scale.
Her mind’s eye brought the rescue scene back to the fore, and her hands started to move.
This wasn’t a real holograph; this was a computer-generated simulation. She’d have to unpack her holotank and film to make the real thing, but she could make a sketch for eventual transfer to real 3-D. She could show the dim shadows and black rock with the startling threads of lava creeping down the mountainsides. She could show the scarab, bent and crippled in a wilderness of stone.
And she could show the aliens. The gold wings that shimmered and sparkled in the dim light and thick air. The silver eyes. Those eyes, how could she render those eyes? How could she show the intelligence she had felt under the surface as this creature, no, this person from another world looked into her own eyes?
Vee zoomed in on the winged form and concentrated solely on it, the eyes, the lines along its skin, the curve of its torso and wings. She worked fast, trying to freeze the memory before it faded. The cameras from the suits and the scarab had surely captured the images, but how long would it be before she had access to them? This was her memory. This was her moment made real in light and code. This is what she’d show the world, all the worlds, so they would understand what had happened.
Water, promises, and time forgotten, Vee drew the first portrait of Earth’s neighbors.
Her door chimed, jerking Vee back into the present, where she became aware of a stiff back and ankles, a cramped hand, and a raging thirst.
“Door. Open,” called Vee, half-annoyed, half-grateful. She gulped half the water remaining in her glass.
Josh stood in the threshold.
“Hi,” he said. “You okay?”
“Oh yeah, fine.” She blanked her case screen. It wasn’t done yet. Not ready for anyone else to see. “Got caught up in a project. What’s going on?”
“Dr. Failia wants us all in the conference room to debrief about…what happened. I said I’d come get you.”
“Thanks.” Vee unbent her protesting back and legs. She got to her feet and drained her water glass. “You didn’t have to do this.”
Josh’s face shifted into an expression she hadn’t seen before. It was gentle, yet awkward. “I wanted to make sure you were okay. Things got rough down there, and you were looking at Angela like…” He searched for words. “Like she was the only thing holding you together.”
“Thanks,” said Vee again, and she meant it. “It was bad for a bit. No question. We owe the aliens. Whatever they are, we owe them.”
“Yes, we do.” Josh shook his head. “Ever since you told me the base was a fake, I’d been gearing up for a huge disappointment. But then…” His words trailed off. “I don’t know what to think now.”
“Me either,” she admitted. “Yet. Let’s go get debriefed.” She crossed to the door and stopped. Something else needed to be said. Something she hadn’t needed to say for a long time. She turned back toward Josh. “Thank you for taking me seriously down there. For letting me help.”
“That was the real you,” Josh said. “I was glad you were there.”
“Yeah, well,” said Vee, unable to form a better response and kicking herself for it. “Let’s see how glad the board is.”
Vee and Josh walked to Conference Room One through a Venera Base that seemed abnormally tense. Vee was sure the rumor mill had been incredibly active all day, but from the sidelong glances people were giving them, she was also sure that Dr. Failia and the governing board hadn’t yet deigned to release any official information. If it had been Vee, she’d have been going crazy.
They were the last to arrive. The board clustered together at one end of the oval table. The passengers and crew of Scarab Five ranged around the rest of it. All the U.N. team who were not in the hospital were there. Terry sat next to her partner, Robert Stykos. Julia sat between Troy and Adrian, who was next to a shell-shocked Philip Bowerman. Vee picked the free chair beside Philip. Josh sat next to her. Vee felt absurdly pleased.
Helen Failia got to her feet. She looked determined, as if she was not going to let even this situation get the best of her.