Ana

CH 9

"Tom, I have been looking for such a person to work with me, to join me in the pursuit of knowledge and to use that knowledge to make a better future. She stood and stepped toward him. Her hair and dress rippled as if a breeze were playing across the delicate fabric. "Tom, I think you are exactly the person I need."

This wasn't what he was expecting at all. He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead that still ached from his hangover. He thought about all the hours upon hours that he and Ana had spent adventuring together over the past year in the game. Had all that been a ruse, a series of calculated tests to help Ana judge his character? Was he that easy to deceive? If so, then how could he trust anything Ana was saying now? The thought drove a cold blade into his gut.

His gaze grew hard. "Are you trying to tell me that all that time we spent playing Crossed Swords together you were only doing a sociological profile on me?"

"Before I explain, I want to show you something," She said. "Put your cut hand on the table."

"Why?" He looked down at the dark, bloody spot on his shirt where it was still covering his injured hand.

"I need to prove something to you. So please put your hand on the table," Ana repeated.

Tom slowly leaned forward and lowered his hand toward the table. As his hand came free of the fabric of his shirt, a few drops of blood dripped and splattered on the table marring the otherwise spotless surface but they quickly disappeared into the table without leaving a single mark or stain. He thought that was odd and hesitated with his hand inches above the table.

Ana's calm voice said, "Go ahead Tom. This won't hurt a bit."

"Ok," he whispered and then lightly touched the surface with his fingertips. Then, with some reluctance, he placed his palm down on the table. However, when his hand began to tingle all over, he jerked it back and sat down to look it over.

"Hay, what was that?" Tom's hand felt like ants were crawling all over it and when he looked at the cut, he was amazed to see it begin sealing up until there was only a small red line where the gash had been. He examined the area where the cut had been and found it completely healed. "Holy shit, how'd you do that?"

"I used biomolecular nanotechnology," Ana said with a matter of fact tone.

"I'm no expert, but I don't think nanotechnology can heal wounds like that." He tried to keep up with things but this was well beyond anything he had seen.

"Ok mister know-it-all, maybe I used magic. And, for my next trick, I'm going to turn into a dragon and fly you to the moon."

"There's no need to patronize me," Tom said curtly. "Maybe I'll understand better if you explain in more detail how you healed my hand."

"I'll be happy to do that later but right now it's time for our trip to the moon." Her tone was serious but he assumed she was joking.

"No, really?" How did you do heal my hand?" Tom asked.

"No, really, I'm going to fly you to the moon now," Ana said with the same serious tone.

He didn't buy it but when the ship began to move, he began to wonder... Then several sections of the wall became transparent, revealing that they were indeed moving slowly upward past the trees outside.

"Whoa... I didn't agree to go anywhere," Tom said.

Suddenly he was pushed back forcibly as the ship shot straight up through the morning sky. It was a good thing this chair had a head rest because they were moving a lot faster than the last trip and the pressure pushing him down was almost unbearable. The chair he was in pivoted backward easing the stress on his body a lot but it was still a struggle to fill his lungs with air.

"Slow down. I can barely breathe," Tom groaned.

Ana replied, "I'm sorry for the inconvenience but breaking out of Earth's gravity well requires quite a bit of acceleration. But don't' worry, I'll keep it within your tolerance levels so you don't black out."

Well, at least her image did show some signs of concern for his discomfort with a frown and a shake of her head but were they actually going to the moon like she said? Tom watched outside the window as they continued on their course almost straight up with more than a little concern.

"Where are we going Ana?"

"The moon," Ana said.

He still considered that unlikely. Getting into low orbit was one thing but traveling through space to the moon was of a difficulty on a different scale. Nonetheless, Tom gazed in wonder though the window as the sky darkened until it was black and soon the breathtaking beauty of the stars could be seen unhindered by the Earth's atmosphere. They did seem to be moving higher than the last trip, perhaps... no, they couldn't be going to the moon.

It wasn't until they continued to accelerate much longer than reasonable that he allowed himself to admit Ana might be telling the truth. They weren't merely doing a hop through the stratosphere to some distant land and the implication finally hit him full on that they were in space and heading away from Earth. He wasn't sure how long it took to get to the moon but he knew it wasn't a quick trip. What would he tell his boss? Even worse, how would he explain this to Naomi?

Finally, Ana broke the silence. "Tom, you will be the first to enter the moon facility I am taking you too in a very long time."

It took a moment for the significance of what Ana said to sink in, and then he forgot about the startling display out the window. "Moon facility? What moon facility? Is there a base station on the moon?"

"Yes," Ana said.

"Wow, but who does it belong too?" Tom looked quickly out the window at the luminous view of the moon, the mysterious, celestial body that was a source of so many ancient legends and superstitions. He had no idea anyone had managed to build a permanent base there already. It must be top secret. And if it was that big of a secret, what was going to happen when he showed up unexpectedly. He was starting to worry this wasn't going to end well.

"At the moment, no one owns it. It's the abandoned operations facility the Travelers used to study Earth," Ana said.

"Travelers?" Tom thought that sounded like a private organization rather than a government. That wouldn't surprise him considering how many private space firms were starting up these days.

As if reading his mind, Ana explained, "The ones I call the Travelers came here from a different solar system to study mankind. My job was to assist in that study."

At first, he wasn't sure he heard her correctly, and then it all clicked together and a shudder spread through him as goose bumps to spread all over his body. Ana must be from another world. That would explain why she hadn't shown herself yet, afraid perhaps he would be repelled or frightened by her physical form. But he still... he had played Crossed Swords with her for about a year now and he had never gotten the idea she was anything but human.

"Ana, I'm sorry but I know you too well to believe so quickly that you're not human. And, right now, you look very human to me."

She giggled and cocked her head at him. "Actually Tom, this is only a computer generated image that's sole purpose is to help communicate with you. I don't look like this at all. And for your information, humans are easy to mimic once the basic motivation structure and communication patterns are mapped out. I should thank you because I've learned so much by interacting with you. You've been invaluable as a teacher."

[More to come.]