Jane's mind began to fight. It must be someone who just looked like her, that sort of thing does happen, and for one brief moment she thought there must be another Jane Hallowell look-a-like out there, after all, people have doppelgangers. Then she looked at the name and her heart sank. She could wish it away, just like her life on Earth, but the truth was she was there, right in front of her, just like she always had been.
"You didn't tell us you've been here before."
"That's not me." Jane tried to say this as emotionless as possible.
"Okay, not liking the lady in the picture. She looks just like you. I wonder what her name is?" Harris read the names in the caption. "George Kelly, Jane Hallowell, Denji Tokairin." Then he turned to Jane and cocked his head to one side. "Jane Hallowell. Come on, you have been here before."
Jane didn't answer. Anything that came out of her mouth right now would be trouble. She stared at the photo, her mind going in endless circles trying desperately to make sense of what she saw. She thought she had done it. She really thought she had done it. She thought she had escaped. In her current situation, it was the only comfort she had found, and now it was gone. In an instant, gone. Jane never expected to find her already here.
"I've got something for everyone to see." Harris said, and suddenly Jane was seeing double of the face that was the last thing she wanted to see. "Look familiar?"
The comm was filled with exclamations of surprise. Whether the surprise came from the similarity of the faces, or the fact that the legend—the mother of hibernation, the Jane Hallowell—had walked through these very corridors; it was impossible to tell.
Michael's voice, clear and strong, came over the comm. "That is not my sister."
"How can it not be. They look exactly the same." Harris replied.
"It's a distant relation of ours." Michael explained. "Our great grandfather's sister to be exact."
"Strong family resemblance." Faringoth pointed out.
"Yeah, our family is like that." Michael answered. "Same eyes, same hair. All you have to do is meet one of us and you've met us all."
A few other comments were made but Jane heard none of them. She was consumed by gratitude for her brother.
"Oh, hey, while we're all here; check out what we found." Callivar's voice said.
Jane opened her eyes to a new image and immediately felt vertigo at the double image before her. The floors didn't match, the walls didn't match and Jane could see pipes in various sizes seemingly extending into the real walls around her making them appear like an optical illusion or some kind of hoax. The view was focused on a blue pipe marked water, then the illuminated faces of two soldiers.
"Water pipes. We found Hansel and Gretel's bread crumbs" Callivar said.
"Anyone else have anything to report." Faringoth said.
"Yeah, this is team four. Uh, there are four large rooms, all of them empty. The only thing of interest are the receptacles on the walls. They were pulling a lot of electricity and they look medical grade. Other than that there's nothing. Everything is gone."
"Do you think this is it?" Hausen asked. "The birthplace of hibernation." The comm went silent. Jane wanted someone to say something, anything!
Ibber cleared his throat. Both Harris and Jane turned their lights on him, making his presence separate from the darkness. They hadn't realized he'd come back up to the landing. Harris jumped. "Geez Ibber!"
YOU ARE READING
ABANDON
Science FictionJane's life is slowly killing her, she has to get away and she breaks every rule to do it. Everything is left behind, even Earth. Jane thinks she is successful, but the truth is out there, waiting for her.
