Episode 050 Previous Episode	Next Episode
“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” Marcellus, Hamlet It wasn’t noisy, but only the loudest sounds could be heard. On the benches that ran the length of the plane’s belly, with their backs against mesh straps and strong plastic nets pulled tight, the three women sat in silence. Irene worked on her laptop, a pair of headphones capping her blonde hair. Sarah sat not far from her, staring at her hands. On the opposite side of the plane, Lisa dozed, sporadically snapping awake. In the middle of the plane, the giant black metal box sat ominously, vibrating quietly as the plane jerked in its flight. On the top of the conveyor belt, the giant black monolith rattled slightly against the metal floor. Lisa startled awake again, then looked around. She sat forward, a bored and slightly uneasy expression on her face. She looked down both sides of the plane, then over at Irene and Sarah. “Amy said I should refuse this mission.” “I wasn’t aware Amy was in a position to advise you on your career,” Sarah said without looking up. “She said it didn’t feel like a good idea,” Lisa went on, unbothered. “It’s funny, I half expect that thing to open at any second and the monster to come crawling out.” “Please don’t kid about that,” Irene said, looking up as she took off her headphones. She smiled lightly, but her voice was thick with earnest. “I don’t even want to imagine that thing alive ever again. I’m going to have nightmares for a week after what happened in Germany.” “Sarah,” Lisa said with an air of seriousness, “why hasn’t Amy been assigned any field missions? She’s still in training.” “So are you,” the commander said, still looking down. “Yeah, but not like her,” Lisa said. “I remember what you guys said when Alex brought us to Paris a few months ago, about how telling us what we were looking for could affect its ability to appear. But since I clearly don’t have whatever it is that Amy has, I was wondering if you could tell me?” Sarah sat up. She considered Lisa for a long time. Next to her, Irene glanced at Sarah, watching her reaction. “Has it occurred to you,” she suggested, “that it isn’t Amy that we found something in?” Lisa drew back, surprised. “What seems more likely, that we would hire someone and train them for less than two months before putting them in the field, or that we would bring them in and give them ample time to train properly?” Lisa looked away. “I…” she breathed. “It hadn’t even…” The plane jerked suddenly to the left. Sarah and Irene were shoved into the far wall as Lisa was thrown onto the floor. The huge metal box slid across the floor into the right side of the plane as the reverb of a powerful explosion ripped through the metal hull of the ship. Sarah struggled to her feet, holding onto the webbing on the wall as the entire cargo bay began to tilt forward. “We’re going down!” she yelled.
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