Some time later, I noticed that a hole broke up in the clouds in the sky and cast rays of moonlight down on the lake. There was a light mist lying over the water. I yawned as I pushed my hands deeper into my pockets, then coughed. My face and neck felt itchy.

'Do you think the others are alright?' Tom asked out of the blue. 'Will they reach the cluster soon?'

Gerald checked the time on his wrist pad.

'They should – depending on how fast they can walk while moving Candy around,' he answered.

Tom sighed, which made Peter chuckle in return.

'Don't worry, Frode will fix Candy up, I'm sure of that. If not, maybe Sarah has a few spare parts for her,' Peter said, which only earned him an angry grunt from Tom, which made Peter chuckle again. I just rolled my eyes in silence.

Before anyone could say anything else, Ingrid reminded us that we would soon reach the spot where we hoped to find Barbara. The clouds were meanwhile slowly drifting away. A few bright stars were twinkling in the gaps, barely visible against our hovering lights. There was a slight breeze and everyone started to cough. Ingrid made us stop and check our health. She was not happy, but there was nothing she could do. We had to find Barbara. There was no chance we were turning back.

We arrived at the location of Barbara's wrist pad. In the darkness we could not see anything immediately, even with our hovering lights. We circled the area for a while, using the tracker for getting closer to the exact location. There was a shout from Gerald, as he crouched down and picked up Barbara's wrist pad from where it had been lying in the grass. Within a minute, everyone had gathered around it, staring on the ground like if we would do it long enough, Barbara would materialise. This was not the case.

Gerald looked at Barbara's pad and turned it around under one of the hovering lights.

'I can't see any damage,' he stated. 'It looks like she probably took it off. I can't see anything wrong with the fastener either.'

Ingrid took the pad and connected it to her own. She read the recorded vital signs on Barbara's pad. This way the doctor could determine that Barbara was alive when she took off or lost her pad.

'She wasn't well, though,' Ingrid said and looked up at us. 'This looks very similar to what I saw in Candy's records. If we had time I would check all of you, too, but I think we should try to find Barbara as fast as possible.'

Tom held the pad out to Ryker.

'Ryker, go find Barbara;' Tom told the dog. Ryker gave a cheerful bark and wagged his tail. It was obvious that he understood nothing.

Gerald nodded knowingly and patted his dog's head. Ryker sneezed.

Although we didn't feel comfortable about it we decided to split up to be able to search a larger area in less time. Ingrid didn't approve but on the other hand she also wanted everyone back to the cluster fast. Tom went with Peter towards the lake to the right. Gerald teamed up with his dog. They went on ahead. Ingrid and I went left. We shone our lights in every direction.

'It is good that the grass is not high yet or there would be very little hope of finding Barbara. We would need heat sensors and the like,' Ingrid observed. I agreed, but before I could say anything I had a coughing fit. I leaned on a large stone, which happened to be next to me. It's surface was kind of smooth but also had a strange texture. For a moment everything went black.

Then, it was like I opened my eyes. There were colours and light. Then, I noticed that I heard sounds, too. Or maybe I felt them? They were strange but not unpleasant. The air smelled sweetly of flowers.

When I got back to my senses, I was lying on my side on the ground and saw Ingrid's shoes. I turned my head slowly, to find Ingrid was looking down on me with a worried expression. It turned to relief when she saw I was awake. She told me that I had been coughing heavily and suddenly she heard me slump to the ground. Ingrid had already been worried that the same had happened to me as to Candy and probably Barbara. She noticed, however, that my breathing – while affected – was not quite that bad. I had obviously been out for just a couple of minutes. When I tried to get up, I noticed that I felt quite dizzy, so I stopped and gave it another few minutes.

While I was still sitting on the ground we received a group call on our wrist pads. It was Peter who told us that they had found Barbara near to the lake. Ingrid gave me a hesitant look, but I told her to go and I would catch up with her and the others. I remained sitting on the ground under the rays of my hovering light and regarded my surroundings, hoping I would be able to get up soon. A few steps behind me I saw what I had thought was a stone when I held on to it while coughing. It was quite dirty and half buried in the ground but I could make out that it was definitely white and must have been shiny some time in the past.

At this moment Ryker ran at me and took the chance of me sitting on the floor unprepared. He gave me a kiss all over my face, wagging not only his tail but half of his body. I laughed while gently trying to keep him off. He stopped when Gerald appeared at the edge of my light and called for his dog. He walked over and helped me up, then gave me a critical look. I assured him that I was alright, but I noticed he kept an eye on me while we slowly walked over to the others. I was quite anxious to see how Barbara was doing.

When we arrived, Tom and Peter were just preparing the reduced-gravity stretcher and Ingrid knelt on the ground next to Barbara. It seemed like she had already given her some medication as her bag was lying open on the ground and various items had been taken out. Barbara herself looked not well. She was definitely unconscious and on top of that appeared to be beet red in the face and kind of puffy. Her hands also seemed to be swollen. Gerald held Ryker back, so he couldn't run over and do any damage in an attempt to help.

I watched as Peter and Tom put Barbara on the stretcher. I was unsure if I should approach Ingrid and ask her about Barbara's condition. I did not want to keep her from more important things. Peter and Tom picked up the stretcher and Ingrid walked next to them and kept a close eye on Barbara. Gerald and Ryker went at the front, while I followed them all. This at least helped to prevent anyone from noticing how much I really feeared for Barbara's wellbeing. I tried to keep up as well as I could, but I felt quite beaten.

After a while, Gerald took Peter's place in carrying Barbara, as his arms hurt from holding them too high, due to his being much smaller than Tom. Peter fell in line next to me, flexing his arms. He looked at me and must have seen the expression on my face. For a moment he didn't say anything, then he very tentatively patted my back two or three times. It was kind of awkward, but I appreciated the gesture. He was about to say something, too, but stopped himself and we walked on in silence. I was glad that Ryker joined us and I could pet him every now and then.

The clouds had moved and the moons were out, shining down on us through the mist. Apart from the occasional coughing nobody made a sound. I watched Ingrid carefully as she continually checked Barbara's signs. She looked worried. This made me even more worried.

When we finally arrived back at the cluster, Barbara was hurriedly brought to the tent at the meeting place, where Frode was already waiting in the doctors' cubicle. Ingrid joined them. Everyone else was asked to get out of the way and go home. I remained standing at the tent for a while, looking inside, waiting. Then, suddenly someone sneezed next to me, which made me jump. It was Peter, who made me come with me, back to my pod and lay down. He even watched me walk up the stairs and go inside. Very exaggerated, if you ask me.

I had a shower then. I didn't realize how dusty I was. All the clothes I have worn are covered, my uniform looks light brown instead of white. It is now close to midnight. I think after all I will go to bed. There is no news from Barbara yet.

Love,

Sarah

Tavaron

12.08.24 Front Page

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