Anna rolled over in bed. From the intensity and angle of the light that seeped in through her closed eyes, she knew it was late. Good, she thought. I need sleep. She had every intention of lying in bed longer—then she felt a presence in the room.
Her eyes flickered open. Mara was leaning over her, sitting in a chair next to her bedside. She was holding a cup of some steaming liquid that smelled of orange and honey.
“How’s my interstellar traveler doing this morning?” Mara smiled.
Anna tried to blink, but her left eye felt stuck and refused to open.
“Sleepy,” Anna said softly.
“Here. Drink this,” Mara said as she leaned forward, careful not to spill the cup’s hot contents. “It has negatively charged ions. Just breathe it in.”
Anna propped herself up on one elbow and winced. Muscle cramps worked their way up and down her legs and shoulders. She tried reaching for the cup, but the muscles in her arms felt like tight rope and ached.
“Ow, ow, ow.” Anna grimaced. “I can’t move.”
“No surprise. That’s what you get for wandering around in hypergravity all night,” Mara laughed. “You activated muscles you didn’t even know you had.”
“No, I’m serious. Everything . . . hurts. Even my hair hurts.”
“Microtrauma to your muscle fibers will do that,” Mara said. “Come on. Drink up. It’ll help.”
Anna reached out for the cup with sore T-Rex arms and held it under her chin. The steam warmed her face, and the bright citrus smell cleared her head of any lingering fog. She took a sip and felt the warm liquid, sweet and tangy, seep down her throat to spread through her body in a wave. Her muscles loosened like the unraveling of a tightly wound coil.
“Oh, that’s good,” Anna sighed and took another sip.
“Yes it is.”
“What time is it anyway?” Anna asked.
“A little before noon,” Mara answered.
“That was one long night.” Anna stifled a yawn. “Did you get any sleep?”
“No, I took advantage of the quiet and installed a sensor near the wormhole. I also combed over the data from your iCom and ran tests on those lights that we found on you this morning.”
“Seriously?” Anna asked. “I don’t know how you do it.”
“Stimulants and cognitive enhancers. And no, you can’t have any,” Mara said. “Not until your brain fully develops.”
Anna pulled back the covers and sat up in bed. Her muscles were still sore but now loose enough to move freely. Her hair, on the other hand, was an impressive structure of tangles that seemed to defy gravity.
“So what did you find?” Anna asked.
“That Einstein was right about time dilation,” Mara said.
“Time dilation?” Anna looked confused then smiled faintly. “Oh yeah. That’s that thing we talked about a long time ago. When you experience time differently because of gravity. Right?”
“The greater the gravitational force, the slower you experience time. Data from your iCom proved it out. Gravity on the planet you visited was 4.1 times greater than Earth’s. So you aged at a slower rate last night. Not a lot, but it was traceable.”
“That’s so weird.” Anna’s eyes opened wide.
“Wait until you hear about the lights.” Mara stood up and headed over to Anna’s desk.
Anna saw a glass cube, ten inches wide, sitting on the edge of her desk next to her computer monitor. Purple, blue, and green lights pulsed in a spinning pattern. Anna walked over to the desk and leaned over the lights, her cheeks lit up by the glow.
“They’re so pretty,” Anna said as she lightly tapped the sides of the cube. With each tap, the lights glowed brighter in response. “Are these the lights you found on me this morning?”
Mara nodded.
“We’re going to have to come up with a better name for our little friends here.” Mara leaned over Anna’s shoulder and tapped the side of the glass herself. “I was thinking of calling them sprites.”
“You think these lights are alive?”
“I know they’re alive—and unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”
“But I thought they were just part of the shadow creatures, like their scales,” Anna said.
“They are. But they aren’t. Each sprite is a unique living entity and at the same time a symbiotic part of the shadow creature,” Mara said.
“Like a parasite?” Anna asked.
“Oh, no. It’s a positive symbiotic relationship. In fact, I think they’re key to the shadows’ survival,” Mara said. “See how they glow? That’s caused by a bioluminescent enzyme similar to luciferase in fireflies. But this enzyme can catalyze with ammonia, argon, carbon monoxide, and a whole slew of noble gases. Guess what it really loves?”
“What?”
“Oxygen. Sprites really thrive in our environment and reproduce super-fast,” Mara said.
Anna traced the glass cube with her finger. A line of purple light followed along.
“I’ve never seen a purple one before,” Anna said as she looked up from the cube.
“For a good reason. The purple sprites are different from the others. They’re a hybrid. Somehow you picked up some mushroom spores, either on your skin or your shirt. Probably from wallowing in the dirt yesterday,” Mara said. “Our clever sprite friends here found a way to genetically recombine with the mushroom spores, which they also seem to love. And just like that, you have a new purple variant.”
Anna stared wide-eyed at the sprites as they moved in infinitely complex patterns—fractals branching and converging as they pulsed.
“This is real. I mean, I’m looking at an alien life form,” Anna said.
“Completely alien.”
“Is it conscious?”
“Now that’s a great question,” Mara said. “I think it is, as much as I can determine what is conscious or not. But if it is, it’s a completely different intelligence than our own.”
“Can you communicate with it?” Anna asked.
“I already did.” Mara smiled.
“You’re kidding.”
“I told you this was weird,” Mara said. “SID noticed that when a sprite glows, it gives off a chemical signal so powerful it can even be picked up miles away by other sprites. SID also noticed a number of patterns in that signal and was able to determine that they aren’t random but the basis for communication. The sprites were actually talking to each other. I had SID reproduce one of the patterns in the chemical signal, and the sprite replied back.”
“Wait. You understand what the sprites are saying?” Anna asked.
“Oh, no, I don’t have a clue. But I know we’ve collected a lot of patterns and identified a pattern within the patterns. That’s a start,” Mara said as she leaned against the desk. “Something else: those chemical signals also contain neuropeptides, which allow them to tap right into our brains. Think about that. The sprites can affect what we feel—even what we see.”
Anna stepped back. What seemed like magic now had a biological explanation.
“That’s how the Shadow was able to communicate with me,” Anna said.
“I think so.”
“You said that these signals can be detected from miles away. Can we use them to track down the creature?” Anna asked.
“Yes. That’s the most exciting part. We’re no longer searching blind,” Mara said. “The Shadow stays hidden during the day. But tonight, after the sun sets, you and I are finally going to get a chance to meet our alien friend.”