The Horseman

Taken

Shannon stumbled into a large, unfamiliar room with at least two dozen other human women. More were winking into existence as her training kicked in, and she began to survey her surroundings, looking for the most immediate threats and paths to escape. She didn't see very many of the latter but felt the entire setup was the former.

The influx of women stopped abruptly, finishing with about fifty in the room. Many were from the Agency but knew none of them personally. She noticed all of them were no longer armed, holsters empty on their hips.

She put her hand on an unadorned, dark gray wall. It didn't quite feel like metal, but it also wasn't plastic. Both the floor and ceiling appeared to be made of the same strange material. Bright, fluorescent light poured from fixtures in the high ceiling, and ventilation ports well out of reach. The air seemed fresh, but Shannon had a gut feeling they weren't on Earth anymore. Maybe we're on one of Their ships? But, They're still so far away!

The room was sparse. A ring of benches molded from the walls ran around the edge. Above each one, she noticed a compartment. Shannon tried to open the nearest one and found it to be locked. She also tried the closest of the two doors she spied to discover it contained a very Earth-like bathroom with several stalls as well as showers.

Shannon whirled around when one of the women started banging on the other door, shouting to be let out. Recognizing a panic attack when she saw one, she made her way through the group before the woman's pleas set off a chain reaction.

"Hey," Shannon entreated the woman, leaning on the door so the woman's wild eyes could focus on her as a distraction. "Look at me. Hey—"

Her aid was interrupted when the woman cried out and leaped back as the door shocked her. A green curtain of light appeared along the wall and slowly made its way toward the group of women. Instinctively, they all backed away from it. Shannon tried not to share the same expression of frightened horror she saw on so many of the faces, even on those who were Agents and supposedly trained for crises.

The light successfully herded the group into one-third of the room. In the space it had swept clear, more women, all human, began appearing. In the first dozen, Shannon finally recognized someone.

"Tonya! What's going on?" Shannon cried as her friend pivoted toward her voice.

"Shannon!" Tonya pushed through the throng to get to her, but the barrier separated them. "Where are we?"

"I don't know. I think we're on one of Their ships or something. I saw people being taken from the beach in Brazil, too."

"We saw you materialize on the lawn with War, and then he left!" Tonya accused.

"He also came back and tried to rescue me," Shannon spoke in his defense.

"Where did he go?"

"I don't know, Tonya. He didn't tell me, only that he had to go."

Women stopped being transported into the room, and the green wall disappeared. Tonya jumped to Shannon and hugged her tight. "I'm glad we're together at least."

"I am, too." Shannon clung to her friend, emotions threatening to overtake her. Before she could cry outright, she pulled away, blinking away the tears.

"Bigsby! Lansing!" a voice yelled. Another Agent, Charlene Sampson, from the ISD, slowly made her way toward them, waving her phone.

"Hey, do either of you have a signal?" she questioned.

Shannon looked at the forgotten phone in her hand. "No," she shared, shoulders slumped.

"Me neither," Tonya shared.