Astronomicon: Behemoth

Chapter 39 - Scorch Marks

"How the hell did they make that?!" Megan exclaimed.

"When did they see you like that?" asked Isa quietly.

Megan stared at the image perfected recreated within the crystal. She was staring at herself, a quarter-scale version of herself standing completely naked, arms by her sides, staring blankly ahead. She felt embarrassed that Isa could see the freakishly lifelike image, but much more horrified that other members of the crew may have seen it too.

"Did Aron see this?" Megan asked.

"I've tried to keep it private," Isa replied.

"Did he see it?"

"He was the one who activated it."

Megan stared in silence for a few seconds before speaking again. "Switch it off!"

Isa removed the glove and the crystal immediately became opaque once more.

"Aron was the only one," said Isa. "Mr Cohen was back with the buggy, so he didn't see it at all. We haven't even told him, or anyone else, what's in it. I don't know how whoever made this got the data."

"I'd be willing to bet they took a copy of me when I was thrown into the teleport hoop. I don't suppose there's any way of disabling one of these crystals?"

"Sorry, Megan, we hardly know how they work. Changing what they do is beyond us. Maybe you could keep it with your personal belongings?"

Megan suddenly remembered that she was supposed to be resting her eyes. She dropped back in the command chair and carefully placed the cool-pad back over her eyes. Being seen naked by even just a couple of the crew was not just embarrassing but also undermined what she already suspected was her inadequate authority over the crew.

Isa waited silently, just adding to the awkward atmosphere in the control room. Megan had to admit that she was glad that Isa had taken the initiative and kept her exposure to a minimum. The situation could have been considerably more embarrassing. A shudder passed through her as she imagined the crew gathered in the briefing room all staring at her naked hologram. That would have been horrible.

"Did Aron say anything when he saw it?"

"No, he was very polite, although he did laugh," Isa replied.

"He always laughs!" she replied. "I just know this is going to come back to haunt me in the near future."

"We kept it as secret as possible."

"I know. Thank you," Megan replied. "Did you video many of the other holograms?"

"It took a couple of hours, but we did the entire right-hand wall. Either a longer expedition or two more like today's and we'll have the whole lot done."

"Unless they add more," said Megan.

"There may be one of Walter in there somewhere," Isa replied.

"If we send anyone else through the hoop, we'll have to check if more holograms appear."

"It might be a good idea to leave a camera in the crystal room and catch whoever puts the new crystals in place?"

"I agree. Let Aron know so he can take one on the next expedition. It's a pity the wireless transmission wouldn't work. Otherwise, we could have Foxy monitor the feed for signs of activity."

* * *

"How are Megan's eyes doing, Doctor?" Aron asked Santiago as he descended the ladder into the briefing room.

"I don't think there's any permanent damage. At the rate she's improving, I predict she will be back to normal by tomorrow morning."

"Good. I've got a couple of ideas I'd like to test out and I want to see this projector room in person."