The Beaded Tapestry

Dear sister,

At least some answers after long hours of complete confusion.  I cannot determine how long I lingered in the limbo of timelessness before the main doors of the medical hold finally parted and I was joined by another coherent being.  I immediately recognized the woman who had so disturbed my first days aboard the Infinity.  This same person entered through the now open doors and made her way to where I sat in the break area having my morning meal.

She made no explanation for my current situation, only indicated that I was to follow her out of the hold and into the wide corridor of the main area of the ship. For as I discovered as I followed her, we were indeed on another ship, traveling through space. As we made our way through the corridors I could catch glimpses through the small round portals lining the right side of out path. Faint stars blinked at us as we past and a distant sun illuminated the system we were traversing. I could not catch enough information to determine if I recognized anything, but I could tell from my surrounding that we were indeed on some type of industrial vessel. The corridors were stark and the size of the viewing portals were not intended for recreational viewing. Everything was very utilitarian, similar to the Earth space station I awaited the departure of the Infinity on. There was not a sign of non-essential features what so ever.

After walking through empty corridors for several minutes, I finally got a glimpse of something outside the ship. As we rounded a corner a large viewing port appeared to my right, giving an expanded view of the space outside. From what I could determine by our route through the corridors we were now on the other side of the vessel. Hanging in the black void was a small satellite. Bare and sterile, it appeared to be a small moon of some type, scarred by craters from what I assume was a millennium of impacts from space debris. I slowed as we passed, trying to get a better look and to determine if the small orb contained signs of occupancy. The woman hissed at me to continue our progress through the ship, and I hurried after her, sneaking a last look back outside. I can say that the moon, if that was what it was, was illuminated by a light source, but I did not have time to search the scene for the solar body I know to be present. The sun I saw earlier was too distant to have caused this type of effect on the satellite.

There were no further enlightened views before we finally made our way into a huge control room. There were no viewing portals visible and the walls were covered from floor to ceiling by banks of electronics and monitoring equipment. I recognized a few for weather and metrology study, but the rest were unfamiliar to me. Maybe if you could have had a look your knowledge would have identified a few more. All displayed the unknown language I had seen on the control panels in the medical bay. A second person stood up from across the room where he had been sitting at a large monitor that was displaying the satellite I had seen through the portal earlier. I could see information scrolling across the screen in the strange characters with some occasionally blinking red. The sound of the strange clicking sounds were louder here, and seemed to be originating from one of the equipment units, or broadcast from it.

The woman passed me and took a seat at the station the man had just vacated. He then indicated that I was to follow him into the next room which was accessible through another doorway opposite the corridor entry. The next three hours were spent sitting in an uncomfortable chair across from this individual, being grilled about my work with the Anomaly. I repeated multiple times the same story shared with our Louvre sponsors, with never a hint of our true conclusions about the nature of the creature. He seemed to know a great deal about our project already and hints were given about knowledge of the second purpose of my trip. I did not take the bait with these innuendos, recognizing these as well know tactics of interrogation. I tried myself to retrieve some type of information about the nature of my kidnappers, but was unable to even get a name.

At the end of these hours of insidious questions, I was left alone with the man exiting the room and sealing the entry behind him.  I now sit in a bare room waiting on the next stage of this nightmare.  It gives me some encouragement to know that he was also frustrated by his lack of progress with his line of questions. I had hoped to sort out what is going on by explaining it to you here, but it has not helped.  I still remain in the dark as much as the deep ebony of the space outside.

I will keep you aligned with any changes.

Love 

Annalis

Dear Victoria,

After a thorough search of my present environment, I have found no further evidence of where I am or what the future holds for me. The steady hum of my surroundings indicates that we are still traveling, but our destination eludes me. We are not traveling using the Gambol process or I would imagine that functioning normal as I am would be difficult. I feel none of the space fatigue I had heard about after the stasis process, so I think I have been in some type of narcotic induced slumber since I was removed from the Infinity.

There is an exit door leading out of my current confinement, but it is latched from the other side since multiple attempts on my side have not been successful to open it. The small illuminated key pad beside the door is not in any language I recognize, not even the characters, so I am not even sure what it is reporting. Only the red indicator above the door gives me the clue that it is not accessible.

Fortunately there is a small chamber opening off the opposite side of the holding area that contains a type of habitat area. There is a food and liquid dispense system with more variety than the small unit inside the large hold, and a normal sleeping unit away from the vast echoing space of what I assume now is the medical bay of the ship. The dispensary is basic, but a life line for my current predicament. I am not sure what I would have done without it, as the smaller unit only dispensed water and liquid supplements. The assumption is that someone knows I am conscious since the door to the alcove was accessible to me when I placed my hand on the thermal plate for the entrance door. At least that was clear to me even if the instructions scrolling over the plate were not. It gives me some comfort that my current situation has an end, but what that end is I dare not think too much on. It is obviously not what I planned for at the end of my journey. I only hope all is not at an end for our project. For all I know years have passed and you have abandoned our dream in despair at my disappearance. There is a small dread in the back of my mind that this number might be in centuries and you are long gone, but I need to steer away from this train of thought.

The chronometer embedded in my wrist unit is no help. It seems to be scrambled, showing me that it is the year 9999, instead of what I believe should be somewhere in 2248. That was the year I was scheduled to arrive in the Alpha Centauri system if all had gone to plan. The chronometer has also stopped progressing, so I can only assume some type of technical error has occurred. At least the recording function still works. This includes the retention of your messages to me before you went into stasis. It gives me great solace to replay your messages, especially the words about coffee and the art aboard your ship and your enthusiasm for the Anomaly. There is none of our favorite beverage in the dispensary here and I miss it. That seems very superficial of me looking at my present predicament, but since the regeneration of my arm reached a stage where I could add this nectar of the gods back into my diet, I have become obsessed. Even on the Infinity I searched out the onboard dispensaries with the best selections and frequented them often. Now it’s absence is felt since this would at least give me something to look forward to each cycle. I am not even sure how many cycles I have been awake. The lighting never changes and I have no indication other than the call of my own biological needs to inform me that time has passed. The sounds, lights and temperature remain constant, giving me no indication of the passing of time. Even the strange clicking noises have no rhythm and do not seem to follow any type of pattern or come from any particular direction. Along with the cessation of my wrist unit circuit, this gives me the feeling that I am standing at the end of time, never to move past this last second of the universe.

On that most cheerful of notes I will sign off for now.  If something changes, I will continue our one sided conversation.  If not, I will wait here at the end of all things wondering what it was all for, adrift in a cold empty space, void of any other life than a ship full of strangers. 

Love Annalis

A very fun quick project. I am really happy with the tube ends. They finish the bracelet nicely.

Unknown Location

Fog billows across the lake, creating mythical creatures in Annalis’s imagination. She has always imagined creatures living among the fog banks of her childhood and this imagery continues even now into her adulthood. Her neurological mind tries to analyze this strange flaw in her logic but fails. Smokey dragons and flowing ogres danced above the still waters of her vision, giving comfort with their progression across her horizon. Discomfort brings her subconscious back to reality and she finds herself once again lying on the cold surface of the stasis table. The surrounding darkness is only broken by the pinpoint lights of adjacent cubical monitors and the red lights high above her on the domed ceiling. The whirling sounds of electronics meet her ears along with the metal clicking she had noticed earlier. The pleasant dream leaves a calming impression on her and she grasps what remained of that emotion to give her strength through what she knows is coming.

Gazing around she finds many of the cubicles dark and vacant and knows that quite a bit of time has elapsed since she last was awake. The unit directly to her right is still occupied and she rises from the medical table to get a closer look. The person is not known to her and the same holds for the next three units she inspects. It was becoming clear to Annalis that she is no longer on the Infinity, and her previous experience was not a mere stasis dream.

Dear sister,

I do not know where I am or even when I am. When I awoke I found I still possessed my embedded wrist unit, so I will try and find come solace in this most disturbing situation by conversing with you. I hope it will provide some needed clarity and direction in what is a most disturbing change of circumstances. I awoke from my stasis a second time today and have spent the last few hours investigating my situation. I appear to be in the cargo hold of some type of industrial carrier. There appears to be over forty people still sharing my accommodations, but they remain in stasis, while I have been revived. Between my first awakening and now, over a hundred sleepers have been either revived or moved, since their empty beds still remain. I can detect the familiar vibrations of a space traveling vessel beneath my feet, but without a view of the outside world I cannot be certain if I am correct. Whatever type of vehicle it is, we are still underway.

The cargo hold appears to be sealed and I could find no hatches that allowed me to explore my surroundings further. A limited dispensary unit provided me with my first meal in who knows how long, and although slightly chilled, the environmental controls seem to be set for my comfort. I do feel as if I am being monitored, but upon investigation could not find any devises that gave evidence of this. After my fruitless search for information I returned to my stasis unit where I discovered with great surprise that my one sided communication is indeed not broken. Since I am at a loss with what else to do, I have sat down to make contact with you again.

During my explorations, I found no evidence of the creatures which have been entrusted into my care on my planned journey. It seems I have failed in one of my missions. It also seems my main objective of arriving at the space station to begin my study of the Anomaly is also in jeopardy. Whatever agenda my current companions have, I am sure it is not in alignment with my own. For one thing I recognized none of the sleepers around me. Another point is that there has been no type of communication between myself and ‘I assume’ my captors.

I am frightened, but determined. For now I will explore my surroundings and gather what evidence I can to make a plan of action. If it is as I suspect, either an attempt to disrupt the goals of the Louvre or the seeding of the creatures raised by Simona’s group, I am prepared to fight for our cause. I will not give in without a battle.

I will continue my narrative as soon as I know more. 

Love

Annalis

Started a new project today. Not sure what it will be when it is finished. Included a picture of the supplies I am using.