Page 87 of Star-Born Anomaly
They can’t know.She looked upward, wanting to see the roof of the box, but she saw the ceiling of her outpost instead.
“You are already Calypson,” he added, and Wynn’s heart dropped.
This can’t be happening.They shouldn’t be able to dig out her secrets this way. There was too much he’d told her that even she didn’t understand.
She dug her fingers into her arm. Anything to stop where this vision headed.
The images swirled and sped backwards again. She knelt in her fields, watching a meteor careen toward the surface, its vapor trail a mark against the coming storm clouds. Time moved backward further, to when she was at the Science Academy, being interviewed. It lasted only a moment, then she returned to her fields.
A snarl and a howl echoed all around her.
“No,” she whispered. She couldn’t live through it again, especially in this mockery of her memories.
A sob of frustration escaped her. She closed her eyes and dug her fingernails in deeper, wanting to draw blood.
The scene settled, and she stood in her outpost. A growl snapped through the surrounding space, and she jumped. Sunshine beamed through the transparent doors of the decontamination zone. The stillness made the fine hairs on her arms stand on end.
Another growl rattled around her, followed by a howl. Her heart surged into her throat. She knew this moment in time, saw it continually in her nightmares, and never wanted to be here again.
She tried to think of something else, anything else: her parents, her favorite color, the first boy she kissed. She dug her fingernails deeper into her skin, gasping at the pain. Tears pricked her eyes, then spilled over.
She ran toward the outpost, stumbling between the rows of dirt. Her heart pounded, her lungs straining with each breath. Tossing a quick glance over her shoulder, she searched behind her. There was another form in a UV-suit out there, too far to distinguish.
Foster. The four forms that blended so well with the brown landscape obscured his body. His screams echoed in her helmet while she ran until she heard nothing but her own sobs.
He’d sacrificed himself so she could get to safety.
Wynn’s knees buckled, and she collapsed to her knees, but the scene continued.
Safely ensconced in the decontamination room, she watched as one beast dragged his decimated body closer. Like it wanted to mess with her.
Intelligent monsters.A sour taste filled her mouth.
Wynn turned away and closed her eyes. Her breaths left her lips in short bursts, anxiety and panic climbing through her chest. She covered her head with her hands, and the howling gave way to silence.
She didn’t move for a long moment, too fearful of what she would see if she looked. When the quiet echoed between her ears, she lifted her head.
Her life continued to play, but it had reversed past the point of Foster’s death. It slowed, and she was making soup with him. Her heart caught at seeing him well and whole, a smile on his face when he looked at her while dicing an onion.
Everything sped up again. She arrived at the outpost for the first time and warmed at the welcoming smile on Foster’s face and the kind crinkle of his eyes.Everything is going to be okay.
More movement, and she returned to the moment she found out she landed the position on Earth, a swell of elation making her heady.
The colors and shapes sped up, then slowed once more.
“Dr. Wynn Lambdin.”
She was back on Asia Prime on the day of her graduation. The ceilings of the auditorium soared above her, light spilling inside from the skylights to cast a golden glow over the hundreds of spectators.
The ceremony commentator stood beside her, and she saw herself decked out in her graduation gown and hat.
“Dr. Wynn Lambdin. Advanced Sciences. Biology, Botany, and Genetics.” Hand extended, she accepted the digital diploma from her professor into her PALM, and shook his hand.
The world around her swirled, and changed. She no longer stood in an auditorium, but a familiar corridor with two doors on the right and one on the left—her childhood home.
“Wynn!” someone shouted from behind her.
She spun around, and her breath caught in her throat. Her father strode toward her.Alive. Her heart thundered in her chest. It turned to panic when he didn’t stop, but walked right through her body.
