Soukup, looking perplexed for the first time, told him, “She’s running a complete diagnostic. Whatever it was, she thinks she saw it. A partial image of a woman who walked into the wall.”

“Yeah, no shit.” Fenn grabbed Soukup by the sleeve, fully aware that it was probably a death sentence. “Come on. Let’s get you to the Crew Mess so you can see the dome of bones. I mean, they made a shrine out of the people they ate. Built this—”

Soukup started, gulped. Staring down the hall. “I would have sworn . . .”

“Yeah, I know. I’m telling you, come on.” Fenn started down the hall, hearing Soukup tell his Third. “Diagnostic override. Malfunction explained. Catalog and reference for future analysis.”

Climbing the next companionway to Command Deck, Fenn led the way to the AC hatch. Welded as it was. The willies were getting worse. His stomach was flipping, and the wavering light at the edges of his vision was playing tricks on him.

“So, here’s the famous AC. Beyond is where Jem Orten and Tyne Sakihara blew their . . .”

“Screaming,” the Second said with a start. “Corroborate.”

“Unable to corroborate,” the First replied, his head swiveling this way and that, ears cocked. “Silence.”

“Silence,” the Third agreed, eyes unfocused. “Describe screaming for analysis.”

“Male voice,” the Second told her. “Uttering the words, ‘For God’s sake, let me out of here’ with high emotional context. Then screamed, ‘Don’t get close to me’ and ‘They’re picking at my brain.’”

“Did you hear that?” Soukup asked Fenn.

“Nope.” To the Second, he asked, “Where did the voice come from?”

The Second blinked. Raised his hand, pointing at the welded door. “Inside. There. Again. Listen.”

Soukup swallowed hard. “But . . . there’s no one in there, right?”

“Only the corpses of Jem Orten, Tyne Sakihara, and good old Tamarland Benteen. Maybe he’s still alive, but if he’s kept up the hydroponics and water recycling, I’d say that by this time, he’s as insane as the rest of this place.”

Soukup jerked, spun around, asking, “Who touched me?” and found empty space.

“She will kill you, you know,” the Third said, eyes still unfocused.

“What? Who?” Soukup demanded.

“Drive a knife right through your heart,” the First whispered.

“But only after she severs my carotid arteries,” the Third said in a monotone.

“Mister Bogarten,” Soukup told him nervously, “Return us to the shuttle. Immediately. Whatever the field effect is, it is affecting my Four. This is intolerable. Second, note: We will interrogate Supervisor Aguila concerning negligence concerning Freelander. Whatever is affecting my people, surely she should have detected it on previous visits.”

To Fenn he asked, “Are we being exposed to some electromagnetic field? Some sort of radiation? Perhaps a field generated by—”

“No!” Fenn leaned close. “Get it? It’s Freelander. And it’s fucked!”

“Screaming,” the Second repeated. “He won’t stop screaming. He can’t. It will be forever.”