She ignored him. It was his usual nihilism, his typical need to stomp on other people’s beliefs. Only down here, he was even more negative, pessimistic, and vocal about it. She would not discuss it or turn this into another debate. It was pointless.

Of course, having dropped his pearl of observational wisdom for the day, he still would not go away. He stood there staring at her with the brown, glassy eyes of a stuffed moose. She saw no true intelligence in them and certainly no compassion. Yet, they fixed her, drew her in, and there was a sudden, inexplicable crackling noise in her head that reminded her vaguely of static electricity. Her vision blurred. Her head swam with vertigo. She heard that scraping/scratching sound in her skull again, like a worm chewing its way free of a seed. I know what you saw. I know what you’re hiding. I know what terrifies you, little boy. The voice speaking in her head made her cringe. For a moment, she thought she was reading his mind, conceptualizing his thoughts…but, no, it was something else. Not his voice. Not her own. But one that sounded unpleasantly like that of her mother. He can’t hide his little boy sissy fears from us. And Javy nearly screamed…but she saw. Oh yes, indeedy, she actually saw his fear—the horrible eye he had seen through the viewport that day and…and…and in the city, something else: an immense, grotesque creature with dozens of wavering white legs.

Like a squid, a monstrous squid.

Then whatever connection there was dissipated, her mind filled with confusing, conflicted images.

Hubbs kept staring at her, then he said, “You should have listened to your mother.”

Javy felt her face go red as a beet. “What did you say? What the fuck did you just say?”

That quick she was on him, grabbing hold of him, ready to swing.

“Javy,” he said in a soft voice. “I didn’t say anything. I didn’t even open my mouth.”

It felt like the air was bled from her. She felt weak, limp as a rag. He didn’t say it, you idiot, he thought it. She wrapped her arms around herself, embarrassed, self-conscious, ashamed. “I…I thought…”

“It’s okay, Javy. I understand. I know how crowded it gets in your head sometimes. Oh, I know.”

They waited there in silence, watching the board. The tension between them gradually faded. Finally, he said, “How long, Javy? How long were they in the city?”

“An hour.”

“No contact for an hour, eh?”

“No.”

“Lots of things could happen in an hour. Especially in that fucking graveyard.”

Javonivic reeled out the reasons why the technology had failed. The city. It was the city itself. What it was made of and the intense magnetic field emanating from it. The water would dampen that somewhat, but inside it would be much more intense.