There’s some good news and some bad news.

The good news is that the headache is fading, and I’m not having convulsions any more.

The bad news is that I can’t move my fingers and my hands and feet have gone numb.

My coordination’s still shot but at least I can hold a glass between the heels of my hands, if I’m careful. I’ve been trying to drink whatever the apartment gives me as often as possible just in case it comes up with some suitable additive.

I have to say that this has probably been the most terrifying couple of days of my life. I seriously thought I was going to die last night. I lay there curled into a loose ball, shivering violently, and waited for the moment to come when I would suddenly black out, or feel a sudden pain in my chest, or find myself unable to breathe… but instead I suddenly woke up when the sun turned on, and realised that I must have drifted off. Probably out of sheer nervous exhaustion.

Yes, it was even worse than the time in the bowels of the ship. At least there I had something to do, and most of the time I was so out of it I wasn’t able to be scared… last night I was perfectly lucid, every single moment, and in the dark and the silence it was all too easy for all my personal demons to swim up out of my subconscious.

But it’s morning now, the sun’s shining, I’m outside on the beach, and I appear to be getting better (numb hands notwithstanding). I actually managed to walk here, although I fell over three times on the way.

Green and Black are lazing around in the bay. I can’t help noticing that one of them always has their head above water, apparently keeping an eye on me. I am both marginally irritated, relieved and touched.

You know, I’ve never actually sat and watch them swim before. They’re very good.

They seem to be playing some complicated game, or acrobatic exercise. One of them will jump like a dolphin and attempt some complicated manoeuvre in mid air, usually fail, and come crashing down into the water. Then they’ll confer, and try again.

The whole process does not appear to be taken too seriously. I can’t hear anything they’re saying from here, and wouldn’t be able to understand it even if I could, but when at one point Black appeared to get a difficult looking roll catastrophically wrong and landed flat on his back, Green seemed to say something uncomplimentary because she promptly got play-chased a few hundred yards in an immense flurry of foam before they settled down and he tried it again.

Of course, it could be some barbaric religious ritual leading up to, um, sealin sacrifice to the gods of the small grey rock at the bottom of the sea; I am guessing here. But I reckon that what I can make of sealin body language seems to be more or less correct. And it certainly didn’t look as if Black was trying to catch Green.

Ha. When the sensations come back to my hands and feet, I’ll have to show them how a human swims. I’m sure they’ll find that amusing.

[break]

The numbness is spreading. I can’t feel my arms or lower legs. I can’t move my wrists or ankles, either.

Shit. This is not good.

I crawled on my hands and knees back to the apartment, Green in tow, and managed to drink something. The glass of fizzy liquid did taste strange and not entirely pleasant but it hasn’t had any noticeable effect. I don’t think the apartment’s pharmacy is up to this.

If I concentrate really hard, I can occasionally make my wrists twitch. That suggests motor control problems not nerve damage, but frankly, I don’t much care.

Come on, ship. Get where you’re going.

[break]

It’s just after lunchtime. I’m lying in the big chair, largely paralysed.

I can talk. I can move my head. I can move both arms, but the left one is so uncoordinated as to be useless and the right one is slow and hesitant. I can just about manage to, for example, hit the switch on the dictaphone.

Also, I can breathe, my heart’s beating, and I have bladder control. Whatever it is seems to be affecting the voluntary motor nerves only.

I feel like some bloody sadist is in charge of my life. Every morning recently starts out fine and heads downhill. I wish I’d just stayed on the island and never gone up to the Big Ship.

…but then I’d have probably roasted in the double sunlight.

Hell.

[break]

Damn! Why didn’t I think of that!

[break]

I now feel much better.

Not physically, but in terms of morale. I persuaded Green to help me into the suit, and believe me, it wasn’t easy. But know I’m in, and that waist dial is turned on, and this wonderful, wonderful mind-reading space suit is letting me move again!

Also the suit will feed me. I just have to suck on the appropriate nozzle. It doesn’t taste like much but it’s food and I don’t have to be able to use my arms to get at it. Which is good, because my right arm is now hanging completely limply.

Admittedly, I’m not so much wearing the suit as having been poured into it, and I’m drifting across the island like a humanoid balloon, but it’s so good having control again. Even if it is just over the suit. It’s still better than being a vegetable in that damned chair.

I have the horrible feeling that this time the paralysis isn’t going away.

Green and Black are swimming along below me, easily matching my speed. They seem rather perturbed about the whole thing. They’re not great tool users; I suspect the idea of using the space suit as a sort of whole body prosthesis never occurred to them, and they’re a little wary. Green certainly asked a lot of odd questions. I think she was concerned that I was planning another trip up into the Big Ship. Never fear; nothing could be further from my mind. I would rather go back into the chair.

Oh, yes, activating the dictaphone was entertaining. I had to find a rock and position myself so that I could bump it against the button. It must have looked very odd.

[break]

In an attempt to find something to take my mind off things, I’ve flown over to the barrier and have peering out. (The suit makes my raft look a bit sick. I’m sure it’s waterproof, too. But I don’t think the dictaphone is, so I’m not taking it underwater.)

The Big Ship is really storming along. The warp bubble striations are nearly drowning out the stars, and from the way the stars are falling past the barrier, I reckon we’re doing several light years a second. It makes my little ship’s light-year a minute look pathetic, I’ll tell you that.

I don’t know where it’s going but it’s in a real hurry.

[break]

My ears are tingling. It feels like pins and needles.

I don’t want to think about this.

[break]

I know where we’re going.

We’ve arrived.

I’m home.

Earth.

I actually saw it as we arrived; I was right up against the barrier. There were no course adjustments. The stars just slowed, the striations faded away to nothing, and there coming into my field of view was a big, beautiful, blue and white curve… and there, clearly visible against the limb of the planet, was a shape ingrained into my memory: I’d have recognised that blobby crescent anywhere.

Australia.

Which meant that the new sun at my back, busy raising the temperature of the island, was not just a sun but the sun. Sol.

I just floated there, staring, until I finally felt something nudge me. I look down and found Green with the suit’s boot in her mouth, vigorously tugging. I hadn’t felt it.

“We have arrived,” she said, mouth full of boot but her voice as clear as ever. “This is a planet. Behind there is a sun. It will be hot. We will go to the Hotel.”

I stared down blankly, her words barely registering. “This is Earth,” I said.

She stopped pulling. “This is Earth? Your planet?”

“Yes.”

She let go, fell back to the sea, and started arguing furiously with Black. I kept looking. The complicated spirals of white, the intricate patterns of cloud spread across the sea, fine lines of white and blue among the brown and green of the land… I drunk it all in. This was my planet. I evolved down there. My ancestors lived down there, all of them. Every atom my body had been made from came from down there. My entire life had been spent with every particle of this world pulling on my substance; in a very real way, I had been connected to Earth. All of Earth. Every single bit.

Now the connection had been broken, but that was fine, because I was home again.

Earth began to drift down, ever so slowly, as the Big Ship started turning. Half unnoticed I felt the shadows shift as Sol rose behind my back and become eclipsed by the Ship.

Green and Black were staring at it silently as Earth slid by.

Eventually Green said, “What is brown?”

“That’s land. That one’s Australia.”

“That is a big island.”

“The biggest.”

And then Earth disappeared from our field of view.

“I have not seen a planet,” Green said. “Black has not seen a planet.”

I smiled. “Good, isn’t it? The first planet I ever saw from space was yours. It was very beautiful.”

Green blinked. “Earth is beautiful.”

We headed back to the beach. I’m not entirely sure why; the suit would have kept me aloft for weeks, and the sealin were more at home in the water than on land. It was probably habit, the memory of a more relaxed time past.

“What do you think the Ship’s going to do?” I asked.

“I do not know.”

Green and Black are talking quietly. It’s not their usual argument, which I eventually worked out was just the way their language sounded. This is intense.

I’m floating nearby waiting for developments.

Keep you posted.

[break]

My ears are numb. My nose and cheeks are tingling. I’m getting occasional double vision.

We’re landing.

I headed out to the barrier again, and found that Earth had expanded below us, and was now occupying half the sky. The Ship had definitely descended. I didn’t see any land, but that didn’t mean anything; a continent could have been hiding below the mass of the island.

I’m beginning to wonder what’s happening down there. When the Big Ship arrived it must have been visible across Australia, New Guinea, South-East Asia… you don’t miss a thing like that. Panic must be spreading. All the various nuts, UFO, religious, conspiracy theory, all kinds must be coming out of the woodwork… every country on Earth must be mobilising. The USA, Russia and China will all be rushing to get some sort of manned vehicle in orbit. I expect everyone with the capability is frantically trying to work out whether they have any missiles that can reach the Big Ship.

I wonder what an ICBM would do to this thing? Very little, I expect.

There’s a saying: When the aliens come, everyone will know. I always believed it. I always dreamt that one day, a spacecraft would arrive at Earth, and the world would suddenly change.

I never dreamt I would be on the spacecraft.

[break]

My neck’s stiffening up. Thank God for the suit. Without it, I’d be a cripple by now.

I just hope it can keep me alive long enough.

I’m pretty sure we’re in the upper atmosphere. I think there’s the faintest tinge of blue to the black sky between the spines.

Green and Black have persuaded me to come back to the Hotel apartment. I don’t get nearly as good a view, but I suppose they’re right—I don’t know what’s going to happen and we could probably use the extra protection. At least it’s given us a top-floor apartment this time, and I can just see the horizon over the edge of the sea.

They’re both getting twitchy again. I don’t think they like landings any more than take-offs.

[break]

Definitely blue. We must be descending through the stratosphere.

God, this must be a sight to see… the Big Ship, a gigantic tower rearing up into the air, a bubble of blue and green clutched in its claws, the air streaming off in trails of cloud from every exposed corner and edge…

From in here, all we can see is the horizon slowly expanding. It’s calm, it’s quiet. The sun never flickers.

I just thought—surely the Ship’s not planning to put the island down, is it? Where’s it going to go? It’s a huge lump of rock, for goodness’ sake. It’s not going to fit.

[break]

I’m going outside. I don’t care. I’ve got to see this.

There is danger.

You stay here. The suit will protect me.

You will not go.

I will.

[untranscribable sounds]

I’ve just flown out the window. I’m standing on the beach.

I don’t think I’ve got a lot of time. It’s getting hard to breathe. My chest feels stiff.

There’s cloud streaming past the barrier. The turbulence must be incredible.

It’s still completely silent. There’s a bird-thing calling… just one.

We’re below the clouds. At least, the bottom of the ship is. I can see them receding above, torn into a vortex by the ship’s passage. We must be nearly there by now.

I can see the horizon. Waves.

Nothing’s happening. Are we down? I think we’re down.

Still nothing. Should I go over to the barrier? Perhaps the Ship’s taking the last bit slow…

[untranscribable noises]

Woah. Big jolt. Knocked me into the air. The Ship must have turned its artificial gravity off… there’s a perfectly circular ripple heading inshore from the edge of the barrier.

It’s flaring! The barrier’s flaring! There’s a cascade of orange lightning between the spines… I can hear it, it’s crackling… it’s gone!

My God… the waves are coming in! The barrier’s down! It’s down! It’s down!

I can see gusts travelling across the calm water… Earth’s air mixing with the island’s… Earth’s water… I don’t believe it. We’re here. We’re finally here.

Another jolt. Just a little one. I’m not sure what’s happening, but… yes. The spines are moving. They’re lifting. The Big Ship is leaving.

I can actually hear the Ship. A sourceless, deep-throated, immensely powerful hum. The spines are smoothly sliding out of the water; water’s being dragged up their sides and falling back as spray.

They’re out. Their hundred-meter wide bulk is drawing out huge plumes of water after them, which are falling back… and down. The Ship’s clear, and accelerating. It hasn’t begun to recede yet, but the tips of the spines are already a long way up, and they’re getting faster.

Earth’s swell is breaking against the shores of the island. The water is lapping over my booted feet. The ship’s leaving, the island’s down.

The hum is fading.

Damn it, I’m still breathing suit air! I can’t get my helmet off! Damn. Damn…

[break]

Much harder to breathe.

Sitting on beach. Happy. Helmet off. The air smells so good, that acidic smell is gone. Ship a small shape in sky. Leaving fast.

Green and Black are sitting nearby. Sniffing the air. Look dubious.

Wonder about Earth’s sea and the island. Ecological nightmare. Hope that Earth’s sea is sufficiently… different to sterilise the shore. Kill everything. Only way to be safe. Don’t want an epidemic of… alien life in our seas.

Can hear the trees blowing… in the wind behind me. Haven’t heard that for a while.

Green and Black are talking. Feel sorry for them. The Ship’s gone, they’re not going home. Same thing that happened to me… happened to them. Hope it goes better for them.

Neck stiff. Jaw stiff. Arms and legs like wood. Damned fish. Never eat fish again as long… as I live.

Wonder where everyone is? Planes. Warships. Aircraft carriers. Submarines. All nations. All converging here. Won’t be long ‘til they arrive. Love to be able to see it on TV. Fun to watch the chaos.

Out of breath. Must rest.

[break]

Are you well?

No. I’m dying.

You will not die.

I don’t have… a lot of choice.

You will not die.

I’m sorry.

You will not die. You will tell us of this sea. It taste strange.

I don’t have… the breath.

You will tell us tomorrow.

If I… can.

You will tell us tomorrow.

Thank-you, Green. Thank-you, Black.

You will not die.

What’s that?

What is what?

The noise.

I can hear. I do not know.

Where?

That way.

Can’t see.

The noise sounds from far the Hotel. I can not see.

Tell me.

The noise louds.

I know… that. What do you… see.

Two ships fly over us. They are small and black and grey. They are like a bird. They go very fast.

Jet… fighters. Looking at… the island. Watch… the sea.

There is a ship at the horizon. It is in the sea. It is black and grey. It comes slow.

There is a nother ship. It is same. It is near the one ship.

The jet fighters come. They are slow. They are over us. They turn. I think that they see the buildings.

The two sea ships come.

There is a nother air ship. It is large. It is not a jet fighter. It not sounds like a jet fighter. It not has wings. It fly over us. It is slow and low. I think that it sees us.

It comes to the beach. It flies near the Hotel.

There is a nother ship. It is a space ship. It is a qaxtocl of the Builders. It is very large. It flies over the island.

The ship that is not a jet fighter goes. The qaxtocl is over us. There is a nother qaxtocl and a pocltic. They fly around the island.

The pocltic comes to the beach. I think that it sees us. I think that it will land here.

The pocltic lands.

Do you hear it?

Do you hear me?

[untranscribable conversation]

You will not die.

You will not die.

[transmit]

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