She woke with a start. Her eyes took a second to adjust to the bright light coming from… Where?

She was in a room, maybe twelve feet square, and about as tall. She couldn’t see any doors, no windows, nothing. The light seemed to be coming from the walls themselves. She looked. Sure enough, the light was coming from all directions. Even lifting a foot didn’t cast a shadow.

She sat down in a corner and tried to think. What had happened? They were flying along, and suddenly the engines just quit. They were going down in the Pacific, no land in sight. Then… Then what? She just couldn’t remember. She didn’t seem injured. As a matter of fact, she felt better than when they left New Guinea.

A door slid open in the opposite wall, perfectly silent. Two men and a young woman entered the room. Anger overrode common sense. She stood up and strode across the room. “What is this? Who are you people? Where’s Fred? What…”

“Calm yourself,” they said in unison. “Fred is fine. We will explain everything, Ms. Earhart.”