Captain Lisell had it easy when it came to making friends, most people were happy to be with her. Though only a few people like her mother and her school mate were trusted enough that she could interact with them without having a care.
The "Alien Incident" as the Egg flashing Pink light was getting to be known- had forced her into proximity with passengers and flight crew. Most of whom Lisell had to "handle with care" but Adam had become a friend. Short and quirky but sharp and un-judjemental and most of all patient. One late night, slightly drunk and mildly sedated she had slept in the lobby of their building; only to find Adam ready with strong coffee and a smile, waking her up while the building was still mostly asleep. He had talked about his own routine and gossiped while she finished the coffee and was awake enough to retire to her room to bathe and freshen up for the day. How he had known that she would need time to wake up enough or she would not be able to talk, or hate it if he volunteered to help her to her room, she could not guess. But for all that, she was definitely appreciating his steady presence.
Adam, to begin with, loved Captain Lisell like most people love their favorite movie stars. As days went by he came to like her as a leader and was comfortable speaking to her as a friend. It made him happy that she treated him like a colleague. So he was glad to have her in his group for their trip to the Egg.
Team-2 had conducted stress tests with physical simulation, chemically induced excitement and electrical jolts but nothing significant stood out. Some of the passengers were fitter than others, one had vertigo, two had vein blockages, etc. information that they could not use. After the 'accident' near the alien artifact and after Team-1 had successfully navigated the Egg's defence mechanism, both teams collaborated to find out if any particular passenger/s triggered the Egg. Since they were not carrying much equipment, a group of three passengers and one scientist each from Teams 1 and 2 would approach the Egg.
Lisell and Adam were the fourth batch to make the trip to the Egg. Their craft had just cleared L-3 compound when the Egg flashed pink and then lit up in a mild glow; the center and the Egg were all white while the edges of the halo, nearly fifty meters away, were tinged blue, which rapidly faded away to nothing. When they were almost to the Halo, they saw the halo flatten at the center while the sides reached out in an alien embrace. Adam gripped Lisell's arm as fear warred with fascination. Lisell in turn held onto Adam almost automatically, too fascinated to divert her attention from the event unfolding before her eyes.
They never got to nearer. The Halo contracted into a directed cone of light, engulfing the five humans. Two- Adam and Lisell lost conciousness, one scientist was too shocked to continue and jumped back in panic. The other two of the group were saw nothing except a white light all around, they could not move or turn for what seemed like a long time but was just a couple of minutes after which the cone of light faded and the Egg was inert once again.
When Lisell gained consciousness she found Adam sitting by the bedside. He pointed a thumb at his own chest where he held a slip of paper on which he had written.
"On camera. Don't say anything. Can't remember- fuzzy light and shapes is all! Pls, trust me."
Her eyebrows drew together in questioning even as the nurse entered and after checking a few readings went to call the doctor. Adam was taking a drink of water and swallowing the small wad of paper. She was about to speak when he squeezed her arm and somehow she Knew he was saying "Please". Then the doctors and five or six scientists and techs were there, and Adam left.
Even before the doctor had finished checking her. The barrage of questions started.
What happened? The light did it hurt? Was it warm? Did you feel the electricity?
What made you go under? Did you notice anything strange? What happened when you stepped near?
Captain Lisell chose to go Adams way and said that she was confused still. The last thing she remembered was Adam bumping into her. Then just white light and fuzzy curves. When she did not have anything more to say, they started leaving, till only Jr. Lt. Koram remained. He sat beside hr and told her what had happened.
It was three hours after the incident. All five of them were OK, she was the in fact the last to recover. They had to assist and carry all of the five, back to L-3. The Egg was recorded to send out some sort of communication, a surge in electrical activity, very much like when data is being transferred. But no other clue was yet found, to know what was the surge about. The consensus was that the artifact had tried to communicate with the three passengers, or one or two of them.
The five people who caused the Egg to respond were each kept in isolation and a battery of tests were conducted and the results matched with the ones done prior to the incident. Except for a small inflammation in the frontal lobe of the brain, in case of Adam and Lisell. Both were then subject to many tests including psych profiling. The results were not conclusive about what had happened.
They were taken to the Egg again, many times, but there was no response from the artifact. After ten days of harrowing tests and psych sessions while being kept in isolation except for the times when they were taken to the Egg they were allowed visitors. Lisell met with the Commander once; one of her crew and a company HR representative, a couple of times. She went to meet Adam, who acted listless all the time except for a wink and a quick squeeze of her hand. They were then shifted to L-1 where a new medical facility had been erected for pro-longed observation. They were housed in a three room apartment- individual bed rooms and a large dining/ living area with a fairly expensive entertainment hub in one corner with access to Earth feeds, curved screens and a huge music and book library.
Adam slept soundly for the first time after the incident. He planned to explain to Lisell what had actually happened as soon as possible.