LOGAN (The Innerworld Affairs Series, Book 5) Read Free Page B

surface.
    Even after opening her eyes though, she wasn't certain she was awake. There were vaguely familiar faces around her, but the structure they were in was totally unfamiliar. It was obviously an enormous wooden barn, complete with horses, cows, stalls, and straw covering the ground. She just couldn't remember why she and the others were there.
    A second scan of the building brought another oddity to Tarla's foggy mind. Light was being provided by lanterns with burning candles in them, secured along the walls and on wooden posts. There wasn't a window or door in sight.
    She forced aside the question of where she was and focused on the people. Some seemed very excited though she couldn't distinguish the words. Others, like her, were just rousing from sleep. Regardless of how conscious they were however, everyone seemed to bear an expression of confusion.
    Tarla's eyes touched on a young man about twenty feet away, who was fretting more than most. Private Higgs . The name popped into her head along with an image of him losing his balance and spilling coffee from two paper cups in his hands.
    But in that picture he was wearing a soldier's uniform and now he was dressed in light blue cotton pajamas, at least that's what his outfit appeared to be. Glancing at the others and checking her own attire, she noted they were all dressed similarly, in loose-fitting pants and short-sleeved, vee-necked shirts, like hospital scrubs. Although the colors differed, they were generally soft pastel shades. Hers was peach.
    She sat up and rubbed her temples as she concentrated on the image of Private Higgs that had come to her. That image blurred into others. Patients, swathed in bandages like mummies. Rows of cots. Logan McKay lying on one of those cots with blatant need. Logan, asleep in a seat with metal cuffs on his wrists and ankles. An aircraft. Instruments going crazy. The storm!
    As the pieces of her memory joined together, she rose unsteadily to her feet. Surely the plane they were on had crashed into the ocean. Hadn't they been hit by a series of lightning bolts? How had they all survived? How had they gotten into this barn? How—
    The bewildered gaze of her friend, Robin, met her own from across the shelter and the two women rushed toward each other. The tight hug they shared said more of their fears and relief to see each other than words ever could.
    "This is very weird," Robin said as they stepped apart. "Am I in your nightmare or are you in mine?"
    Tarla shook her head. "Actually, I'm toying with the theory that everyone on the plane died and this is some sort of transfer station before we're sent off to an after-life."
    Robin expressed her disbelief by cocking one finely arched, auburn eyebrow.
    "I just woke up," Tarla responded to the unspoken skepticism. "My brain's still only at half speed." She nodded at the large group around Private Higgs. "Let's see what they think." A man's voice stopped them before they took a step.
    "Tarla? Captain Yan?"
    Tarla turned around to see a slightly-built young man with dark brown skin and a shaved head. His eyes begged her for help in the same way a thousand wounded soldiers had in the past three years, but he didn't appear to be in physical pain.
    "You are Tarla, aren't you?" he asked, a bit less certainly.
    "Yes, I'm Tarla." She wondered why he didn't look at all familiar to her.
    He gave her a shaky smile then reached out and shook her hand. "I recognized your voice. It would be pretty hard not to since it was the only thing that kept me from going crazy the last few weeks. I guess everyone tells you what a beautiful voice you have, but I just had to let you know how important it was to me."
    Tarla gave a slight frown as she tried to remember him.
    His grin broadened to reveal one crooked incisor. "I'm Willy."
    She took a step back and scrutinized him from head to toe. "That's impossible." Looking at Robin, she explained, "Willy was one of the patients on the plane. He suffered severe