The stale air clung to her like damp felt. Beth tried to clear the stickiness from her throat but stopped when the cough hurt like blazes. Her throat! Long fingers. Yellow eyes — she remembered. The thought stoked her heart into an ear-thumping pounding and she struggled to sit upright. Some sort of harness across her chest and hips held her against a firm padded surface.

    Not really wanting to see but needing to, she opened her eyes. A dim blue green light made the air look like water. The chamber walls looked pebbly or rough but felt dimpled and smooth. Some areas had variations in color like waves and handprints or other arcane shapes. No sign of her captor.

    Beth twisted her head to examine the bindings, straps of some webbing material with pale colored spots. She ran her hands along the length of the material and, when she inadvertently touched the palest spot in the center of each, they dropped away, retracting into the couch padding with a low whirr. Her exercise suit had dried and smelled of stale sweat and fear. She caught a whiff of another odor, not unpleasant — just different. Unable to place the scent, she forgot it and tried to make sense of where she'd awakened.

    Swinging her feet to the floor, Beth sat up. A distinct rectangle drew her eyes and, moving quietly, she went closer. A touch opened the panel like a stereo cabinet door, and Beth carefully examined the next compartment for signs of her captor. Various monitors were inset in the top of an island-like console that stood a few feet from the door. The rest of the area was an open space with swirling designs on the floor. Beth took a couple of cautious steps into the room before the window caught her attention. Not the opening itself, but the view beyond froze her and she felt a wiggling cold fear bloom in her guts. Born in a decade where digital pictures — similar to what lay before her — were as common as landscapes, she immediately and correctly identified the vista.

    Damn, she thought. How unfair that she had trained and practiced her defense against every possible violation except this one. How was one supposed to prepare for this? The pictures didn't adequately capture the reality, and how horrible that she saw this marvel under such circumstances. She gazed in wonderment and terror at the gleaming blue, green, and white sphere hanging like an exotic fruit before her.

    Earth.