Initial Arrival 4

Date Unknown
Yakutsk, Siberia, USSR

Ivan left, leaving Jennifer alone, giving her the opportunity to examine her environment and to think about her situation. Jennifer took the opportunity to look around.

The room was long and rectangular, with beds lining both of the long sides. Between each bed there was nightstand type table. There were larger tables with chairs between the two rows of beds. Both of the long sides had windows behind and above the beds. One of the shorter ends has windows as well. The ceiling had plenty of lights hanging down. Many of the beds were occupied and a few nurses were moving in, out, and around.

Jennifer didn't know what to make of it. The room didn't seem like what she expected from a modern hospital. He did say this is Soviet, which would imply the past. … Is this what hospitals used to be like?

I can't be in the past. How would I have gotten to the past? Maybe he is mistaken, using the older name. But this didn't make sense to her. Why would he use the old name? He didn't talk as if he were using an old name. He stated that we are in the Soviet Union. Well, he explicitly used the term Soviet. Soviet Russia. And the only way for that to be the case is if he doesn't know what happened in at least the past 20 years. A government agent would know what is the current government for which he works. Unless this is the past. … Or an alternate reality. Or this isn't real. Jennifer contemplated the possibilities.

What are the other possibilities? This could be a dream or a conspiracy. Jennifer tried to figure out if anyone she knew would want to create this environment as a joke. This doesn't feel like a dream. But Jennifer knew that was the most likely situation. If someone were to create this environment and put her in it, it would feel real, it would be more accurate, but nobody would do this. A pseudo-reality or alternate dimension? Is that simpler or more complex than time travel? … I guess I will need to know the date. Why didn't I ask for the date?

Jennifer was crying again by this time. She felt weak, tired, sore, scared and overwhelmed. I am far from home and don't have access to people who can help me, whom I know. And I don't have a way back. … These people, they see me and they see an American. They don't see me! Nobody ever does. They put people into these boxes, categories, and … and don't understand. They don't understand complexity. … And everyone is supposed to want to be American, but I don't. She could feel the fear in her abdomen, and she felt cold. She picked up her hand and watched it shake. I am not doing well.