"Feeling any better, Father?"

My eyes blinked. Their lids felt heavy, as if someone was pressing down on them with fists. Tiny, child's fists, like those belonging to a terrified boy just before -

I forced my eyes open. Something behind me let out a beep. Its solo beep was followed by a chorus of imitators. My planet, usually eerily silent, had been invaded by beeps. I felt a sharp pain in my hand. I looked down. Something had been embedded in the back of my wrist. My eyes ...