Tegan had kept her tears at bay until she returned to her room. Once securely locked inside, she had collapsed on the bed; her legs seemed to turn to jelly. The tears flowed freely, but she held back her sobs until she had removed her jacket and tossed it over a chair. There was blood on her sleeve, and she could not stand to look at it. She had grabbed a wad of tissue from the night table to hold over her nose.
Now she permitted the wracking sobs to escape her. The tears mixed with her blood, falling in pink drops to the white bed linens.
"Tegan?"
The voice was muffled through the door, but she tensed instantly. Had Kol come back for her?
There was a rapping then her name was spoken again. "Tegan. Are you all right?"
"Go away!" she cried hoarsely.
"Tegan, it's the Doctor. What's going on in there?"
"Nothing. Just leave me alone."
She thought that he had gone, but after a few seconds he spoke again. "There's blood your doorknob. Are you hurt?"
"I'll be all right," she called miserably, stifling a sob that seemed to choke her.
"Tegan, let me in—please."
She looked at the door for a moment. If Kol did return, she would be safer with the Doctor inside. But to have him see her like this… Still, her fear overrode her shame. She got up and hobbled to the door, unlocking it then turning away to hurry toward the bathroom before he could see her.
The Doctor stepped inside. Immediately he noticed her bloodied jacket and the drops on the duvet. Tegan's back was toward him, but he saw the blood on her hands clearly. He reached her in several rapid strides and placed his hand on her shoulder. She flinched at his touch.
"Tegan, what's wrong?" he asked, concern evident in his voice.
She bent her head, but he stepped in front of her and lifted her chin. "Oh, Tegan!" he exclaimed when he saw her blood-smeared face. He took her elbow and led her to the bed to sit.
"What happened?" he asked, watching her closely.
"Stupid," she muttered, looking down again. "I was stupid."
A sweet smell drifted up from her. He sniffed, wrinkling his nose. "What is that? Wine?" He took a step back. "Tegan!" he said sternly. "Don't tell me that you drank too much and stumbled—"
She tried to swallow a sob, but it slipped out noisily. "No. The bottle broke," she choked out. She could not suppress her tears any longer, and she began to weep in earnest.
The Doctor sighed then sank down beside her to wrap an arm around her shoulders. She sat hunched next to him, sobbing for several minutes until she finally leaned into him. As he sat quietly his eyes swept over her legs. Both knees were red and scraped. She had obviously fallen.
When her breathing had steadied and she had calmed slightly, he lifted her chin to study her face. He could see that her cheek had begun to swell, but it was difficult to assess what damage had been done with the blood remaining.
"I'm going to get a washcloth," he said, standing.
He returned a minute later with a wet cloth and a clean towel. He pulled a chair up to the bed to sit before her, encouraging her to lift her head again with a touch at her chin. Carefully, and with the lightest pressure possible, he wiped away the blood and tears. She winced as the cloth passed over her cheek and nose.
"I think I should take you to the infirmary for an x-ray," he said.
She lifted a hand to her face to cover her cheek. "No, it's fine."
"Then at least let me have a look." He moved her hand and gently prodded her cheek and nose with his fingertips. "Nothing appears broken," he said.
She nodded miserably as he moved the washcloth down to wipe her scraped knees.
"Doctor." Turlough's voice startled both occupants of the room.
The Trion stood in the doorway, surveying the scene with widening eyes. "God, what happened?" he asked.
"Go to the concierge and see if you can get a first aid kit," the Doctor said.
"But what's—"
"Just go. Now." The Doctor's tone was firm.
Turlough left, and he returned his attention to Tegan. "How did the wine bottle break?" he asked her, growing impatient to find out the cause of her injuries.
"I hit him," she said softly.
"Hit him? Whom did you hit, Tegan?"
She shook her head, tears welling again. "I was stupid, I really was, thinking he enjoyed talking with me, that he just wanted someone to talk to, when he really wanted…" She pressed her hands over her eyes.
The Doctor grasped her wrists; she flinched at the touch on her right wrist, still sore from twisting in her fall. He lowered her hands, and she snatched back her arm to cradle her wrist in her left palm.
"Tell me who you're talking about," he said gravely.
"I just wanted someone to like me for me, not for anything else," she began, but he interrupted her.
"Tegan, tell me exactly what happened," he said peremptorily.
She looked up at him with large eyes. "He said he wanted to show me something, and I thought we were just going for a walk but he took me to his apartment. I didn't want to go inside—I told him I had to go—but he brought me in, and he said he…wanted me, and didn't I want him, and I said no, he'd misunderstood—" She paused to take a gasping breath. "And when I tried to leave he hit me—he knocked me against the wall—" She touched the back of her head.
Automatically the Doctor reached up to run his fingers over the lump that had formed. His scowl deepened.
"—and so I grabbed the wine bottle and hit him, and it broke, and now there's wine all over everything—"
The Doctor's hands had dropped into his lap as his eyes roamed over her body carefully. Her right wrist was obviously painful, and her knees were scraped. There were bruises forming on her shins as well. Her shoulders were bare above the strapless top she wore. He could see, now, the marks, precisely the size of fingertips, that marred her delicate shoulders. He had stopped listening to her.
"Tegan," he said slowly, deeply, "who did this to you?"
She shook her head, fighting back another sob. He grasped her hands, regretting the motion when she pulled her sore wrist away. He reached for her right hand and took it gingerly, massaging the wrist gently while he waited for her to respond.
Finally, patience waning, he said, "You have to tell me who did this."
She responded with another sob.
"Tegan!" His voice was firm and almost too loud for her agitated sensibilities. "Who did this?"
She swallowed. "Kol."
"Kol? Who is that? Is he the man you had dinner with last night?"
She nodded. "He's the assistant manager," she whispered.
The door opened and Turlough stepped in, carrying a plastic box.
"I got the kit," he began. "It was the last one they had. It seems that a lot of people have had accidents today—"
"Give it to me," the Doctor snapped, holding out his hand impatiently.
Turlough took a few steps toward the bed and gave the Time Lord the kit. He opened it so roughly that he nearly tore off the lid. He removed a small plastic cold pack and slapped it harshly against his leg to activate it, then placed it in Tegan's hand.
"Hold this over your cheek," he instructed.
Tegan lifted her hand but stopped, frozen momentarily as her eyes moved to the open door. Her face blanched, and a small gasp escaped her.
The Doctor followed her gaze. Kol stood in the doorway, his fists clenched at his sides. Blood trickled down his cheek from his temple, barely visible against his florid skin.
"Is that him?" the Doctor asked. Tegan would not have recognized the voice as her friend's if he were not standing before her.
She nodded. The Doctor's face darkened and hardened lividly as he stormed toward the doorway, pushing Turlough aside as he passed him.
"How dare you!" he shouted, grabbing Kol's collar.
Kol's eyes finally left Tegan, and he tried to twist away from the Doctor, but the Time Lord's hands were like steel. Before Kol could respond further, the Doctor's right arm dropped then swung forward in a powerful arc to slam into Kol's jaw. The manager began to fall to his knees, but the Doctor pulled him upward and struck him again. Blood dripped from the man's mouth, but he regained his senses sufficiently to kick at the Doctor's shins.
The Doctor skittered sideways, and Kol managed to deliver a solid punch to his face, striking him just above his chin. The Doctor's fury intensified with this attack, and he flung Kol to the ground, driving his fist into the assistant manager's face.
Turlough watched in abject fascination and mounting horror. He did not see Tegan stand and stumble toward him. She gripped his elbow, and he turned to her in surprise.
"Stop him!" she cried.
"But he's the one who did this to you—" began Turlough.
"Doctor!" she cried, limping past the Trion to grab at the Time Lord's shoulders. "Stop it!"
Kol's face was a blur of blood. He lay still with closed eyes. The Doctor lifted his hand again in preparation for another blow, but Tegan caught his wrist.
"Doctor, please!" she pleaded. "Stop it before you kill him!"
He lifted his head to look at her tear-stained face then stared for several seconds at his bloodied hand. He exhaled sharply then sat back on his heels. His expression was still choleric, but she could see that he was making an effort to calm himself. After a few moments he bent to press his fingers against Kol's throat then lift one of his eyelids.
"Is he dead?" Tegan asked in a quavering voice.
The Doctor shook his head. "No."
He stood slowly, then said with little emotion, "Turlough, find something to bind his hands. I don't know how he'll react when he regains consciousness."
As Turlough went into the bathroom, the Doctor took a few steps back, away from Kol. Tegan moved toward him and placed a tentative hand on his arm.
"You didn't have to do that," she said.
He looked up at her with clouded eyes. A small trail of blood ran from his lip down his chin. "He hurt you."
"And I was going to report him to the manager, and I'm sure he'd be fired. Doctor, what happened? Why did you do that to him? That's not like you."
The Doctor swiped at his chin then studied the blood on his hand for a moment before carefully wiping it away with the towel on the night table. "No," he said finally, "it's not."
Turlough returned with the sash from the bathrobe provided by the resort and tied Kol's wrists securely behind his back. "His hand is beginning to swell," he commented as he worked.
The Doctor returned to Kol and lifted his left hand. "He must have sprained it when he hit me." He touched the bracelet, examining it briefly. "This needs to come off. It's going to interfere with the circulation if the hand continues to swell."
Turlough leaned in to study the gold band. "I don't see a clasp."
"No. I'll have to cut it off." The Doctor removed a small tool from his pocket.
"Is that a laser?" asked Turlough.
"I was using it for the repairs," he replied. He pressed a button, and a small beam of blue light hit the bracelet. The Doctor quickly moved the beam over the band then shut off the device. He removed the bracelet in two pieces.
"What's that on his wrist?" asked Turlough, pointing at a small, black circular shape.
"It look like a tattoo," replied the Doctor. "This seems familiar to me…" His voice trailed off as his eyes moved back to Kol's face.
Tegan had turned to look out the window, staring at the flowers and trying to regain some of her composure. She had been shaking while she watched the Doctor attack Kol, but now her trembling had stopped. She was still frightened, though, both by Kol's assault and by her friend's brutal retaliation. She watched a couple near the window idly.
Suddenly she cried out, "Stop it!"
"Tegan?" the Doctor said. "What's the matter?"
She pressed her hands against the glass. "He just shoved her! That man—"
The individual in question received a hard slap in return from the woman with him, then she turned and stormed off in the opposite direction.
Tegan buried her face in her hands. "What's going on here?"
The Doctor looked from the man outside to Kol, then lifted his own hand once again. He glanced at Turlough to find the young man rubbing at his neck.
"That is a very good question, Tegan," he said.
She lowered her hands. "What?"
"Turlough, you said that there had been several accidents today?"
He nodded. "That's what the concierge told me when I asked for the kit. And he wasn't very nice about it, either."
The Doctor nodded then tapped at his forehead. "Think back to this morning, both of you. How were you feeling?"
"What do you mean?" Turlough asked.
"I mean compared with yesterday and the day before—how were you feeling? Any different?"
Turlough pointed at Tegan. "You were in a bad mood this morning," he said rather reproachfully.
"Me?" she retorted. "You were the one who kept harping about my boyfriend, when I told you there was nothing between us—"
"Maybe you should have told him that," Turlough rejoined derisively.
Tegan frowned and opened her mouth to speak, but the Doctor held up both hands. "That's enough, you two. This is not the time for fighting."
"He started it," Tegan began to accuse, but the Time Lord shook his head firmly.
"No, he didn't. There is something the matter here. Think about how calm and relaxed you felt the first two days here; I felt it as well. There was a real sense of tranquility here. And now we're all on edge, losing control of our emotions…" He paused to glance at Kol with mild regret. "I can sense that something has changed. The other guests, I believe, are feeling it, too."
"I saw several people arguing today," Tegan confirmed.
"And I still say the masseur was angry with me," Turlough added.
"Yes," said the Doctor. "And even Kol— His behavior, I suspect, was not typical. Had he shown any signs of violence before?"
"No," Tegan replied. "He was very sweet and gentle."
"So what's going on?" asked Turlough.
The Doctor shook his head. "I don't know, but perhaps we should speak with the manager."
Turlough and the Doctor lifted Kol to the bed, then the three companions set out to find the manager. As they walked along the pathways, they noticed several people arguing. Some were guests, but others were employees, identifiable by their gold bracelets. When they passed the pool and bar where Tegan had met Kol, they saw the bartender breaking up a fight between two men.
A fourth man hurried toward the melee, and Tegan pointed at him, saying, "I think he's the manager. He was talking with Kol."
The Doctor hurried forward as the manager pushed one of the would-be pugilists off toward the pathway; the bartender escorted the other participant in the opposite direction.
"Excuse me," the Time Lord said. "Are you the resort manager?"
The man turned toward them, distress and mistrust apparent in his expression. "Yes, I'm Mr. Druus. Who are you?" he replied.
"I'm the Doctor, and these two have been guests here for the past several days."
The manager stared at Tegan's face for a moment. "Good lord, what happened to you?"
"Your assistant manager, Kol, attacked her," the Doctor replied, clearly working to keep his fury at bay.
"Kol? Oh, I'm sorry! He'll be dismissed immediately, of course, and sent back—"
"That's not why we're here," the Doctor interrupted. "Something is the matter here. It seems that people are having trouble controlling their emotions. Aside from Kol's behavior, there have been numerous other incidents of belligerence, haven't there?"
The manager's eyes moved from the Doctor to Tegan then back to the Time Lord. He was obviously agitated. "You said you're a doctor?" he asked.
"Yes."
"I was just at the infirmary. Our staff physician has his hands full—bruises and sprains and bloody noses—and he came close to slapping the nurse—he's barely keeping himself together—"
"This just began today?" the Doctor asked.
"Yes."
"Has anything like this ever happened here before?"
"Never. Sanadia-3 is rated among the best resorts in the system. Our guests rank us as superior in services, facilities, and, most importantly, on the tranquil ambience."
"And it is that ambience that has changed, and only as of this morning," the Doctor clarified.
"It seems so," Druus confirmed.
The Doctor thought for a moment. "Do you have any idea what could be causing this change?"
The manager shook his head. "No."
"Could it be some sort of drug?" asked Turlough. "Maybe something in the food or water?"
"Possibly," the Doctor replied. "We can take samples for analysis."
Tegan said, "If it's a drug, then someone has done this intentionally."
"Who would want to do that?" asked Turlough.
"I don't know," Druus responded.
"The first thing we must determine is what is causing this," the Doctor said. "Let's split up and get samples of food and water from each restaurant. Get water from the bars, too, and mark the containers so we'll know where they came from."
"I'm afraid that our lab facilities are rather basic," the manager said, wiping a hand across his perspiring brow. "We aren't equipped for much more than simple blood and food bacteria analyses."
"I have facilities on my ship," the Doctor replied. "I can analyze the samples there."
As the Doctor began to walk away, the manager grabbed his arm. "Tell me who you really are," he hissed.
The Time Lord glared at him. "Pardon me?"
"You're from the Federation, aren't you? You're trying to tarnish our reputation—"
"Let go of me." The Doctor pulled his arm away. "And get a hold of yourself, man. I don't work for anyone. I'm simply trying to help. You've obviously got a big problem here."
He stalked away, leaving the manager mopping a handkerchief over his dripping face.
Assured that the Doctor could begin his tests without her, Tegan had gone to her room in the TARDIS immediately to shower and change out of the bloodied clothes. She felt considerably better when she had donned a fresh dress and re-applied her makeup. She dabbed some foundation and blush over her discolored cheek so that the bruise was less evident.
When she joined the Doctor in the lab, hidden behind a door she had passed a hundred times, she found him and Turlough hard at work with test tubes and various beakers of different colored liquids.
"Well?" she inquired. "Have you found out what's causing it?"
The Doctor looked up. "No. As far as I can tell, there is no contamination in any of the food or water."
She sat down on a stool. "So what do you think it is?"
"I really don't know," he replied. He studied her for a moment, then commented, "You're looking much better. How do you feel?"
"It's amazing what a shower and a little makeup can do. My mum always said that a girl feels better as soon as she puts on a touch of lipstick—"
"So you are feeling better?"
She nodded. "I am."
He looked over at Turlough. "How about you?"
"Me?" asked the Trion.
"Yes. Are you feeling any calmer or less anxious?"
"Well," replied Turlough, "I wouldn't say I was anxious before—"
"Irritable is more like it," offered Tegan.
He glared at her for an instant. "I suppose I feel a little less tense."
"As do I," said the Doctor. "The TARDIS seems to have had a positive effect on us."
"So you think whatever is causing everyone to lose control is something in the environment?" asked Turlough.
"Perhaps." The Doctor reached into his pocket and removed the two halves of Kol's bracelet. "I wonder," he began, then turned to remove a small scanner from one of the lab tables. He switched it on and ran it over the bracelet.
"What are you doing?" Tegan asked.
"It may be something in the bracelets. All of the employees wear them, don't they?" The Doctor continued scanning the band.
"But that wouldn't explain why the guests—including you—are acting this way," Turlough added.
"And not every employee wears one of those," Tegan said.
The Doctor looked up. "No?"
"No. Kol said that most of them do, but I noticed the manager didn't have one, and neither did the bartender."
The Doctor returned his gaze to the band. "Did Kol mention why they wear these?"
"He said it was to identify the employees to the guests, so that we would always know who to ask for assistance," Tegan replied.
"That can't be right," the Doctor said, "if some of the employees don't wear them."
"Kol's was covering that mark—that tattoo—on his wrist," Turlough reminded his companions.
The Doctor nodded. "So it was." He set the bracelet on the table and seemed to trace a design on the metal top with his fingertip. "That pattern…" He glanced at the scanner again then looked up. "These crystals seem to act as some sort of receiver."
"Receiver?" repeated Turlough. "For what?"
"I don't know, and quite frankly I'm not certain how this could affect anyone's emotions. I had suspected that the bracelets contained some type of substance that was affecting the wearers and perhaps others as well, but there's nothing here—"
"What could they receive?" Tegan asked abruptly.
"Electrical impulses, but it may be merely a coincidence. The crystals are relatively rare and could simply be decorative. Their receptivity may be a fluke."
"So we're no closer to figuring out what's going on here, and we're not even much closer to being able to leave here—" began Turlough.
The Doctor slapped the table with his hand. "That's it!"
Turlough and Tegan stared at him in puzzlement.
The Time Lord stood and hurried out of the room, grabbing a hand-held device as he passed a table near the door. Turlough and Tegan followed him to the console room. He had already ducked beneath the console. After a moment he emerged with a triumphant grin.
"Well?" asked Tegan. "What is it?"
"This explains why the resistors didn't work. The circuits have been affected very subtly by outside electrical impulses."
His grin faded quickly to an expression of concern. He moved the lever to open the door then ushered his companions outside.
"Where are we going?" asked Tegan, already feeling anxious outside the confines of the TARDIS.
The Doctor had lifted the device above his head. It emitted several faint beeps. He stepped back inside, motioning to Tegan and Turlough to follow. They complied, and he closed the door.
He moved a small switch on the device upward then turned to face Tegan. "Stand still," he instructed.
He passed the device over her eyes then pressed the tip of it against her temple. The beeping began again.
"Open the door, Turlough," he said, pulling Tegan outside with him. Again he moved the device in front of her eyes and rested it against her temple. The beeping intensified.
"What are you doing?" she asked, suddenly apprehensive at his use of this odd tool on her. She pushed his hand away.
He frowned. "Turlough, come here."
The Trion lad obeyed, and he was subjected to the same maneuvers. After he had finished, the Doctor turned the device on himself, his frown deepening. "Go and get the bracelet from the lab," he said. Turlough hurried away.
"Doctor?" Tegan asked nervously as he moved the device back toward her. "What is that thing? What are you looking for?"
"This measures electrical activity. It's very sensitive and can detect all types of current."
"Which is how you knew about the resistors?"
He nodded then bent his head to study the instrument again.
"But what does it mean—"
"Sshh, Tegan, I can't think with your incessant yammering!" he barked.
Tegan blinked, feeling as though she had been struck physically by her friend. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
He looked up at her. The makeup had done little to conceal the bruise on her cheek. She looked truly wounded.
He took a deep breath and stepped toward her to rest his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Tegan," he said, modulating his voice with effort. "I'm going to explain this in a moment, as soon as Turlough returns. There is just one more thing that I need to check…"
Turlough exited the TARDIS and held out the bracelet halves to the Doctor, but the Time Lord shook his head. "No, I want you to hold them. Place them on your wrist if you will."
Turlough complied, and the Doctor ran the device over his eyes and temple again. The beeping intensified; even Tegan could hear the difference.
Turlough had grown visibly agitated in the few seconds since he had donned the bracelet. He pushed the instrument away from his temple roughly and took several steps back. "Get that away from me," he growled irritably.
The Doctor quickly reached for the bracelet pieces and pulled them from Turlough's wrist, then tossed them into the TARDIS. Turlough appeared stunned for an instant then swallowed. "Sorry," he muttered.
"It's not your fault," the Doctor said. "The bracelet intensified the effects."
"Effects of what?" asked Tegan hesitantly, the Doctor's harsh rebuff still fresh in her mind.
The Doctor stepped back into the TARDIS, motioning for his companions to follow. Once inside, he said, "Our brains operate on electrical impulses. These impulses can be measured as waves—"
"Like delta waves?" Tegan interrupted. Immediately she regretted this and pressed a hand to her mouth, muttering, "Sorry."
"It's all right, Tegan," the Doctor said. "And you're correct. Delta waves are one type of brain wave. They are associated with sleep. When Nyssa collapsed shortly after we left the Urbankan ship, her brain waves had been disrupted by the treatment she received in the mobiliary. I induced her into a deep sleep state with the delta wave augmenter, which allowed her brain wave function to return to normal, or reset itself, if you will."
Tegan's expression reflected her sudden understanding. "So what's happening here has something to do with brain waves?"
"Yes," responded the Doctor, holding the device aloft. "This has shown me that electrical impulses are being transmitted. While we are awake and alert, our brains produce beta waves at about fourteen cycles per second. When I measured our brain waves in here, I found a slight increase in beta wave activity, approximately 20 cycles per second. However, when we stepped outside, the activity increased significantly, to 50 per second, and when you put on the bracelet, Turlough, your beta wave production increased even more. High beta wave activity is associated with anxiety, which I believe is the source of the difficulties out there. Something, or someone, is producing extremely powerful and directed electrical impulses that are affecting the neural activity of everyone on Sanadia-3."
"And you said it even affected the resistors in here?" asked Turlough.
"Yes. If the TARDIS were not damaged, the effects would be blocked entirely in here. However, the damage, I'm afraid, has affected the TARDIS's shields to some extent."
"Wait a second," Tegan said, forgetting her reticence in her desire to comprehend the situation fully. "So you're saying that everyone is freaking out because something is scrambling our brain waves, and the bracelets make it even worse—"
"That is correct," confirmed the Doctor. "The crystals act as receivers that pick up even stronger signals from the transmission."
"But who would do something like that?" she asked. "What's the point?"
The Doctor bent to retrieve the bracelet from the floor. "I'm not sure that this was intentional."
"So you're suggesting that someone just built and turned on some gigantic transmitter for no reason?" Tegan asked.
The Doctor ran his fingers over the bracelet. "No, I'm not. Perhaps the transmitter was intended for a different purpose." Without another word he strode from the room into the hallway.
Tegan and Turlough waited for several minutes, but he did not return immediately.
"Where's he gone?" asked Tegan.
"How should I know?"
"Look, you don't have to get nasty about it—"
The Doctor reappeared, scolding, "That's enough, you two!" He still held the device in his hand, but Tegan noticed that a small cylinder had been attached to the base of it.
"So what do we do now?" she asked.
"One more small experiment," the Time Lord replied. He stood before her, taking her chin in his hand. "Don't move," he instructed.
"What are you doing?" she protested, squirming involuntarily as the device began to flash brightly in her eyes.
He held her chin firmly, passing the device before her eyes for several seconds then pressing it against her forehead. She felt a small, unpleasant jolt and jerked back, nearly falling onto her behind. The Doctor grabbed her hand just before she hit the floor.
"What was that?" she asked, rubbing her forehead with a scowl.
Without replying, the Doctor led her outside then adjusted the device before passing it in front of her eyes again. This time it did not flash; it merely emitted a few faint beeps.
"Excellent!" he proclaimed, smiling with satisfaction. "Turlough, you're next."
"Next for what?" the Trion asked warily. He was not certain he wanted to subject himself to whatever had caused Tegan to fall back.
Lifting the device again, the Doctor responded, "For immunity—at least for the next several hours."
Tegan pointed at his hand. "That's going to keep our brains from freaking out?"
He nodded. "Yes, temporarily. We won't be of much help if we're in a constant state of anxiety. That can lead to aggression, and… well, I think we all know the repercussions of that. Turlough, come."
The Doctor performed the brief treatment on Turlough then upon himself. He tucked the device into his pocket and began to walk down the hill.
"Where are we going?" asked Tegan.
"Back to the resort," he replied. "Someone must know about the transmitter and how to stop it."