Frustrated by being at the mercy of unseen forces, Ash decides to try to turn the tables, knowing that it would be a miracle for her to actually succeed. She pauses and closes her eyes and throws her mind open.
Immediately she winces at the noise of the others around her, thoughts and emotions chattering away, battering at her...a multitude of whispers and shouts in her mental ears. It will be impossible to tune them out, yet still be open to other impressions, she decides. She's wasting time.
Only then, by pure luck, the psychic babble subsides at the exact moment that there's a soft, quiet 'sound' from farther ahead. Too far to tell much about, but it was a miracle she'd heard it at all! Quickly she erects her defenses again, blotting out the noises, and opens her eyes.
"I found a mind on the ship," she says breathlessly. "Something other than us. It's at the far forward end, in this section. I couldn't tell any more about it though."