I wrote quite a bit more after my last post. Here are the revised numbers:

Word count today: 3,247

Total word count: 26,248

Things actually flowed a lot better during my second round of writing tonight. I'm not sure how this scene fits into the others, but it felt much better to write.

I had the novel listed under the category of Mainstream Fiction; I think I need to revise that to Science Fiction. There was always a sci-fi element to it, but that has clearly become the dominant theme.