by Piper Stone
I’d recognize it anywhere. Some of his notes didn’t make any sense. They weren’t just about formulas and reactions to various chemicals. The formulas were sophisticated as well as complex. I closed my eyes, the nagging in my mind worse with each passing minute.
Xander shifted in his sleep, his arm still in a protective hold around my waist. I tugged on the blanket, suddenly shivering from the possibilities.
I was beginning to rethink everything that happened from the time I could remember.
“What are you thinking, little human?” he asked in a sleepy tone, nuzzling against my neck.
“I’m wondering what the scientists were trying to accomplish and whether or not my father is really alive.”
He stretched, his fingers dancing across my nipples. “It seems like someone is still aroused.”
I eased his hand away, tears trying to form in my eyes. “I’m serious. I’m sick about what they did to the Zatan warrior. I know they’re our enemy, but you saw him, the horrors he must have endured.”
“I’ve seen worse in the battle zone, even in my own country. What they did to him was necessary.”
“Necessary? Why the hell is that? What you endured was all about a war.”
“And this isn’t?” he challenged. Laughing softly, he removed his hand altogether. “War. We thought that all the skirmishes and battles had ended one hundred of your Earth years ago. Then the Zatans attacked our planet. When I was called to serve, the atrocities I was forced to witness and be a party to were some of the most horrific I’ve ever experienced. I would assume Earth has gone through many similar wars. My guess is that these scientists were trying to garner a weakness from an enemy that seems infallible. So what if one of them was forced to endure the kind of horrors that both you and I were subject to? Given what the Zatans did to my people, that suits me just fine.”
“That’s sick, Xander. You might not be human, but you’ve told me you are a creature of honor. That means we have humanity and love, a sense of goodness.” I was no longer certain even I believed the crap I was spewing.
He laughed again, studying me intently. “Is what occurred any different than being a prisoner of war? Does the alien’s life really matter? Maybe. Maybe not.”
“Jesus. I’m a scientist. I care about life. I care about people. Just like my father did.” I heard the strangled tone in my voice, the utter fear. A single tear slipped past my eyelashes and I wiped the bead away furiously, refusing to give into terror of the unknown.
“Your father was an important man, also a scientist. That much I know. He was celebrated for his work eliminating the last known disease on the planet. He was considered a hero.”
“Yes. My father was a good man, righteous in every way. There’s no way he’d be involved in anything like this. None.”
“Maybe you didn’t really know him.”
Bristling, I swallowed back bile. “I knew my father very well. He taught me so many things, taking his precious time to make certain his daughter had everything she wanted or needed. He was... don’t you dare say anything about my father.”
The tension was something I hated.
“Please. I need to have some good memories of my life. My aunt gave me none,” I whispered in the darkness. I wanted nothing more than to be able to talk to my father again, to hear his deep baritone.
“I understand. Let’s look at other possibilities. Maybe your father didn’t volunteer to become a part of the deception. Perhaps his expertise meant something to the Zatans.”
“Or to my government,” I snarked.
“You must remember that not everyone in your government is a part of this. That makes an attempt to find answers more difficult. However, maybe you’ll find out additional answers in that journal he left. Whatever is in that book was obviously very important to him and my guess this entire compound. Do you think there is any chance the journal was stolen from his private things back on Earth?”
I thought about his question. “I don’t think so. In the notes I read, he mentions various elements that certainly don’t have any origins on Earth and the various experiments they were undergoing.”
“That’s why the prisoners were working outside of the king’s facility,” he said, snorting.
“My guess is if I were to test, those compounds would be found on this godforsaken planet. What I don’t understand is what his team was attempting to do. The notes are sketchy, very much unlike him. At least from what I know about his work.”
“Then assuming he’s still alive, maybe he left important clues to what they were working on.”
“Even if he did, everything with any purpose was destroyed. I doubt there’s some scientific facility that is fully functional and even if that was the case, the Zatans would have located that as well. As you told me, they’re always watching.”
He chuckled. “I guess you’re right. I’d take some time looking over every page. We need to try and figure out why they left and where this group of scientists might have gone.”
“Now you’re assuming they’re still alive.”
“I never make assumptions, but my instinct tells me they fled when the Zatans attacked. I also believe they were responsible for burning down the lab. I have no doubt about that.”
“You really believe they would stoop to that level?” I asked, knowing the answer myself. Either they were trying to cover up their monstrosities or they wanted to make certain no one else could recreate their experiments.
“You already realize that everything we believed in is false. We can’t make any assumptions at this point, but my gut tells me that once we find their trail, we’ll get answers to every ugly riddle. Even if we’re not happy with what we find.”
There were so many emotions running in my mind, so much to think about. If I’d been targeted that night only two months before, why had they waited to take me? Did my father have some hand in my abduction? I clenched my eyes shut, trying to remain rational and unattached.
I was failing miserably.
“I’m afraid, Xander. I’ve never feared dying before, my mother convincing me at an early age that there was a beautiful afterlife. Now, I fear living. There’s nothing on Earth to go back to, nothing to count on or look forward to.”
His hand caressing my arm was more comforting than anything he’d done before.
“We’ll get through this. That much I promise you.”
I turned over until I was able to face him. “You act like you care.”
He sighed, the sound almost as terrifying as the man himself. “I do care about you, but I’m not good for you, little human. The truth is, I’m not good for anything.”
“Why do you keep saying that? You act like you did terrible things on your planet or maybe even Earth long before you were accused of treason.”
“That’s because it’s true.”
“Tell me. Tell me what is so horrible your actions that you pull away? Every time you get close to me I know in a heartbeat you’re going to shift gears, the darkness overtaking you. I can’t stand that I feel like I can trust, confide in, and even care for you then you treat me as if I don’t matter.”
He kissed my lips softly, the touch so light I thought I was imagining it. When he spoke, his words were gruff, unforgiving. “Trust me, Katarina. You matter to me more than I am capable of explaining. Just leave it at that for now. Okay? We all have demons.”
I bit my lip, nuzzling as close to him as possible. The warmth of his body took my breath away. “For now.”
We simply held each other for some time. At least the sounds of the compound were no longer as frightening.
“Tell me about the accident all those years ago,” he said quietly. “Your parents.”
I honestly didn’t want to remember, but I knew certain details might be important.
“I was eight years old. I came home from school like always, usually greeted by our housekeeper and my part-time nanny, Jolene. Only this time, I heard her crying in the kitchen. She di
dn’t know I was home and when I walked in, she tried to turn off the telecom, but I’d seen enough. Horrible pictures of a crash on the interstate.”
“Notification of your parents’ accident?” he asked as he brushed hair from my eyes.
“Yes, but I only found out the gruesome details almost ten years later when I pressed the officer in charge of investigating the accident. No one wanted to tell me the truth. My nanny initially told me that there’d been a malfunction in the vehicle, the computer system going haywire, but I quickly learned that the entire case had been shoved into some black hole. What I learned later was enough to make my skin crawl. It seems their car had lost control, crashing at one hundred miles per hour into a concrete pillar.”
“The vehicle’s system had been sabotaged.”
“It was supposedly checked, verification made that there was no human error involved. At least that’s what my aunt told me after I began to suspect otherwise.”
Xander sighed. “Why did you begin an investigation on your own after all those years?”
“I don’t know. I guess I was old enough and I wanted to learn the details. Every question was met with a stone wall, so I continued asking. Trust me, the silence was deafening.”
“They were covering up the truth.”
I thought about the few days surrounding the tragedy. “Yes. You know what’s unusual?”
“Other than everything?” he breathed as he swept his hand over my shoulder, his fingertips brushing across my skin.
“By the time I got home from school on that tragic day, Jolene had already received a call from the police stating my parents had been killed.” I jerked up, shaken from the realization. Why hadn’t I paid any attention to this particular detail before? “Oh, my God. The timing was off. I just realized it. According to Jolene, my parents left late that day, only an hour before I came home.”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“You can’t tell me that in one hour my parents’ car drove off the road twenty miles away from our house and it was not only found, but the bodies were identified and the officers called my house. That’s just not possible unless the accident was planned.”
“From what you’ve told me, that’s exactly what it sounds like. Either your parents planned their demise, or someone purposely make it look like they’d died in a horrible crash,” he hissed. “Still, I’m not certain their deaths have anything to do with an alien invasion. The accident happened long before the Zatans arrived on our planet, at least as far as I know.”
“But what if it wasn’t? What if the Zatans courted Earth thirty, forty years ago? Is that possible?” My breath was shallow, my nerves on the edge. My God, the lies and deceit were horrific, building with every resurfacing memory.
“Anything is possible and it’s not something we’re going to solve tonight. We still need to get some rest. We have no idea where we’re going or what we’ll face. What we do know is that we were led to this place. You need to make certain that journal stays hidden.”
I yanked the blanket tighter against my chest, curling my legs under me. “There’s something else you should know.”
Xander rested his head on his hand, his elbow on the pillow. “Do I want to hear this?”
“When I was in college, I went out to a club with a girlfriend. The place was in a really bad part of town, but the club was posh, by invitation only. We drank and after that night, I always had the feeling something had occurred. I couldn’t remember getting home or almost anything about the evening itself.”
“Sounds like you just had too much to drink.”
“No, I know better, especially since I had a terrible dream the other night. I was in a room. I couldn’t see anything, and I was paralyzed.”
He moved to a sitting position. “You mean you were tied down?”
“That’s just it, no. I knew the paralysis was drug induced. They’d given me some kind of examination. I’ll never forget their words, like I’d been checked for someone at a later time.”
“Wait a minute. You’re sure this was a dream?”
Another cold chill shifted all the way down my legs. “I’m not certain of anything. Why would that happen?”
“Just another piece of the puzzle. Sounds like exactly the same thing I went through the night the assholes arrested me. Do you remember anything else they said? Did they use names?”
I closed my eyes, trying to remember the various details. “They weren’t in agreement with what to do with me. One of them used the name... Oh, yeah, Lieutenant Sacks.” Even in the darkness, I could sense his growing anger. “Does that name mean anything to you?”
“Goddamn it,” he said, his voice shaking from rage.
“What? You know him?”
“Yes, I know the loathsome human. He was one of the motherfuckers who enjoyed beating me after I was arrested.”
“Oh, God. What does this all mean?”
He hesitated before answering. “It means that both you and I were targeted for a specific reason. I’m certain it was because I was asking the wrong questions. I’ll make you a promise. I will annihilate every person involved. God help me, I will.”
Chapter Eleven
Xander
Retribution.
That’s exactly what I wanted. Hell, maybe the truth was more about basic revenge. On Cryton, I’d been trained to be a warrior, protecting our lands. The war with the Zatans had changed every soldier. We’d all been turned into killers.
I knew what I wanted, General Barker’s head on a silver platter. Or maybe I’d feed him to the wolfbeasts. As I lay in the darkness, I clenched my fist, listening to the various ticking sounds made by the facility. I could only imagine the horrors the captured aliens had endured, the experiments and testing. This wasn’t about procreation. The procedures were about life itself.
I wanted nothing more than to get some sleep, but I couldn’t get the general’s words out of my mind.
“Well, Lieutenant Aska, you have been found guilty of your crimes and you will be punished.”
His voice had held no inflection of any kind, just another day at the office.
My reply? Accusing him of various crimes against the federation treaty our two species had signed, including the fact I hadn’t been given a trial.
The moment the two soldiers had unfastened my naked body from the wall, they’d tossed me to the ground. I was nothing but trash to them. The hard concrete had dug into my knees, my entire body weak from the beatings and lack of food. When I’d finally been able to lift my head, I stared the asshole in the eyes. The general had remained stiff and uncaring, standing like a pompous jerk in full uniform, two different weapons attached to his waist.
I’d shifted into public enemy number one.
“You had your trial. You just weren’t asked to participate. Good news. The Zatans want you for their precious game. You’re going to become their prisoner. At least we can wash our hands of you.” He’d laughed as he’d swaggered closer, staring down at me as if I’d always been the enemy.
I’d managed both the courage and the strength to rise to my full height, refusing to give into the agony that encompassed every inch of my body. My words had been succinct, a threat that shouldn’t be taken lightly.
“I will make you a promise, General. I will come back for you and when I do, I’m going to take my time enjoying every moment watching you suffer. When I’m finished with you, you’re going to beg me to kill you. And you know what? I won’t.” With that, I grinned.
Seconds before the general had issued a hard blow, I’d been able to see the intense fear in his eyes.
I took a deep breath, fueled by the terror he’d experienced from my words alone.
The fucker would soon learn. I never made a promise that I didn’t keep.
Whoosh!
Bam!
“What the fuck?” I heard my shout echoing in the space surrounded by the tin can we’d been forced to sequester in. The hard rumbling of the flo
or and walls was followed by a massive shake. Everything in the room shifted, chairs slamming against the table, the cot creaking as the metal spikes holding it in place were taxed. I was yanked out of the wretched memories, gasping in order to take a deep breath. Almost immediately I could tell the difference in the air supply.
Stagnant.
Putrid.
I blinked several times, my eyes finally becoming accustomed to the darkness. I felt her presence, the woman I’d promised to protect and the alpha from deep within me surfaced once again.
We’d been set up. I’d been right, the Zatans wanting nothing more than for us to find the facility. They were coming for us.
“What’s going on?” Katarina yelled above the roar as a second boom rocked the entire space.
I scrambled over her and off the bed, my eyes unfocused as the darkness seemed to crowd in, the already dense air even more suffocating. “An explosion. If I had to guess, I’d say we are under attack. We need to get the fuck out of here.” I managed to find the light stick. As I flashed it in several directions, I could tell that the exterior shell had taken as significant hit, the steel bulging in two locations.
“Jesus. Why? Who?”
“Does it really matter? Get dressed. Make certain you have the journal.” I yanked my clothes from the floor, quickly jerking them on, anger pushing its way to the surface. I even attempted to turn on the light, realizing that given the air was getting thinner, the attackers had initially cut all power before deciding to blow up the facility.
“Where are we going?” she asked in a shaky voice as she attempted to follow my orders.
I eyed the damn tracker I’d been given, yanking the piece of shit off the table, smashing it against the floor. “Not where the assholes expect.” I hurriedly slipped on my boots, taking my heel and crushing the remnants of the device. We were now very much on our own.
