Daegan

by Veronica Scott

  “Excuse me, we’d like to talk to Dr. Nyddfalorr,” she said deferentially through the barrier. “This is my colleague Lacey Soames, who’s also a scientist and we have a proposal for your boss on how to make this pair bond process go more smoothly. I know he doesn’t need help from us, but we’d like to present an idea on behalf of all the women. We’re trying to be collaborative here.” The words nearly stuck in her throat since the mere idea of helping the Khagrish in any way was anathema to her. She consoled herself with the thought all this was merely buying time until Aydarr swooped in. Nyddfalorr was not going to achieve his repulsive goals in any way.

  The guards stared at her, their mouths slack from astonishment but finally one man walked away and conducted a com call before returning on the run. “Dr. Nyddfalorr says he’ll see them.” Obviously astounded, the Khagrish opened a one person size hole in the force barrier and Flo and Lacey went through in single file.

  Obviously not expecting any serious trouble from the two women, only one guard escorted them. Flo ground her teeth a bit at how easily she could overpower him and grab his weapons but reminded herself again of what her mission here truly was. It’s insulting to be treated as if I was no threat though—me! I could kill this fool three different ways right this minute.

  Telling herself to calm down because the fact the guard didn’t view her a threat meant she was being highly effective in her undercover role, she tried to surreptitiously observe as much as possible about the layout of the lab as she was conducted through it. The arrangement of buildings wasn’t much like the labs she was used to on the continent, although she suspected the actual laboratories inside some of the buildings probably had similarities. The physical plant did align with what Kierce had described on the flight to the lab where she was inserted into the prisoner group.

  A large group of Badari gathered at the edge of another force barrier to watch as the two women walked past. Judging by the nature of the buildings, these were barracks, which could probably be locked tight to function as cells. She was interested to see all the younger cubs mixed in with the adults, instead of being held separately, as they’d been on the northern continent. The arrangement might make it easier when the attack began, since the Khagrish would have a hard time using the cubs as hostages if they were surrounded by adult Badari, who’d fight to the death to protect their younger brothers.

  The administration building was low slung, whitewashed and guarded. Flo and Lacey walked inside and were taken to an office where Dr. Nyddfalorr waited.

  He was seated behind a gigantic desk and was obviously in the middle of a telecon with a colleague from elsewhere as the guard brought Flo and Lacey into the room. “Ah, here are two of my subjects now,” he said, appearing to be in a jubilant mood. “Apparently here to propose a revision to the protocol you established, Dr. Sheyall.”

  Flo had to control her reaction at the name of the Khagrish woman on the vidscreen. Dr. Sheyall had been at the original lab and had been the one responsible for allowing Aydarr and Jill to have a night alone together. After Jill escaped, Dr. Sheyall left the facility in disgrace. As far as Flo could recall, Dr. Sheyall had never seen her, because Flo was kept in a stasis envelope in a storeroom, awaiting disposition before Jill rescued her. Good thing too because the jig would be up if Sheyall could identify me as being from that lab.

  “Oh? And why would humans co-operate with us willingly?” asked Dr. Sheyall with disdain in her voice. “They’re duplicitous in the extreme.”

  Clearly she was carrying a grudge from her experience in the original lab.

  Although the idea had a certain amusement value, Flo made herself remain in humble and deferential mode. “We know we’re stuck on an island, no way off, no hope of escape, no chance of rescue,” she said. “To be perfectly clear, no human woman should ever be subjected to forcible intercourse or pregnancy under any circumstances, much less the conditions you monsters have established here. But my friend Dr. Soames has come up with a way to make the situation at least a little bit more controlled from our standpoint and we women have voted to go along with it.”

  “You’re going to collaborate with us?” Nyddfalorr said, rubbing his hands in seeming glee. “What an unexpected and positive turn of events.”

  “No.” Flo was forceful and immediate in her denial. “We’ve chosen the path we regard as the least repugnant.” Now she motioned to Lacey, who had a shell-shocked expression. “Go ahead, explain your idea.”

  Swallowing hard, Lacey took a stance as if she was lecturing students but fortunately kept her tone relatively mild. “We want to be allowed more control over the process as far as selecting the men, the Badari as you call them, we’re to be matched with. Yesterday was a free for all and nearly got out of hand. If you want long term stability, then you need to let us get to know the men as individuals and vice versa. My suggestion is to set the situation up differently, where each man has to sit and talk to each woman for a set amount of time, in the pavilion where we were yesterday. Then when the interviews are completed, we’ll make our selections and the next phase of your so-called protocol can begin.”

  “There are sixty Badari chosen for this experiment,” Sheyall said with a frown. “These interviews as you call them will take a long time, even if we only allow a few minutes for each.”

  “You believe the humans have come up with a clever way to stall?” Nyddfalorr asked. A smile hovered on his lips and Flo suspected he wasn’t entirely on board with this experiment he’d been tasked with running or maybe the methods he’d been forced to use. He seemed to be enjoying the idea of tinkering with Sheyall’s protocol.

  If she was a betting woman, she’d bet he wanted to do things the old fashioned Khagrish way, with as much use of force, pain and humiliation as he could impose. Sheyall must have exerted a lot of influence on the Khagrish higher ups to get permission to try this quasi-gentler, if still horrifying, approach. She wondered why but filed the question away to ask Jill Garrison at a much later date. Flo could only force herself to participate in this meeting because she knew they’d be escaping before any of the so-called pair bonded couples moved into a hut. Otherwise she’d have been leading a breakout at the first opportunity, probably on the flight down here, if she’d been an actual member of the original group of women.

  “Delay is their most likely desired outcome, yes, although ultimately it does them no good. The results will be the same.” From her limited vantage point at the other end of the telecon, Sheyall studied the two women, her lips pursed and her brow wrinkled. “There is some merit to this, however, since we’re striving for a breeding colony. I remember from uh previous field work here on the planet the human women take much longer to feel any bond with a Badari male than he does.”

  “If you give instructions to the lab techs, the guards and the Badari,” Flo said, “We’ll handle the arrangements on our end. Give us three days to conduct the conversations and make our choices.”

  “And on the fourth day you will all pick a Badari or one will be chosen for you,” Nyddfalorr said. “You’ll move into the specially constructed compound and the next phase will commence. No more delays.” Belatedly remembering Sheyall was nominally in charge, he directed his last comment to the vidscreen. “If this meets with your approval, doctor.”

  Slowly she nodded, chewing on the tip of a writing instrument as if deep in thought while pondering the suggestions. “I think it’s a good adaptation. When we repeat the bigger experiment with more women and Badari, we may be able to streamline the entire process.”

  “We’d better,” he said. “I have production quotas to meet. Our leadership is anxious to have the Badari population replenished now we’ve decided to run our own experimental programs independent of the customer in this area.”

  Flo wondered if the Chimmer, who were the original customers, had any idea this island facility existed, or what the Khagrish plans for expansion were. Not her concern but an interesting lead to be followed up on at a later
date. She bit her tongue not to tell Nyddfalorr and Sheyall that even if their plans did go forward into the next phase, the pair bondings, each woman would decide for herself how much to co-operate. Thank the goddess this is the only lab with a Badari population left and no other humans will be faced with this terrible situation. Once Aydarr destroys this place the Khagrish won’t have any Badari in their control and we can go back to rescuing humans.

  Unaware of Flo’s thoughts on the bigger situation, Lacey kept talking. “We can conduct the first meeting this afternoon, for an hour, see how it goes and what we want to revise.”

  Nyddfalorr frowned and slammed his hand on the desk, causing Lacey to jump and crowd closer to Flo. “Don’t get above yourself, human, merely because we’ve decided to allow you test subjects a modicum of leeway in mate selection. I set the rules here and I say when we carry out any part of the protocol.” He made an angry gesture at the guards. “Take them to the compound and don’t trouble me with the prisoners again. I’ll send for them if I want any input.”

  The guard hustled Flo and Lacey out of the room as Nyddfalorr and Sheyall broke into Khagrish, and veered off into a discussion of the increasing severity of the mountain fever outbreak on the continent. Flo would have liked to hear more on the topic but the door slammed shut behind her.

  She and her companion were rushed to the Preserve and shoved unceremoniously inside. The other women were waiting in a group, close to the entrance. Flo saw a line of Badari not too far away, making an attempt to look casual and assumed the Alpha had set them to guard the humans and ensure no one attempted to bother them.

  “Well?” Renate asked, hands on her hips, glancing from Flo to Lacey impatiently. “Did he agree?”

  “Not here,” Flo said, out of an abundance of caution and gripping Lacey’s arm tight in warning not to talk. “Let’s go to the barracks.”

  Apparently Renate could see the wisdom of not conducting a debriefing in front of the guards or the Badari. Without arguing she led the way to their quarters and once the last stragglers were inside, seated herself at the head of the table. “Now tell me.”

  Flo deferred to Lacey, who looked around anxiously. “There’s another scientist running this experiment with him, from what I gathered. She’s the decision maker and she agreed with my idea. We get three days to hold the conversational meetings with the men and on the fourth day we have to decide who to go with, if we haven’t already.”

  “Who’s going to explain this to the Badari or whatever they’re called?” Renate asked, frowning and drumming her fingers on the table. “I assume the men will have to fall in with the plan since our mutual jailers accepted the idea but will the Khagrish tell them?”

  Flo shrugged. “Unknown. He may want us to work it out amongst ourselves or he may send the lab techs to carry the word.”

  “We need to find the leader of these men and get him to agree,” Renate said.

  “There doesn’t appear to be a leader. Kind of every man for himself.” Flo thought the conversation was moving into dangerous territory and Daegan couldn’t be exposed to Khagrish attention. “I say it’s the Khagrish experiment, let them deal with it. We need to be ready. Are we going to have standard questions or what?” She directed her question to Lacey and as she’d hoped, a lively discussion broke out as to what the women wanted the Badari to talk about.

  Flo gradually worked her way out of the center of the group and went to the kitchen area to get a cup of water. She found Shelli there, leaning against the wall, staring into space, plainly upset. “Hey, get through these interviews and I might be able to find a guy who’ll agree not to actually touch you.”

  “How? Why would any of them care whether I’m married?” Her voice was thin and tired and her eyes were red.

  “They care. The Badari have great respect for the mate bond.” Flo bit her tongue and sipped the lukewarm water. Damn. Shouldn’t have said so much. “The guy I was talking to yesterday told me.”

  Shelli sighed and covered her face with her hands. “There’s no hope here, is there?” she asked in a muffled voice. “Maybe I should walk into the ocean and drown myself now.”

  Alarmed, Flo set the mug down and pulled Shelli’s hands away from her face. “Hey, take it one day at a time, okay? The next three days won’t be so bad, just a lot of talking.”

  “What’s going to change in three days?” But Shelli did have more strength in her voice.

  Unable to provide the answer, Flo stepped away. “Gotta have hope, that’s all I’m saying.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The lab techs came with a squad of guards to fetch the women after lunch and escort them to the pavilion. The Badari were already waiting, standing in a large group. The senior lab tech, as denoted by his many badges and pins, was just finishing the explanation of the new rules for today as the women walked in. Twenty stations had been set up with two chairs each, facing each other across the table, for the interviews.

  “The men will draw lots to learn who participates today,” the senior tech said to the women in general. “Take your places so we can begin.”

  Flo strolled to a chair at the farthest edge of the pavilion. She only wanted to talk with Daegan but singling him out today would be a mistake. She figured chatting with other Badari could fall into her mission parameters, scoping the lay of the land and testing their discipline and organization in the absence of a pack. Staying undercover and not drawing too much attention to herself was definitely within her rules of engagement here. She’d already been far too visible, going with Lacey to talk to Nyddfalorr.

  She wasn’t too surprised when her first interviewee turned out to be Daegan. He sat in the chair which was clearly inadequate for his mass, folded his hands on the table between them and watched her with a slight glow in his amber eyes. Flo waited him out. “You intrigue me,” he said finally.

  “And I’m fascinated by you, if you must know.” She affected slight breathlessness, although deep inside she admitted she was telling him the truth, all aside from her mission. “But I do have to talk to all the others too.”

  Head tilted, he seemed fascinated by the idea of negotiating the experiment’s terms with Nyddfalorr. “Is that the deal you made with the Khagrish this morning?”

  “Basically.” What else was there to say?

  “I admire the strategy.”

  Flo wasn’t about to take credit, although the atmosphere today was more relaxed. “It was Lacey’s idea.”

  “But I’m guessing you sold it to the scientist.” Now he leaned forward, eyes gleaming slightly. “Why is buying yourselves time important? The end result will be much the same, no matter. The Badari will be forced to carry out our part of the experiment—he holds our cubs and cadets in his grasp and their lives and well-being are the highest priority. I feel sympathy for you and the other women but I—we—have to take care of our own first. I’m sorry.”

  “I believe you.” This guy was an Alpha through and through. Flo could sense the power against her skin, much the same way Aydarr affected people when he concentrated on them, one on one. She sat up straighter and surveyed the room. “Want to go for a walk?”

  He laughed, obviously taken by surprise. “Is that in the new protocol?”

  “Screw the damn protocol. The whole point of all of this is to match up one human woman and one Badari, so if we declare ourselves a pair a few days early do you think the Khagrish will care?” Struck by a sudden thought, she sat back. “Or are you drawn to one of the others?” A rival for his attention would be a problem. Jealousy stabbed her like an ice pick and she gave herself a mental shake. She was not here to develop an attraction to anyone. She was here on an undercover mission preparatory to combat.

  “Drawn?” Head tilted, he was studying her like a predator again as he probed at her use of the term.

  I’m making a mess of this. “Could we start over?” Flo tried a disarming smile and made herself relax. “I’m nervous—I don’t know what I’m saying, exactly.” S
he waved a hand in the general direction of the guards. “This whole experiment thing makes me anxious.”

  “Now this I don’t believe,” he said flatly. Evidently taking pity on her, he sat back and dialed down the intensity level of his stare. Crossing his arms, he said, “I don’t think you have an anxious bone in your body. But no, there is no other woman here who interests me the way you do, Flo Michetti. You’re something of a puzzle.”

  “And cats can’t resist a puzzle,” she said, thinking of Kierce in his feline form as the giant tiger.

  The tips of his fangs protruding slightly and his talons edged out, Daegan asked, “Who said anything about cats?”

  “It’s a figure of speech, relax.” She backpedaled. Keep your mind on the damn mission, Florenzia, not the man.

  Surreptitiously he gauged the situation in the room and then shook his head. “Much as I want to go for a walk with you, it wouldn’t be wise today. The guards and techs are watching too closely. I think by tomorrow afternoon they’ll be bored and us wandering off together might pass without much notice.”

  The buzzer sounded, signaling time to change partners. Daegan rose, staring at her from his much greater height, easily seven feet. “I run every morning—perhaps we’ll meet on the beach again. The Khagrish don’t care what we do with our time when we’re in the Preserve, aside from this new experiment.” And then he was gone.

  Flo wanted to see who he picked to talk to next but her view was blocked by a massive Badari standing beside her interview chair. He sat, straining the bolts on the seat, placed his hands flat on the table and stared at her.

  She stifled the urge to laugh. If this guy isn’t one of Daegan’s enforcers, or whatever they call them here, I’ll eat my flip-flops. Turning her head, she found the Alpha in question sitting outside the pavilion under a tree, watching her intently. Yeah, he’s staked his claim all right and sent this guy to make it clear to all the other Badari to stay hands off. “So,” she said to the impassive warrior across from her, “You like to fish?”