If the Chimmer were involved, then their Mawreg overlords had an interest in this place, and the Mawreg were the deadliest threat to humans known to exist. What the seven hells have I been dropped into? The odds of surviving plummeted even further. The Sectors needs to know about this. But it was highly unlikely she’d survive long enough to find a way to sound the alert.
Eyes widening, an expression of sheer terror crossed the female scientist’s face as she looked at Jill, then she wheeled. “We made a change to the experiment protocols, Dr. Gahzhing. My team and I felt it would be useful to see how the animals react to a Sectors human outside of the combat scenario.” Her voice was calm as she uttered the lie to protect her staff and probably herself.
“I authorized no such revision,” he said, voice low and dangerous.
“What data was gained?” The Chimmer came forward.
“We—we just began the effort—”
“Three days ago.” One of the techs rushed to fill in the blank.
The newly arrived boss made a leisurely process of checking Jill out. She resisted the urge to cover herself with her hands, acutely conscious of her skimpy nightgown. His lascivious gaze was lingering on all the wrong places, and his uniform displayed a growing bulge below the waist to attest to his arousal. “Terminate the experiment. Send the human to me for debriefing and processing. Give your notes to Dr. Sheyall.” He waved a hand vaguely in the direction of a woman with pale pink hair, who’d arrived with him. “She’s going to take oversight on this pack until we’re finished.” He eyed the first woman scientist. “My intent was to promote you and your team to a newer study, Dr. Cwamla. Something more critical, prestigious. But this lapse in judgment makes me question the decision.”
“If you recall, sir, you gave me feedback at my last review to show more initiative.” Her tone was placating almost to the point of whining.
“Within reason—don’t cross the lines too far,” he said. “The matter is decided. Bring the human woman to me. I’ll discuss your new assignment with you tomorrow. In the meantime, Dr. Sheyall will take over this pack.”
Two of the guards stepped forward, moving toward Jill. Aydarr grabbed her wrist and yanked her behind him, while Mateer and Reede moved to stand on either side of him. The rest of the pack clustered close.
“No one will touch my mate,” Aydarr said, his voice nearly unrecognizable, low and pitched in a snarl. “I’ve claimed this female, she’s part of my pack now. Put one hand on her and die.”
Peering around him, Jill was wide-eyed at the immense talons he and his enforcers now displayed.
“You don’t want to challenge me, animal,” Gahzhing said as the guards halted, looking to him uncertainly for orders. “Your life will become even shorter if you don’t stand down.” He gestured to the guards. “Proceed as instructed.”
Aydarr moved fast. He slashed the closest guard open from chest to pelvis, the talons tearing through the body armor as if it was paper. As the man crumpled to the ground in a bloody mess, Jill expected Aydarr to go for the weapon, but he didn’t. Instead, he stood tall and glared at the scientists. “I said she was mine, Gahzhing.” The other guards crowded him, weapons inches from his body.
Fists clenched, Jill was surprised he wasn’t dead already. I have to defuse this or they will kill him. “Please,” she said in Basic, “Don’t hurt him. I’ll go quietly.”
Mateer looped his arm around her waist, preventing her from taking a step. “The Alpha said you were his, so you stay.”
The Chimmer stepped forward. “This ad hoc experiment has interesting aspects. Is she breeding?”
The female scientist came as close as she dared, holding some kind of instrument at arm’s length, waving it in Jill’s general direction. “No.” She retreated, nearly tripping on a seam in the pavement as Aydarr growled and bared impressive fangs at her.
Smoothing one eyebrow with a fingertip, head tilted as he considered his options, Gahzhing looked at the Chimmer. “We’re always happy to pursue any scientific avenue the client wishes to learn more about.”
“The ultimate target is the Sectors so it may be useful to conduct a limited test on compatibility. Interesting how quickly the male bonded to the female. Allow this scenario to run for now. But don’t add to the sample size. We have plans for the other humans, male and female.”
Gahzhing bowed his head. “Of course, as you wish. Dr. Sheyall, you’ve heard the client.”
“Yes, sir.” The new scientist in charge moved closer, staring at Jill and Aydarr.
“My staff and I’ll pay close attention to the aspects of this mating.” Gahzhing cleared his throat. “Now, if you’re ready, we can go tour the new lab facilities in Building Three. “
He and the Chimmer disappeared into the building accompanied by the extra guards.
Dr. Cwamla heaved a sigh and addressed the other woman, Dr. Sheyall. “All right, now he’s gone I’ll show you the best way to control the subjects for future reference.” She must have pushed a button or taken an action Jill missed because the next moment all the Badari crumpled to the pavement. Belatedly, she realized it probably had to do with the mysterious bracelets and she let herself fall next to Aydarr. That bitch enjoyed demonstrating her power over us.
His eyes were open and angry, glowing golden.
Dr. Sheyall walked hesitantly closer to the fallen pack members. “I can’t assess their physical condition properly, lying on the ground.”
“Right, right.” Dr. Cwamla toed Aydarr in the ribs. “You’ll have other opportunities, of course. But this shows them who’s in charge. 801 may call himself their alpha all he wants, but the reality is I hold his life in my hands. His defiance today was completely out of line—don’t tolerate it, is my advice. He must really be lusting over this human to risk punishment for her.” Dr. Cwamla leaned close to Jill, who forced herself to remain motionless. “I don’t understand the attraction myself.”
“This one’s injured,” Sheyall said, bending over Pratym and pointing at the crude leaf bandage.
“Well, he’ll have to be culled from the pack then.” Dr. Cwamla joined her newly arrived colleague. “Use a higher intensity setting. You want to be careful not to activate the wide band or you’ll kill them all and then the boss and the client will be upset. This pack isn’t scheduled for termination yet. They have at least one more deployment test to run.” She fiddled with her controller. “Key it to focus on the individual you need to put down.”
Pratym moaned and his body contorted as if he was having a seizure.
Chilled by their discussion, infuriated at the casual approach to ending a man’s life, Jill rolled over and leaped to his side, knocking the small device from the scientist’s hand. “Stop it, turn it off, you can’t kill him for a scratch on his leg.”
Mouth open, Cwamla retreated. “You should be paralyzed like all the others.”
Confused by Jill’s outburst and her mobility, the guards aimed their weapons her but refrained from firing.
Sheyall retrieved the controller and thumbed the button in the opposite direction. Pratym relaxed. “I’m curious, human,” she said in Basic, “Why do you care what we do with this subject? Are you bonded to him as well?”
Jill heard a throaty growl from Aydarr’s direction, perhaps at the question implying she had a relationship with Pratym as well as with him? “My name is Jill, and he’s just a kid, he didn’t make any move to threaten you people. He did nothing out of line or wrong, he’s got a wound that’s healing right on schedule—he doesn’t deserve to die.”
Sheyall tugged on her colleague’s sleeve. “I think it best to maintain the pack as it was when the human was introduced, at least for now. If the experiment results are to have any validity, we can’t alter too many parameters too rapidly.”
Cwamla dusted her hands off. “Not my problem. You’ll be responsible for this pack from now on. Any problems resulting from lack of proper discipline will go onto your record, not mine.” She stalked toward the
building, gathering her two minions as she went.
A team of techs emerged as Cwamla left, bundling the dead guard onto a stretcher and carrying him away.
The surviving guards stayed, weapons at the ready.
“Thank you,” Jill said to the remaining scientist, hoping to form a connection with potential to benefit herself and the pack.
Blinking, making fidgety gestures, a flustered Sheyall retreated a step. “My decision was based purely on proper scientific standards.” She sought help from the nearest guard. “What’s the next step?”
“Normally the animals are escorted inside, shower and change before reporting to their holding cell,” he said. “You’ll have to turn off the paralysis effect, doctor.”
“Oh, of course.” Sheyall fumbled with the controller, glancing at the paralyzed men.
“I’d step away first, doctor.” The guard’s voice was patient as if he’d had to coach many a rookie scientist through their first encounter with the “test subjects”.
The Badari stirred and rose warily to their feet. Jill grabbed Pratym’s arm and helped him until Aydarr and Mateer came to give him support.
“Thank you,” the cadet whispered to Jill.
Aydarr took her by the hand, pivoting to face Sheyall. “My mate is not to be observed by other males while she showers and changes,” he said. “Not the members of my pack, nor your guards and lab techs. She requires privacy.”
Jill swallowed hard. It hadn’t occurred to her there’d be a communal shower.
Sheyall seemed surprised by the demand. “Well, of course.” She appealed to the guards. “How do we accommodate the requested condition?”
“We’ve, uh, never had a female test subject, doctor.” The man exchanged looks with the other guards and shrugged. “She’ll have to wait until the others are finished. But there are monitoring devices in the lab showers.”
“Can the vids be turned off?” asked the scientist.
“Not to my knowledge. We—that is the staff—observe the animals all the time. It’s protocol.”
“We’re not animals,” Jill said, anger making her tone sharper than she’d intended. “We’re sentients the same as all of you. We may be your prisoners, but we deserve decent treatment.”
“You maybe. Not them,” said the guard, swinging his weapon in Aydarr’s direction. “Not by any standard.”
Aydarr shook his head, staring at Jill, his golden eyes glowing warmly. “There’s much you don’t understand yet, although your valiant heart does you honor.”
Sheyall said, “There’s a staff shower close to my office. Have the area cleared out, and I’ll escort her there this time. We’ll have to figure out alternative arrangements if the experiment runs for an extended period with her as a factor.”
The guard saluted. He and his comrades marched the Badari inside the building at gunpoint, while Sheyall sat on the retaining wall. Not seeing any reason why she should remain standing and because her injured foot was aching a bit, Jill joined the scientist, sitting a few feet away. One guard remained, weapon unslung, watching her carefully. She calculated whether she could take him. But then what would I do? I don’t even know what planet I’m on, much less where the other Sector citizens are being kept.
“This is not the research I was expecting to do,” Sheyall said, almost to herself. “I signed a contract for one thing, and I get here and find these animals—”
“They are not animals.” Jill protested again.
“They aren’t human either, I don’t know what you’ve heard or been told so far, but the test subjects are genetic constructs, experiments, grafts onto a root stock DNA, with bits of this and snips of that. Created in tanks, trained to be nothing but killers.”
“I don’t care how they arrive on this fucking world—those are men, sentients. Aydarr, Mateer, the others think, they have feelings, they bleed—we’re all genetic experiments to some extent or another. Your people call them animals to make yourselves okay with whatever perverted kind of science you carry out here for the Chimmer. But don’t try to fool yourself—those are people as much as you and I are.” Jill was practically spitting by the time she finished, so angry she was shaking. “You don’t own them.”
“Names? The subjects have names for themselves?” Sheyall’s eyes opened wide. She pulled out a data pad and made notes.
“Seven hells, of course they do. You didn’t know?” And I hope it was okay for me to mention. She remembered the conversation about the constant surveillance and felt better. Surely the lab staff was aware the Badari had given themselves names. But she resolved to be more careful with information from here on out.
“We’re ready for you to escort the human subject to the shower now, Dr. Sheyall.” One guard had returned.
“I’m happy to escort Jill,” she said, with emphasis on the name. “Shall we go?”
CHAPTER THREE
Jill had a flash of stark terror crossing the threshold into the lab. Every instinct screamed a warning to run for her life, but she knew the safety of the Preserve was an illusion. She marched along between two guards, with Dr. Sheyall in the lead. The interior of the complex was as she’d expected, institutional, long corridors, portals with inscriptions she couldn’t read.
The military translator implants only worked on spoken languages. Usually soldiers carried hand readers if they needed to decode any signs or markings while on a mission. Are my sisters held behind one of these doors? She tried to memorize all the twists and turns, in case she ever had a chance to escape. She realized she’d reverted to combat readiness mode, despite being out of the service for five years now.
The guards stayed outside while Sheyall showed her how to work the shower. “I’m sorry, but I’ll have to keep the door open and sit right outside. I’ll make sure no one invades your privacy, but you can’t be left completely alone.”
Jill made the water as hot as she could stand, peeled off the nightgown with a rueful smile. Why couldn’t I have been kidnapped when I was wearing my work clothes and my tool belt? She briefly examined the injuries to her foot and leg, pleased to see they were healing. Stepping into the shower, she let the water soothe her aches and pains. The first great sob welling from deep inside took her by surprise, then she slid to the floor of the enclosure, hands covering her face, and wept until she couldn’t breathe. All the events of the last few days came crashing in on her.
Eventually, the tears stopped. Sheyall knocked on the door loudly. “I have a meeting to attend soon—are you nearly done?”
“I—I’ll be out in a minute.” She took a deep breath, rushed through washing her hair then stepped out of the water, wrapping herself in a huge rectangle of soft black fabric which instantly soaked up the droplets beading her skin and hair.
“I’ve left you clean clothes the guards brought.”
Jill dropped the towel and picked up the neatly folded garments, which she discovered were a beige jumpsuit and utilitarian white briefs to go underneath. She grimaced at those but decided to wear them. A pair of flimsy, open toed sandals lay on the floor. Can’t kick anybody too hard with these on. After rolling up the cuffs and the sleeves on the jumpsuit, she felt she’d done the best she could. She finger-combed her short hair, folded the pink nightie and emerged into the outer room carrying her one possession from home over her arm. “Ready. Thank you for arranging this.”
Sheyall looked her up and down. “I’ll go part of the way with you as it’s in the direction of my orientation meeting, but the guards will deliver you to the cell.” She indicated for Jill to precede her into the corridor, where the two guards waited. At a branching of the corridor, the scientist said, “We’ll talk again, in a few days. I’ll need to record your cognitive reactions to the situation, take specific physical measurements, nothing to be scared of.”
“It won’t hurt a bit,” the guard muttered under his breath in a sarcastic tone.
Jill nodded and turned to the left in the direction her escort nudged her with the
tip of his weapon.
Soon enough, she came to a large cell, the entrance blocked by a clear force wall, where the Badari were held. Aydarr was pacing the floor beside the barrier, but he stopped when she came into view and watched her closely as she came to the edge of the cell.
She did a double take. Gone were the barbarian style loincloths. Each man now wore a jumpsuit and sandals similar to her own, making them seem more like prisoners from an advanced civilization. Their hair had been cut short, except for Aydarr’s mane of thick gold and brown hair.
The guard gestured with his weapon. “Get away from the portal, 801, you know better than to approach the door.”
Glaring at the man all the while, Aydarr retreated a few steps. The guard took Jill by the elbow, provoking the alpha into another snarl, and thrust her through a briefly illuminated gap in the force shield. He was so rough she staggered and nearly fell before Aydarr caught her. A sizzle sounded behind her as the barrier resealed and the guards departed.
Aydarr hugged her. “You were gone so long—I was worried. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, just cleaner.” She tried for a light tone, but her voice wavered a bit.
He searched her face. “Your eyes are red.”
“I got overwhelmed with emotion for a moment,” she said. “No one laid a finger on me, I promise.” Beyond him, she saw the rest of the Badari standing beside their chairs at a long table bolted to the floor. In a bay beyond, there were bunk beds.
Plates of unappetizing food waited on the table, along with containers she guessed were liquid refreshments. Aydarr drew her toward the head of the table and indicated for her to sit in the empty chair to his right. Mateer was on the other side and she guessed she’d displaced the second enforcer, Reede, who now sat to her right. I hope he isn’t going to be upset.
“You didn’t wait dinner for me, did you?” She was surprised and embarrassed at having taken so long with her private breakdown in the shower. “You didn’t need to do that. You could have saved me a plate.”
AydarrGoogle Page 4
