“Twelve hours of continuous use.”
“All right then,” he said to Megan. “You may have it.”
Walt and the men he’d selected came to lift the prisoner onto the antigrav litter again.
Lampergg fidgeted as if bored now, or impatient. “Proceed,” he said to the guard.
“Line up, one at a time, advance and place your arm inside the unit,” the soldier said, pointing at a device the lab techs had brought out.
“I suggest the doctor go first so she can return to her new patient more quickly,” Lampergg said.
“All right.” Megan walked to the head of the line and approached the machine, shaking with dread, anticipating what terrible thing it might do to her. The lab tech gestured impatiently for her to insert her right arm up to the elbow into an opening in the top.
For a moment nothing happened, but then a rush of heat circled her wrist. She yelped and pulled her hand free to discover she now bore a solid black bracelet, about an inch wide and half an inch thick, on her arm. The band didn’t slide like a bracelet or move at all, and the surface was a flat black. She tapped on it with the fingernails of her other hand. “What in the seven hells is this?”
“No questions.” The guard dragged her aside by the elbow so the next person in line could step closer to the device.
There wasn’t any pain or lingering warmth. Megan slowly retraced her steps to the antigrav litter, noticing the prisoner wore one of the bracelets as well now. Standing by his side, she watched her fellow humans each receive their black band. When Nicolle had gotten hers and moved to join the others, Lampergg shook his head and pointed at the woman. A guard yanked her toward the building.
“Where are you taking her?” Megan cried.
“It’s not your place to keep asking questions,” said the guard. “You’ve become an annoyance.”
Three more humans—two men and another woman—were separated from the rest and led inside. Megan had the sinking feeling she’d never see them again.
When the last person had their bracelet, Lampergg gestured at their surroundings. “I want you to roam the wilderness for fourteen days. Don’t attempt to remain near the lab complex or you’ll be punished. We’ll be watching to see how resourceful you can be. And if you find any of those security holes I mentioned might exist.” He chuckled.
Harker took the lead, heading the column due north as the guards and the scientist watched. At the rear of the group, guiding the floating litter bearing her mysterious patient, Megan hiked up a gentle hill and paused at the crest with the others.
“We need shelter for night,” Harker was saying as she arrived. He pointed at a far off tree line. “We’ll aim for the forest, should be water there too. And possibly game we can hunt.”
He sent the column marching down the hill and lingered next to Megan. “You shouldn’t have spoken up about this man. You’ve got to focus here, doc, on what’s best for us, what’s going to keep us alive. So what if they’d shot him in the head? We’re not playing games here.”
“I think we are,” she said. “I think all of this is one big game to Lampergg—psychological games, mental games, physical games, tests to find out as much as he can about human beings. If the Chimmer hired him to conduct this ‘research,’ then the results go to the Mawreg eventually. Who knows what those bastards can do with it?”
“A life or death game,” Harker answered. “And I intend to live, no matter what it takes. If this is all for the benefit of the Mawreg war effort, then we owe it to humanity to be as tough as we can be.” He walked away, leaving Megan so angry she could hardly speak. She could understand why the majority of the colonists were following his lead—as a high ranking police officer, he represented hope and authority. He was used to giving orders and being obeyed. She wasn’t too sure she wanted to stay in any group he was leading. But on the other hand, they needed her. She had a duty to take care of these people as best she could.
She and the antigrav litter fell behind the others. Megan tried to keep an eye on the landscape around her as she walked, in case there were predators, but maintaining her situational awareness was challenging. The flimsy shoes they’d been given in the lab weren’t suited to hiking through brush and over rocky ground, and she was afraid she’d fall. Walt peeled away from the column and circled back to her.
“Are you going to lecture me about my foolish choices too?” she asked, pushing her hair off her face. The day was warming rapidly as the sun approached its zenith. Her throat was parched and she had so many worries her mind was buzzing. “Or how to play mind games with Lampergg?”
“Not at all.” He fell into step beside her. “Rescuing their prisoner was a brilliant move.”
“Why?” she asked. “Because it made Lampergg happy I did what he obviously wanted?”
“Because this man knows a lot more than we do. Clearly, he and the Khagrish have a past relationship so if he regains consciousness and if he’s willing to talk to us, we might glean a few facts we can use.” Walt glanced at the people ahead of them. “I’m not too sure you want to share anything you might learn from your patient with the entire group.”
“Only with you?” she said drily.
“I think maybe you and I, and a few others who don’t like Harker’s approach are on the same wavelength. Safe people to confide in.” Walt flashed a grin. “I’m not telling you everything, and I’m relatively sure you’ve got secrets. Like what the guy here said to you in the hall the other night.”
Megan flushed, unwilling to acknowledge the hit. “You’re not from the colony, are you?”
He accepted her clumsy change of topic, shaking his head. “The Shemdylann captured the ship I was on. I suspect they’re the ones who kidnapped all of you from the colony too. There’s something much bigger going on here than a crackpot alien scientist wanting a bunch of humans to play with. My ship and your colony were well within the Sectors’ borders so this is a new, bolder type of raid we’ve not seen before. And we’re caught in the middle of it.”
“I don’t think we’ll be giving the Sectors authorities an update any time soon,” she said.
“Agreed. We’ll be lucky to survive. Hey, need anything? I’m about to split off and reconnoiter ahead of the herd, see if I can find a good campsite, running water maybe. Harker talks a good game but he’s a bit lazy about actually accomplishing anything other than posturing.”
She shook her head. “I’m fine, thanks. Stay safe.”
Walt gave her a mock salute then jogged to catch up with the others, chatting for a moment with Harker before he and another man Megan didn’t know took off to the north, on the search for a good place to stop for the night.
CHAPTER THREE
Mateer came awake all at once, fangs and talons unsheathed, ready to gut the Khagrish enemy who’d been foolish enough to leave him unrestrained.
“Hey, it’s all right, you’re safe for now,” a soft voice said accompanied by a cool hand on his forehead.
He whirled around, trying to get his bearings and decide what was real and what was memory. They were in the Preserve by the looks of it, in the open plains. A campfire crackled with a large number of humans seated or lying beside the flames, clustered in small bunches as close to the warmth of the blaze as possible.
“You recover faster than anyone I’ve ever met,” the woman said, her voice calm, as if she was trying to soothe him into the same state by setting an example. “When I saw what they’d done to you this morning, I was afraid you’d die. Now you’re hardly even bruised anymore.”
He took a deep breath, savoring the sweet, clean scent of his companion and focused on her. He understood now why he’d made the mistake of thinking she was Lily—the shape of the face was similar and the beautiful blue eyes were as welcoming, but there was a difference between the two women and he’d never make the same error again. Megan had stronger features, higher cheekbones and her lips were more lush. She was unique in his eyes. Beautiful. The sisters were not, in fac
“I’m Megan Garrison, Dr. Garrison actually.” She poured him a cup of water from a Khagrish container which had been attached to the undercarriage of the litter. “And you are?”
He took the mug and drank, buying himself time to think. He’d trust one of Jill’s sisters, but he knew nothing about the other humans in this camp, or the parameters of the situation he’d awakened to.
She reached into the pocket of her lab-issue coveralls and handed him a ration bar. “I saved this one for you—it’s a restorative for people with stasis syndrome so hopefully it’ll help you recuperate. I’m afraid most of us are going to bed hungry—the hunting was unsuccessful, or so the men said. Barehanded doesn’t work too well, nor snares made from belts apparently. And we’re not sure what plants are edible out here, if anything.”
Hearing that news, he broke the bar in half and offered her a piece. He needed to regain full strength, but he couldn’t let her starve.
Megan shook her head and pushed the offering away. “No, it’s for you. I think it’s better for me in the long run, for all of us, if you recover fully.”
A roar sounded off in the distance, and Megan shivered.
“Tessamar, big predator, feline in nature,” he said. “Won’t come near the fire, though. No need to worry.”
“So you are from this planet? How did the Khagrish capture you then?” She stopped. “Please, you must have more of a name than ‘802’. I’d like to know what it is. And how you came to speak Basic.”
A visceral anger roiled his gut at the hated numerical designation, and he glared at the damn sensor bracelet. He’d sworn never to be put back into bondage, and now here he was. “Mateer.” His voice was more of an intimidating growl than a properly conversational tone, but he couldn’t bear to hear Megan refer to him by his serial number.
“Your name is Mateer?”
He nodded and finished the energy bar, washing it down with the rest of the water. “Thank you.” He handed her the empty cup.
She gave him a fleeting smile. “I have so many questions, and I know you must as well.” Leaning toward him and lowering her voice, she said, “Where did you meet my sister? Is she—is she alive?”
“Why are we in the Preserve?” he asked, wanting to assess the situation before he gave anything away. “Why am I with the humans? What did Lampergg say?”
“It’s rude not to answer any of my questions and keep demanding your own answers. I want to know what happened to my sisters and I want to know the facts now.” Megan studied him with more than medical interest. Even with his forehead wrinkled in a frown, he was a compelling man and she knew she had no hope of forcing him to tell her anything. She had to get to the root of his reluctance and provide reassurance so he’d open up. “Are you afraid I’ll repeat whatever you tell me to the Khagrish?”
He shook his head. “No, although they might try to torture the information out of you.”
She jerked back, hand to her chest as if she’d been hit by a blaster bolt. She had no doubt he was correct about the danger but the idea he might withhold information about her sisters from her was infuriating. Licking her lips, she said after a brief pause, “You might as well tell me then because, if our captors are so ruthless, they won’t believe you didn’t confide anything to me, and I’ll be tortured for nothing. Want my fate on your conscience?”
“I admire your courageous attitude, given the perilous situation,” he said, face lighting up in a grin for a moment. “All right, since you insist on details, both of your sisters are fine and free in a safe place, but whatever you do, don’t mention you’re related to Jill.”
Megan literally couldn’t breathe and her heart thumped extra hard at the welcome but unexpected news her siblings weren’t prisoners, weren’t being tortured or experimented on. Thank the Lords of Space. His odd, blunt warning caught her attention next. “Why ever not? What do the Khagrish care who my sisters are?”
Mateer settled back. “She escaped by assaulting the scientist in charge of the labs. Lampergg, the Khagrish directing the operation here, was like a son to Gahzhing, who ran the lab where we were held captive. Gahzhing might even be dead for all I know. Lampergg would be likely to take his anger at Jill out on you.”
That’s my big sister all right, take the fight to the enemy. He seemed to expect an answer from her so she said with pride, “Jill is ex-military so I’m not surprised to hear she fought these bastards.”
Mateer’s eyes lit up and his voice was enthusiastic. “She’s a supremely capable fighter. I’ve sworn loyalty to her—she rescued my pack when we’d been sentenced to die. She’s mated to my alpha now.”
Thoughts whirling, not sure which revelation astounded her more, Megan held up one hand. “Whoa, too much information, too fast.”
Mateer forged ahead with what he evidently considered the key points. “The Shemdylann kidnapped two hundred of your people from the colony and brought you here to be the subjects of experiments as ordered by the Chimmer,” he said matter of factly. “Jill was released from stasis early and placed with my pack. By the time everything was said and done, and we escaped, you and most of the other humans had unfortunately been shipped off in stasis to other labs. Jill was able to rescue Lily before the mass transfer, however. Our highest priority since taking down the lab where we were kept is trying to locate and rescue you. Especially you, because you’re her sister.”
Trying to absorb all this, Megan reminded herself she’d been held in stasis for an unknown time, so it was indeed possible for battles to have been fought and others rescued from a different lab, as the big warrior was telling her. But his third pronouncement was quite shocking and not at all like the older sister she knew. Jill wasn’t an impulsive romantic—she was a hard headed soldier. If the other Badari was anything like the man in front of her right now, Megan could certainly see the attraction, but married? “And you say Jill and your leader—?” Megan frowned.
“They’re mates, yes.”
“Willingly married?”
Face set in a puzzled frown, Mateer said, “The Badari have too much honor to force a woman to accept the mate bond. Jill and Aydarr fell in love during our period of imprisonment together.”
Megan pursed her lips and shook her head. “I’ll have to see them together for myself, and hear the news from Jill to believe it, no disrespect intended.”
Ignoring the implied insult to his alpha, Mateer pointed his finger at her. “Now your turn. Why am I here? What did Lampergg say about me?”
“That we had to bring you with us on this strange excursion. Harker, the man who’s taken it upon himself to be in charge of us, refused, and Lampergg said he’d have you killed right then and there.”
“And you intervened?” Eyes narrowed, he leaned forward as if the answer was highly important.
“Speaking up was the only decent thing to do.” Megan flushed with a touch of embarrassment, cheeks burning. Better not let him jump to any conclusions. “I wasn’t going to see you shot in the head just because Harker was too lazy to carry you. I told Lampergg to let us have the antigrav litter at least for a day, till we could make an old fashioned litter and he agreed.” She shook her head. “It was odd but I think he expected me to make the demand. He gave in far too easily.”
Mateer nodded. “You confirm my guess about the situation. Before I was rendered unconscious, Lampergg told me he was excited to have a Badari to experiment on and there was something specific he wanted to pursue. I’m sorry.”
Rocking back on her heels, she felt a sense of dread. “Why are you apologizing to me?”
“Because the guards must have told him I spoke to you. I—I thought you were Lily.”
“And?”
“My alpha saved Jill’s life initially by claiming her as his mate. The Chimmer representative was there for an inspection tour as it happened and highly intrigued by the idea. He wanted to see if the consummation of the mate bond would lead to a pregnancy.”
This was beyond belief. “You’re kidding me.” She started to rise but he grabbed her wrist and tugged gently.
“Wait, let me finish explaining.” Careful not to hurt her with his vastly superior strength, he studied her face as he held onto her arm. “Please?”
He sensed her emotional withdrawal from him and regretted telling her news that provoked such a reaction. Stung, he was convinced nevertheless that it was important she understand what Lampergg had pitched them into.
“The experiment got cut short because we were shipped offworld for a combat exercise. We Badari were created to be super soldiers, to be used in the fight against the Sectors,” he said, hating to divulge any part of his origin as a genetically engineered being. “Which is why we were taught to speak Basic. The situation is complicated. But I believe Lampergg wants to replicate the mating bond experiment with us. You and me.”
She was silent, and he wondered what she was thinking. Eventually, the words coming slowly, as she avoided his eyes, Megan asked, “So you’re saying all of this—twenty or so of us being out here in the wilderness roaming aimlessly, and you being sent with us, was arranged so you and I can fall in love? Or in lust, I guess. “
He couldn’t tell if she was angry, offended or in a state of disbelief. She certainly wasn’t willing to accept the news of her sister’s choice to enter into a mate bond with Aydarr. He’d better tread carefully. “The Khagrish think Jill and Aydarr first bonded in the Preserve at our lab so if I’m right, Lampergg is trying to recreate the conditions of the original experiment as best he can. The Chimmer sponsor all the research done on this planet, and Lampergg is trying to satisfy his customer.”
“Well, let me assure you and him if he’s listening on a hidden vidcom somewhere, that’s never happening.” She rose and this time he didn’t try to delay her. Face set in grim lines, she expounded on her declaration. Shaking one finger at him, voice low and stern, she said, “As a doctor, I felt honor bound to treat you and try to save your life, but that’s as far as it goes. Understand? You lay one hand on me and you’re in for the fight of your life. Not only from me—there are some here who’d come to my rescue.”
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