Definitely of that condition, Gemma followed orders without question, not even aware of the appearance of the men moving beside them.
****
They passed into an enormous, underwater dome; Gemma could see the metal rafters miles above them, as they were forced forward along a trail below.
It was like a huge airport terminal, a way station, or landing area, where many were milling about, as if awaiting to go to their next destination.
She could see horizontal balconies, with guard rails, above, all around the large struts of the dome. These were crowded with brown skinned people, all men, with black hair and beards, dark eyes and angry features, who gawked at the women, as if appraising them like cattle.
Sprinkled among these were men of a different appearance. They seemed to be servants, carrying parcels, and packages; pairs of them toting trunks between them. Their skin was of a pale blue-white, the hair atop their heads, short; a nappy, tightly curled dark gray. But their eyes were the feature that most caught your attention. They glowed out of the darkness at you, the whites a barely discernable mauve hue; the irises either blue or greenish.
And all of them watched the women below, as if they were something to be devoured.
Gemma shivered, feeling on display, an unwelcome intruder.
Why, it doesn't feel any different than back home! What is this place? Who are these men?
For the next twenty minutes, they inched forward along the pathway, one person at a time, until finally, each came to a doorway. Forced to enter separately, each woman found herself in a much smaller closet-like room.
The chamber contained but one piece of furniture. Standing next to the opposite wall was a mirror-like, lighted, archway, glowing brightly. You could not see through to the back of it.
One man stood next to this. In his hand he held a device similar to a card reader. Stepping forward, he ran it over Gemma's body, then ordered her to pass through the portal.
She was immediately hesitant.
Gemma was in no way unfamiliar with the imaginary teleportation devices from the science fiction movies. She had watched many an episode on the space channel.
Surely, he doesn't expect me to believe this is real? Maybe, this is all a nightmare? Or I'm hallucinating.
"Step through!" gruffly ordered the impatient attendant, and then...he pushed her into the light.
****
It seemed to be only seconds, and she was on the other side; the place, a carbon copy of the first.
But that brief glimpse was all that she saw. Her heart began to do funny dances; her vision fogged, then faded, yet still, as if from a distance, Gemma was aware of men's voices.
"Bah!" exclaimed a startled voice. "Catch her!"
Hands grabbed at her, roughly carrying her.
"This one didn't take to the transfer well..."
"Sit her against the wall, out of the way for now, until she comes out of it."
Gemma did her best to take deep breaths. The effort slowed her heart rate, and the confusion cleared from her mind; her vision started to return.
After a few minutes, she became aware of a shadow standing over her. Once again, she heard the beeping of a hand held device.
What is this? Do I have an identity chip on my body, that tells them I belong here, or what?
"Get up, now!" ordered the man.
Gemma was led away to join the others in a huge holding room.
In the milling crowd of women, Gemma searched unsuccessfully for Lydia. The woman seemed to have vanished.
There were many women here, a lot more than had been on the plane that had descended into the sea. Who knew from where they had all been gathered? They sought answers from each other, and from the silent male guards, but no one knew anything, and their overseers gave no clue.
It was obvious, these men were not their rescuers.
What do you want with us? Why are you doing this?
Chapter 12
When they were at last spoken to, one stepped forth as leader, and addressed them. It was explained, they must strip of all garments, jewelry, anything that would identify them. These would be jettisoned out on the surface of the water, along with pieces of an old, damaged cargo plane, to sidetrack authorities, as they looked for the missing passengers.
For bodies, they had pieces: limbs, hair particles...old dead useless females, and aborted infants.
Gemma shuddered at the cold way the man expressed this last, and visions of their future ran rampant in her mind.
What kind of heartless society have we fallen into? Are these men, human? How can they have existed under our seas, and the governments not known of them?
With the other women, Gemma now stood buff naked, her arms hugging her chest in embarrassment of her small inadequate bosom. There was no use trying to hide anything else. A person only had two hands. She waited in one of four lines; obviously...to be examined.
Leering guards stood on either side of each escape exit, to prevent any female from fleeing.
At the head of each row, was an examining stool; beside each stood consoles, supporting what appeared to be computer monitors. Two men worked each examining station; the attending assistants held handhelds similar to those used back in entry; Gemma couldn't yet see what the Physician's were doing.
Gemma was not merely cold, but trembling from lack of nourishment. She had forgone her meals all the day before, in the airport terminal, and on the plane, water and food had been the last thing on anyone's mind. Nowhere in this huge building, had she seen anything resembling sustenance, and in all the time they had been here, none had been offered. Obviously, these men had no thought to supplying any needs but their own.
As Gemma finally came up to the front, she was considerably relieved and grateful to climb up on the stool to be assessed. Her limbs felt unsteady; her breathing was shallow, and she was near fainting, yet still, she attempted to cover herself, as best she could.
"Drop your arms," growled the attendant.
Gemma obeyed, and he outright laughed.
"Hey," he yelled to his counterpart in the aisle behind them. "I thought we were bringing in cows, not sows?"
The attendant from the next line glanced over, grinned, and shrugged.
"She only has two," he pointed out.
"She'll be useless at feeding," commented Gemma's attendant in disgust. "Too small."
From the stool in the next line, the woman sitting there, started to laugh as she caught on to what the men were talking about.
"Runny eggs," she agreed. "Like having nothing."
Both the attendants began laughing uproariously. Gemma felt her face heat. Surely, she must have gone as red as a beet.
Gemma looked over to the next row, at the obnoxious woman seated on the stool. Naked, the woman sat proud as a peacock, her chest out, the fullness of her girls, riding on her fat knees.
Thanks so much for coming to my defense! At least, I will never be just a sex object, as you are.
Humiliated, Gemma squeezed shut her eyes to prevent the flow of tears that threatened. Yet still, it did not shut away the vision of the ugly, obese creature sitting behind, grinning. As she listened to the raucous laughter of the men, Gemma grew angry.
Why do men always find her kind so attractive? She wouldn't be so pretty if those nipples were festering and sore...dripping blood...
In her mind, Gemma envisioned the other woman's dark flesh points begin to ooze.
"Hey!" exclaimed the startled attendant in the next row. "What's happening here? You're bleeding..."
Appalled by the coincidence, Gemma began to tremble.
Did I do that? How could I?
At a man's touch to the side of her temple, Gemma started violently. Her eyes flew open in shock.
But, it was only the physician beside her, applying small plastic tabs to her person: one beside each eye, another behind each ear, several down her chest, and one in each arm pit.
It wasn't that the tags were uncomfor
table. Gemma had endured this procedure many times before; they were just leads for the heart monitor machine.
It was what happened each time the man touched her, that threw her so off balance: a rapid fire of images and suggestions assaulted her senses every time he made contact.
Now, instead of being simply exhausted and famished, Gemma became nauseous, feeling as if on a roller coaster, dizzy and sick.
The man beside her grunted in disgust; he was peering closely at the monitor beside them.
"Oh! Heck!"
"What?" asked his attendant.
"I think, this one is flawed," the physician answered. "And in more than one way. I am certain, she can neither hear nor see."
I can hear you! Your instruments are the ones faulty.
Sure, sometimes I have trouble with my sight, but I know I can hear! And see...better than you realize...
From the other aisle, that physician cautioned.
"You'd best use wisdom, and not reject her. We need every female we can get. A lot has gone into each..."
The other growled at him in anger.
"Do you think I don't know that? This one is already chosen, but...I must still recommend further testing. Her readings are abnormal...she is handicapped."
"She'd still be good to breed?"
What is this? You are not touching me! I'm not some animal!
"Of course, but...she'd bring forth a flawed fetus...a replicate of herself."
The other shook his head.
"What is the matter with the lab physicians, on the other side, that they don't pick up on this, before sending her over?"
"I have to report it," insisted the first. "If her claimant still desires her..."
"He's an old one; been in the field a long time," interjected the attendant.
"I need to go by the rules..."
"Your choice," agreed the physician from the other aisle.
While this conversation had continued, Gemma became more and more puzzled.
Why is no one reacting?
Those around them, all the nearby women waiting to be processed; the other attendants, each appeared either not to understand or hear, or they were ignoring what was being said.
Why?
It dawned on her then: the two physicians had been conversing in a different tongue, and...Gemma had understood every word.
I must be reading them...I don't need to be taught their language!
I'm not flawed! I'm exceptional! But...maybe, that's not good. Maybe, that's what they mean by flawed...
I'd better watch it...
I wonder what they do with someone like me?
And then Gemma knew...without being told.
They would kill her!
Chapter 13
Gemma was sure her poor stomach had given up hope of ever being fed. When she felt anything at all, there was this lethargic numbness; and an empty acid burn, as if her insides were eating at her back bone.
She couldn't stop trembling. The chill of the air on her exposed skin, combined with her fatigue, was getting the best of her, and all she wanted was to lay down, curl up under a blanket, and sleep for a week.
But that wasn't the least of her problems. Every time she came near another person, bumped up against a woman, or even stood near them, images from that individual's memories flashed through her mind. No matter how Gemma fought to reject them, she was bombarded from all sides with rapid fire pictures, like a movie from a past, she neither wanted to see, nor had experienced.
The processing over, the women were thrown together in groups of thirty, in small holding rooms. A large mat was spread on the floor, but no other warm coverings were available. The other women in Gemma's room huddled together for warmth, comforting one another, but Gemma fled quickly to the farthest corner, away from all the rest. There, she sat, hugging herself, knees pulled up, trying her best to make sense of it all, and to warm her very exposed and naked form.
Why are none of the others seeing visions? Don't they hear the thoughts of the men? Am I the only one? I...
Turned out a freak?
Maybe, I'm going totally mad?
Severely traumatized in the first place, at being thrown into this appalling place, Gemma shivered and trembled, feeling very much alone. Deliberately remaining apart, she tried to decide what her options were. It was when she calmed in this way, that she was finally able to sort out the facts she had gathered.
By organizing the images from the men, she knew things...realizations that made her livid with anger; both humiliated and disgusted.
She had never had cancer! They had simply used a tag, and it had gotten infected. But, the brand had originally meant, they had chosen her for their experiments, to manipulate her body and change it, so it would be more like they wanted it.
These obnoxious men had wanted her as a breeder, and it didn't matter that she already was married. Because Sam was in the way, he needed to be eliminated. They had actually stimulated the dormant cancer gene, that is found in every human being, and produced a fast growing tumor in his colon. Even before Sam was gone, they had implanted the chip to keep track of her.
But, somehow, for ten years, they had lost her. Perhaps, because she had immediately moved out of the area. If the infection hadn't gotten bad enough to affect her eyes, they would never have found her again.
It was that fateful recapture that had done her in.
With the DNA riding on a cancer cell, using Chemo and radiation, they had done their best to kill everything relevant to her original humanity.
That foreign matter must take hold!
What kind of sick scientist would be party to such experiments? Is it all to create their super race?
But something went wrong, again, didn't it?
Why am I so different from the other women? Obviously, they cannot hear the lascivious thoughts of these perverted men. I am the only one seeing visions. Why?
Not even the minds of the physicians seemed to have the answer to that.
At least, as long as she didn't touch; she didn't see. That was a comfort. Her head had finally stopped its violent kaleidoscope of sights and sounds.
Gemma sighed in extreme fatigue. Exhausted, she at last slipped away in asleep.
****
Gemma jerked awake. The feeling of being watched was over powering.
While she slept, the room had emptied, and she appeared to be the only one left in it. The wall opposite was covered by a large window, like a viewing room of a pet store. It was here Gemma found men peering in at her.
Am I hallucinating? That can't be Doctor Harmon, and Doctor Gee, again?
And why not? Doctor Gee always did give me the creeps. I knew he was a weird one, right from the first. The old perverted...
But...Doctor Harmon? He always seemed so kind and gentle. Man! Am I ever a misjudge of character. I'll never trust another man again!
Go away, you pigs! How dare you do this to me! I'm not some animal!
The two turned away, as a third man came up to talk to them. Even through the glass, she could hear every word.
"She is definitely flawed," the newcomer confirmed. "Sightless...the eyes were damaged by the infection. I believe, she is, also, considerably deaf, due to another infection in the ears, probably missed during radiation..."
Yeah, whose fault is that? Doc Gee would never listen.
"But, she still, actually, could make a good breeder..."
"Not where I'm concerned!" growled Doctor Gee. "I'll not mate to something defective! I've waited too long to be cheated. Put her down!"
"After all the work that's gone into her? Do you not want the final reward: a life free of labor; one of luxury...waited on, and cared for all your remaining days? You would be one of the governing body..."
"If the offspring were flawed, I would get none of that! My own life would be forfeited. No! Put the creature out of her misery...or...give her to the next applicant."
The third man turned to Doctor Harmon.
&
nbsp; "You were next...do you wish to take the chance?"
Considering for a second, Doctor Harmon finally shook his head.
"She's too small," he decided. "She would not be able to give birth to my large frame young. And, no, I don't think I want a flawed one, either."
"So, you both want her destroyed?" demanded the third man. "What a waste of resources."
Silence fell between them, as the attendant appeared to hope for a reversal. Finally, Doctor Harmon bent a little.
"Give her to the servant workmen. At least, she'll serve some purpose there."
"Do you realize, she will be passed from one to the other?"
"Not if one is found compatible...and he chooses to protect her."
The overseer shook his head in discouragement.
"Neither of the two will live long; it will be a free-for-all."
"It is more merciful than out right killing her," Harmon disagreed. "We have made her like us; she cannot be returned to the life she had."
"As you wish," the third reluctantly agreed, and all three turned to walk away.
They had decided her future, with little compassion, or thought to her opinion in the matter. Gemma did her best to hide the tears forming behind her eyes. She would not let them see her cry.
I never asked for this; who made you gods?
Maybe, this is all a nightmare...
Or, perhaps, I am dead...and, this is hell?
Chapter 14
Gemma curled up despondently in her corner. She wondered, if now that she was rejected, would they even give her care? Food had long since been forgotten; her tongue clung to the roof of her mouth for lack of moisture, and her shivering, from the cold temperature, was constant. She closed her eyes, in the hope sleep would make things easier.
Many hours later she was jarred awake by the slamming of the door; they had shoved someone else into the room. It took a minute before she realized, it was her one, and only friend, Lydia.
So glad to see her new friend, Gemma forgot the usual result that touching brought about, as both ran to embrace the other, without a second thought.
Monsters Among Us (Deception Series Book 1) Page 6
