Let me get one hand free and I’ll be able to unlock the other cuffs and then they’d better pray to their deities because I won’t be merciful. He calculated the odds on successfully taking the scientist as a hostage. No one on the Khagrish side cared about the fate of lab techs but Enishiggama herself was a high value target.
The two female techs stood behind her. One was getting an eyeful of his naked body and he curled his lip in disgust. Intimidated, she turned away, playing nervously with her long pink-and-yellow braid after her eyes met his. The other tech was the woman Maddumma he’d knocked out, the one who hated him for killing her brother years ago. She glared at him, silently mouthing explicit threats of torture to him behind the scientist’s back. He allowed his fangs to slip into view ever so slightly and studied her with the air of a predator assessing a likely kill.
I let you live the last time—you won’t be so lucky next time.
He didn’t remember her brother or the specific incident. There’d been so many over the years, with Badari committed to taking down Khagrish any chance they got. The cruel aliens certainly spared no effort in torturing and abusing their prisoners and deserved no mercy in Reede’s opinion.
Enishiggama snapped her fingers above his face and the lingering stun effects kept him from clamping his fangs on her wrist as he’d preferred to have done.
“Pay attention to me, 803. I’m putting the mate protocol on hold for now. I need something else from you more.” Addressing the senior tech, she said, “Well bring the extractor. What are you waiting for? We discussed the necessary steps at this morning’s staff meeting.”
“Shouldn’t we immobilize him first?” Maddumma pointed to a tray full of injects. “I brought the obedience drug. I don’t think we should take any risks with this one. I read his old record in the central database—”
Enishiggama moved with more speed than Reede would have expected and grabbed the tech by the lab coat, dragging her closer and then forcing her to her knees on the floor. “Don’t take on airs and get above yourself because you were in charge in name only while I rested. You may think you have knowledge and abilities but you’re stepping dangerously out of your caste and besides, it’s your fault he and the woman escaped. They should never have been outside. You knew I’d ordered a special unit constructed for them, a special set of rooms conducive to mating.”
The scientist was getting worked up the longer she ranted.
“I’m sorry, forgive me, I know I erred in making decisions outside the parameters you set.” The tech babbled apologies and groveled. “I swear I wasn’t trying to poach your research.”
Caught by another massive attack of coughing, Enishiggama pushed the tech away from her. Maddumma watched from her knees as the scientist hacked and gasped, finally regaining control of her body. Gesturing hurriedly and speaking in a thready whisper, the scientist said, “We’ll speak no more of this now. I have higher priorities and I know how to handle the subject of an experiment. Get the extractor.” She sank onto the nearest stool and sat hunched over, arms wrapped around herself. “I need his blood pure, untainted by any drug.”
A machine was wheeled over and Reede eyed it with misgiving. He’d seen this before. Dr. Garrison had a modified one at Sanctuary Valley and its purpose was to take blood. Huge volumes of blood. He was hooked up to the probe and maintained a stoic demeanor despite the pain, which the lab tech made clear she enjoyed inflicting. His heart raced as the blood draw began and watching the column of red fluid leaving his body made him faintly nauseous. His body could and would regenerate but the sensation was unnerving. He knew his heart could withstand the extra load being demanded of it which was comforting to a degree.
“What the fuck game are you playing now?” he asked, forcing himself to sound calm. “After all your declarations of interest in fostering a bond between me and a human mate, you’ve changed protocols?”
The scientist rose from her seat and she had another coughing spasm that persisted until the younger tech brought her a cup of water and thick dark green fluid in a beaker. Enishiggama managed to get both liquids down and took deep breaths, visibly fighting not to cough. Leaning close to him, she said in a low voice, “I’ve read the original notes about the curative powers of your blood. These pallid antivirals from our medlab aren’t putting much of a dent in the illness I picked up so I’m moving on to the next level, an experimental treatment.” She patted his shoulder. “You’re going to cure me. You’re going to make me famous and rich as the inventor of the cure for mountain fever strain B and as a reward, I’ll let you have another female eventually. If you behave.”
“Is what you have called mountain fever?” he asked, hoping to buy time before she did more than steal his blood. In his experience the Khagrish scientists loved to spout details of their experiments and research, all of it gibberish to him.
Straightening, she shook her head and glanced furtively at the techs as she raised her voice. “No, as I told all of you, I picked up a harmless respiratory bug at the party. But I might as well put you to use for additional experiments.” Closing her eyes briefly as if in pain, she touched a hand to her lips and came away with bloodstained fingers. A tiny tear of red trickled from the corner of her left eye. She motioned to the junior tech and staggered a bit, steadying herself by grabbing onto the table where Reede was restrained. “Read me the notes again.”
Exchanging worried glances the two techs seemed tense and ill at ease but the woman read off a series of numbers from a handheld while Enishiggama wiped her face with a rag. Her hands were shaking visibly.
She’s dying. Shocked at how badly the Khagrishi had deteriorated, Reede transferred his attention to the tech as she made a futile attempt to smother a cough. This virus spreads along them like wildfire—it must be the same one Darik and Nicolle reported from the lab where they were held prisoner. Or a slightly less lethal variant. Now he studied the blood machine and repressed a shiver. Darik had nearly bled to death, hooked up to one of these devices. Reede was cold and having trouble feeling his extremities and realized his vision was affected as well. How much blood did Enishiggama think she could steal from him?
An alarm beeped on the machine and the younger tech raced over. “He’s losing consciousness. We’re exceeding the limits of a safe draw.”
“Close the port then,” Enishiggama said, twirling her fingers in a circle as if to say ‘hurry up’. “Must I tell you each discrete step of the process?” She came to the table and looked him over. Reede did his best to snarl at her but he was unaccountably weak. She caressed his bare shoulder. “Don’t let yourself become so tense and worried, 803. You and I both know your body is regenerating your blood supply already.” Taking a deep breath as if steeling herself to move, the scientist pivoted and said to the techs, “Give him a nutrient feed and cover him in warmed blankets.”
“Are we coddling the animal now?” asked the senior tech as she removed the container full of Reede’s vividly scarlet blood from the machine.
“You’d do well to speak only when spoken too,” Enishiggama said as the other tech hurried to carry out the tasks. She tapped one fingernail on the cylinder Maddumma held. “This will barely be enough, once I process it into the desired elements and add the boosters for a vaccine. I need to extract at least this much again as soon as possible, in case the first iteration isn’t ideal, or to make more if my first protocol succeeds. Either way, he has to be kept hydrated and warm.” She grabbed the tech by the elbow and the two headed for the exit.
Reede lay quietly as the remaining tech accomplished her assignments and also walked away. As soon as he heard the door close behind her, he strained against the cuffs. He had no intention of lying here swaddled in blankets like a baby and tamely submitting to having half the blood in his body stolen for a second time. To his dismay, his strength was greatly depleted by the excessive blood loss and he had to stop his struggles, close his eyes, and rest. He felt himself drifting into sleep and shifted violently on the ta
ble, causing a welcome stab of pain where the nutrient port was located. The shock through his nervous system sparked his adrenaline and brought him to full awareness.
The machine to which he was tethered beeped and shrilled an alarm and he grinned. All this work I’m doing must be having some effect. Scared their damn sensors anyway.
He decided to count to one hundred and then try forcing the weaker restraints open again. He had no idea how long he had before Enishiggama showed up to repeat the process. I’d rather be tortured by the guards than lie here helpless while she’s draining my blood. Fresh respect for Darik, who’d survived a similar ordeal, flitted through his consciousness. Fangs and talons extended, Reede finished his count, took a deep breath and flexed every muscle in his body. A metallic whine sounded as the restraints were strained to their limits and he pushed against the table with his diamond hard claws for extra leverage.
The door opened and Reede heard the sound of security guards coming toward him.
“She’s not going to make it,” one man said to the captain as they approached. “She’s weakening by the hour. You’ve got to call in help from the main lab. We need medical attention now.” A cough emphasized his concern.
“I don’t have any orders covering this situation,” he said. “Enishiggama’s in charge. We know she’s working on a treatment for this virus—”
“Did you see her this morning? She can hardly stand up,” another guard said, wheezing. “She’s not fit to be in charge.”
“Quiet—you’re speaking treason,” the captain said. “Oh, how sweet, the techs wrapped the animal up like a youngling.” His voice dripped sarcasm. Now he leaned over Reede with a grin. “I hope you enjoyed yourself because now it’s my turn to have a go at you and I know how to treat animals like you.” He yanked the port out of Reede’s arm. “And it’s not with kindness and warm blankets. We both know you understand only one thing—pain.”
Reede extended his fangs and talons, pulled against the restraints and got one hand free. Moving fast but not as easily as he did normally, he lashed out at the Khagrish. The captain jerked away to the side and Reede’s attack caught the man behind him, who was ripped open by the claws and fell to the floor with a scream, bleeding out. With another massive effort Reede freed his legs free but was still caught by one wrist. Snarling, he went down awkwardly under a barrage of stun pulses and lay half on, half off the table, all his weight pulling on the pinioned wrist.
“Never forget how dangerous they are,” the captain said to no one in particular, hands on his hips, surveying first his dying man and then Reede.
Two guards were attempting to stem the flow of blood from their fallen comrade, which Reede knew with satisfaction was a lost cause. Another guard ventured close to him, testing his reflexes with a swift kick to the ribs. Satisfied when he didn’t react, the Khagrish checked with his officer for orders.
A fusillade of Khagrish curses came from the doorway and Enishiggama rushed in, green lab coat flapping. “What in the name of the under demons do you think you’re doing to my Badari?” She hastened to the table, not even sparing a single glance for the dying guard, and bent over to take Reede’s pulse. “I left strict orders he wasn’t to be touched— have you gone insane? Get him on the table and properly restrained before the stun dose wears off.”
Three guards heaved Reede onto the table with a thump and the fourth man came forward to install new clamps binding him to the table. Paralyzed, Reede endured their rough handling while entertaining himself with vivid fantasies of the ways he’d kill them whenever he was free again. He assessed Enishiggama when she leaned over him to check his new restraints. She had more color in her cheeks and wasn’t coughing as much or as deeply. His blood must have helped her to some extent, unfortunately.
“You’ve had him in here for hours,” the captain said. “I need to interrogate him because there are parts of the story that make no sense. How did he and the woman escape the force perimeter? How did he get his neurocontroller bracelet off? What happened to the human and where’s her body? Why was he at the crashed ship?”
“None of which is relevant to the experiment I’m running here,” the scientist said calmly, stepping away to make rapid notations on a handheld.
The captain stared at the ceiling as if striving for self-control, took a deep breath and lowered his gaze to her face. “All right then, how about the bigger questions which should be concerning us all? Where on this planet are the rest of the animals and escaped humans hiding? What are their plans?”
“You don’t subscribe to the theory they all scattered and are living on their own in the wild? As animals would do?” She raised one eyebrow as she lit a feelgood stick and inhaled.
He shook his head. “Absolutely not. First of all, they had a quasi-pack structure based on their DNA, so I doubt they’re now living as lone individuals. Second, we trained them well, gave them rudimentary understanding of military tactics and they’ve apparently taken out a number of isolated labs since the original escape. I attended a briefing from the new security chief Parryfilmunn, before he was killed, and he raised many issues along these lines. He had plans which unfortunately he never got to share with us.”
Listening, Reede made a mental note to tell the Alpha and share with Camron how vital his killing of the Khagrish had been.
“I’m going to need bone marrow as well,” the scientist said, breaking into his thoughts. She pointed her feelgood stick at the senior tech. “Go ahead and set the extractor up.”
“He’s not going to feel like having sex with any so-called mates for a while after this procedure,” Maddumma said with a satisfied laugh as she brought a shiny, menacing instrument over and positioned it on his thigh, uncomfortably close to his groin. She leaned over him and whispered, “I’ve made sure this will hurt.”
“More experiments? But surely your first try was successful? You appear to be quite recovered,” the security officer said. “My congratulations. But now I must insist on having custody of 803 for at least a day, maybe two, until we break him and get the answers I want.”
You’ll never break me—I’ll die first. Reede snarled his wordless defiance.
The lab tech slapped him across the face. “Would you shut up?”
Weak as he was from the stun pulse, he managed to snag her arm with his fangs and derived great satisfaction from seeing the wound he inflicted. Maddumma screamed and stumbled away from the table, clutching her arm as blood gushed. The other lab tech scurried to help her to another part of the lab to clean and bandage the puncture. Enishiggama shook her head wearily and stubbed out the feelgood in a bowl on the desk, not showing much interest in her subordinate’s injury. “You can’t have 803 until my current protocol is 100% successful. You don’t understand the stakes we’re playing for here.”
“I can override you on this,” he said. “It’s within the regulations. Losing two days won’t significantly impair your next experiment and you know I won’t kill him. These beasts were designed to take the punishment I plan to dish out. He’ll still be able to bleed for you.”
The scientist opened her mouth to speak and coughed instead. It was a mild exhalation, not the deep-seated hacking she’d done before but everyone in the room, including Reede, stared at her. She shook her head and lit another feelgood. “Residual congestion. I’m fine.”
“Thereby proving my point,” the captain said. “Giving me custody of 803 for a day or two won’t be a problem.”
She leaned forward and spoke in a voice so quiet Reede wouldn’t have heard her but for his enhanced hearing. “Dismiss your men, tell them to wait for you in the hall. There are things you don’t understand.” Coughing again, she fumbled for the nearest stool, sat and guzzled water from a beaker, nearly choking as her spasm continued.
“Wait for me outside,” the officer said to his remaining squad.
The guards marched out with no protest and as soon as the door slid shut, Enishiggama grabbed the man by the arm and hung on
tight. “You fool, if we’re not careful, if I’m not successful, we’re all going to die.”
Lip curled in disgust and fear, the captain yanked himself free and stepped a few feet away, out of her reach. “What—what do you mean?”
“My first attempt at a vaccine was only partially effective and I can feel myself sickening again.” Balancing precariously on the stool, she gestured at her chest. “You heard me cough and my fever is rising. I must develop the cure, using his blood and bone marrow before the mountain fever takes us all to hell. Strain B, which I apparently have, doesn’t kill as fast as Strain A, the original, but it’s 99.9% lethal to us. Just takes longer. It could even mutate into yet another variation. We have to stamp it out and there’s precious little time.”
“Half the employees here are on sick call,” he said, scratching his chin as if conducting a mental roll call. “And a third of my own men. No one has died. You were the sickest and you didn’t die.”
“Yet.” She shook her head. “Those affected will all be dead soon enough and the two of us as well if I don’t come up with a way to use 803 to develop a cure.”
The officer blinked. “We have to call this in to the main lab. We have to get help, reinforcements, assistance for you to run a bigger experiment—”
“No.” Enishiggama’s denial was harsh. “When I was there for the conference, the chatter was all about the East Kasana lab, which had a similar outbreak and did call for help. Do you know what Dr. Ghazhing did? Blasted the entire place off the face of the planet and all the people with it in one big fireball. Scorched earth. Leadership is terrified of this bug and determined to wipe it out.” She coughed again.
Reede was stunned and wondered how many innocent human prisoners might have died along with the infected Khagrish. As far as he knew, there were no Badari at any lab in this hemisphere. He didn’t know which lab she was discussing, but he committed the name to memory. MARL could find out, if he lived to make it back to the valley to convey the intel to the alien AI. He hoped Aydarr would be able to launch a rescue mission for him sooner than later but his job for now was to stay alive and keep gathering information.
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