RISE

by R. D. Brady

  The lock on the door turned, and the steel door was pushed in. A woman stepped through. In the dim light, all Maeve could really make out was that she had long hair that she thought might be blonde. She was slim and held herself with confidence. A tall, hulking man stood behind her like a bodyguard. The thought of that made her laugh. Like a Draco needed a bodyguard against them.

  For just a split moment, she thought that maybe someone had come to rescue them. But then she saw the Draco guards behind the two humans. And it was clear that these two, although they appeared human, were definitely not on their side.

  “Dr. Leander, a pleasure to finally meet you. And Dr. Schorn, your work has been most illuminating.”

  Neither Maeve nor Greg said anything. But she felt Alvie walk up behind her. He took her hand, standing in between her and Greg. Iggy let out a low growl. A small light in the ceiling flickered on. Maeve blinked, and it took her eyes a few seconds to adjust, even though the light wasn’t that bright.

  The woman stepped to the side, peering behind Maeve and Greg. “It is a Maldek. When I heard the reports, I thought they had to be mistaken. Amazing. I thought they were all extinct. Oh, won’t you be a perfect little toy.”

  Iggy’s growl got deeper. The hair on the back of Maeve’s neck stood up. “Iggy, no.”

  She’d seen Iggy fight. She knew what he was capable of. But she’d also seen the Draco fight. And they were outnumbered.

  Iggy’s growls quieted. Alvie squeezed her hand lightly, and Maeve knew he’d communicated with Iggy as well.

  The blonde woman raised an eyebrow. “Interesting. Now, where are my manners? I am Tatiana Brecknoff, the leader of the Draco. Technically I am the queen, but that seems such an old-fashioned phrase these days, doesn’t it?”

  “What do you want with us?” Greg asked.

  Tatiana took another step forward, her giant shadow following her. “What an excellent question, Dr. Schorn.” She reached out a long fingernail toward him. He reared back. She smiled in response, taking a step away from him, reminding Maeve of a cat playing with its food.

  Tatiana clasped her hands in front of her, smiling at both Greg and Maeve before focusing her attention on Alvie in between them. Maeve shifted, pulling Alvie behind her.

  Tatiana’s smile widened even more. “Why, I have multiple uses for each of you. You and Dr. Leander have made strides in the scientific world that will be of great use to us. And of course, your connection to the Orion, the Maldek, and the hybrid will be of great use as well.”

  Maeve started at the term Orion, having to keep herself from turning to look at Luke. “Orion?”

  Tatiana let out a small trill of laughter. “Oh, there is so much for you to learn, and so much for you to teach us. I believe this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship.”

  Maeve swallowed, her heart pounding. Tatiana sounded like she had quite a few plans for them. On the one hand, that was good, because the longer they stayed alive, the longer it gave their people to find them. But on the other hand, the idea of Tatiana making plans that included them made her grow cold. She couldn’t help but think of how the creatures were treated by the humans back at Area 51. And she had a horrible feeling that now they were the ones who were going to be the specimens.

  “But before all of that, you five will play a very important role.” Tatiana went silent, looking at them expectantly.

  “What role?” Greg finally asked.

  Tatiana smiled brightly. “Bait.”

  Chapter Ninety

  Somewhere Over the Western Half of the United States

  No one said a word. The fuselage was dead silent. Chris studied Adam, thinking of everything he’d seen the man do. He’d taken on two Hanks by himself. He always wore those sunglasses as if the light bothered him. And he had an almost preternatural sense for danger.

  Chris stood up, his hand resting on the Glock at his belt. “Adam?”

  “Well, enough of this nonsense.” Jasper slammed his fist into Martin’s chin. Martin’s eyes rolled back in his head, and it dropped to the side as he went unconscious again.

  Norah had her P90 in her hand, aimed at Jasper. Sandra had hers aimed at Mike.

  “What the hell is going on?” Sandra demanded.

  “Adam, is it true? Are you a Draco?” Chris asked.

  Adam nodded slowly. “Yes.”

  Chris’s mouth fell open, and he wasn’t sure what to do. “I don’t understand. You helped us. You saved Alvie and Greg.”

  Jasper put up his hands. “Okay. Let’s have everybody take a step back and calm down for just a minute. Maybe we could all lower those weapons?”

  No one dropped their weapons.

  Jasper sighed. “Okay, let’s everybody keep their weapons right where they are. But let’s all try to take a calming breath, and we can talk this out.”

  Chris looked at Jasper. “You knew. In New Mexico, you said not to worry about Adam when he was down there fighting the Hanks. You said he could handle himself.”

  “I know. I’ve known for decades. I met Adam when I was twenty-one years old and had just enlisted in the Navy. We had both been sent overseas. He saved my life. In fact, he’s saved my life dozens of times over the years. And not to toot my own horn, but I saved his a least twice.”

  Adam tilted his head, looking at Jasper.

  Jasper shrugged. “Okay, once. So why don’t we—”

  Chris cut Jasper off. “No. I want to hear it from Adam.”

  Adam hesitated for a moment, and Chris wondered what was going through his mind. But finally, he nodded and took a seat. “Okay.”

  Chapter Ninety-One

  Edmonds, Washington

  The Draco guards led them from the cell after Tatiana’s pronouncement. There had been an additional six guards waiting in the hallway. The sight of them was terrifying. She’d seen them at the R.I.S.E. base, but she hadn’t had a chance to see them up close and personal like this. Their skin was dark green, and it looked like rough alligator skin. Each stood at least six feet tall, although some were closer to seven.

  Their arms and legs were strong and humanoid, but their feet were long, flat, and wide. They wore no shoes but had sharp, rounded nails at the end of each foot. And instead of hands, they had three talons on the end of each arm.

  Their faces were more similar to humans, at least compared to the Kecksburg-AG2s. Their chins were more rounded in their skulls, more bulbous. But their noses were flat rather than extended. Their mouths were about the size of humans, although they had sharper teeth. Their eyes were the same size as humans, although now that Maeve knew they had them, she could see their second set of eyelids and the unusual shape to their pupils. They resembled lizard eyes more than human eyes.

  But Tatiana and her bodyguard looked human. They each had a normal skin tone, which was smooth. They had fingers and a normal musculature. And they had hair. The rest of the Draco did not.

  Tatiana glanced back at Maeve as they headed through the hallways. “You’re wondering how we are all the same species?”

  Maeve started, not sure if the Draco could read their minds. If they could, that opened a whole new realm of horrible. “How did you know that?”

  Tatiana’s laughter filled the hallway. “You two are scientists. You are perpetually curious, are you not?”

  She was right. And Maeve felt better.

  “So how are you the same species? Your physical appearance is radically different,” Greg asked.

  “We are of royal blood. It allows us to be more adaptable to our surroundings. When we first arrived, we noticed that those of royal blood started to change. Our offspring began to show some characteristics of the native population. Of course, at first those offspring were simply killed. But it did not solve the problem. As a result, we allowed one child to live and monitored it. There is nothing different about the child except for how it looked. It could not pass for human, but it was close. In that case, the child was simply the same skin tone as the humans, although everyt
hing else remained perfectly Draco.”

  Maeve pictured an essentially pink Draco. It was not a nice image.

  “In successive generations, we experimented, and the adaptations increased. Until finally, we appeared human. There is no way to distinguish between Draco royalty and humans. This allowed us to interact with your society.”

  That was why it had taken them so long to retaliate against the humans. It wasn’t because they were patient. It wasn’t because they were waiting for the perfect time. It was because they had to wait until their disguises were in place.

  “How long has that been?”

  “I am five hundred years old, give or take a few decades. I was one of the first fully human-looking Draco. It took longer than those with less royal blood to adapt, so I had to bide my time. But finally, everything fell into place. And now we are ready.”

  Maeve wanted to ask what they were ready for. But at the same time, she didn’t want to know.

  “Ready for what?” Greg asked.

  Tatiana smiled, a pure predatory smile. “Ready to take over.”

  Chapter Ninety-Two

  Somewhere Over the Western Half of the United States

  Adam sat facing the back of the plane. Chris could read nothing in the man’s face. But then, he’d never been able to read anything in the man’s expression. Emotions just simply didn’t cross his face.

  But he had seen Adam show emotions. He’d been kind to the triplets and Alvie. He’d connected with Penny in a way that none of the other adults had managed to.

  Chris studied him now, not looking for emotions but looking for any telltale sign that gave away that he was a separate species. His hair was extremely blonde but not out of the realm of humanity. He had those chiseled cheeks that came from a body with very little fat, but again, that looked human too. The only thing that really set him apart, which came off more as a quirk than anything else, were the sunglasses.

  “Take off your sunglasses,” Chris said.

  Adam paused and then reached up and removed them. His eyes were a blinding blue, startling in their clarity. Adam blinked, and for just a split second, the pupils shifted, elongating.

  Norah gasped, taking a step back. “Oh my God. How have you passed for human?”

  But Chris knew it had been relatively easy. None of them had suspected who or what he was. And they’d spent hours with the man.

  Even as Chris acknowledged that, his mind still rebelled at the thought of Adam as Draco. “I don’t understand. You helped us.”

  Adam nodded. “Yes. And I intend to continue helping you.”

  “But the Draco don’t do that, do they?” Norah asked, her gaze shifting to each of the people around her.

  “Why don’t we just let Adam tell his story?” Jasper said.

  Everyone’s attention returned to Adam. Without the glasses, Chris could see emotion on the man’s face. “I am one of the first human-looking Draco. There were two of us, myself and my sister. After generations of experiments and mixing of species, they finally created a Draco who could pass for human, all except for our eyes.” Adam fell silent.

  Jasper walked over and patted him on the shoulder. “But something went wrong in this case. Twins were born, both looked human. They had been created by merging human DNA with Draco DNA. But they did not receive equal shares of each. The other twin looked human but was full Draco. Adam here also looked human but also has human emotions, even though his anatomy was that of a Draco.”

  Adam continued the tale. “They didn’t detect the flaw until I was two. By the time I was four, they knew I was different. And the Draco don’t like different.”

  “What did they do?” Norah asked.

  “A test. To see which of the twins was more Draco. A fight to the death.”

  “When you were only four?” Anger clouded Sandra’s words.

  Adam shrugged, but the tight set of his jaw gave away his anger. “The Draco do not coddle their young. Once they can walk, they are expected to fend for themselves in many ways.”

  “You lost the fight?” Chris asked.

  Adam shook his head. “No. I beat my sister, but I refused to kill her. So the Draco hierarchy tried to kill me. I don’t remember much. There was a water source near our base. Somehow I ended up in the water and was pulled away by the current. After the beating I took, I believe they thought I was dead.”

  “How did you survive, then?” Norah asked.

  A small smile crept across Adam’s face. “A family found me. They took me into their home. They raised me as their son, their brother. They showed me human kindness. They were good people.”

  “Where was this?” Norah asked.

  “It was in the country that is currently called Norway.”

  Chris frowned. Currently called? It was a strange choice of words. Unless … “Adam, how old are you?”

  Adam hesitated, and Chris’s body tensed. If he was reticent about answering that question, then Chris knew it was not something any of them wanted to hear.

  “The Draco reach maturity at the age of twenty. And then we age incredibly slowly from that point on. I was born over 500 years ago.”

  Norah grabbed onto the back of a chair. “The Draco live for hundreds of years?”

  “Not all of them. Most have a lifespan similar to humans, although slightly longer. The soldiers that you have seen usually live no more than 100 to 130 years.”

  “But the human ones live longer,” Sandra said.

  Adam nodded.

  “Why is that? Human DNA can’t possibly extend their lifespan,” Chris said. He’d learned enough from Maeve about DNA to know at least that much.

  “No. In fact, the worry was that the human DNA would shorten the lifespan,” Adam said.

  “Tell them about the other twins,” Jasper said.

  “Other twins?” Norah asked.

  “A few children have been found over the years, in a similar state to Adam when he was found. None of them survived their injuries,” Jasper said.

  “They were Draco?” Norah asked.

  Adam nodded, his jaw tight.

  “That’s when we realized that twins were the only way that you could make a full Draco who looked human. If it was a single birth, the hybrid had too much human in them. But with twins, the human seems to vest in one twin while the other is left pure Draco.”

  “But why would that work? At least for Adam. He was a fraternal twin, not identical. Male and female are always fraternal,” Norah said.

  “Actually,” Mike said, “that’s not always the case. We’ve learned that male and female twins can be semi-identical. They are created from the same egg, but by different sperm. It’s incredibly rare. There are only two documented cases. But we believe the egg is the critical factor in determining the breakdown of the human versus Draco genetics. It’s pretty cool.”

  “So you’re a bit of a medical unicorn,” Norah said.

  Adam shrugged. “I suppose so.”

  “What makes them different? Why do they live longer?” Sandra asked.

  Jasper cleared his throat. “The human-looking ones all have royal blood.”

  “You’re royalty?” Norah asked.

  Adam hesitated. “Yes. But I never would have ruled. Only the women in my family rule.”

  Chris stared at him, his words niggling in the back of his mind. “So your sister, your twin …”

  Adam nodded, his gaze meeting Chris’s. “Yes, she is the queen. She rules them all.”

  Chapter Ninety-Three

  Edmonds, Washington

  Maeve and the others were led through the underground halls and into a stairwell. As they rose, the walls became less damp and then smoother.

  We must be going to the surface. Finally one of the Draco guards pulled open a door. Tatiana strode through. After a moment’s hesitation, Maeve stepped through as well.

  Bright sunlight hit her face, making her blink. It had never felt so good to see sun. Ahead of her, Tatiana put on sunglasses, even though
they were not outside. Just like Adam. She started at the thought and took a longer look at Tatiana. Her and Adam did bear a striking resemblance to one another.

  They were in some sort of small building. The rectangular room they were led to was about twenty by forty feet and had long windows along each side, which were open. A breeze blew through, bringing with it the smell of seawater and fish. A seagull squawked somewhere overhead. We’re on a coast.

  She looked longingly at the windows, but she knew escape was not an option.

  Tatiana gestured to the middle of the room where there were couches and chairs set up. On a table in between them was a water pitcher. A bowl of fruit had been placed there as well. “Make yourselves comfortable. You may be here for a while.”

  Maeve exchanged a glance with Greg and then escorted the group over to the middle of the room. She didn’t understand why Tatiana had brought them here. She had said that they were going to be bait, but they were inside. She scanned the walls for some sort of camera, but there didn’t appear to be one. And the windows were up high on the wall, so no one would be able to look in and see them unless they were ten feet tall.

  Maybe Tatiana had told someone where they were. But why then not keep them down in the dungeon where it would be harder to get to them? None of this made any sense. But she didn’t want to ask Tatiana. Being out of the damp cell was a small blessing, and she wasn’t going to do anything that might get them thrown back in there.

  So she took a seat on the couch and poured glasses of water for everyone. She exchanged a worried glance with Greg as she handed him a glass. Then she sat back, waiting to see if anyone would take the bait.

  Chapter Ninety-Four