Twitching his nose and whiskers, Tiger raised his head, focusing on the spot where the haunch of meat lay.
Stroking his head and neck in an attempt to soothe him, she said, “You can eat and then I’ll try to make these awful wounds feel better.”
As if the effort was almost too much for him in his current state, Tiger lumbered to the meat, closed his massive jaws over the smaller end and limped outside.
“No eating where you sleep, I guess.” Wrapping up in a blanket, she followed, duty bound by her concern to keep an eye on him, even if there wasn’t much she could do to help.
Sprawled out in the light of the three moons, he was tearing at the meat with gusto. She gave him a wide berth and went to lean on the tree.
“I hope the meal gives you some energy,” she said, impelled to make conversation. A minute later, she added, “I appreciate your trying to keep me alive, but I think we’re both kidding ourselves. The Khagrish may have some further use for you after the experiment finishes—do they have zoos, I wonder? Clearly, there’s nothing good in my future and no need for you to suffer extra pain on my behalf.” Her voice cracked as remorse swamped her.
Tiger paused in his chewing and tilted his head as if listening. Swallowing a prodigious amount of the meat, he made a gentle huffing sound.
“Worry about it tomorrow, you say?” Elianna laughed as she imagined dialog for her companion. “Probably good advice. Maybe tomorrow a miracle will happen and the Sectors military will come and destroy this place. Or not.” She pulled the blanket closer around her shoulders and examined the sky. None of the constellations were recognizable. How far from home am I? Closing her eyes as an almost physical sense of loss and despair shot through her, Elianna drew a deep breath and clenched her fists against the pain. I won’t cry again.
Tiger butted his head against her. Startled, Elianna scratched his head and hoped her heartrate would slow down soon. “If you’re done eating, we should go inside so I can tend to those wounds. Besides, it’s getting cold for me.” Elianna headed for the door and the cat paced her obligingly.
She noted with surprise how he was walking more easily, as if his paws weren’t so sore any longer. Maybe it’s the soft grass. When she was inside, she retrieved her cloths and rinsed them in the sink. The cat watched her, head tilted, tail flicking a bit. “I’m sure you don’t much like getting your fur wet,” she said, eyeing him, dripping washcloths in her hands, “But we have to do something to help you heal.”
Sinking to her knees beside him, she gestured for Tiger to lay down, pressing on his shoulder with her free hand. He flopped onto the hard floor, sprawling full length on his side.
She took a deep breath to steel herself and leaned over to resume her care of his injuries. The lesions were clearly improving, less angry red than their condition a few minutes ago. Doing a double take, she checked him again and whistled. The lush fur had grown back visibly on the ones she’d treated before and even the ones she’d had no time to address had healthy pink skin showing. “Wow, some powerful immune system you’ve got there.” Glancing at the washcloth, she laughed ruefully. “I guess you don’t need my fumbling attempts at doctoring.”
Tiger purred loudly and washed his paw with his pink tongue. Elianna took the unnecessary compresses to the sink then returned to sit beside him, running her hand over the soft fur. Tiger relaxed even further, kneading his immense claws, which scratched on the floor as he did so. His eyes were half closed and his attitude indicated a high level of contentment.
“What kind of ‘science’ could be served by treating you so terribly?” she asked, already dreading tomorrow when the cat would no doubt be taken for further torture. She tried not to think about what the Khagrish scientists might be doing to her fellow humans. We’ve ended up in hell.
CHAPTER THREE
Next morning, the guards and Tiger played out the same scenario, with Tiger allowing himself to be stunned and hauled away. Dr. Innimarrg didn’t put in an appearance, but the lab tech lingered long enough to toss her a deck of the alien cards.
Unable to stop worrying about what Tiger had to endure today, she took the pack of cards and wandered outside. Today was noticeably less sunny, matching her mood. The air smelled as if a downpour was going to hit later but she stubbornly remained in the fresh air until the first drops fell in the late afternoon. Eventually she was forced inside by the rain, accompanied by ominous thunder and lightning.
It was late before she heard the guards coming slowly down the hall, and she rose from the sleeping platform as the squad arrived outside her cell. The force barrier vanished, and Tiger was dumped on the floor, limp and unconscious and bleeding from a web of open wounds. Had he been whipped? She gasped in horror and moved to his side the minute the guards left.
She didn’t know where to begin to try to help him. This was so much worse than the previous night.
“He’ll heal,” the lab tech said, lingering in the hall. “Or he won’t. Either way Innimarrg will be satisfied because it’ll be data.”
“You people are utter monsters,” she said, angrily brushing away tears.
The tech shrugged. “We have orders from the customer and what they want gets carried out. Been this way forever—we do what we have to in order to survive. We’re more important than you, or him. I’ll be back with his dinner soon, and I’ll try to sneak a little fresh stew for you.”
“Bring me something to treat his wounds with.” She felt as if her appetite was gone permanently, looking at her poor, abused cell mate unconscious on the floor.
“Can’t, skews the test results if he receives first aid. He’s gotta heal on his own.” With that unsympathetic remark, the Khagrish walked away.
Elianna hovered over Tiger, unsure what to do. The cold water compresses hadn’t hurt him the night before but probably didn’t do much good either. It was the only thing she had, however, so she made the effort as best she could.
Dinner had been brought before Tiger stirred into wakefulness. He hunched away from her touch and showed no interest in the raw meat, so Elianna left him alone and retreated to the sleeping platform. “I hope you can heal yourself.”
By choice, he lay where he’d been left, breathing hard and licking at his paws. Raw bands where the fur was gone indicated he’d been restrained during whatever the Khagrish had done to him, and had fought hard for his freedom. Occasionally, he swung his huge head to stare at her, but she didn’t believe he wanted to be touched.
“I’m here if you need me,” she said. “Although I wish I wasn’t if those bastards are using me to influence you.”
Tiger made his huffing noise and laid his head on his paws, closing his eyes wearily.
Elianna tried to go to sleep as well, rousing when she heard Tiger’s claws clicking on the floor. She watched him nose his way out of the cell, despite the fact it was raining outside, with thunder rumbling. Knowing he used one far corner of the external enclosure for his sanitary needs, she lay in the nest of blankets and assumed he’d soon rejoin her.
Maybe I can dry him off with one of the blankets. Maybe he’ll feel well enough to eat. The cat needed all the strength he could get before whatever fresh horrors tomorrow might bring. Elianna drifted off to sleep, but a loud crash of thunder awakened her sometime later.
Tiger had never come inside. Alarmed, she rose hastily, clutching one of the blankets as a wrap and rushed to the exterior door. Emerging into the steady rain, she was baffled to see no sign of Tiger in the enclosure.
A flash of lightning revealed the largest man she’d ever seen sprawled face down on the grass. Her first wild notion was that Tiger had killed him and somehow escaped, but the scenario made no sense. Even as she was rushing forward to where the man lay, Elianna had a terrible suspicion.
The rain was washing blood from slash marks on his naked back, duplicates to the ones Tiger had borne after his harrowing day in the lab. The man was completely naked and, as she tentatively touched his shoulder, he groaned and
Hastily averting her eyes from his muscular, generously endowed frame, she tore the blanket off her own shoulders and covered him. The action gave her something to do to counteract her shock over his transformation, which left her briefly speechless. “Tiger?”
“Kierce,” he said so faintly she could barely hear the sound. “Name’s Kierce.”
“We’ve got to get you inside before you catch your death of cold.” She urged him to sit up, relieved to have concrete action to focus on, rather than thinking about how a huge tiger became a man. “And I need to clean those wounds.”
In a groggy manner, he obeyed her command to sit, but shook his head. “Can’t go inside. I can’t let them see me on the vids.”
“Come over here by the door where there’s shelter from the rain and then I’ll go inside and check to see if the vids are activated.” Elianna pushed away the questions crowding her mind and focused on the immediate challenge. One question remained central —how in the seven hells did Tiger become this giant man?
She was afraid she was dreaming or hallucinating—did the Khagrish put drugs in her food? The cold and the rain were too vividly uncomfortable to be anything but real, calming her anxiety on one point.
Inside the cell she ran from corner to corner, checking the vidcams, but the devices were dark and immobile. Apparently, the Khagrish had lost interest and turned them off once Tiger made it clear he wasn’t going to make a messy meal of her.
Dashing outside again, hunched against the pelting rain, she beckoned to the man. “The vids are off. Please come inside.”
He hesitated but then, when she stepped to his side to help him rise, Tiger-now-Kierce held the soaked blanket closer and got to his feet unsteadily. He leaned on her so hard she staggered and her bare feet sank into the mud. He was easily seven feet tall and heavily muscled. Once inside the dimly lit cell, she steered him toward the sleeping platform, but he shook his head.
“Bleeding. Dirty.”
Speaking seemed to be a challenge for him, although his Basic was surprisingly good.
In response to his objection, Elianna changed course, heading for the open bathroom area in the rear area of the cell. “All right, sit here on the floor beside the sink and let me clean us both off a bit.”
Using her washcloths from the day before, she rinsed his back, pleased to see the lash marks fading rapidly, although she was sure there’d be scars to match older ones already marring his skin from previous mistreatment.
“I can do the rest,” he said, taking the cloth from her with renewed energy and improved fluency. “Take care of yourself, please.”
Rinsing her feet off took a minute. As she arranged the washcloths along the sink to dry, she felt his gaze.
“Thank you,” he said, handing her the one he’d used.
As if she was in a dream, the sheer unreality of this situation with the polite, giant man sitting on the floor at her feet leaving her oddly unmoored, Elianna wrung out the last cloth and asked, “You—you are Tiger?”
He nodded and she noticed how his golden eyes glowed in the cell, which had been darkened for the sleep cycle. He has the same beautiful eyes—he must be the cat. But how did this happen?
“I don’t understand how it’s possible for you to be…well, you, and also be Tiger,” she said. “I have so many questions but first, thank you for saving me.”
His lips twisted in a smile and she drew a sharp breath at how unbelievably handsome he was. In a deep, gravelly voice, he said, “Not sure I actually did you any favors.” Adjusting the blanket into a crude kilt as he belatedly realized how much of his lower body was exposed, he put out a hand to steady himself against the wall and rose.
Elianna moved into position at his side, bracing him. “I’m afraid the sleeping platform is the best we can do to get off the cold floor.”
Breathing hard, he went slowly in that direction. The contrast between his awkward movements now and the fluid grace of the huge feline she was used to was marked. As if he’s learning to use the human body. She shook her head as they made their way across the cell. Kierce sank onto the platform. Elianna hesitated. Nestling with the gigantic cat was one thing, but cuddling with this massive, naked man was another.
“You may have noticed I don’t bite.” He smiled at her reluctance to sit beside him. “Not you anyway.”
She took one of the blankets for a cloak before joining him, sitting a few inches away. “Are you warm enough?”
He nodded. “We run hot, unlike you humans,”
“Can I get you anything? “ She glanced at the platter of raw meat near the entrance to the cell. “You didn’t touch your dinner, and you’re so unsteady on your feet right now. You probably need the protein.” A sense of unreality swept over her, conversing with this man who had been a tiger.
“Could you spare a ration bar or two from your stash?” Kierce made a face. “In this form I’m not much for eating spoiled raw meat.”
“Of course.” Elianna rushed to get three of the bars and a bottle of the nutrient fluid from the dwindling supply on the shelf over the sink. Hopefully, the lab tech could get her more.
With a word of thanks he accepted her gift and stolidly worked his way through the dry rations and drank most of the nutrient in one long swallow. Leaning his head against the wall, he closed his eyes and sighed. “I’m sure you have questions. Thanks for not losing your calm when you found me. I can’t let Innimarrg know he succeeded.”
“I’m not as calm as you may believe,” she said with a laugh that released some of her tension. “On the old wreck of a ship I crewed for, I got used to hiding my emotions during crisis situations so as not to scare our passengers. A spacer sees a lot of weird stuff roaming the galaxy, but this situation tops anything I’ve ever run across before. How—how can you be a man and a tiger?”
“I’m a genetically engineered being. We call ourselves Badari. The Khagrish call us animals because they used alien feline predator DNA and who knows what else besides when the scientists created us.” His calm explanation left her stunned.
With dawning comprehension, she asked, “The tiger? The Khagrish used a feline predator’s DNA?”
Kierce shrugged. “Who can say? All I know is, we’re bred and raised at a large lab in the opposite hemisphere from where you and I are sitting right now. We’re in training to fight against your human Sectors but, about a month ago, three of us were separated from our ranks and flown here to become Innimarrg’s property. He subjected us to treatments and experiments like the Khagrish always do. Pointless. Painful.” He seemed lost in the memories and Elianna waited for him to continue. Fisting his hands then flexing them wide, he said, “Then we started changing.”
“Into tigers?” She was trying to make sense of the narrative, which certainly involved science unlike any she’d ever heard of in the Sectors.
“Innimarrg said he played with our DNA again, used some kind of chemical hooks built into the base material—the scientific theory is beyond me, although he loves to bloviate. I’m a simple soldier.” Kierce held out a hand at her eye level and Elliana recoiled with a gasp as huge black talons appeared and disappeared at his fingertips. “These are mine, not the tiger’s. Had them all my life. Apparently, the Khagrish were trying to improve even further.”
Questions tumbled in her head. She wouldn’t have believed this story if the man wasn’t sitting right next to her. The whole thing was like a tall tale a drunken spacer might spin at a bar, but Kierce was undeniably real. Elianna focused on the most important issue in the narrative. “What happened to your two friends?”
“My brothers.” His correction was gentle, and his voice was sad. “We Badari are all brothers, not born of the same mother or father but related in the eyes of our goddess.” He stared at his clasped hands. “They died.”
“I’m so sorry.” She reached out to touch his hand, hearing the pain in his voice.
Kierce sipped at the remaining nutrient drink. “Remm was first—he died early in the process. Apparently, he was allergic to whatever the Khagrish are using. His passing was merciful, thank the Great Mother. I hoped Innimarrg might abandon the effort after losing Remm.” He glanced at her and gave a strained smile which was painful to see. “Repatriate us to our home lab.”
“Obviously that didn’t happen.” Elianna didn’t know what to say. What comfort could she offer a man caught in a situation so out of the ordinary and tragic?
Laughing mirthlessly, Kierce crushed the nutrient container in his hand and hurled it across the cell. Elianna heard it impact on the far wall. Obviously, there was a deep current of anger and hatred under the surface of Kierce’s matter of fact discussion. “One should never allow any hope to take root while in a Khagrish lab. I constantly re-learn the lesson. As you say, the two of us who were left didn’t get to leave. The protocol continued unabated. Tikrel died much later, half man, half beast. In agony.” He flashed the talons again. “I gave him mercy at his express request, may the goddess forgive me, and hoped I’d make Innimarrg angry enough to kill me too.” He glanced at her as if to gauge her reaction to his confession. “You see? Again I had hope, only to be denied.”
Elianna had to swallow hard because of the lump in her throat brought on by Kierce’s bare bones recital of events. “And then?”
“Unfortunately, I was a good subject for the experiment, the so-called upgrade was taking effect on me smoothly.” He stretched and rubbed at his shoulder with one large hand. She tried to imagine what it must have been like to feel oneself transforming into a great beast. “And I overheard a lab tech say the science council refused to grant Innimarrg any more subjects until he had proof of his concept. The supply of Badari is quite limited. I knew for the good of the rest of my brothers I had to find a way to fail.”
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