Let them feel safe for now while they could. For now, they were safe from him, but he could wait with the infinite patience of a hunter. His dark inner lid sliding protectively over his eyes, he watched and waited.
Chapter 35
The room that Lori was brought to appeared sterile, nothing but white surfaces and chrome everywhere she looked. Even worse, the bright lights filling the room stabbed into her eyes. Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes as she squinted against them. The low-lit corridors leading through the colony hadn’t bothered her, but this was pure hell. She was also quite certain that she looked a mess. Although Slengral had groomed her the best that he could, she hadn’t had access to a brush, her clothes were covered in red dust, and now her eyes felt like they were bleeding. They were no doubt red and weepy, probably making her appear less than stable as she was thrust in front of the small group of men waiting inside.
The guards who had accompanied her immediately fell back behind her, leaving her exposed and completely at the mercy of the colony officials staring at her as if she were a specimen in a jar. Each of them was masked with the clear medical masks tightly sealed over the area it covered on their lower faces. Breathable and completely translucent, it was ninety-eight percent protective against possible contagions and difficult to see out of unless in harsh lighting.
Among the men standing there, Supervisor Jack Dowry she recognized immediately, his unpleasant scowl giving him away even if her vision wasn’t clear. The others were a mystery to her, but they were noticeably of three different designations. She hadn’t expected three. She knew that the command council was comprised of United Earth military officials and representatives from the Corp, and they were easy to pick out by their attire, but the third was surprising and made her very nervous. The three medics wearing lab coats to protect their crisp uniforms didn’t have any reason to be there. It didn’t help that their eyes stared at her with rapt interest from where they stood clustered at one side with their large medical coded datapads gripped closely to them.
They were standing there like a pack of wolves just waiting for permission to get at her. She didn’t understand what their interest was, but she was also certain she didn’t want to find out.
Lori shivered and looked away from them, her gaze landing on the four representatives, each clad in their polished suits. They studied her, expressions shuttered as they spoke quietly among themselves. Their suits were the only splash of color in the room. The only one among them who seemed to not be participating in the discussion was a grim-faced woman who regarded her with an icy calm. Her platinum hair swept back in a sleek bob and dressed in an impeccable suit of a designer label and tie, she was the only feminine presence in the room, and everything about her shouted Corp to the core. Whatever the reason that the white-coats were in the room, Lori was pretty sure she wouldn’t get any personal help from that quarter.
The icy demeanor of the blond was only matched by the man standing beside her. The two of them together could have easily been a power couple. Dark to her fair color, he was particularly imposing as he stood there with his thick arms crossed over his barrel chest. At his right were two other men in military uniform, their expressions closed and watchful.
Everyone seemed to be watching her as if she were the enemy. Lori tried not to shrink back from the ten pairs of eyes boring into her, but she was pretty sure she wilted at least a little beneath their scrutiny. Returning to the colony had been a very bad idea.
One of the suits stepped forward. Possessing what her mother would have called “the boy next door” good looks, tall with an athletic build and sandy brown hair beautifully groomed back away from his gray eyes, he was staring at her with such interest that he glanced down only briefly at his datapad. His smile was quick, and dare she say, almost warm as he regarded her. That didn’t set her at ease at all and only made her even more nervous.
“Lori, I am Castel Everly, Senior Representative of Darvel Exploratory Corporation. With me are Representatives Warren Michaels, David Peterson, and Lyndsay Sohen,” he said, nodding to each of the other suits in turn.
At her lack of response, his brow arched. “Lori Straford, citizen I.D. U2386-99-02, designated mining employee of Darvel Exploratory Corporation. This is your name, ID, and designation, correct?”
She looked at him blankly. Did they have that many missing women that they weren’t entirely certain which one she was? At his frown, she recovered and nodded.
“Yes,” she croaked and was relieved when a cup of water was promptly produced by an assistant she hadn’t seen in the background.
She drained the cup in two gulps, the relief of the cool water going down her throat gratifying. Lowering the cup, her eyes shifted among the men before coming back to the suit.
He smiled and made a note on his pad. “Excellent. As I was saying, these are my associates, and over there is Commander Niel Patricks who heads the colony operations, and his supervisor leads, Lance Eskel and Jack Dowry, whom you should already know.”
Lori nodded, her eyes flicking to Dowry’s sour expression only to settle on Patricks’ shark-like stare. His eyes were cold as they scrutinized her. His dark gaze shifted away from her to the datapad he lifted in one hand.
“Citizen U2386-99-02, we have it here that you have been missing for the last four weeks and were presumed dead after an incident at the mine,” he said stiffly.
It was a statement, not a question, so she did nothing but mutely stare ahead as he looked over what she presumed to be her file.
Had it really been a month? The days ran together so much that she had lost count, but this news took her by surprise. While the dark had seemed endless, she had assumed that it had been much less time since the accident.
Dark eyes lifted and met hers as he lowered his datapad. His voice was sharp when he spoke again.
“Three weeks with no sign of your possible whereabouts. Would you mind explaining where you have been all of this time?”
She licked her lips, her stomach twisting anxiously under the hard look he pinned her with. She hugged her arms around her waist, wishing that she was back in that cave, back in Slengral’s nest, even if there was a threat of males and even the shinara now.
The thought of the impending danger had her drawing in a steadying breath and releasing it. She was there for a reason, and this was it.
“In the caves below the mines,” she answered. “Where I fell.”
His expression tightened as if she were being intentionally uncooperative and elusive.
“Our data says that there is no way you could have survived that fall. We lost twenty individuals in the mines during the collapse and only a handful of bodies ever recovered when they should have been easily dug out. You were seen falling into the depths of the shaft, and yet you are the one who returned to us. We are very interested to know how you survived.”
Lori shifted uncomfortably, his shark eyes cataloging her every movement. She was well aware that this is where shit could potentially go downhill.
And yet as she met that hard gaze, she had an inkling that, somehow, he suspected.
She shivered, her arms tightening harder around her waist as she darted a quick look at the medics. There could only be one reason then that they would be there, and it wasn’t to take her vitals and make sure she was okay else they would have already done so.
“I was grabbed out of the air,” she whispered, her voice sounding far too loud in the silence.
“By the aliens… those monsters?”
She winced at the condemning word, though with the recent attacks on the colony she could understand where the sentiment was coming from. But Corp was destroying their home. She had little doubt that the cave-in had been a result of the excavator. Of course they would retaliate. As far as the Seshanamitesh were concerned, they were violators and as good as meat.
Or potential mates, she silently amended.
“By one,” she agreed reluctantly. She had no interest in el
aborating further on just how she ended up with Slengral.
Patricks nodded, his chest expanding as he took a deep breath. Turning away, he gestured to one of the medics with a flick of his hand in her direction.
“You know what to do,” he ordered as he turned and left the room, the command council trickling out behind him.
Her eyes widened as the small team produced masks and gloves from seemingly nowhere and advanced on her. Spinning around, she tried to run, only to be hemmed in by the guards behind her and spun forward once more by their rough hands.
“Wait, please!” she shouted, her eyes frantically searching for a way to escape or anyone who might listen to her.
Hands grabbed her, hoisting her effortlessly off her feet to carry her further into the room toward the examination table occupying a containment zone at the back. Yelling, Lori kicked her feet as she jerked from side to side in attempt to break their grasp.
“It’s okay, Ms. Straford,” Representative Everly soothed, his voice calm as he trotted behind them. “These are standard precautions we must take to make sure you haven’t been infected with anything from the alien species.”
“Like what?” she screamed, her body ruthlessly pinned down to the examination table by two pairs of hands as the third quickly applied the restraints. She ignored them to glare at Everly. “This isn’t an old earth horror movie!”
He grimaced after her and shook his head. “Every world can have a host of dangers, not the least of which is contagions that could infect the entire colony. We evacuated the sector you were taken through prior to your entry and it is now being decontaminated. Even the guards here are officially under quarantine. Once we determine that you are safe, you will be released back to your duties. Just relax and enjoy having a few days of rest.”
Rest? She stared at him in bewilderment for only a moment before she arched and pulled against her restraints, her breath coming out in sharper, shorter pants with her struggle.
Everly looked at the medic nearest him and nodded his head. A gloved hand lifted within her view, holding a hypo-spray gun. Gasping, she tried to jerk away, but with the restraints holding her in place she didn’t manage to move her head more than a couple of inches before the nozzle end brushed her skin to administer the medication.
Blinking rapidly as she fought against the effects of the sedative, her eyes rolled back. A tiny whimper escaped her, a tear trickling down her cheek. She didn’t want to fall asleep. She was afraid. Everything around her was starting to feel muffled and far away.
“Please,” she whispered again on a quiet sob.
He shook his head, his lips bowing in a sympathetic smile. He didn’t touch her, but his eyes were friendly as he gazed down at her.
“Rest. The medics are going to run a series of tests and with your current agitation it would be better for all concerned if you are sedated. Before you know it, you will be awake and enjoying a comfortable quarantine with nothing more to do than to answer whatever questions we may have regarding your escape from the aliens and concentrate on getting better.”
“But…” she whispered through uncooperative lips. I didn’t escape, she finished. She didn’t know if she said it aloud or not as she descended into darkness. All she knew was that she ached to be home with Slengral, Daskh, and even Kehtal.
Somewhere imbedded within a dream—a dream where she was in the arms of her mate—she heard a voice that didn’t belong in her intimate world.
“Sir, I need you to look at this. It’s incredible.”
“Agreed. Are you certain that these results are accurate?” another voice demanded.
“One hundred percent. We’re guessing it must be passed through intimate contact considering what else we found, but these mutations were occurring rapidly.”
“Were?”
“Yes, sir. They’ve slowed down. I’m guessing that regular intimate contact is necessary to continue passing along whatever is causing these mutations to thrive within the host body. This could be the answer to the sickness that devastates large populations of our mining crew. With this mutation, if we can extract completely mutated human cells from her body, we could reverse engineer it to virally inoculate our miners.”
“It would speed up production,” a woman’s voice cut in coolly. “I approve of this plan of action.”
“Very well,” the second said thoughtfully. “It seems that we are going to need to capture one of these creatures then and introduce it with her inside a containment unit.”
“How can you be so certain that this mutagen was introduced sexually?” the woman spoke again. “We might be wrong and not even need a live specimen. They might not even be sexually compatible with humans.”
“Oh, I’m sure,” the first chuckled.
“How?” the woman demanded, her voice beginning to fade from Lori’s private world.
“Because…” the first replied, his voice now nothing more than wisps. “She’s pregnant. It’s early yet but detectable.”
“I see. Confine her immediately.”
Chapter 36
Lori woke, her head spinning as she sat up. The mattress beneath her was thin and uncomfortable as any bed in the med bay. She rubbed her face with one hand in confusion. She wasn’t in the med bay, though. She knew exactly where that was. Where she had been taken, while well supplied, had nothing to do with treating the miners and staff.
Although the light was mercifully dimmer, her head pounded with the residual side effects of the strong sedative. At least she was no longer on the exam table. Blinking, she focused on her surroundings, taking in the four walls that surrounded her. She swallowed against a tide of nausea.
She was in a cage.
It was a clean cage, the floor dirt free, the bedding fresh, and she was grateful to see that the cell possessed a small sink and commode tucked into one corner. The walls themselves, while completely transparent, were likewise clean, even if the space was uncomfortably small. The wall directly across from her bed had a keycode-locked door that connected to another transparent cell next to hers. It was a mirror reflection of hers in terms of the way it was organized. Thankfully, it was unoccupied. She didn’t like to think of someone being there to watch her pee or wash herself or being able to see her at any given moment.
She wasn’t so naive to think that there weren’t cameras trained on the cell doing exactly that, but it was easier to pretend that they were not there. Just as she had been trying to pretend not to notice the eyes peering at her now.
Pushing up slowly from the bed, she turned to her left to face Commander Patricks. He looked the same as he had before except that he no longer wore a mask, his face set into callous lines. He stood on the other side of a door that was fitted with a retractable chamber so that she could safely receive anything they gave her. She wasn’t sure if she was being quarantined or imprisoned. It felt about the same as she would have expected either situation to feel.
Brushing her hands down the cotton gown she now wore—her TRS and uniform having disappeared at some point during the rounds of testing she was sure, leaving her now decidedly at a disadvantage and once again practically bare—she lifted her chin and faced him as fearlessly as she could muster.
“Why am I in here, Commander?”
His head tilted slightly, one corner of his mouth ticking up. “The answer would be complicated. One, you are in here because you violated United Earth sanctions against interspecies copulation.” He gave her a hard look. “That is to say, you broke the law and should be confined.”
He relaxed again and began to leisurely stroll along the side of her cage, Lori adjusting her stance to keep an eye on him as he paced around her like a predator.
She let out a shaky laugh, attempting to play it off. There was no way she was going to admit to that charge. They could see the truth of it themselves when she was flying away safely with her mate… if she ever got out of there.
“What makes you think I would do anything to jeopardize my contract? On
e year and I’m out and enjoying employment on Zeril Prime in a luxury resort.”
His smile widened, and he chuckled. “That’s what you think? I see now how they lured you here. I wonder how many similar ‘deals’ they made with other miners. No one would willingly come to mine on M285.” He shook his head with amusement. “So foolish and clearly so easy to catch just by offering you exactly what you wanted. One year is nothing when it comes to your dreams… correct?” He did not wait for her to respond before he let out another loud rumble of laughter. “Unfortunately, that was never going to happen.”
Lori’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
Patricks stepped closer to the cell, his smile morphing to a contemptuous smirk. “I suppose there is no harm in telling you.” Lifting one hand, he tapped a finger on the glass slowly to emphasize every word he spoke. “Because, little girl, there is no leaving M285.”
At her horrified expression, he dropped his hand and laughed. “Not for the laboring crew exposed to the elements, anyway. After even a few days of breathing the air, it starts to change you so you could not survive without the gas components specific to this planet. Not thoroughly, unfortunately, not enough so that we don’t need to rotate the crews week by week, but enough to guarantee that you will be spending the rest of your life here.”
She shook her head in denial. “No, that can’t possibly be right. I have seen everyone outside at one point or another. And we all wear masks”
He clucked his tongue and shook his head. “And that is why controlling perceptions is so important. You only think you saw what you did.” He tucked his hands behind his back and regarded her thoughtfully. “The chief staff and I go off planet all the time as you likely know, and that’s because we don’t breathe the air outside. All the upper staff receive similar consideration. I suppose you didn’t notice the way your superiors are fully masked whenever they are outside whereas you just have ventilation units to filter out the sand and dust. They do not suffer exposure. Even the dome is multi layered, letting heat out but not letting the outside air in.”
Serpents of the Abyss (The Darvel Exploratory Systems #2) Page 25
