by Amber Stuart
He shook his head, his expression completely cold, though his tone was warmly sympathetic. “I’m afraid that isn’t an option, Jada. I must leave you now, but my assistants will see that you’re settled in after intake testing.”
She stiffened again, her breath catching in her throat as she realized they planned to start right away. Fear nearly blinded her, because she was terrified of what they might do to her. As the doctor left them, and they detoured to the left down the hallway, she clenched her hands around the wheelchair as an even graver possibility occurred to her.
What if they detected the nanobots in her bloodstream and realized she had a connection to one of their own? Or at least one of their own species, but not their group. How would they react? She wasn’t certain, but at the very least, it would remove Ryland’s ability to stage a surprise attack.
She was close to hyperventilating by the time they stopped before a hydraulic door, and one of the aliens pressed a button on a metal pad by the wall to allow their entry. It was a cold and sterile room, filled with medical instruments and a large table in the middle that sent a shudder of dread down her spine when she saw the straps attached to it.
She had known intellectually that they didn’t care about the women they were forcibly recruiting, but seeing the reality up close and personally of just how ruthless and uncaring they were brought it home sharply. She and the other women like her were little more than lab rats to these people, to be confined and used as needed.
She didn’t believe Dr. Ha’s promise about healing them when it was over. It was far more likely he would harvest everything useful from the lot of them and dispose of all the women, or simply leave them here in this warehouse facility to rot when he returned to Dazonia.
She almost resisted on pure instinct when the two aliens still acting as her escorts came to her chair and took her arm, one on each side. At the last second, she realized that if she was strapped into that bed, she would be completely at their mercy. If she remained passive and docile, and they believed she was too feeble to attempt an escape, perhaps she could persuade them not to fasten the straps.
It was a risky proposition, but perhaps it would buy her some time. At the moment, the aliens probably weren’t looking for her to fight them off and run away, so she had the element of surprise on her side if she acted, but the major flaw in that plan was the fact that she had no idea how to fight them off. They would have to be incapacitated, or they would alert the facility to her attempted escape. More likely, they would both, in conjunction, easily subdue her, and that would be the end of any possibility of escape.
By the time she had settled on the least terrible of her two options, they had carried her and lifted her to the table/bed/chair, because it appeared to be able to form multiple positions as she saw from the joints and odd angles when they got her closer to it.
They were gentle with her when they put her on the bed, but it wasn’t in a thoughtful way. It was more like the way one would handle an expensive object they didn’t want to break, and not because they had any concern for actually hurting her personally.
One of the former Mr. Blands lifted the set of straps on his side, bringing them to her wrist. She pulled her arm away, shaking her head. “That’s hardly necessary. I assume you’ve seen my medical file? I can’t walk anywhere by myself for more than two or three steps. Where am I going to go, E.T.?”
The alien grunted and looked at his companion, who shrugged. After a moment, they dropped the straps, allowing Jada to breathe just a bit easier as a surge of relief swept through her. It was a minor victory, absolutely minuscule in comparison to what she still had to accomplish if she wanted to survive this, but she was thankful for at least one thing going the way she had hoped.
“I can handle this, Tredor.” The alien on her left nodded to the other alien before stepping back from her. He didn’t speak as he let himself out of the room, and she dared cling to that as another bit of good luck. Assuming he didn’t come back, it would be just her against one alien for now. Those were still intimidating odds, but she was more likely to succeed in a one-on-one situation.
She tried to remain passive, waiting for the right moment, as the alien assistant bustled around her, hooking her up to machines and getting readings from things she had no idea how to interpret. She was successful in remaining quiet until the alien brought out a deceptively simple-looking device, similar to a screwdriver, though without the metal tip. It was more like the handle of the screwdriver, though not as ergonomically shaped for a human hand. She tensed as he got closer, holding another shiny metal object in his other hand. “What are you going to do to me?”
“I need a tissue sample, Ms. Washington.”
Her eyes widened as he lifted the cylindrical object and brought it closer to the outside of her bicep. “And just how do you plan to obtain it?”
“This will numb the area.” He held up the can before spraying it on her arm. And then he held up the other device that was so ominously nondescript. “And this will allow me to take a sample.” He pressed a button, and a short laser beam shot out of it. She stiffened and tried to scoot farther away from him, pressing her back against the table. “Not with that pygmy light saber, you aren’t.”
The alien arched a brow ridge, looking completely befuddled. “This device is a laser scalpel, Ms. Washington, and you’ll feel nothing, I assure you.”
Since she still didn’t have a weapon or a plan, she closed her eyes and barely bit back a whimper as the alien brought his laser scalpel against her skin. A second later, the unpleasant scent of burning flesh filled the immediate area, but there was no pain.
She dared to look down in time to see a big chunk of her flesh and muscle disappearing into a metal basin. Her stomach clenched with nausea when she saw the gaping wound, and she didn’t have to fake the impulse to vomit. She simply bent over to the left side and hurled.
The alien made a sound that could have been exasperation or concern, and he quickly set down his implements on a stand near him. It looked like the same kind of metal tray that her doctor’s office used, and she wondered if they had outfitted AmbaCorp with human technology that was readily available, or if there were just some commonalities across their species. The first idea seemed more likely.
As the alien walked around the table to deal with her mess, she was pleased to see he hadn’t taken time to put away the numbing spray or the laser scalpel. Cautiously, she reached for them one at a time with her right arm, pressing them close to her thigh in an attempt to shield her possession of them from his gaze. She didn’t dare risk using her left arm since he was so close to that side of her.
He was too far away for her to practically stab him with the laser scalpel before he would realize what was occurring. Instead, she reclined with rigid posture, her hand curled around the laser scalpel as she waited for an opportunity.
When it came, it was unexpectedly the numbing agent she used first. The alien had crouched down on his hands and knees to clean up the vomit, and as he started to rise after finishing the unpleasant task, his eyes were level with the bed. Acting more on instinct than cool intellect or logic, she released her hold on the laser scalpel and brought up the numbing agent, spraying it all in his eyes. She doubted it would hurt, but hoped it would blind him.
He reeled back and said a word she didn’t recognize, so she assumed his translation system must not have anything even close to the word in English. It was probably an alien curse word.
Before he could get too far away, she dropped the numbing agent and lifted the laser scalpel instead, bringing it up and clicking the button as he had done. For a moment, the laser beam flickered before fading away. Her heart was racing in her ears, and the alien seemed to be less jerky in his motions, which meant he was probably rapidly recovering from any effects of the numbing agent. She pressed the button again, harder this time, and the short laser beam shot out.
As he reached for her, she slid off the tab
le and ducked under his arm, moving around behind him to stab the scalpel through his back with a sweeping slice. The laser burned through his flesh easily, and that same unpleasant odor of charred flesh filled the air, once again making her want to vomit. Instead, she pulled out the scalpel and shoved it back in, this time a direct puncture wound into the back of his neck, where the brain stem would be on a human, at what she hoped was the base of his skull.
The alien fell to the floor without another sound, and there was no sign of movement. She didn’t know how to check his vital signs or determine if he was still alive, and she didn’t waste time trying to find out.
Jada paused long enough to exam the wound in her arm, not wanting to leave a blood trail that would be easy to follow. The laser had cauterized the edges, so there was no blood, though it was a disgusting sight.
Before fleeing the room, she bent over long enough to try to wrest the scalpel from the back of his neck, grimacing as she realized part of the handle had gotten stuck in the light-orange spongy flesh revealed by the incision through his neck. “Gross.” She wiped her hand on his slick black uniform, not wanting to think about the fact that she had alien brain matter all over her fingers.
She decided to abandon the scalpel and stood up straight, taking a moment to look through the instruments arranged on the tray, but finding nothing else that looked like the laser scalpel. She supposed she should take it out of his skull, but it wasn’t much of a weapon anyway. She’d have to be in close quarters to have any use for it, and she didn’t think she was going to end up catching someone else unawares again.
Before leaving the laboratory, she did pick up a metal bar out of a stack against one wall. She wasn’t certain what their purpose was, but they looked like rebar used in construction. She doubted that was the function for them in this room, but when she hefted one in her hand and gave a good swing, she was satisfied it would do serious damage to any alien she actually managed to hit with it. It was still a feeble weapon, especially since they probably had something like laser rifles, but it would have to do. The only other option was to stay in the room and hide, which would be useless, because someone would eventually come check on the alien assigned to experiment on her.
At the door, she found a matching button to the one that had been on the exterior and pressed it. She held her breath as the door opened, relieved that it had done so, while also frightened of what she was going to find on the other side. She hated feeling so helpless and fearful, but there was certainly an element of adrenaline to the whole ordeal that made her feel alive.
She could almost understand extreme sports, but still didn’t get how people could enjoy a career as a spy or something along those lines. That was how she felt at the moment, creeping down the corridor as she waited to run into the next alien. Unfortunately, she was no James Bond. Hell, she wasn’t even a Bond Girl, and she was in way over her head.
When she got to the end of the corridor, she took a right, because they had taken a left before. She slipped down the hallway when she heard footsteps coming from the other side of the corridor. Panicked, she looked around for somewhere to hide and darted to the closest door. She could only hope it was someplace safe, rather than leading her into Dr. Ha’s personal quarters, or an equally awful location.
Fortunately, the door opened when she pressed the button, and she was able to slip across the threshold and out of the way before it closed, crouching down against the wall as she waited for them to pass. She couldn’t actually hear activity in the hallway, which hindered her ability to determine when it was safe to leave the darkened room.
Finally, after several seconds, she started to rise and reach for the button to allow her to exit. A second later, arms folded her, and a hand clamped over her mouth, trapping the scream that came automatically to her lips. Her pipe clattered to the floor with a clanking sound.
“Hush, Jada.”
She froze in shock as the familiar voice whispered in her ear, turning in his arms a moment later when he loosened his hold and throwing herself into Ryland’s embrace. She clung tightly to him, and after a moment, she realized he was holding her just as securely. Tears she hadn’t been aware of wanting to cry suddenly filled her eyes. Jada sniffed and blinked them back while she looked up at him in the dimly lit room. The only illumination came from a device in his hand. “I was scared I’d never see you again.”
His expression betrayed his concern, and his normally golden complexion was more of a pasty yellow. “What are you doing here? I told you not to come.”
She stepped back from him as irritation swelled. Her hands found purchase on her hips as she glared up at her alien lover. “They came to my apartment and took me. And just what are you doing here? You note said you were just going to poke around the outside for now and wait until dark to slip inside.”
He looked sheepish. “I saw an opportunity to sneak inside, so I seized it. I’ve been slowly exploring the facility, and all three of my hearts nearly exploded when I saw you slip into this room. You aren’t supposed to be here.” He sounded aggravated, but she knew it wasn’t at her. “You were supposed to be safe.”
She bit her lip before allowing her hands to fall back to her sides and taking a step toward him again. She rested her head on his chest and one hand on his shoulder. “You’re supposed to be safe too. What are we going to do?”
His arms came around her again, still holding her tightly, but perhaps without the same hint of desperation as before. “I managed to contact my supervisor, and he’s agreed to send a team to apprehend Ha and his cohorts.”
She shuddered in his arms. “How long will that take? Aren’t you like a gazillion light-years away from here?”
“I’m in the same room, Jada,” he said with perfect logic, though his lips twitched to suggest he was teasing her. “However, Dazonia Major is quite a far journey from here. Fortunately, it doesn’t take long to fold.”
She shook her head. “Fold? What are you folding? I don’t understand.”
“Essentially, we’re folding space to shorten the distance between one point and another point. Reinforcements will be here within the hour.”
Relief filled her, and she sagged against him. “So we just have to stay hidden until then?”
He stiffened, and there was a significant pause before his arm spasmed around her in a tight hug for a moment. After that, he took a step back, looking slightly ill. “We could do that, but I have a better idea. I don’t wish to endanger you, but nor can I leave you here hiding alone. Neither option is safe.”
She shook her head. “What options? Tell me what they are, and I’ll decide what to do for myself.”
Ryland inclined his head. “We can stay here and hide together, moving if necessary, or we can return to the holding area to free your friends and heal as many of them as time allows.”
“The second idea, of course.” She hesitated, tipping her head to the side as she considered. “Why do you want to heal them right this minute? I’m not ungrateful at all, but it seems like bad timing.”
Ryland shrugged. “Two reasons, I suppose. The first is, healthy patients might have a greater chance of being able to escape than women who are bedbound or wheelchair-bound. The second is complicated.”
She nodded to encourage him to continue.
“I’m not entirely confident that my government will release the treatment for Kaiser’s Syndrome without demanding the women cooperate with breeding experiments in return. I’d like to heal as many as possible before I lose the opportunity, and perhaps your scientists will find a way to reverse engineer our technology if my home world is being difficult.”
She blinked at him. “But if you take away their negotiating tool, it could mean your species will go extinct.”
He hesitated, his expression dark and clearly revealing his confliction. “Yes, but do we deserve to persevere and endure at the expense of your species, and the human women’s right to choose whether or not to help u
s? That’s a question I have wrestled with, and my conclusion is this has to be a consensual arrangement between Dazon men and human women, or it’s completely unethical.”
Chapter Five
When they slipped into the corridor, it was empty, and they cleared three hallways before they ran across an alien. At first, the assistant paid them little attention, probably having seen Earth women moving around the corridors before, but he stiffened as he started to pass them. He turned face Ryland, hand clamped over his upper arm. “Who are you, and what is your authorization to be in this area?”
Ryland gave him an impressive expression. “I’m Inquisitor Breese, and my authorization comes from Dazonia Major.” Before the other alien could respond or react, the device in Ryland’s hand crackled with green sparks, and the alien’s body jolted at the impact. He convulsed and slumped to the floor a second later, either unconscious or dead.
“You tased him.”
Ryland look down at her, a question in his eyes. “I did what?”
She waved a hand, deciding not to initiate a discussion on human weapons at the moment. “Never mind. Is he dead?”
Ryland nodded. “I couldn’t take chances, so the pulser is discharging at maximum capacity.” He took a moment to lift the body over his shoulder and nodded for her to open the nearest door. She did so cautiously, relieved to see it was another darkened room. It could be minutes or hours before someone entered, but it appeared to be empty at the moment at least. Ryland dropped the body inside, closing the door behind him with his elbow, before taking her hand and leading her down the corridor again.
That was the only alien they ran across on their trek to the area he had called the holding area, and when he opened the door to take her inside, she realized why he’d called it that.
It had an open floor plan, and the area was crammed with hospital beds. She didn’t have time for an exact count, but certainly at least four hundred, and probably more. There was no doubt a bed in this facility for every woman Dr. Ha’s group had kidnapped. Somewhere in the collection, there was probably a bed for her too.
