by Rena Marks
His legs were right in front of the door in front of her. She could see them through the slit of the cabinet. She held her breath, took the knife and threw open the cabinet door. She heaved with all her might, ramming it straight into his crotch with a sickening crunch. With an excruciating bellow, he fell backward, the hilt of the knife protruding from his still body. Her stomach roiled as blood spread like wildfire across the crotch of his pants and down his legs.
She moved back inside the cabinet and reached around for the long shaft screwdriver just as footsteps came running. This guy reached inside the small space and grabbed her left arm. A brutal grasp dug into the tender skin of her arm and dragged her out of her hiding spot with one hard yank.
“Got you, you fucking, hacking cunt.”
His right hand held his laser. She angled her body to the side, twisted slightly and shoved the screwdriver right up between his ribs, aiming for his heart.
“My God. What the fuck did she do to Abe?” someone said, stupidly staring at the body on the floor.
The one holding her seemed to realize she did something to him, too. He looked down at the screwdriver sticking from between his ribs and opened his mouth to speak, but blood gushed out instead. The other men were busy looking at the knife sticking up from Abe, the dead body on the floor.
She grabbed his laser just as he crashed backward like a giant, fallen Redwood. She ducked behind one of the men gawking just as the others turned, shooting at them as she tried to run. Instead, she tripped under the falling man. Someone grabbed her, knocking the laser gun from her hands. She fell hard, her cheekbone smashing on the hard marble floor. He jerked her to her feet and glared down at her. One hand was wrapped around her bicep, and the other fisted in her hair, yanking harshly. She winced, fire ripping from her scalp.
Bobby. Director Meade’s nephew, the technician who took the stats and drew blood for them, pulled her hair harder. Her head jerked back as she tried to relieve the pain by lessening the pressure. A tattoo of a cartoon character peeked out from the neckline of his T-shirt.
“What are you, someone’s son? Got the job through your uncle?” She taunted. He tightened his hand in her hair and the nerve endings in her scalp screamed bloody murder.
“Shut up, bitch. Now you’re dead. There’s no more defending the rejects against your own people.” He held up the laser to her head, butting it up right against her temple.
Time seemed to stop for a few precious seconds. Robyn understood he planned to just shoot her, no questions asked. Pure terror flashed through her and then…acceptance. At least she wouldn’t be raped for the world to watch. She stared into his eyes and waited for the imminent end.
Behind him, a growl ripped into the air. Steele came running from the general vicinity of the elevator, feet pounding across the marble floors. With one fell swoosh that barely cost him any time, his inhuman grace swooped down and swiftly pulled the knife embedded in the groin of the first fallen man.
Bobby turned back to her, opened his mouth to speak—and a scream ripped through her mouth when the blade struck him, slid right through his back, cutting through muscles, bone, organs—to show the tip protruding gruesomely through his chest. She watched his brown eyes widen with shock. He stumbled back, dragging her by the arm, because somehow the force of the knife being embedded in him made him drop the laser gun. They both looked at the floor where it had clattered. He bent to retrieve it, and blood gushed out of his mouth like a volcanic eruption, blasting everywhere. His arm with the gun rose as he tried to make a last-ditch effort to shoot her. Robyn grabbed his wrist with both hands and struggled to keep him from pointing it at her.
Off beyond her, Steele continued his fight with the last man standing, the one who’d aimed his gun at him.
Bobby’s hold on her arm tightened, but then it eased as he weakened. His knees gave out, and he collapsed onto them. A horrible gurgle, along with a gush of bright red, fresh blood, poured from his mouth. Robyn stared in horror as the man’s gaze locked with hers, his impotent rage clearly splayed across his face. He lost his hold on her arm. He also released the gun, which crashed to the floor a second before he slumped backward.
Robyn stared down at him mutely. He sprawled on his back, with his calves tied like a pretzel under him. His eyes were open wide, blood pooled on the polished white marble floor and he took a few more ragged gasps. A slight bubbling noise reached her ears. His hands jerked, twitched, and he blinked before he took his last breath.
Only then did she allow herself to sink down on the marble too, the shock setting in, feeling the blessed cold through her scrubs, thankful that she could feel.
With a crack, Steele left the last man, and the room was quiet again. She blacked out for a little bit and came to already cradled in Steele’s arms.
“Dr. Robyn,” Steele muttered, his eyes blazing.
“Hey, Steele,” she whispered, her lashes fluttering as her eyelids threatened to close. “I’m not really a doctor.” Her voice mumbled. “Told you a hundred times. Wish you could remember.”
“Don’t you close your eyes,” he snarled. “Don’t you dare slip away. You hear me? Focus on me. On my voice, Robyn, dammit.”
The growl in his voice gave her a bit of strength. She shook off the bone-weary pull the darkness was sucking her into its depths with.
“What are you doing here?”
“I watched what you were doing from the cameras. This is a suicide mission. I refused to leave you alone.”
“I wanted you all to live,” she said. “Crested Utilitarian labs has rigged this place to explode.”
“I know. But I won’t let you die alone. I’ll be with you to the end. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.” His thumb reached out and stroked the sore spot on her cheekbone. And because her attention was always focused on the pitch of the camera, she knew the live feed had the perfect spot for their viewing pleasure.
“I’m sorry. I wish I could have done more.”
“Don’t you think you did enough? You’re paying for our release with your life.”
“I wish it could have been different. I wish you could have remembered before, when—“
* * * * *
Doctor Amanda caught her breath as Robyn lost consciousness from their viewing screen. Now they were losing two of them so the rest might live. It wasn’t even a guarantee that the sub-elevator would make it to the surface before the explosion hit.
“What’s he doing?” she asked, as she watched Steele survey the area, his gaze focusing outside. He carefully lifted Robyn and held her to his chest.
“He’s going to try to get her into the crashed vehicle that the crew arrived on,” Renegade said, his voice suddenly excited.
The others in the elevator began to cheer as they watched Steele race outside. The view switched to the outdoor cameras, showing the mangled, immersion-proof hovercar.
“God, I hope that thing can survive the pressure of the ocean,” she bit out.
Next to her, Renegade’s lips tightened.
They watched Steele figure out how to open the thing and then place Robyn across the seat before joining her. He closed the door, and then nothing.
“Just speak a command,” Amanda whispered. “It’s voice activated. Come on, Steele.” She was deathly afraid that, like a man, he would begin banging things to get them to work, causing even more damage to the submarine vehicle.
Suddenly the hovercar fired up, the wheels spinning to shoot them into the clear chute that channeled them into the depths of the ocean.
“Please hold.” Amanda was barely aware of chanting.
The car disappeared from sight.
Everyone was silent, not wanting to entertain the notion that the damaged car might have collapsed under the weight of the water pressure when it was released to the depths of the ocean.
Renegade snapped to attention. “First thing we do when we arrive at the surface is head for where the hovercar should dock.” He placed his hands over the viewer
they’d been watching, pulling up a digital map of the island. Exactly the way Robyn used to. “There. Move to the right as we leave this room. Get off the sub-elevator as quickly as you can. The explosion will come from beneath us and shoot straight up.”
As soon as the doors opened, they scrambled out of the room, aware of a rumbling coming from deep below them. Amanda followed the rush of the others as they ran out of the building. The top version of the lab wasn’t nearly as elaborate as the underground version had been. Two of the Xeno Sapiens held the doors for the rest as they pitched themselves through the exit. She ran, cutting through the trees and debris of the island. By the time they got to the beach, the hovercar had been spat up on the sand. Two men had reached it and were trying to get the doors open.
With a hiss of hydraulics, the door opened, and a flood of sea water rushed out. God, they’d sprung a leak somewhere. Had they drowned? She was barely aware of Renegade shouting out, “Make way. Get out of the way.” His large, brute shoulders clearing a path for her.
She was relieved to see Steele already getting out of the car, Robyn in his arms. She was unconscious still, but their heads were dry. For as much water that rolled out of the car, it hadn’t filled the compartment. Which made sense—had it filled, it probably would have weighed too much to get here that quickly.
Steele laid Robyn out on the sand. Amanda hovered over her, checking her pulse and pupils. Her skin was clammy, and her pupils frantically dilated back and forth. But her body was barely taking in breaths, even though her heart pumped excessively, trying to jump start the body against a foreign attack.
She knew what this was. She was afraid of what this was as soon as Robyn told her she’d lost strength. Amanda dropped her stethoscope and leaned back.
“What? Why aren’t you doing something?” Steele’s tortured voice gutted her heart.
“There’s nothing that can be done, Steele.” Her voice was gentle. “This”—she held her hands out over Robyn—“isn’t injuries from the fight. This is…what she was preparing for. The end of her life.”
“What do you mean?”
Amanda sighed. Her hands extended, the fingers stretched out. Dots began to swim in front of her vision. She shook her head to clear it. “Robyn had decided on a procedure. Xeno Sapiens have a chemical naturally produced in their brains. It enables you to be compatible with humans, which is necessary considering part of your genetic material is human. Otherwise, your other side would war with your human side. When we discovered this was the secret to your survival, we decided to let the secret die with us. To not share it with anyone else, so no one could figure out how to enact an experiment like this again.
“But Robyn chose to have the chemical injected directly into her brain, for immediate results. It gave her a burst of strength and the stamina to complete her end-of-life projects. She knew she was on a suicide mission.”
“When?” Steele snarled. His eyes were complete, black pools that swirled. It mesmerized her. “I remember tossing the idea of the Xeno Sapien chemical around with her. But when did she take the injection?”
“Nine days ago,” Amanda said softly. “She showed no signs of trauma recently. It’s almost like the fight itself sped up her deterioration…and also gave her a goal to live for. She saved almost your entire race.”
“What do you mean?” Renegade asked. The other eighteen Xeno Sapiens looked curiously at each other.
Amanda tore her eyes from Steele to look at Renegade. He and the others were looking back and forth at each other. She smiled slightly, so proud of her friend. Her fingers reached out and wiped Robyn’s bangs from her pale forehead. “She did so much. She told Meade that countless bodies died during each revival session. It was to be expected. She was reviving by herself, without a team of support.”
The faces around her nodded, grim, waiting for her to continue.
“They didn’t really die. With her new strength, she hauled each one up here, to the surface. She built solar powered pods to keep the bodies alive in a medically induced coma until we could reach them. Their brains are active.”
“What? They’re here? How?”
“Every single night she did her computer hacking thing. Carefully manipulated the cameras to give them a believable feed. After she prepped the bodies, she worked all night on searching every available file for any information on your species. She constructed viruses for all the computer files. No one will ever find evidence of Xeno Sapiens. There’s nothing telling which DNA you contain, nor any files on what was done to prepare you for revival. No one but she and I know of the existence of Quinteah. Everything’s deleted. Robyn’s the best at what she does.”
“But we’re here. We’re living proof,” Renegade said.
“Yes. She has secret files that just recorded everything. They’ll be distributed notifying the public of what Crested Ute has done. She’s drawn up paperwork for you all to own the property to live on—on the ground surface. Her own land, left to you. Each of you has a bank account, transferred from our names to yours. That’s why—while I originally named Esson Four—Robyn took over the naming project. She had to establish identities for every one of you immediately.”
“Your personal money?”
“What will we do with it?” Amanda laughed, but it sounded forced. “We no longer need it.”
“I will not allow her to die.” Steele’s voice was sharp.
“I wish there was something we could do. But the fact is, we are dying. Both of us.”
Steele stared at Renegade.
“What do you mean by we?” Renegade asked.
“Now it’s my turn. She completed her life purpose, now I’ll make sure you’re all safe and ensconced in a liveable situation with the money transferred. Before I join her.”
Renegade looked blankly at her.
“While Robyn made the decision to have the Quinteah injected into her brain, it was for the immediate effects. It gave her the super-speed and intelligence necessary to hack and find their files. Physically, it gave her the strength to haul the bodies up to the surface. However, it came with a price. Eventually the hormone multiplies and takes over the normal chemicals the human brain produces. We knew that, but there were no other options.”
“The option is to live.” Renegade’s voice was dangerously low.
Amanda nodded. “But we couldn’t. They weren’t going to release us. Upon your deaths, which they forced us to watch, they had given us a paralyzing agent. A sample of our DNA was extracted and sent into laser missile warfare. As soon as we are detected out in the world, an invisible laser will hit, exploding our hearts. We know our deaths are imminent. But at least we can save your species before it happens. So after Robyn took the injection, I waited a while and then took one also.”
“This hormone. The injection is basically poisoning her because she’s human? Whereas Xeno Sapiens can utilize it?”
Amanda nodded. “Your bodies can metabolize it. Ours cannot. The hormone runs amuck, multiplying and feeding itself like a virus—using our own bodies as nutrients. Hers is killing her faster because we injected it directly into the brain. With mine, I injected it into the tissues, and it had to travel. The benefit is she had instant use whereas mine didn’t take effect until several days later. She will die—more than likely—those same number of days before me. And this is it.” She took a deep breath. “Before I go, I need to prepare you for outside living. Robyn did the technicalities—setting you up with accounts to travel with, irrevocable clearance for the different cities, citizenship numbers. Her favorite place to live was ground surface, so you have hidden homes there, but access to everywhere else on the planet. Food is free, so that’s not an issue. As a foolproof plan though, she has set up a community on her property with gardens being constructed. You’ll be able to trade items with your neighbors, which is what is normally done. My job will be to revive everyone else and train you all on how to live on this planet.”
Steele stayed staring at the prone f
igure of Robyn. She was so pale, her silky black hair clinging damply to the cut on her cheek. He brushed it from her forehead.
“I have one more experiment to conduct.” Without another word, he picked her up. With one last look at Renegade, he murmured, “I’ll let you know.”
Renegade gave him one short nod.
Did he not understand she was dying? Amanda turned to Renegade as she watched Steele’s retreating back. “Where is he taking her? What experiment?”
He never looked back.
Chapter Sixteen
“Good morning, Dr. Robyn.” Renegade looked down at her. For a moment, she was confused, and then everything came rushing back. Steele showing up, keeping Bobby from shooting her. Bobby’s death, then Steele holding her. Amanda…where was Amanda?
“Amanda?” Her voice was hoarse.
Renegade’s lips tightened. “She’s in the same boat you are. Apparently you took the same injection of our Quinteah. Hers was slower moving since she injected it into her vein. But we incapacitated her and decided to neutralize it, the way we are yours. Unfortunately, it will need to be done throughout your lives.”
“Neutralizing? How?”
“By manipulating your DNA. When you were near death, Steele gave you a flood of Xeno Sapien hormones, diluted with the Quinteah, which have worked to take over your original cells, manipulating and merging with them until you have a new code. We weren’t sure if it would work, of course.” He shrugged. “But as the alternative was death, and with yours so close, we took a chance. Amanda, on the other hand, was stubborn. She refused to acquiesce, so we decided to overtake her and do it anyway.”
“It’s working?”
“We’re not the doctors. Our only two docs were both in a coma until you rose five minutes ago. I don’t know how long Amanda will be out. Her immune system appears to be a bit weaker. She said she had distracted the doctors by injecting herself with a virus?”
