by Rena Marks
“What the f—? Go back underground, freak!”
“Dr. Saraven! Dr. Saraven. Can you give us a statement, Dr. Saraven?”
“These creatures are going to breed. They’ll take over the world! Earth is already overpopulated.”
“Dr. Saraven, is this one your love interest?”
Steele’s fingers tightened imperceptibly.
“They’re not natural, I tell ya. It would be kinder to put some of the stranger-looking ones down.”
“Is the girl at the front of the line injured? Why is she being carried? Can you tell us her name?”
In front of her, Beast looked over his shoulder. Robyn winked, letting him know everything was all right and to remind him to allow the comments to roll off.
“Is there something going on with you and him, too?” One of the reporters asked. “A triangle, perhaps? With the one whose hand you hold and the one you winked at?”
She felt Steele bristle next to her. Heat came off his body in droves. She turned to him. “Just a little longer. Ignore it.”
“It sounds like taunting,” he gritted.
“But it’ll be you and me, later. Alone. Safe and without them.”
He relaxed somewhat. It wasn’t so long ago that he, Beast, Renegade, and Pax, the first of the original Xeno Sapiens, the test group known as Esson Four, had aggression levels manipulated each night with programming filtered through the computers in their brains. They had to consciously remember to relax, just as they were constantly reminded subconsciously to fight.
The gates were closed behind their group. They boarded an open shuttle, ignoring the shouts and camera flashes from the gates. The shuttle revved up to carry them to the heart of the enclosed land, the main and largest building. When it stopped, they piled off, silently this time. Up ahead, Jason set Lily down on her feet next to him. She didn’t stray far, still looking paler than usual, which made her shock of green hair look brighter.
The group—more relaxed now that they were away from prying eyes—marched into the main hut of the compound.
Chapter Two
The main hut, or hub of the compound as it was sometimes called, was a huge gathering place with multiple offices, hallways, and rooms expanding from the center. It was considered the heart of the compound where each Xeno Sapien would feel safe with any of their own kind.
The others waited just inside.
“What’s wrong with Lily?” Before she could even greet the rest of the tribe, Dr. Amanda Becker’s concern was sharp for an ill or injured Xeno Sapien. And Lily was a child.
“Nothing. She just likes attention,” her brother, Jason, said.
He was smacked on both ends, from Lily on his right and Amanda on his left.
“She had a panic attack,” Robyn said quietly.
Amanda peered closely at Lily, looking into her eyes. “Are you all right?”
Like a teen, Lily squirmed. “Yeah. I’m good. All’s good. Can I go explore?”
“Not alone,” Amanda called out to her retreating back. “The others will show you around.” But Lily was gone like a flash of light.
She turned to her brother. “Thank you.”
“No worries. She’s a good kid.”
“Sherry’s all over the news.”
Jason’s lips tightened. His ex-wife was a high-profile attorney, writing defense reports for individuals who broke the law and entered Robyn’s judgment program. Robyn had to deal with her more than once, and each time was worse than the last.
How Jason had ever ended up with her wasn’t something she could figure out.
“What’s she on for this time?” The last time had been to play the victim for being ousted from the Becker family through divorce.
“She’s defending the executives of Crested Ute Labs.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
Robyn felt sick. It would be just like Sherry to defend them simply because Jason chose to use his military guard experience to protect the Xeno Sapiens.
“She’s filed an order to have access to Xenia, claiming that missing executives may be held on the premises by us.”
“It’ll never be granted,” Robyn said. “There are no loopholes in the law of neutral ground. If they were here, they would be our property to do with as we chose. We wouldn’t have to turn them in.”
“Then what’s she after?” Jason sounded perplexed.
“Maybe just to needle you. Throw you off your game,” Steele said. “It’s how Crested Ute used to operate. They’d whisper some things to some of us, trying to get us to turn on each other.”
Amanda looked pensive. “Stands to reason that perhaps those missing officials aren’t completely off the radar. Not if Sherry is using their tactics. And Robyn, your mother has been calling and leaving messages. Fifteen, to be exact.” She sounded exasperated.
A bloodcurdling scream made the hair on the back of Robyn’s neck stand straight. They ran toward the sound to find Lily at the end of a long hallway, standing before a mirror.
“Is that me?” she sobbed. “I knew we were different. I could see us all. But is that me? My hair...isn’t hair. It’s moss. My freckles are green. And where are my ears?” She cried harder, deep wrenching sobs, as she hugged herself.
As she watched, a fiery lump of choked pain clogged Robyn's chest as it slowly moved up to her throat.
They didn’t have mirrors on the island.
She reached Lily first, pulling her into her arms. “Hey, you aren’t supposed to go off on your own. We were going to explain how unique you were first. How beautiful.”
“What am I?”
Robyn looked at Amanda, but it was Steele who answered. “Your DNA comes from a species that lives underwater. Your hair evolved that way to stay out of your face as you moved weightlessly in the water. Your ears?” he shrugged. “You probably didn’t need them.”
“I didn’t need a nose! Or lungs.”
“No. But you do have human characteristics also.”
“Everyone has ears but me. Tempest has ears. Sunny has ears. I don’t have ears.”
Jason spoke firmly. “You don’t need them.”
“But...but...how will I wear earrings?”
“Screw that,” Jason said. “You’ll pierce your nose.” He reached out and tweaked her nose.
Finally, her sobs quieted. “But people will notice that’s why I’m piercing my nose, Jason.”
She was comfortable enough to call him by his first name. That was Robyn’s first sense of relief. This little girl would be fine.
“With this messy hair? Whatever, child. Come on. Go wash your sticky face, and we’re going out to get you done up right.”
With a quivery breath, Lily nodded.
Tempest held out her hand to Lily. Robyn held her breath. Of all the Xeno Sapiens, the last one she’d expect to help anyone out was Tempest. But with the trust of an innocent child, Lily took it and she was led away to the restroom.
Several of the other Xeno Sapiens stared at the mirror while still others averted their eyes from the reflective surface.
“Let’s cover it up until we can meet with everyone and explain what we know about you. What makes you unique. What traits you inherited from both species,” Amanda said to a couple.
Two of the human guards picked up the black cloth on the floor and draped it back over the mirror, covering all of the reflections.
Amanda turned to her. “Why don’t you and Steele head out with Jason and Lily?” Amanda asked. “Renegade and I will stay here and meet with everyone else. Finish the consultations.”
Robyn turned to Steele. “Are you ready to go back out there?”
He nodded. “Yes, my place is with you.”
“I don’t want you to have to do anything that makes you uncomfortable.”
He pulled her close, kissing her lightly, before saying loud enough for Jason to overhear, “I’ll do anything uncomfortable to watch Jason handle a teenager.”
Jason grunted. “Huh. I can
handle armies. I can take down and disarm an entire village. I don’t think a little slip of a girl will be too difficult.”
“We’ll see about that,” Steele said, against her lips. She had to giggle at his droll tone.
“Sounds like we may be babysitting both of them.”
“Good practice for parents,” he agreed. A tiny flutter rolled through her chest. Did he want a family? They hadn’t yet talked about it, but then again, they’d had little privacy together. Perhaps they could adopt.
Lily and Tempest came back from the bathroom. Both had their hair recently tamed, though Lily’s looked like she tried to lower the messy knot of hair on her head to cover her lack of ears.
Jason ignored her squirming. “Come on, punkin. Let’s get into the SUV. You know you’re lucky you live on Earth-Ground. It’s the only place you can find cars with actual wheels. The floating cities have hovercars because they don’t want any tires on their man-made lawns of perfection.”
“But you’ll still take me, right? Someday?”
“To each and every city there is. I promise.”
“I’m going to practice my accents. I’ll fit in no matter where we go. I won’t let anyone know I’m different.”
“I like different,” Jason said, wrapping a huge bicep around her neck and pulling her toward him as they walked outside. “Didn’t you meet my sister? She’s different. Rather plain. People on Iota Nine have four eyes.”
“They do not!” Amanda called out from behind them. “Lily, don’t listen to his tall tales.”
Robyn waved at her as she and Steele headed out to catch up. Three SUVs were parked outside, ex-members of the human military surrounded two of the vehicles. It was hard to know who was who—Jason had his own private company to patrol the inside of Xenia, but the government had loaned them a crew of current military personnel to patrol the outside gates. It was temporary, aimed for their transport while curiosity from humans had been great. Hopefully the hoopla would die down soon, or she’d learn which faces were which. Jason seemed aware, and for that she was thankful. Jason opened the door to the middle car, motioning for Lily to get in. Robyn climbed in next, sitting across from her while the other two men entered after her. Steele sat in the seat with her, facing Lily. Jason sat on the seat next to Lily.
“I feel important with the other two cars surrounding us.” Lily bounced on the seat. “Like we’re the president or something.”
“I told you we’d have protection,” Jason said. “They’ll surround us at all times. If anyone yells out questions, you just ignore them for now. We need people to get used to seeing us for a while.”
The brigade of vehicles left the grounds. They had to drive slowly once they left the confines of the gates as crowds of people still gathered, blocking the roads. Many scrambled, trying to run back to wherever their vehicles were parked so they could follow the trail, but with crowds this size, it would be impossible to navigate through.
Soon their convoy turned onto a combination highway and hoverway, and the ride was much quicker. Eventually they turned off. The center of the parking mall was huge even though sections were blocked off by military personnel that Jason had called ahead for.
Their cars turned slowly onto the premises, and they made their way to the parking as close to the buildings as possible.
“Look! It’s the GAH,” someone screamed. “GAH! We love you!”
“Is that a human kid?” Lily asked, scrambling across Jason to get to the window. “Is that one, Jason? Is it?”
“Umph. Yes,” he muttered, shifting her knee from his lap. “Now I’ll never have kids,” he said under his breath.
Robyn’s smile was wide.
“Not sure you’re really father material,” Steele said.
“Nah,” Jason said as Lily hung out the window to wave. “I like ‘em grown and able to do chores.”
“Where are we going, Jason? To a mall?” Lily asked.
“Goddess, no. We couldn’t shut down an entire mall on such short notice. We closed down one itty bitty store.”
“Well, that’s okay, I guess. But when we go to the cities, I’d like to see people. Real people.”
“Not yet, cupcake. It’s my job to keep you safe. Once we can make sure of your safety, that’s when I’ll take you.”
Steele opened the door and kept hold of Robyn’s hand as she slid out behind him. The military guards surrounded them, putting their small group in the middle. Another car passed, the driver openly gawking at their crowd of military personnel. A car coming behind them had people rolling down the windows and practically hanging out to catch a glimpse.
“Remind me to pick up a wristwatch,” Robyn said, distractedly. “Amanda and I should be able to reach each other, so I’ll have them wired as communicators.”
Not everyone could communicate telepathically like the Xeno Sapiens could. Normally, Steele could utter a message to Renegade, Amanda’s significant other. Or vice versa. But she and Amanda should have independence.
The sales clerk waited just outside the medic unit.
“Good morning. I’m Clarinda. Please come this way.” The salesclerk wore a short white skirt that showed plenty of leg. She eyed both Jason and Steele with interest and pointed to the nametag pinned to the lapel of her white blazer.
It drew attention to her busty chest. However, neither man looked impressed, though Lily did.
“Thank you for closing your doors to the public. This is Lily, the one I called you about.”
“No problem. I certainly understand. Now, Lily, tell me what you’re looking for.”
Like a teenager, Lily explained that she wanted more than the nose piercing she was promised. Jason narrowed his eyes and argued he was paying for one piercing.
Lily argued she wanted to make it a big piercing.
Jason argued it that she meant it would have to be a big diamond, not piercing. Lily smiled serenely, her goal all along.
Steele left them arguing over the placement of the piercing as he pulled back to look around the store, his eyes sharp.
“What is it?” Robyn asked softly.
“I’m not sure. An odd feeling. Let’s walk around and see what the place is like.”
The outer doors had been locked, but a giant window with mechanical blinds took an entire wall. Steele looked outside for long minutes, seeming to calm.
In the background, Robyn could hear Lily bantering with Jason over the location of her piercing.
“What’s going on?” Robyn asked Steele. She reached out and rubbed his bicep, feeling the tension in his arm.
“I’m not sure. Maybe I’m just claustrophobic now that I know there’s a vast world out there. But it seems so easy to trap us inside.”
“If we were trapped, it would be easy to escape. Jason’s team is outside. One signal from him and they would be blasting through here.”
“What if it was a suicide mission? What if they just wanted to take us down and didn’t care about escape?”
“There aren’t a lot of people who would end their life for nothing, baby. But if there happened to be one, okay, so let’s deal with it. What would you do?”
“I’d stand in front of you to protect you. I’d watch to see if they stormed toward you or toward Lily.”
“It’s safe to assume Jason would be close enough to protect her.”
Steele nodded. His face smoothed over as if he forced himself to relax.
“See? It’s just a matter of coming up with a plan.”
As soon as she spoke, the lights snapped off. For a few moments, Robyn looked confused.
The heavy metal blinds instantly rolled down, covering the windows with a loud bang as if they were dropped into place. The blades scrolled forward to block the sunlight in a rhythmic roll. Inky blackness filled the sudden vast expanse of the store. For a few seconds, everyone froze in the dark. The plan they’d just discussed was now forced into action.
STEELE GRABBED ROBYN, moving her behind him. “Stay back,”
he said. “I can still see.”
He watched dawning realization on her face, followed by a strange emotion. Pride. She was proud of him. He was the only one who could see in the dark. The color of his iris blended with that of his sclera and pupil. His eyes could control enlarging his pupils at will and this strange anomaly he took for granted impressed the gorgeous woman. He pushed forward, feeling Robyn grip both sides of his waist and just that small touch made his aggression soar but in a good way. He would do whatever he needed to protect one of his own.
He loved her so much; words were unable to describe what they had between them. The differences between them didn’t matter, and now that Robyn had doses of Xeno Sapien hormones deposited in her, more changes were coming.
Up ahead, Jason tapped a button on his shoulder and pushed Lily behind him so she was between the wall and him. He knew the human protector couldn’t see anything, but by the instant concentration on his face, he had no doubt Jason would keep Lily safe.
A fleeting image caught Steele’s eye—a hand reaching for the piercer—but it was gone before he could roar into action. Surely it couldn’t be who it looked like. Beyond his rage, Steele felt confused as to how an object could disappear into thin air. Quickly he moved to the front of the store, ripped open the control panel and found the switch that bypassed the electronic commands for the store.
With a crank of metal shuffling against itself, bright sunlight flooded the store again. The woman who had just pierced Lily’s nose stood frozen, about five feet from the chair Lily had sat in. She blinked as she looked around, seeing Jason in a corner with Lily blocked between him and the wall.
“What the hell was that about?” Jason snapped.
“It was deliberate,” Steele said as Robyn stepped out from behind him. “I saw someone.”
“Who?” Robyn asked.
“Director Meade.”
“What? What the hell was he doing here? How did he get in?”
“It almost seemed like a projection, but I’d guess the needle that pierced Lily’s skin is missing.”
Everyone looked to where the medical expert stood. She looked down at the tray next to Lily’s chair. “I—I thought it was you,” she said to Jason. “He shoved me aside. I thought it was you, but I stumbled and fell. It’s how I ended up here.”
