“Don’t waste any time, do you?” Regon asked.
“What’s going on?” Liz stood next to Regon, and Sed moved to her other side for support.
“Your boyfriends refused to talk. They did help Meg with a little project during the holidays, but they’ve been holding out on us. They wanted you back. So now, you’ve had her.” He turned to Liz. “And we won’t stop your little visits, but the aliens need to be interviewed. If we feel they aren’t being truthful now, well, we’ll have to take further action.”
“Action? Like what?” Liz demanded.
“That’s up to them. We’re not going to treat aliens like honored guests while they continue to abduct humans.” Hastings nodded to the door, and the security men led the aliens out.
“They’ll tell you what you want to know. You don’t have to hurt them,” Liz said.
Sed looked back and saw Liz following them out into the lab. They couldn’t stop, but he was relieved when he saw Meg exit her office built into the lab and move to comfort her friend.
Down the hall and to the left, the aliens were marched into a cold room with bright lights, a gray table and chairs. No clock and nothing else to look at.
The security guards pushed them into the chairs and left immediately. Only Hastings remained. He walked along in front of the quad as it grew colder and colder. The commander was a barrel of a man; years of easy living gave him plenty of insulation.
The aliens were bred to fight, and their skin compensated for changes in temperature or conditions to defend them any way possible. From thickening to scales, their skin adjusted to protect the body. Sed resisted the change, but the thin clothing they were given did little to protect them. Moder’s light layer of fur showed first, and Hastings grinned.
He set out a small vial of the powder Meg had worked so hard on. Sed looked at the floor. Meg never meant it to be used like this, but it made sense. Hastings had a weapon that would cause major pain. He also had Liz right there, and he’d use her to yank the men around. It was all manipulation.
“So boys, are we feeling chattier now that we’ve had some fun? Or do we need to talk about what this powder could do? Or where I could send Liz for her next assignment?” Hastings folded his arms.
The men stayed silent. Moder stared at Hastings in fear and disbelief. Jal’s eyes were on the vial of torture. Regon met Hastings’s gaze, and Sed felt like the odd man out. He saw all the dangers and desperately tried to figure out the best move.
“We’ll tell you what we know. You don’t have to torture us,” Regon said.
“Good. That’s good. Liz is an incentive, but even if we take her out of the equation, we still have a strong motivator.” Hastings winked at that little vial.
“I thought that weapon was for invaders. We crashed. We don’t want to hurt humans.” Jal shook his head.
“I’m glad to hear that. This weapon will be so helpful in protecting the four of you, as well. Plays on your biggest advantage, that shifty skin of yours. I don’t know exactly how Meg made it, but I think it’s damn clever. And there’s no antidote so you play the wrong card, and you’re on a way one-way trip to hell.”
“What do you want to know? We were interrogated for days at the last place.” Sed wasn’t about to let the psychological games go on and on.
“I wasn’t in charge of that last place, and I don’t think they did a very good job. Besides, it was just a holding facility. Sure, they tried, but I read the report. Crashed to Earth trying to escape your home planet so far away. Keelons were in pursuit. You were hurt, that much I know because we had you here. You were in pain, and Liz healed you. She’s a brilliant doctor, and you four fell for that woman.”
“That’s our genetic conditioning and social convention. One female to three or four males to maximize the fighters and maintain order,” Regon replied.
“Not a bad deal for the women. Meg’s got herself a trio, but those boys, they were here from a young age and we taught them what they needed to know. So don’t think you’ll get that sort of freedom or treatment because I don’t trust you four. You’ll have to earn your freedom.”
“How?” Sed asked.
“Being honest. Let’s go back to the beginning. You four seem happy sharing a woman so that’s not the problem. What was so bad on your home world to make you leave?” Hastings shrugged and tapped the table.
The heat suddenly kicked on, and Sed knew the games weren’t going to stop.
Regon exhaled loudly. “It was the female we were assigned to. She was cruel and showed no interest.”
“So you have a wife back home? Does Liz know that? Just curious.” Hastings smiled. “Women have the power? Odd for a fighting people.”
“It keeps men from warring for food or power. It allowed them to fight for the joint causes and best interest of the planet. Some women take advantage while others are advocates for choice in mates.” Jal’s soft-spoken attempt to ease the tension contrasted with the heat in the room.
Sed’s skin went back to its natural state that passed for human in the Nevada heat.
“I’m a military man. Life full of service and following orders. You boys went AWOL.” Hastings shook his head in disgust.
“I bet no one’s ever told you who to sleep with.” Moder rubbed the back of his neck.
The heat would get to all of them. They could endure harsh conditions, unbearable for a human, but the fact that their skin was being manipulated made them more vulnerable to that powder. Sed doubted Hastings had the nerve to use it. Not now anyway.
Hastings chuckled. “No. They let us screw who we want. And I’ve given you boys that same deal. I brought you back here so you can get what you want—if I get what I want. Of course, if I think you’re spying for the Keelons or holding back, I’ll just forget about the weapon and get out the blowtorches. Fire works really well on you alien invaders.”
“What does AWOL mean?” Regon asked.
“Absent without leave. You deserted your army. Your brothers in combat. That’s just wrong, and you should be punished. I thought the Keelons might come back for you, which is why we moved you. I didn’t want my facility blown to pieces if they wanted revenge.”
“They don’t destroy homes when they abduct people, do they?” Jal asked.
Hastings stared Jal in the eye. “Now, that’s a good point. No, they don’t, but that’s the difference between sneaking off with something and sending a message. If they wanted to send me a message, they’d come for you boys in a blaze of trouble. So far they’re quietly taking more women. Maybe for playtime, if your females are such bitches. Don’t know why exactly. If you’re programmed to be happy sharing one woman amongst the four of you, I’m guessing you don’t need much pussy to get by in the trenches. You play with each other.”
Sed braced for an attack, but the aliens stayed silent and Hastings just watched.
“Not that I care what you four do to each other. Just helps me if you boys get out of line. Only have to torture one, and you’ll straighten up.”
“What do you want to know?” Regon asked.
“What do those damn aliens want?” Hastings sat in a chair and grabbed the vial.
Sed sat a little straighter but shook off the fear. “Earth isn’t technologically advanced enough to be a threat. They don’t want war.”
“They’re only nabbing women so far. Why?” Hastings rolled the vial in his meaty hands.
The four exchanged looks.
Regon shrugged. “We’ve been here for over a year now. We can’t possibly know why they have suddenly increased the abductions. We’re not in any contact with them. You control everything we do.”
“Could you contact them? If you wanted to?” Hastings seized on the tidbit.
“No,” Sed jumped in. “Everything from the ship was destroyed. Plus, we don’t want to. We want to stay here with Liz, be free and work for Earth’s safely.”
Hastings sneered. “Even if we’re so technologically backward compared to your planet
?”
“Earth still has a chance to get things right. The Keelons used up their planet’s resources years ago, and now, they get their needs through conquest. War is the business there. They could swoop in and take what Earth has, but it’s not worth it yet.” Jal shrugged.
“Yet. So it might be worth it someday. But why the women? Other aliens take a few people here and there, a few animals to test on, but it’s both sexes and more random. This is young healthy women.”
“Maybe the Keelons are running out of women?” Moder suggested.
“Running out?” Hastings pointed at Moder.
Sed sighed. “More male offspring were needed for wars. Generations ago, they began genetically engineering sperm to favor males and reduce females. It led to success in the battlefield and to the group relationships.”
“China and India might like that technology. Could be huge money if you can replicate it.” Hastings smiled.
“We aren’t scientists.” Jal took a deep breath.
The looping of the conversation was taking its toll. They’d endured worse, but knowing Liz was out there, probably worried about them, made it harder.
Sed wanted to cut this short. “And it’s not good. When we left, we were winning all the wars but didn’t have enough women. The time was coming where the men would fight each other for access to a mate. Civilization could break down over something like that.”
“Change it back. If you’re so technologically advanced, make more girls,” Hastings scoffed.
“That’s just it. They’d gone so far one way. It’d take generations to properly rebalance the population. Genes don’t stay the way you program them. They mutate. Nature reacts in its own way. Just like that weapon you’re holding. It’ll work and hurt, but some might learn to endure it. Some might find a way to neutralize it. Eventually, our skin would adapt.”
“True enough. I see. So you think they’re after these women for mates? Sex with the alien males?” Hastings asked.
Regon nodded. “It is the most logical reason to take them. But we don’t know what’s occurred in the last year.”
“So you’ve said.” Hastings leaned back with a suspicious grin. “Get comfortable boys because I don’t buy it.”
“Why? It’s true,” Jal said.
“Because all the women have been returned in a day or two. Not one has reported sexual assault. And as far as we know, and I promise you that I’d know, not one has turned up pregnant.” Hastings spun the vial on the table. “What else do you have?”
Telling the truth didn’t help. Sed looked at the ceiling and wondered what lie the humans wanted to hear.
* * * *
Liz sat silently in Meg’s office. The lab mascot, a hairless sphinx cat called ET, purred on Meg’s desk. Meg brought in mugs full of tea and set them on the desk.
“Did you have a nice holiday?” Meg asked.
“Where did they take the guys?” Liz took a sip of the herbal tea.
Meg sat behind her desk and leaned in. “The conference room, I’m sure. Your men have been less than trusting of Hastings. I don’t blame them. I’ve done what I can for them, but it’s not like we can change the situation.”
“Thanks for looking out for them while I was away. I can’t believe Hastings pulled a stunt like that. Bringing back my men while I’m gone. If Hastings wants me fired, why doesn’t he just do it?”
Meg pushed her glasses up her nose and shook her head, wagging her long ponytail. “He wants you here. He needs you here to keep the men in line.”
“Please, he could move them around anywhere and have them detained. I can’t change that.” Liz couldn’t bear to think about them being interrogated like criminals.
“True, but he wants the information not to control them. He doesn’t know if he can trust them yet. I think my project was sort of a test.” Meg picked up a vial of slightly greenish-gray powder.
“Your project. Right, you needed to make a weapon to fight off the Keelons. You succeeded?” Liz had done the medical studies on the men and Meg was creative. Unfortunately, all of the reports about the alien’s technology showed that Earth was no match.
Meg smiled. “Of course, I did. Biology always has a weakness somewhere. I exploited that.”
“How? What does that stuff do?” Liz frowned.
“It gets into their skin cells. They try to shift to counter its effects, and it causes degradation of the skin. The more they try to change, the more it hurts. It might not kill them, but it’ll debilitate them,” Meg said confidently.
“How do you that it’ll work? I mean, you didn’t…” Liz took a deep breath. “You didn’t test that on my men.”
“No, no. Calm down, Liz. I’m sure that’s what Hastings wanted. He would’ve liked to see that those guys would do anything for Earth, America and so on. And they did volunteer in order to prove themselves, but I found another way.”
“They’d have put themselves in pain, and Hastings still questions them.” Liz leaned back and glared at the tea cup. She knew the greater goals of Dreamland were good. Keeping America safe and dealing with what few people could handle. The secrets that went with it were goals she believed in. But Hastings was turning this into a crusade against her guys.
“No one had to endure the pain. Thankfully. My guys volunteered, too, but I’m creative.” Meg smiled.
Liz had gotten a few texts from Meg about her men. One picture had looked very cozy. “So you’re really in a group thing? I never imagined those guys would go for sharing. But they couldn’t test your weapon anyway. They’re human.”
“No, that’s the part I couldn’t tell you on the phone. They’re not. They crashed as small children and were raised by the military.” Meg chewed her lower lip. “So I’m right there with you. No one is using this creation on my guys.”
Liz closed her gaping mouth. “How did I not know about them?”
“You were sort of busy with four hot men. Besides, my three pass for human with all their pop culture and GI Joe references.”
“And Hastings trusts them. He let’s them roam free, guard others and have weapons.” Liz felt the tears building.
“Don’t fall apart, Liz. The situations aren’t the same. Your guys need to come clean with whatever they know, and hopefully, that’ll be enough for Hastings. The abduction rates are growing, and my guys are worried the Keelons will do something. They don’t want to go back to a place they have almost no memory of. They like it here.”
Liz nodded. “I know you’re right, but I feel more helpless with them here. I can’t stand to see how they’re treated. How did you test the weapon? It’s powder. How do you know it works if you didn’t try it on an alien?”
“Oh, that. I had skin grafts taken and, while the skin was viable, introduced the powder. The alien men heal so much faster than we do so you could barely tell they’d donated skin by the end of the day. But I have it digitally recorded if you want to see it.” Meg tapped on her keyboard.
“No, no thanks. I don’t need to see that.” Liz tried not to think about it.
“Liz, it was all done properly. No one was hurt or mistreated. My own guys donated grafts, too, so we had a bigger sampling. It’s not the end of the world that they gave up some skin. You need to get your head back on your job.”
“Why? The abductions are up. I’m a medical doctor. Until they bring me a victim or someone to look at, I’m useless.” Liz wanted to be alone with her guys now, not working on some experiment for Hastings.
“Why? Because I have a weapon that can help us control the Keelons if we get invaded. What I don’t yet have is an antidote for if one of our guys comes in contact with the stuff. Right now, it’s hugely dangerous to think about using it with aliens embedded in our own military. We need a way to reverse this powder’s effects. My specialty is biology. I can make the weapon, but I’ll need your help to stop what I’ve created from killing the good people.”
Liz took the vial and shook her head. “You’re scary, you know.
Dangerous, brilliant and scary as hell.”
“You don’t get to work in Dreamland for being average.” Meg took a long drink of tea and checked her phone. “Oh, you’re supposed to go for a security update in ten minutes. They’re extra crazy with the aliens and the weapon here. Go on. We can start on the antidote tomorrow.”
Hopping to her feet, Liz went around the desk and gave Meg a hug. “Thanks.”
“Just doing my job.” Meg waved it off.
“No, I have a feeling if you weren’t here, my guys would be guinea pigs and possibly dead.”
Meg laughed. “Sweetie, if I weren’t here, Hastings wouldn’t have a weapon. We’re the brains. He’s just the blowhard who gives the orders. But he can’t do it all himself.”
Liz walked out into the lab then into the hall toward security. Briefings and security crackdowns were nothing new. But when it had to do with her guys, it didn’t feel like a job.
Meg had apparently found a peace with it, but Liz wasn’t sure she’d make the transition so well. When she walked by the closed conference room door, she wanted to do go in and check on them. Instead, she forced herself to walk on and get serious about her work and her life.
Chapter Three
It was hours before Hastings got bored and hungry. He sent the men back to their enclosure, and they ate in silence. Jal hated the tension, but the group had adapted to it. Having Liz back helped.
“They’ll never trust us.” Moder picked at his dinner.
Jal sat next to Moder. “Eat. You need to keep up your strength.”
As a group, they weren’t supposed to form stronger bonds with each other. But they weren’t supposed to leave their female mate, either. Their group wasn’t average, and neither was Jal’s attachment to Moder.
Regon ate quickly and paced the room. “We told them what we know. They’ll have to believe us at some point.”
“Or kill us.” Sed ate calmly.
“Not helping.” Jal shot Sed a look of warning.
“Sorry.” Sed put his fork down. “I don’t know why there are more abductions so who knows what will happen? We can’t predict how the humans will respond to it. The only option is to prove we’re loyal and not fight Hastings. I think he’d love to see that powder in action.”
Back in Dreamland (7th Kind Series) Page 2
