by Celeste Raye
The third lab was on the top floor. It was bustling with activity. Valeri and Victor went unnoticed among the other lab-coated technicians. This floor consisted of one huge open room. It held testing equipment and thousands of samples. The techs appeared to be brewing potions. Here were the results of Valeri's work. If the experiments could make new cures, this was where it would be done.
Valeri and Victor left the building, none the wiser for their search. Yes, the labs listed as empty were filled, and there were some very sick aliens. This was not a huge surprise. The electricity bills had been enough to tell them the labs were occupied, and it was inevitable that some aliens would get very ill from the experiments or even just being away from their normal atmosphere. Valeri was disappointed and a little relieved. Maybe the program wasn't hiding as much as she thought. There was still a niggling doubt at the back of her mind. She was missing something and needed to discover what it was.
The rest of the weekend passed slowly. Valeri joined some friends at a club, but the noise and laughter got on her nerves. Her carefree days were behind her. Her friends could never understand the reality of her new world. She had seen far too much suffering to ever believe this world was perfect again. She left the club early.
Monday morning was a dreary one. Storms raged as Valeri entered the lab. She was soaked to the skin. It was a good thing that she kept a set of extra clothes in her locker. She slipped into a curtained changing area and slipped out of her drenched silk blouse and slacks. The dry jeans and t-shirt felt heavenly against her chilled skin. Valeri heard two of the nurses enter the locker room. One said, "That warrior is one hot specimen. I wouldn't mind being wrapped in those four arms. Too bad he's not assigned to me. The old lady gets to take care of him. What a waste."
The second voice replied, "It won't matter for much longer anyway. He will get weaker as the experiments go along and probably end up like the others before him. It's so sad. He's too beautiful for that. You're right: what a waste. Who knows, maybe he would appreciate a quickie before he gets too weak to enjoy it." They giggled nervously as they left the room.
Valeri wanted to know what they meant. Were they saying he would end up like the aliens in the second lab, hooked to machines that kept their bodies alive? Did they know of a different fate for Ohber? She had to find out.
Valeri hunted down the older nurse who was assigned to Ohber. She pulled her into the hall and asked, "How long have you been here? How many aliens have you cared for?"
The nurse nervously scanned the hallway for signs of listening ears. Though no one else was present, she whispered, "I have been here since the beginning. I have been assigned to care for four different patients. This Milisarian has been my assignment for the longest time."
The program had started earlier than Valeri had realized. She asked the nurse, "What happened to your previous patients?"
The woman hung her head, "I am not sure about all of them. One died in her sleep from a human disease. She was too weakened to fight it. She had not healed from the previous experimental disease. The others were taken from my care when they were no longer viable candidates for testing. I don't know where they were taken. I have to pray they were sent home or I can't handle this job."
Valeri asked, "What do you mean when you say they were no longer viable candidates?"
The nurse wrung her hands as she replied, "They were too sick or broken to survive any more experiments. Please, I must go now. I need this job." She scurried away on silent feet.
One of the scientists brought Valeri some blood samples to run. She decided to take a chance and ask him some questions. She began with, "What happens to the aliens when you are finished testing them?"
The man looked up in surprise and answered, "We replace them. There is always another one to test. Our jobs are secure."
Valeri tried again, "What do you do with the ones you are finished with?"
"I turn them over to Mr. Cavanaugh, and he has them removed from this lab. I don't know where they go. Why does it matter? They are of no use to us. If you have more questions, I suggest you ask the boss; although, I wouldn't advise being too nosy. He has been known to demote anyone who asks too many questions." The scientist turned his back on Valeri and entered information into the computer.
Valeri stopped questioning the staff. If Reginald caught her, he could toss her out of the program, and she would be unable to help Ohber. Helping the Milisarian Knight had become a priority for her. For some unexplainable reason, she felt responsible for him. Maybe it was due to how human he was. Or it might be his determination to live that drew her to care about him so much. The nurses were correct. He was definitely hot. It truly did make his treatments appear viler. She cared about all of the aliens, but Akeila and Ohber were special to her. She was well aware that getting close to any subject was a mistake, but it was too late. These men meant something to her. Yes, she considered them to be men, not aliens. That was surely mistake number two. She would have difficulty keeping her feelings out of the job.
Reginald watched everything through the cameras located in the hallways and lab. He saw Valeri stop the nurse. He noticed the fear in the woman's eyes and knew his daughter was asking questions that were better left unasked. He also saw Valeri speaking with one of the scientists. The man's response was one of confusion. Reginald guessed that she was once again sticking her nose in where it didn't belong. He didn't want to toss Valeri off of the program yet. She was excellent at her job and could do even better given a chance to get used to the program. She just needed to be distracted from the experiments for a while. Maybe he could find a way to bring back the excitement she had once felt about the experiments. Spending some time in lab number three could be just the thing to do it. The techs on that floor were on the verge of a new discovery.
Reginald talked to Ohber's nurse and reminded her not to gossip about the patients if she valued her job. Chastised, the woman kept her head down and refused to acknowledge anyone. Reginald then held a meeting with the scientists and went over the non-disclosure papers they had signed. He made it clear that there were to be no discussions with the staff about anything involving their government contracts. Their large paychecks depended on their silence.
It was time to make amends with Valeri. He needed to gain back some of her trust and stop the questions. Reginald entered the lab and surprised his daughter with a lunch invitation. He wanted to take her to a restaurant and give her a break from the lab. He further surprised her with a hug and the words, "I miss our little talks. I know I have been busy and ignored you. I am so sorry. Let's have a long lunch and catch up. You can tell me how you are getting along in the program and maybe how your brother is doing. He still refuses to answer when I call. I must admit, I have only tried to call him once in the last three months. I guess I'm not the best father out there."
If he expected Valeri to deny that statement, he was wrong. She agreed. Her blinders had been lifted. He was not the best father out there. He wasn't even in the top one hundred. She wondered if the lunch was some kind of ploy, but decided to go anyway.
Chapter 7:
Valeri and Reginald left for the restaurant during a lull in the rainstorm. It was two blocks from their building, making it a short walk on the wet pavement. Reginald expounded on the wonderful way Valeri was handling her new position. She let him ramble on, though she knew he didn't mean a word of it. He had let her know how he really felt with the words he spoke so angrily in the lab. To show a change in attitude now was simply ridiculous.
Reginald was having a difficult time. Pretending to be the righteous, caring man from the past was a strain on his already stressed out nervous system. The government was hounding him for more data. They had paid him an exorbitant amount of money for information, and they wanted it quickly. He couldn't get them to understand that the aliens took time to heal between experiments just like a human would. He resented that fact as much as anybody. If they healed faster, he would make more money. He was alrea
dy pushing his luck by testing those who appeared healed on the outside, though their organs were still damaged. Thankfully, the government only required pictures of a smiling alien as proof of their fitness. What they didn't know wouldn't hurt them and would benefit Reginald's bank account. Someone would catch on sooner or later, and the program would be shut down. He intended to be far away by then and have buckets of cash to enjoy for the rest of his life.
Valeri was a threat to his plans. Her curiosity had to end. Reginald kept a pleasant smile on his face and politely opened the restaurant door for Valeri. He noticed how many men turned to watch his daughter walk to their table. Their faces showed appreciation for her beauty and the sexy swing of her hips. It rankled Reginald that she brought attention to herself in the tight jeans and t-shirt. They were inappropriate work attire and not correct for a nice restaurant. They displayed her assets and that further disgusted him.
Her mother's body was just as curvaceous. Her face was just as smooth and clear as Valeri's. He hated being reminded of her. She had dumped him after years of being second best to his job and married a younger man. She and her new husband were killed in a plane crash. It served her right for leaving him. The animosity between Victor and himself was in part due to Reginald's disparaging remarks about his ex-wife.
Reginald pulled his mind back to the current time and place. He needed to leave the past behind him and fix today's problems. When he and Valeri were seated, he couldn't help but say, "Those jeans are not appropriate for the lab. I must insist you dress to impress. Don't wear them to work again."
Valeri's anger flared. Here was the real Reginald. He was incapable of playing nice for very long. She didn't believe he deserved an explanation, yet she replied, "I didn't wear them to work. I keep them in my locker just in case I want to go out with friends or to a movie after work. I got caught in the worst of the storm this morning. My clothes were drenched, and I was cold, so I put these on. Sorry if I offend your sensibilities or embarrass you."
Reginald felt the heat as blood rushed to his face. He had really stepped in it this time. Judging Valeri before he got all the facts was a rookie mistake. He was here to get back in her good graces and making her angry was not a great way to start. He changed tactics. "I didn't mean to snipe. I brought you here to give you some good news. We are on the verge of a breakthrough. We have recently added a fantastic lab on the top floor of the building. It has state-of-the-art equipment and is fully stocked with samples from our experiments. It is far and away a better place to work than the small labs you've become used to. The techs that work there are the very best in their field. They are on the verge of discovering a cure for Alzheimer's using some DNA from one of our alien studies. Would you like to spend a week working with them? I know this is the kind of research you enjoy the most."
Valeri was aware that he wanted her away from the experiments. She couldn't imagine why he would offer her this opportunity otherwise. She didn't want to leave Akeila and Ohber, but this chance was too good to pass up. A new cure for a disease that ravaged the minds of millions would make all her studying and hard work worthwhile. Such a creation was the whole reason she had become a research scientist. She was far too excited to say no. She jumped up from the table, and to her father's embarrassment, hugged his neck for all to see. She shouted, "Yes, yes, yes! Of course, I want to be there. It's just what I've always dreamed of. Thank you, dad!"
Reginald felt an odd happiness due to her enthusiasm. He had long since forgotten how it warmed your soul to make someone else happy. It was an added bonus. He would get Valeri out of the experiments for a while, stop her questions, and get to revel in her appreciation besides. Lunch became more festive for them both after that.
Valeri was given a blue lab coat. It was for her honorary admittance to the new lab. The scientists from the experiments were distinguished from the techs by blue lab coats. It made the techs a little standoffish, but Valeri's excitement and willingness to defer to their way of handling matters changed the atmosphere. She was soon welcomed into their world.
Each day was an adventure. New potions were brewed, refining the formula after each trial. They were using brains from cadavers to experiment with the formulas. Just a few drops on one and the lesions left behind by the disease disappeared. Unfortunately, so did a fraction of the normal brain tissue.
Valeri's suggestions were welcomed and used in the refinements. She couldn't wait for each day to begin. Her love of science was returning, and her depression lifted. She even went out for drinks with the techs after work. Laughter was once more a part of her life. No pain-filled faces greeted her in the mornings. She didn't have to hurt anyone or put noxious fluids into already ravaged bodies. She was finding a cure that would gain millions a happy life with their families. Maybe she had imagined all the bad things about the experiments. This part of it was certainly legitimate.
At night, as she lay in her bed, it was a different story. Away from the excitement of the techs, alone with her thoughts, Valeri worried about the aliens. Was Akeila over his pain from the cancer? Were the tumors dissolving, or had she given him a disease he couldn't overcome? Had Ohber been harmed? Was he a part of another awful experiment? Did he and Akeila think she had abandoned them to their fates? Her heart ached for them. They had become her friends. Friendship with an alien was much the same as with a human. You enjoyed seeing them, and you worried about their welfare when you were apart. It was an odd situation. She longed to help them, but didn't quite know how.
She never mentioned the aliens to the lab techs. They had no contact with them and would not understand her feelings for them. The samples they worked with were just pieces of a puzzle, not parts of a flesh-and-blood entity. It was for the best. It allowed them to work unhampered by the knowledge of the painful ways those samples were obtained. They were enthusiastic and really great at what they did. Valeri made friends with them as well, though it was a very different dynamic than the friendships she shared with the aliens.
Her week of adventure would come to an end soon. She hoped the cure was refined to perfection before she had to leave. She wanted to stay in this happy atmosphere and forget about the dark one on the floors below. Or did she? She was definitely torn by her love of research and her need to care for her friends. She felt a deep responsibility for their wellbeing. If she could split herself in half and be both places, she would. Perhaps, if she pleaded, Reginald would allow her to spend time in both labs. She would avoid lab number two at all costs. Seeing the aliens hooked up to life support once was more than enough.
She squealed with the rest of the techs when a new refined formula was ready to try. They all gathered around the table to watch the test. The vial containing the sample was handed to Valeri. She was told, "It's your last day here, at least for now, so you do the honors." Valeri let three tiny drops hit the small portion of diseased brain tissue. She watched with an anxious heart as they ate away at the lesions. For just a moment, the progress stopped, and she thought they had finally done it, but then the good tissue dissolved along with the bad. Her face fell, as did those of the techs. They sighed and went back to start over again. They would never give up. Neither would Valeri.
Victor invited Valeri to spend the weekend at the beach with a group of his computer geek friends. She decided to make the most of it, packing shorts and a bikini. Her days were spent swimming, playing volleyball, throwing a Frisbee, and getting a tan. The evenings were fun. There were bonfires, delicious food, and sing-a-longs. Every minute was a blast, until she sat alone watching the tide come in as the moon rose. The sight brought to mind the description of Milisaria. It had green seas and four moons. Guilt slammed into her chest, taking her breath with it. Ohber was locked away. He would most likely never see the seas or the moons again. In fact, he might never see any sky again. She could come and go as she pleased, eat whatever she wanted, and bask in the sun. He couldn't. None of the aliens in the experiment could. Their choices and their freedom had been stolen.<
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Victor plopped down in the sand beside her. He asked, "What's wrong? You were laughing and singing with us just moments ago, and now I see tears in your eyes."
Valeri hated to drag her brother down into the dumps with her, but who else could she talk to about the program? Technically, she wasn't supposed to share information with him either. She knew Victor would hold his tongue, even if tortured, to save her. She began, "This week was great. It reminded me of why I became a scientist. This weekend with you and your friends was fabulous. None of it feels real, though. Reality is waiting for me in the experiment room. Sad faces, sick bodies, and lonely hearts are my reality now. I look at this beautiful blue ocean and the full moon, and I see Ohber, the Milisarian, who longs for his home filled with greens seas and four moons. I look at you and remember the family that the Reptilarian left behind. Lightning brings to mind the Voltuni. Old people in the stores or strolling on the beach remind me of the old Arkani we gave cancer. It makes me wonder, how can I justify this program? Then I think about the cure we came so close to refining this week, and it all makes sense. I don't know what to believe anymore."
Victor put his arm around her shoulders and drew her close. He said, "I'm so sorry that dad ever put you in this program. It's tearing you to pieces. I'm sorry to have to say it, but he knew it would be hard for you. He did it anyway. You've got to get out before it destroys you completely."
"I've considered asking to work upstairs with the techs for at least a couple of days a week. I don't know if dad would go for it or not. What do you think?" She looked up into Victor's face for an answer.
