The Catalyst: (Book One)

by Devi Mara

  “We will pursue the most likely cause first. The ventilation issue. If that is found to be incorrect, we will consider other possibilities.”

  The blonde bobbed her head.

  “Okay.”

  “Cover the tank before you call,” Robin said, slipping off the stool to walk to her desk.

  “Got it, Dr. Kay.”

  Robin settled behind her desk and shifted through the tests that needed to be run on the organism. Basics first. She needed samples. Hair, tissue, blood, and a dozen other things. She jotted down a few notes. She was resigned to the fact that she would get no organ or muscle tissue samples.

  The scientist part of her was eager to know everything as fast as possible, but the rest of her was content with scans to show internal structure. If the organism died, she could slake her curiosity then. She looked over the more in depth testing she planned. Cognitive function was at the very top of her list.

  “Um, Dr. Kay?”

  “Yes, Amber,” she said without looking up.

  “He’s, uh, he’s awake again.”

  Robin’s eyes snapped up. She was out of her seat, so fast it rolled back a few feet. At her movement, the organism’s silver gray eyes moved from Amber to her. It was larger. The knowledge hit her like a blow to the head. In the time she had spent at her desk, less than an hour, the organism had grown again. Its eyes fastened on her and she could not make out the emotion in the gaze.

  “What should I do?” Amber whispered, barely moving her lips.

  Robin would have smiled at the action, but her attention was focused on the way the organism tilted its head to the side as it observed her. The soft chime of her phone made her jump. She kept her eyes on the tank, as she accepted the call and held the phone to her ear.

  “Hello, Robin.”

  The smooth tenor immediately made her grit her teeth.

  “Hello, Ken. I’m a bit busy at the moment—“

  “I left you a message,” he cut in.

  “Did you?”

  “With that girl. The ditzy one. What’s her name? Ashley?”

  Robin scowled at her desktop.

  “Amber.”

  “Right. Did she not tell you I called?”

  “No,” Robin said flatly.

  “Maybe you should get yourself a better assistant.”

  “She suits me very well, thank you.”

  Ken hummed.

  “I remember when you used to say the same about me.”

  Robin ignored the baiting.

  “Did you need something specific?”

  Ken let out a long suffering sigh and she heard muffled voices.

  “I’m calling you on behalf of Renon.”

  Robin paused.

  “Why?”

  “Things have changed since you went to Siberia. Did your mother not tell you?”

  When she did not reply, he continued on.

  “I’ve been made the head of the science department.”

  Everything stopped for a moment, as Robin tried to wrap her mind around his simple statement. He had gotten the job. The one she had been promised. Now, instead of being her colleague he was her supervisor. With complete control over anything she did with the corporation’s money. Her eyes wandered the lab. Most of her equipment was paid for by Renon and he could take all of it at any time.

  “Congratulations,” she murmured.

  “Listen, I know we had a bit of a falling out, but I want you to work on a new project with me.”

  Mind still spinning, she heard herself say, “I’m listening.”

  “Renon wants to buy cloning rights to the organism discovered on the Siberia dig.”

  Robin’s gaze moved to the tank. It was still watching her.

  “Oh?”

  “I understand the zygote was destroyed, but Renon has been working with the ethics board to have the decision overturned.”

  “I see.”

  The organism’s eyes turned to studying the tank, as its hands rose to the mask taking up the bottom half of its face.

  “The original decision was based on your assumption that the organism would be too human. Renon theorizes the organism would be simian, but in the same vein as some of the extinct great apes which have been cloned in the past.”

  Robin watched the organism study the place where the lid met the tank.

  “We want to get started as soon as we get approval.”

  She snapped back to the conversation.

  “I have classes, Ken.”

  “So you are interested.”

  Robin chewed on her bottom lip as she considered. Because of the Budding Principle, Renon’s experiment would fail. She had already used genetic material to make one copy of the DNA. Another organism with the same genes would not thrive. It was a principle that had proved itself true over and over again. But she could not back out and keep her standing with the company.

  “Of course,” she said.

  “Wonderful. I will contact you when we are ready to begin.”

  “My classes?”

  “Dr. Scott as agreed to move them to Intro to Paleobiology.”

  It rankled that the two of them had gone behind her back, but she held her temper.

  “I look forward to your call. Have a good day, Dr. Vines.”

  Mere seconds after she hung up, Amber gasped loudly. Robin’s gaze jerked up from her desk and over to the tank. Amber was standing near it gesturing wildly, while the organism calmly unfastened the breathing mask from its face. Robin’s eyes widened.

  “Open the tank. The red button, Amber!”

  Amber raised the lid the same moment the organism succeeded in removing the mask. Its gaze fastened on her and she found she could not blink. Long fingers released the mask to let it sink deeper into the clear nutrient rich gel that filled the tank. Then, the organism grasped the edge of the tank and, in one smooth movement, lifted itself up and over.

  Robin was vaguely aware of Amber racing to her side to hide behind her, but most of her attention was focused on the organism that slowly stood to full height and glanced around. The gel clung to the pale skin, making its lean muscles glisten under the harsh lights of the lab. Her eyes scanned it carefully, taking in the long limbs and strong torso. She assumed it would be both quick and strong. Possibly a species similar to humanity. Only testing would tell.

  She straightened and cleared her throat. The gray eyes snapped to her with a startling intensity. The organism shifted in place, a movement so small she would have missed it if she was not watching it just as closely as she was being observed. She took a few steps closer, careful to keep her eyes on its face for any sign of hostility.

  There was none, only the curious tilt of the head she had noticed before. When she had halved the space between them, the organism’s gaze moved from her face to take in the rest of her. She nearly stumbled at the spark of awareness that flashed down her spine. The emotionless gray eyes returned to her face and there was something new in them. She stopped walking.

  This was the moment. Robin took a deep breath and let it out slowly, very aware of the gaze fastened on her. She raised her hands to her chest.

  “Dr. Robin Kay,” she said clearly.

  The gray eyes narrowed.

  She tried again.

  “Robin.”

  Something flashed in the organism’s gaze. It was gone a second later. She watched it open its mouth and show just a peek of sharp teeth, before it managed to make a sound.

  “Robin,” it repeated in a deep, raspy voice.

  The voice sent a chill down her spine that was not at all unpleasant. She cleared her throat.

  “Yes, I’m Robin. And you are?”

  She gestured to him.

  Again, she saw a flash of emotion.

  “Addar.”

  In that moment, Addar ceased to be an organism to her. Addar ceased to be an ‘it’. Addar became a ‘he’ and he was very interesting.

  Chapter Six

  The creatures were…interesting. As
he watched the smaller of the two scurry about the room like a pet from his home world, he found his gaze drifting to the other. That one appeared to be in charge. He could not say he found it particularly pleasing to look at, but its voice was nice. Deeper than the small one, and almost soothing. Nothing about the other was soothing.

  His eyes moved back to it. It moved with a frenetic sort of energy that gave him a headache. The hair on its head was very light in color, its skin a pale pink. Similar to his own pale skin, but lacking the gray undertones. The taller creature was different, though. Smooth, brown skin and a long braid of midnight black hair. Even as he kept track of the small creature’s movements, his eyes drifted to the taller one.

  Robin, it was called. He had heard the small one referred to as Amber. It smelled strongly of sweet fruit. The scent caught in his throat every time it came near. He found himself shying away from it. His movements did not go unnoticed by the tall one. When his narrowed gaze left the small, smelly creature he saw Robin staring at him. After a moment, Robin’s mouth curved.

  He frowned. What was that supposed to mean? Robin had done the same thing when they had exchanged names. Perhaps, it was some sort of friendly custom. Before Robin could look away, he returned the gesture. The Robin creature’s mouth curved and its lips pulled back in a snarl. Addar stiffened in the metal chair they had placed him in. Robin took a step toward him, still baring its teeth.

  He slowly rose from the chair and growled. Robin’s movements paused. The snarl disappeared and its head tilted in what appeared to be confusion. The creature clearly did not think he would defend himself. He took a threatening step forward and bared his teeth. Robin’s dark eyes widened. He paused to consider.

  Were it one of his people, he would say Robin was showing aggression. However, its shoulders had stooped and its head was down in a posture of submission. He frowned in confusion. The smaller creature had stopped in its movement to watch the interaction and he found himself annoyed by the attention. He turned his head to send a warning growl in the small one’s direction.

  Its eyes went wide and it took a few steps back. A fear response, then. Interesting. He turned his attention back to taller creature. Robin did not seem to show the same depth of fear response. He took another step forward. Robin’s nostrils flared, as it took in a sharp breath. Fear. How very fascinating. He held the tall creature’s gaze for a moment longer, before he turned his back and returned to his chair.

  They were not a threat. It was several minutes, before activity returned to the room. The smelly creature stayed away from him, clearly nervous to be too close to him. Apparently, the species was not entirely stupid. He let his gaze wander over the room. It was only seven lengths across, but nearly ten long. Almost all of it was filled with shiny metal and the same clear, hard substance that made up the tank.

  At the thought, he looked at the taller creature. Robin had resurrected him. He was not sure how he knew, but he could feel it. It was more than the way Robin studied him so closely when it looked at him. No. Something about the tall creature felt familiar. As if he could feel it in his very blood. He shook the thought off and turned his attention back to the two creatures.

  The smaller carried a black device in its hands. As he watched, it approached the Robin creature. They spoke in their strange language of short barking words for several minutes, before the room fell silent and both turned to look at him. The small one shifted in what seemed to be nervousness. He sat up straighter in the chair.

  “Addar,” Robin called.

  Surely, it did not think he would come to its side like a pet.

  “Addar,” Robin repeated, a note of command in its voice.

  Apparently, it did.

  He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.

  The two creatures faced each other again, speaking in low mutters as if he could understand their language. He huffed at the idiocy. The tall one glanced at him, its dark eyes studying him. Robin said a few more words, before the small one hurried away. He looked back and forth between the two. The small one was in the corner of the room making a great deal of noise, as it dug beneath the counter in some sort of cabinet.

  “Addar?”

  He jerked his head back to see the tall one had approached without his notice. Robin stood only a few feet from him with a weapon of some kind. He shot to his feet, a growl already on his lips, when it clicked the weapon and began to drag the tip across a piece of white parchment. He cocked his head to the side. What strange, primitive creatures they were.

  He watched the tall one until it held out the clipboard, writing utensil, and parchment. He paused for only a moment, before he wrote his name in his native language. As he wrote, he noticed Robin leaning in closer. He growled low in warning and it stepped back, giving him his space. After he had written his name and alphabet, he amused himself by writing his thoughts on the creatures.

  He glanced up to see Robin’s lips curving again. It would not look so pleased if it knew what he had written about it and its companion. He handed the parchment and tools back. Robin took them carefully and after a quick glance, set them aside. The small one rounded the end of the table furthest from him and handed Robin a stack of flat disks. He watched with interest as the disks were placed on the leftmost of the three short, vertical rods jutting out of a flat piece of metal.

  A game of some kind, perhaps.

  “Addar,” Robin said, gesturing for him to come closer.

  He considered it for a moment. The creature clearly wanted him to participate in something. His gaze went from the contraption on the table to the two creatures. The small one fidgeted with the hem of its shirt and refused to make eye contact with him. He internally smirked. The tall one simply watched him with an unflinching gaze. He took a step forward and turned his attention to the game.

  Robin pointed to the stack of seven disks and then pointed to the empty rods on either side. He frowned. Robin watched him for another moment, before it reached out and removed the top four disks. It set them aside, leaving a tower of three disks. As he watched, Robin moved the top disk to the left rod and the second to the center rod. Then the smallest disk moved to the center on top of the second smallest disk.

  He cocked his head to the side as he watched Robin continue to move the disks. The largest went to the empty rod on the right and the smallest disk went to the leftmost rod. Then, Robin reformed the stack. The middle disk moving from the center rod to the large disk on the right rod and the smallest disk going back on top of the stack. How interesting. He turned his head to see Robin staring at him expectantly.

  He quickly mimicked what she had just done. Robin’s dark eyes seemed to shine for a moment, before it looked away and picked up a flat device and began tapping on it. He shook his head and turned his attention back to the game. Picking up another disk, he played out the same rhythm with four disks. Then, five. Robin looked up from its device when the small one made a loud squeaking noise.

  Addar paused, looking up from his game. He had graduated to using all seven disks provided. Robin watched him, mouth open slightly, as he finished the game. The two creatures began to whisper to each other.

  …

  “Did you just see that, Dr. Kay?” Amber breathed.

  Robin nodded.

  “I mean, I can’t even do that and I’ve seen you do it hundreds of times. How did he…?”

  Robin shook her head, still staring at Addar. He was amazing.

  “Change the intelligence level to blue.”

  “Do you want me to give him a test or something?” Amber asked, still standing behind her, careful to keep Robin between her and Addar.

  Robin nodded.

  “The one with words or without?”

  Robin paused and slowly turned her head to look over her shoulder at her assistant.

  “Oh, right. He doesn’t speak English.”

  Amber moved away from Robin to dig through the top drawer on her small desk. Robin heard her muttering to herself a
s she looked for the folder that held the paper copies of the test. Robin had not used the test since she gave her senior class an IQ test three years before. They had not done well. Most hitting the chart around average, with several in the low nineties.

  Robin fixed her gaze on Addar with interest. The possibility that he may outscore her seniors was not as unlikely as it had been only twenty minutes before. The speed he had used to solve those puzzles was not just impressive, it was mildly alarming. She knew a handful of people who solved them on the first try. All of those people were her colleagues. Humans with one or more doctorates.

  Addar had seemingly lost interest in the Tower of Hanoi. He turned his back to her to study the room. She frowned at his broad back. She got the impression he thought very little of her. The way his gaze roamed over her as if she were something new and interesting when he had first spoken to her had faded. He seemed to have lost interest in her presence. He did not look at her unless she spoke to him, as if she were below his notice.

  But when he did look at her… She let the thought trail off, before it continued on its path to somewhere she did not want to be. She had already broken several laws, risked her career, and set aside her own ethics. Robin refused to feel anything but professional curiosity for the attractive being. When Amber returned to her side with the small stack of papers, Robin cleared her throat.

  “Addar.”

  He turned to face her as if he had all the time in the world. Again, his gaze flicked to Amber first. Some emotion always crossed his face when he saw her. Something that looked a great deal like annoyance. He gave Robin his full attention. His gray eyes pinned her in place, far too commanding for a person in borrowed sweatpants.

  “Robin,” he returned, voice only slightly less raspy than it had been before they gave him a glass of water.

  She could still remember the look of clear distrust in his eyes when she handed him the water. He thought she would poison him. Ridiculous. But in his position, she supposed she would be equally careful. Eventually, he had drained the glass. As she thought it, he snatched the glass off the table beside him and thrust it toward Amber.