The Tradrych Strain- The Complete Series

by Marissa Farrar

We stepped in, closing around her. Even those with swollen bellies still managed to move quickly enough to stop her from escaping. I took hold of one of her arms, her wrist thick beneath my fingers. She yanked back on me, but Zoe grabbed her other arm, and someone else locked an arm around her throat. She was fearsomely strong, but she was outnumbered. As we pulled her back, toward a pod, more women joined us and took hold of her legs. Her tail swished around wildly, trying to dislodge us, but there were too many of us.

  We wrestled her into the nearest pod and pushed her onto the bed. The bonds instantly sensed someone was in position and they slithered out, wrapping around her wrists and ankles. The matron screamed and thrashed, but the minute she did so, the bonds went rigid, locking her into place.

  We all stepped back, and I exchanged triumphant smiles with Zoe and Avery.

  “Let me go!” Kaja screamed. “Do as I tell you right now. You’ll pay for this! All of you!”

  I shook my head. “I don’t think so. You’re the one who’s going to pay. You know full well that none of us are here willingly. You kept us all captive and you punished us if anything happened to the babies inside us, as though it was our fault.”

  “You were always trouble!” she spat at me.

  “Good.” I smiled, but the expression was cold. “Being well-behaved never changes anything.”

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Miko

  I DROVE MY FIST INTO a guard’s face and then lifted my laser gun and fired at another guard running toward me. The bolt stopped him in his tracks, and he shuddered on the spot, still upright, for a moment, and then dropped to the floor.

  Above my head, those damned alarms continued to bleat. I wished someone would turn them off. I figured everyone had gotten the memo by now that the facility was under attack.

  Not only under attack, but losing.

  A member of the facility rushed me from the opposite direction. I recognized him instantly. His name was Zymunt, and he’d been here when I’d also been working here. I remembered how he’d look at Tara when she was in the showers, and the comments he would make behind her back about how he’d impregnate her again the first moment he’d get.

  “Mikotaj, you fucking traitor!” Zymunt snarled, and kept coming, moving at speed, despite his size.

  I ducked down low enough to hit his chest with my shoulder, throwing him up and over so he slammed against the floor. He tried to jump to his feet, but I used my laser and directed a bolt of electricity at his heart. We’d had an advantage in that respect. The facility members had never been armed like the guards were.

  He didn’t get back up.

  I checked for the others. Nad, Diarus, and Aleksy were fighting as hard as I was. But with every minute that passed, the fewer Trads Borys had standing.

  I hoped Tara had made it to the birthing ring safely. I’d caught a glimpse of Zoe as she’d run in the same direction. At least neither of the women were on their own.

  Trovik and Zuniq came running toward us.

  “How’s it going outside?” I asked them.

  “We’ve taken down most of the guards. Those who are still standing are beating a retreat.”

  I snorted. “Polityk Borys isn’t going to like that.”

  “Good. He’ll have no choice but to go to his bosses and demand for them to step in. He’s not going to do that in a hurry, since he knows how weak it will make him look.”

  We grinned at each other.

  The alarm suddenly silenced. The quiet settled ominously around my head, though my ears rang with the noise.

  “They’ve gone,” Aleksy shouted out. “The final guards have gone. The facility is ours!”

  A roar of celebration rose among us. Nadeusz clapped me on the back, and I grabbed Diarus in a playful headlock. There had been casualties—some of which had been on our side—but we could finally put an end to the breeding of human women in our district.

  “We need to find Tara,” I said to the others.

  Nad nodded. “She’s this way.”

  But as we turned to go and find her, Tara emerged down the corridor with Zoe. Another young woman stood beside her, one I recognized from before.

  The young woman caught sight of me and started to back away. “Oh, no. He’s one of them.” Her stomach was swollen beneath her dress. She looked like she was about to pop.

  Tara slipped her arm around her shoulders. “It’s okay, Avery. That’s Miko. He’s one of the rebels. He helped us get back in here and rescue you.”

  “We’ve taken control of the facility now,” I told her. “You’re not a prisoner anymore.”

  The young woman gestured to her stomach. “Until this is out of me, I’ll never be free.”

  “We’re going to need to get help for those women who are still going to go into labor,” Tara said. “Do you think Ewa would come here and help with the deliveries?”

  I nodded. “I’m sure she will now.”

  Tara glanced at the floor, and I knew what she was thinking.

  “The babies are safe in the nursery, Tara,” I said, keeping my voice soft. “I know you want to go to them, but we need to make sure the facility is secure first.”

  We might have won, but there were unconscious and dead facility workers lying in almost every part of this place. If one were to regain conscious, they might try to steal the babies.

  “He’s right,” Nad agreed. “The babies are safe down there for the moment. We need to focus on the women and making sure this place is secure.”

  I could see it broke her heart at having to leave him, but she knew it was the right thing to do. The women needed her more right now, and she couldn’t just leave them, and bringing the babies up into this wasn’t right either.

  “Okay,” she relented, “but I won’t leave him much longer. I won’t leave any of them.”

  “We know that.” Diarus placed his hand on her arm. “We’re almost there, Tara. A little more patience, and we can finally look to the future.”

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Aleksy set about giving orders, clearing out the facility and making sure the perimeter was manned.

  I was shown toward the staff quarters—a more comfortable place for the women to spend some time before we figured out what to do with them next. Going back to their pods was never going to be an option. Several of the women wanted to leave the facility altogether, and while I could understand their reasons behind doing so, I managed to convince them to stay. There wasn’t really anywhere else for them to go, not for the moment, anyway. I was sure the Trads would open up their homes to them soon enough, but they would want to feel they could trust those Trads before they went with them, and, as I’d learned, trust took time to build.

  There was still a lot of work to do. There were countless women in the city who were still being held captive by their Trad owners, but the rebels were strong now. They’d be the ones to go door-to-door, only unlike the guards, they’d be demanding that any captive human women be released.

  Though no one wanted to remain at this facility, it was the safest place for the moment. It had the equipment needed to make sure the remaining pregnant women were able to give birth safely, and would allow us to make plans for the next stage.

  Taking the women home.

  I wanted to go to the bottom level and bring the babies up, hating that they were down there alone, but I was also aware of how fragile the mental states of some of the women were. Perhaps it would help them to see that the babies inside them weren’t monsters, but some might also react badly. I remembered my own reaction when I’d caught a glimpse of the baby inside me during a scan, and had seen the tail. It had sent me into a full-blown panic, and I didn’t want to risk doing the same to any of the women.

  It was all so overwhelming.

  I touched Zoe’s arm. She’d been brilliant with the others, and I knew I could trust her to hold the fort for a few minutes. “I’m going to get some fresh air.”

  “You want me to come with you?” she asked.
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  “No, I’ll be fine. You’re needed here.”

  Truthfully, I wanted to be by myself for a few minutes, just to get my head around everything that had happened. Once we started figuring out a way to get women back to Earth, I didn’t think there would be much room for alone time.

  I navigated the corridors until I found an external door and then pushed it open. I stepped out into the desert, the air cool and clean in my lungs. Night had fallen, and a billion stars winked and shimmered overhead. I gazed up into them, imagining the thousands of planets containing intelligent lifeforms, just like this one, picturing all the battles lost and won.

  Was one of those stars Earth?

  Someone stepped out of the darkness in front of me.

  “Hello, Tara.”

  I stopped abruptly, sucking in a breath. I reached for my pocket, but I’d lost my laser somewhere along the way. I’d believed all the danger had been dealt with.

  I was wrong.

  “So, it was you,” Polityk Borys said. “I couldn’t be sure who’d stolen my plans, but it was you all along.

  I glanced over my shoulder, hoping to see one of the guys emerging from the facility, but everything was quiet.

  “And to think I trusted you,” he continued. “I thought you actually liked me.”

  I jerked my head toward him, unable to believe what he was saying. Surely, he didn’t actually think that. “Liked you? You bought me and used me. I hate you.”

  He reared back like I’d struck him. “I gave you a purpose, and you betrayed my trust.”

  I practically choked on my own saliva. “Purpose? What, to create more of you? I can’t think of anything worse.”

  Where were the others? I’d believed us to have won and that we were safe now. No one had expected Borys to be here, thinking he would send in his guards instead, though I guessed it would make sense that he would come to try to protect the one facility he had left. We’d destroyed his dream right in front of him.

  I didn’t dare take my eyes off the Trad. He knew he’d lost, and I could see the rage building inside him. His eyes darkened a shade, his lip curling in a snarl.

  “The human species is nothing! It’s weak and pathetic and should be honored to serve us.”

  “If we’re the ones who are weak, how come it’s your kind who is on the verge of dying out? You need us. We never needed you.”

  I couldn’t help myself. I spat out the words, filled with such venom, even though I knew it would anger him further. Images of him bending me over the bed filled my head, and I remembered how it had felt to have his eggs slipping from my body. He’d done that to me, and I hated him for it. I wanted him to feel that hate now, to understand how much he revolted me.

  “This isn’t the end,” Borys snarled, taking a step toward me. “Our government won’t let you get away with this. We’ll rebuild.”

  “No. The inhabitants of the city have seen you for what you are. You tried to starve them to get them to talk. That’s not how you inspire loyalty, that’s how you make enemies. They’ll learn, over time, that they can develop relationships with women, and that they don’t need to buy them or breed from them. We’re the start of something different—a new way of thinking. Your government might try to force them back to the old ways, but they’ll fight. No one fights harder than when they’re fighting to protect someone they love.”

  “You’re wrong!” he snapped.

  But I could see the doubt in his eyes.

  With greater anger, as though trying to convince himself, he said it again. “You’re wrong!”

  I didn’t need to say anything else. He’d lost, and he knew it.

  He hadn’t had a weapon before—I was sure of it—but suddenly there was a flash of metal between his fingers. I sucked in a breath, my stomach plummeting. A laser was in his hand. With his lips a thin line, and fury in his eyes, he lifted the weapon and pointed it at me. What had I done with my own laser? I’d left it somewhere—beside one of the pods when I’d been freeing the women, perhaps? My memories were blurred. I’d been so overcome with freeing them, that all thoughts of fighting had slipped my mind.

  I took a step back. The life I could have had suddenly flashed before me—everything I would lose. The chance to bring up the baby and teach him compassion and tenderness and love. The possibility of making Nad and Miko and Diarus happy every day simply by us being in each other’s lives. Even the thought of me carrying one of their babies inside me one day. I didn’t want all of that to end, but it didn’t look as though I would have much of a choice. My one hope was that we’d done enough. We might have changed this district for the better and prevented the abduction of more women from Earth, but would the rest of Tradrych follow? I guessed I’d never find out.

  He lifted the laser and pointed it directly at me. Twin red dots of light appeared in the middle of my chest. I could turn and run, but it would mean he’d end up shooting me in the back. I’d rather face him than let that happen.

  Borys’s finger squeezed the trigger.

  A rush of movement came from my left, and a huge body wrapped around mine. I barely had time to catch a glimpse of silver hair and pale-blue eyes before the laser beam hit Aleksy’s back. He jolted against me, his entire body going rigid as he took the shot that had been meant for me. He shuddered and jerked, electricity running through his body, stopping his heart, and then he slumped in my arms.

  “No!” I screamed.

  Aleksey was too big for me to hold, especially as a deadweight, and I dropped to my knees in the sand with him, cradling him in my lap. Tears filled my eyes. No, no, no. This couldn’t be happening. He’d taken that shot for me. I would be dead right now if it wasn’t for him.

  I’d completely forgotten about Borys. He was still armed.

  Nadeusz and Miko burst from the building behind me, but Diarus was faster. He saw what was happening and launched himself at Borys. His foot met with Borys’s wrist, and he knocked the weapon from his hand. A swift elbow to the face created a loud crack that signaled his nose breaking, and a splatter of red droplets landed in the sand. Borys staggered backward. Diarus took the moment to go for the weapon. Borys saw what Diarus intended and darted for it as well, but he was too late.

  The Athion grabbed the laser and jammed it hard against Borys’s temple and pulled the trigger.

  Borys’s body went rigid. Smoke rose from the place where the laser met his skin. His eyes rolled, the whites showing, and his mouth opened in a silent scream. The laser was probably frying his brain, and all I could think was a cold-hearted ‘good.’

  Diarus finally took his finger off the trigger, and Borys dropped to the ground. Smoke continued to rise from his head, but he’d stopped moving. No one could have survived that.

  Borys wasn’t the only one who hadn’t survived. I looked down at Aleksy, where I had his head cradled in my lap. His eyes were shut, and he wasn’t moving. Tears blurred my vision, and ran down my cheeks to plop onto Aleksy’s hair.

  A low moan of despair escaped my throat, and I shook my head, not wanting to believe the truth. Aleksy had taken the hit for me, and now he was dead. I wanted to go back, to skip back in time and change things. If only I hadn’t goaded Borys, he might not have tried to shoot me. Or if I’d forced him to shoot me sooner, so Aleksy hadn’t had time to get in the way.

  Wrapped in a blanket of grief, I sensed more than saw Nad drop to his knees on one side of me, and Miko do the same on the other side.

  “Velos, Aleksy!” Nad exclaimed.

  “He did it for me,” I sobbed. “It should have been me, and not him. His life was far more important than mine.”

  Strong arms wrapped around me, rocking me, even as I held Aleksy’s body.

  “Hush, no. Stop that. No one’s life is more important than yours.”

  I wished I could believe him, but Aleksy was their leader. What would happen to the rebels now?

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Together, we carried Aleksy’s body back into the fac
ility.

  I didn’t have the right to think my grief was the greatest. The others had known him far longer and were closer to him than I was. But he’d given his life for me, and that changed things.

  It had been war, and there had been casualties. I’d just never imagined one would have been him.

  Would they hold me to blame for his death?

  The walls felt like they were closing in around me. I couldn’t bear to look at Aleksy’s body any longer, the guilt and grief overwhelming me. I had to get away from everyone.

  I pushed through the small gathering crowd of shocked and grieving rebels, and did what I should have done in the first place—I headed toward the nursery.

  Footsteps thundered behind me as someone gave chase.

  Nad reached out and caught my hand. “Tara, wait.”

  I shook my head, unable to look at him, and pulled my hand out of his grip. “I’m sorry, I have to go.”

  Nadeusz hadn’t come alone. Mikotaj and Diarus were with him.

  “You’re not going anywhere on your own,” Miko said.

  Diarus nodded in agreement. “We’re coming with you.”

  They were my support. They always had been. They had every right to push me away now, and blame me for the death of their leader, but they didn’t. Without asking me where I was going—seemingly already knowing—they followed me down to the lower level and toward the room of pens where the babies were being kept.

  I pushed open the door and entered, the others close behind.

  That bastard’s name was still above the baby boy’s cage. With a roar of anger, I tore out the paper slip, screwed it up in my palm, and threw it to the floor. Maybe he’d been the child’s father biologically, but he was dead now, and good riddance.

  I dropped to my knees and opened the cage door. The baby was sleeping, his little fist bunched up and pressed against his rosebud lips. I didn’t want to wake him, but I wasn’t going to just leave him there either. I scooped him up in my arms and got to my feet. The baby stirred, moving his head from left to right, as though searching for something, and then settled back down into sleep.