Awaken

by Linda Harley

  Her feet carried her back to the castle, passed the barracks, and bathhouse again, but this time she stopped outside the stables. She found nothing but chaos, compared to the normalcy she had seen earlier when she had been this way to fetch the wood.

  Shouts from stable hands tried to calm neighing horses, barking dogs, meowing cats, mooing cows, and even cooing messenger pigeons. Every animal in the castle was going berserk in and around the stables.

  Anna’s heart sank as she dodged around the animals and found Dave vomiting into a water bucket, his face red from fever.

  Chapter 15

  Kip and Blaise came running into the stables, as Anna was handing Dave a glass of water to rinse his mouth out. “I think something is wrong with him doc,” Anna stated, not knowing what to do. She felt utterly helpless.

  Blaise kneeled to get on Dave’s level, then inspected his skin, mouth, eyes, and listened to his chest with a stethoscope. Blaise produced a handkerchief and handed it to Dave, who took it with thanks and wiped his mouth. Dave tried handing the handkerchief back, but Blaise said, “Best keep it, lad, you’ll need it again soon enough.”

  Blaise stood and straightened, only now noticing the odd behavior of all the animals who had crowded in around Dave. A chicken waddled up and pecked at Dave’s shoe as if to see if he was still alive.

  “I think it is best if we take him to the jail cell. Put him with Miina, Kip.” Blaise instructed as he kicked the chicken out of the way.

  “No!” Anna protested and reached for her brother, but Kip wrapped a burly arm around her waist and held her back. She kicked and yelled, but Kip would not budge.

  “Get a hold of yourself, Anna,” Blaise reprimanded her. “We are not going to incarcerate him, nor are we going to kill him.” Blaise stood eyebrows furrowed together, staring at her outburst.

  “Oh,” Anna said, taking a moment to collect herself as the words sunk in. “Why the jail cells and not the infirmary?”

  “Look around you, something nefarious is going on here,” Blaise said, indicating the horses, cats, dogs, mice, cows, chickens, and pigeons that filled every nook of the stables, all staring at Dave. “These strange abilities are a new symptom of skin pox. For Dave’s safety as well as our own, I need to put him somewhere he can’t cause more trouble. Miss Miina had similarly strange events occur around her when I saw her but a few moments ago.”

  Two men elbowed their way through the animals with a stretcher in hand. They placed the stretcher onto the ground by Blaise’s feet. Blaise helped Dave to lay down on the stretcher, without any protest. Dave looked pale, and Anna was surprised he had not passed out yet.

  “Can I come?” Anna asked as they prepared to take Dave away.

  “Only if you promise to behave,” Blaise countered.

  “I will,” Anna agreed.

  “Let her go, Kip. I’ll take it from here,” Blaise said and then left, leading the stretcher out of the stables.

  The instant Kip let go; Anna hurried to catch up with Blaise. She followed in silence, staying out of the way as Blaise injected Dave with some medicine. They headed into the keep, through the bailey, down the steps and into the jailer’s office, where Trald still sat monitoring the camera feeds.

  The smell of wet mold clung to the air, and Anna shivered, as the temperature was somewhat cooler down here than what it had been up top. Blaise led them over to one of the side rooms. A big iron door hung on rusty hinges, and beyond was a dark damp and grimy looking cell.

  Olavi sat on a campstool next to Miina’s bed, holding her hand, wiping sweat from her brow and softly whispering to her in a reassuring voice. An empty bed stood ready and waiting next to Miina’s bed. Iona hurried over as they entered and helped Dave transfer to the bed and get settled down. Whatever the doctor had injected Dave with, it had considerably calmed him down, and he fell into a deep sleep the instant Iona pulled the covers over him. A stray cat that had ventured down here with them jumped up on Dave’s bed and settled in for a nap. Even the animals were more at peace now that Dave had been knocked out.

  Ekiny arrived with two bowls of broth for the patients, about the same time as Radnt appeared with an armload of wood. News always traveled fast in the keep. Both set about their tasks of setting up the room, staying in the background so that no one would notice their presence and chase them away. But Anna noticed, and she was grateful they were there.

  “What will happen to them?” Anna asked, taking up a position at Dave’s feet, too afraid to touch him. She wished she could be as gentle as Olavi, but her mind was racing through all the implications of their situation.

  The two orderlies gathered up the stretcher and left the room. Behind her, Anna heard screeching as the iron bar door closed, to keep them safely locked up, and all other unwanted guests outside. Anna cringed at the sound, but there was nothing to do.

  “We will take good care of them, this I promise. I first need to determine if these new symptoms are dangerous and transferable as part of the disease.” Blaise said, using his bot eyes to scan the bodies.

  “I don’t think that’s what she meant,” Iona said, gently cutting Anna off before she could boil over in anger.

  Blaise finished his diagnostics and then turned to face Anna. “My analysis shows that they are both in stage 2 of the skin pox. If they survive the night, then tomorrow the pox will start in the mouth and spread to their entire skin. They are both so young, small, and thin. I don’t know if their bodies will be able to endure the ordeal. As for the new symptoms, more analysis is required, before I can make a proper diagnosis as to the origin, but I don’t see how they could have spontaneously developed these dormant abilities.”

  Anna pinched the bridge of her nose. “So, what you are saying is that they are likely going to die. Maybe even tonight. Don’t you have a cure?”

  Blaise shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I’ve tried everything imaginable, and nothing seems to affect the outcome. But maybe their new abilities is the clue that I’ve been waiting for.”

  Anna’s shoulder’s sagged, and her knees were about to give in. She had failed to keep her promise to Nick; to keep Dave and Miina safe. Wait! That was it! What if these were their abilities starting to show from the genetic manipulation Nick had made. The timing was right. Perhaps their skills had nothing to do with the skin pox. But, could she trust Blaise with the truth. Secrecy was their only security.

  “What if I had a way to save Dave and Miina. Would you help us?” Anna asked, scanning the room to confirm that everyone was still present. This was the first time since their arrival, that they were all together in the same room, except for Trald, but he was just outside.

  “Preposterous. I would have heard about a cure by now.” Blaise said brushing Anna off and turning back to his patients.

  “But what if I could. What if, I was willing to share the cure with everyone. Free of charge?” Anna continued to press.

  This gave Blaise pause, his eyes glazed over in that all familiar way when bots were puzzling something out. He snapped out of it. “If what you say is true, then my programming mandates that I must help you. But how do I know you are not lying?”

  “One moment,” Anna said, heading over to the iron bar door and propping it open slightly. She scanned the Jailer’s Office and noticed no one but Trald at the computer. “Trald, can you put the camera in this cell on a loop?” Anna asked.

  “Sure thing. One moment.” Trald said, bending over the computer monitor. “There. Done.”

  “Excellent, could you join us here for a moment?” Anna asked.

  “I don’t think so. The chief will be mightily upset if I’m not at my station.” Trald protested.

  “Please Trald, it’s important,” Anna said.

  Trald scanned his monitors one last time, before coming over. “I suppose a few minutes won’t matter.”

  Anna waited until Trald had joined them and then closed the door again. She was somewhat surprised that the door had not been locked, but then she supp
osed that two sick kids wouldn’t have the energy to make it far past the Jailer’s Office without being noticed.

  Anna scanned the room; everyone’s eyes on her. She took a deep breath and then blurted out. “We have all been recently genetically modified. I’m not sure what everyone’s abilities are, but have my suspicions. The man who did this is called Nick. If he could genetically modify us to protect us against the McKlendle virus, then he must have a cure for skin pox.”

  The others stood gaping at Anna for revealing their secret. “We need his help,” Anna said.

  “That’s what you said last time, and look where it got us,” Radnt retorted, but Anna decided to ignore him pointedly.

  “I think that Miina can manipulate gravity, which is why things are always flying through the air around her. Dave talks with animals,” Anna said, pointing at the cat. “The steel listens to Olavi when he’s forging, I’ve seen it bend magically with my own eyes. Ekiny always picks the best herbs; I suspect it’s because of her exceptional sense of smell. Radnt can cut through a whole day’s pile of wood in a few hours. I’m not sure about Iona or Trald yet, but me, I run fast.”

  “I talk to computers,” Trald commented, pushing the glasses up on his nose.

  “Really?” Anna asked.

  “Really,” Trald confirmed.

  “Interesting.”

  With each revelation, Blaise seemed to grow more skeptical. “I don’t know Anna. I’ve never heard of normal humans being turned into Anrhegians at will.”

  “What are Anrhegians?” Anna asked.

  “Anrhegians exhibit the skills you just described. But the gifts are a hereditary birthright, not genetic manipulation, and no one in these areas have the proper gene sequence. Also, all those things you mentioned can easily be explained away.”

  “How?” Radnt asked.

  “A temporary magnetic polarity distortion due to changing out the trisidiumpac would explain the objects flying around Miina. Dave has probably been secretly feeding the animals, which is why they flock to him. One's eyes can easily be deceived in a forge, due to heat exhaustion. The best herbs are often the brightest, so Ekiny could just be observing the colors. Radnt is pretty muscular, and he’s young, so it is expected that he should be able to cut that much wood, and you’re just a fast runner.” Blaise put a fatherly hand on Anna’s shoulder. “I want to believe you, Anna, but let’s not pretend there is a cure. It will only make things harder for Dave and Miina. Hope can be cruel. Now, I should return to my duties and see to my other patients.”

  Anna wanted to know more about the Anrhegians. Who were they? Where were they from? Could they teach them how to control these gifts? But now was not the time to ponder such things. She had to figure out a way to convince Blaise that they all had these gifts, then maybe he would listen to them.

  Blaise was about to leave when Iona blurted out. “Then what about this? How do you explain this? I did not have these when you first cleared me to be your assistant a week ago.” Iona pulled off her shirt, revealing gills that ran up the side of her ribs and ended at the base of her neck.

  Speechless, Blaise moved to Iona and touched one of the gills. He yelped and jumped back as the gill moved and shocked him. He performed a quick scan and announced. “Amazing! You’re a human electric eel hybrid, able to breathe in and out of water. I was wondering why you’ve been eating so much salt lately. But you are of an age when your gifts would manifest itself. But what are you doing here? You should be in Anrheg?” Blaise trailed off, staring at Anna, and the others around him.

  “I do not know what this Anrheg is. We were all woken from cryostasis recently. Nick, our caretaker, altered our DNA to save us from the McKlendle virus. He must have a cure for skin pox.” Iona said as she pulled her shirt back into place, hiding her gills.

  Blaise considered the data before him. “I suppose that is a probable explanation. No Anrhegians would have been so easily caught by Kip and brought here. The Anrhegs do not let children out of their sight until they are of age.” Blaise straightened his shoulders and made a decision, “Fine, I will believe you until proven otherwise. What do you need me to do?”

  “Are we ready to go back?” Anna asked the others. Each gave her an approving nod.

  “Trald mentioned that 2 trisidiumpacs would be delivered tonight. We will need it to get the Cryoplex up and running again so that we can get access to the cure. Trald and I will work out a way to steal the trisidiumpac. Ekiny can you get us supplies?”

  “Yes, but Nancy’s programming can detect lies,” Ekiny said.

  “Just do your best. Iona, prepare whatever you’ll need to take care of Dave and Miina. Radnt and Olavi figure out how we are going to move Dave and Miina.”

  “What if they wake up? What about their abilities? It could cause problems.” Olavi pointed out.

  “I can keep them sedated during transport. It won’t harm them.” Blaise said.

  “You’re coming with us?” Anna asked, surprised.

  “Of course.”

  “Great. Thanks.”

  “Although, I appreciate your enthusiasm, aren’t you forgetting the most important thing?” Radnt asked arms crossed, not looking a bit pleased with her master plan.

  “What?” Anna asked, annoyed at Radnt.

  “How are we getting back to the Cryoplex?” Radnt asked, a smug smile on his face.

  Anna’s balloon of hope popped. They weren’t going anywhere.

  THE END

  Thank you for reading Awaken. I hope you enjoyed it! If you did…

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  Keep reading for a preview of Pearl Payback, Anna’s story, available December 3, 2019!

  PEARL PAYBACK

  Nuelda, Book 2

  “I can help,” Kip said, stepping out of the shadow beyond the iron-barred door.

  Anna jumped when se heard his voice and whirled around to face him. To her surprise, Kip showed no animosity towards her. A deep worry line furrowed his brow.

  “How?” Radnt asked unphased by the unexpected ally.

  “My ship. I can have you back to the Cryoplex in 7 days tops, 5 if we push it.” Kip explained, staring at Radnt who due to the genetic manipulation had grown to Kip’s size in the last week. Also, Radnt’s biceps were about twice the size of Kips, and Anna believed that it would be a fair fight between the two of them if they had to take Kip out to keep him from blathering their plans to Hogarth.

  “That’s not fast enough,” Olavi said squeezing Miina’s tiny weak hand. “They may be dead by then.”

  Kip ran his hands through his hair. “If we commandeered a mechbird, we could be there tomorrow, but I don’t know anyone who can fly the thing.”

  “I do,” Blaise said.

  “Will they help us?” Anna asked, hope returning.

  Blaise nodded. “I believe so. Kip and I will secure the mechbird and the pilot. You focus on getting the trisidiumpac.”

  Anna considered their offer. She had too many questions to ask about how they were planning to accomplish such a feat, but every second that ticked by reverberated in her bones. She allowed herself a moment to think. Her decision could put everyone at risk. If she did nothing, they could lose Dave and Miina. But if she risked this, everyone involved could lose their lives. Was the safety of the few, worth the sacrifice of the many? An age-old question, and one that shows one’s real character, self-preservation or compassion.

  “Why help us?” Anna asked Kip. She needed to know if she could trust him, for that was the deciding factor. If there was no way to get away, then there was no sense in executing this plan.

  Instantly tears welled up in Kip’s eyes. He tried to speak but only got as far as opening his mouth before having to shut it. No words were spoken.


  Blaise placed a gentle hand on Kip’s shoulder and answered for him. “His two-year-old baby daughter was diagnosed with skin pox yesterday. She is fading fast and has no chance of survival.”

  Pearl Payback – Available December 3, 2019

  Other Science Fiction Romance

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