“The Alpha here is ready to bring his men and join us,” she said, averting her eyes from a blob of unnamable color offending her human sensibilities. “Any news on the storm or the plan?”
“The storm remains steady in its progress and is due to hit in three days, although you may see heavy wind and waves in advance.” MARL then had technical questions about where exactly in the facility Daegan expected the various groups of prisoners to be held, and especially where the cubs would be.
Next thing she knew, Flo was waking up to sunshine spilling through the door of their hut and Daegan sitting on the edge of the bed, fully dressed, watching her with his brow furrowed in a frown.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” she asked. When she sat up, she saw a huge bouquet of vivid purple and orange flowers stuffed into an empty nutrient drink container. “Oh, for me?”
He nodded. “I said you deserved flowers—I wanted you to see this island has its own beauty your valley to the north can’t match, not in my heart anyway. It’s been my prison my entire life, but it’s home in many ways.”
She reached to cover his hand with hers. “When the war with the Khagrish and their allies is over, maybe we can come back here for a vacation.”
“I was concerned for you,” he said, changing the subject abruptly. “I woke right before dawn and you were lying there as if you were in a coma. You acted distressed and I couldn’t awaken you no matter what I did, so finally I held you and prayed to the goddess whatever was happening would subside.“
“I’m fine.” Her hand seemed to go of its own accord to the spot on the back of her neck where MARL had inserted the implant and she rubbed her neck as if to soothe stiffness. “The pack was communicating with me via the AI.”
“Anything I need to know before I head out?” he asked.
“Nothing new. I told them you were all in and we were awaiting instructions. MARL said the storm is tracking on schedule.”
“I’ll be on the lab all day, working on storm preparations. All the Badari will be, so you should be safe from Wint. I’ll be back before sundown and then we’ll have to think of something to do.” He gave her a mock leer, running his hand up her naked leg. “What will you do today?”
“Probably check in on the other women, maybe go sit at the beach.” She shrugged. “Inaction chafes on me. One good thing about being on call at the valley as a pilot—I’m always going out on sorties or training runs. Not much downtime.”
“We’re almost done with it here,” he said. “If your people intend to invade the day after the storm ends. Tell me again how confident you are this will succeed.”
Surprised, she stared at him. “100%. We’ve never failed to take a lab once we attack. This one’s bigger, more the size of the original lab, but we have an advantage with MARL and we have the element of surprise. The Khagrish wouldn’t dream of us attacking all the way down here in the south. All of our efforts have been up north, on the continent.”
“Good. I needed to hear experience-based optimism. I’ll be sharing with my enforcers today and then we’ll spread the word to those I trust to be ready.” He rose, glancing at the thick black bracelet on his arm. “I have to go. The Khagrish have been summoning me for a while now but I wasn’t going to leave while you were asleep.” He caressed her cheek with the back of his hand and Flo pulled him close for a kiss. “Promise me you won’t swim alone. I know you’re a strong swimmer but not alone, please, Flo.”
She made a mock pout and then laughed. “I’ll wait for you to get back. Now go before the Khagrish get impatient and turn the dial up. I know for myself now how much nasty pain the bracelet can deliver.”
“All right.” He walked out of the hut, breaking into a jog as he cleared the door, which made her wonder how high the pain signal had gotten on the neurocontroller while he waited for her to wake up. Daegan was in quite a hurry now. As she got out of bed, moving in a gingerly fashion because all the unusual activity during the night had left its mark on her after months of self-imposed celibacy, she refreshed herself in the tiny bathroom and made breakfast out of nutrient drink and survival bars. Clean jumpsuits were stacked on a shelf but so were the black tee shirts and utility pants the Badari wore. Without hesitation, she grabbed a set of those clothes and a set of the boring white underwear. She thought impatiently of the lacy confections she had in her cave at the valley, salvaged from loot taken from freighters by the Khagrish and their Shemdylann pirate allies. Sitting on the bed in the institutional underwear, she examined the Badari clothing critically. The pants were huge on her but she rolled up the legs and belted them at the waist with a torn up tee shirt. She managed to rip another T shirt into an acceptable length for herself and was quite satisfied.
Kicking her jumpsuit from yesterday into a corner, she said, “Much better this way.”
There were still only flip-flops to wear on her feet so she slid them on reluctantly and headed out to the women’s large hut.
With no interviews today and no assigned tasks, the nineteen women were sleeping in, eating breakfast, chatting. Flo received their undivided attention when she walked in but no one was hostile. Lacey and Shelli waved from where they were sitting. Renate cut Flo off as she headed in their direction.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
In surprise, Flo did a double take. “I didn’t think you cared.”
“You’re one of us, even if I’m upset at the way you and the soldier jumped the protocol.” The other woman stood tall, which caused Flo to give her grudging respect. “I was also concerned whether the Khagrish would abandon our whole process once you broke ranks and picked a guy.”
“Hey, I like him,” Flo said. “He’s a good person as I believe I’ve mentioned before and he didn’t give me much choice.”
“Do you think the Khagrish will let you stay with him? That other guy sounded pretty sure he could enforce his preference,” said one of the other women, seated at a nearby table, playing solitaire with the Badari cards.
Flo decided she had to have confidence in Daegan’s ability to enforce his will as the Alpha, even on a renegade like Wint. Out loud, she said, “I can’t control what the enemy does one way or the other. One day at a time here.”
“Your constant motto.” Renate sighed and beckoned Flo to follow her to the kitchenette area, which was currently empty. “What do you know?” she asked in a low voice as soon as they stepped into the private space.
Inner alarm bells sounded at Renate’s change in tone. “Excuse me?”
Renate glanced around and then, satisfied no one was paying attention, she leaned closer and said. “I know you weren’t in our original group. Dalley Posten, from my ship, was. When we woke up that morning and I saw you instead of her, I figured it was some psychological game the Khagrish were playing and I decided to watch and wait but now I want to know why you’re always so confident in this hellhole. What’s going on?”
“I know there’s a storm coming in two days, which buys us more time. Anything can happen.” Flo stared at Renate. “All I know, I swear. All my life I’ve gone one day at a time and it’s worked out pretty well for me.” Which was actually the truth so perhaps there was enough conviction in her voice to explain why Renate allowed her to walk away without further questions. She joined Lacey and Shelli. “How are you doing?”
Both women said they were fine but Flo didn’t have much of anything to talk to them about once they got past the mutual assurances. She invited them to walk to the beach with her for a while but the women seemed to feel safer inside the communal hut than going outside to wander the island, so she promised to check in again later, and took herself off.
It was too beautiful a day to stay cooped up inside in her opinion. And if the Khagrish decided to change the parameters of the experiment, they’d enforce the new protocol whether the women hid in the building or not. It wasn’t her style to seek safety which was only an illusion. She preferred to be standing on her own two feet, in a spot where she could see tr
ouble coming and maybe do something about it.
The beach was gorgeous and deserted except for the small crustaceans digging for food and birds running along the water’s edge. For a while Flo was content to sit and watch the waves and let her mind drift aimlessly, although if she had to be honest, most of her thoughts were of Daegan and the hours they’d spent in bed together. He was an amazing, caring lover and she was drawn to the strength of his personality, as well as the vulnerability he showed in tiny amounts, as when he’d been jealous of allegiance to Aydarr. He’s a person I can rely on. Lifting her face to the sun, Flo closed her eyes. He’s pretty much the perfect man for me so of course I had to meet him here, under these conditions.
Taking off her tee shirt and the ludicrously oversize pants, she dozed and woke disoriented, her heart racing. After taking a few moments to orient herself and accept the fact she was on the beach of the prison island, with no threat in the offing right now, she stared longingly at the ocean. The waves were big today, coming in smoothly rolling sets, perfect for body surfing.
“I never actually promised him,” she said out loud. “I could ride a few waves—these are too beautiful to miss.”
Having decided she ran to the edge of the water and plunged in.
Her first few rides were spectacular, maybe the best she’d ever experienced on any world. Flo decided to go out one more time and was soon treading water, waiting for the best possible wave to be her final ride of the day. She saw iridescent sparkles blanketing the ocean, floating in her direction and was a bit uneasy. As the waves brought them closer, Flo realized they were creatures, with tiny, nearly invisible ‘sails’ a few inches high, barely enough to catch the breeze and be propelled across the ocean’s surface. She relaxed because these small creatures didn’t pose much of a threat and the wave she wanted was rolling toward her. She could tell by the way the ocean was swelling as the water approached the slope to the beach.
As she began her ride, a swarm of the pretty little ‘sailors’ was pushed in her direction by a stray breeze and she was among them before she knew it. There was an odd sensation on her leg, a flicker of pain and then numbness and Flo had to work hard to keep herself in the correct, straightened position to surf properly and safely. When the wave deposited her on the damp sand at the shore, she lay for a breath or two, oddly reluctant to see what had happened. Taking a deep breath, Flo rolled over and gasped. Two of the sailors were attached to her left leg, their tentacles wound tightly around her like a ground-creeping vine. Hobbling to her clothes, Flo used the T shirt as a makeshift glove on her hand while she unwound the fibers, which fortunately didn’t appear to be deeply lodged in her skin. Soon the two sailors lay dying on the sand and Flo checked her leg over carefully. Aside from a certain numbness, her limb seemed fine. There was a pattern of red dots where the tentacles had been, like elegant tracery on her skin.
“I think I got off light,” she said, mumbling to herself. Shrugging into the tee shirt, she picked up the pants and her flip-flops and decided to walk barefoot back to the hut, where she could wash her leg off and prepare herself for the lecture Daegan would rightly give her when he got home and found out she’d gone swimming alone one time too many.
She had to limp as her leg wasn’t very responsive and she’d barely gone a hundred feet toward the trail when she fell onto the sand. In disbelief, she tried to rise but now none of her extremities was working properly and the most she could do was roll over onto her back and stare at the sky. Flo felt a tear trickling down her cheek and closed her eyes, wishing Daegan was nearby.
All day long he’d been impatient, eager to get back to Flo. It wasn’t just the lure of more great sex, although he had to be honest with himself and admit she was a fantastic lover. He longed to see her and talk to her, simply to be in her presence and play cards if that was all she was in the mood for. She consumed him to a degree he’d have found unsettling, were he not so sure she was his mate and a blessing from the Goddess. As he stacked sand bags, he wondered how long it would take him to persuade Flo to trust her instincts and accept his claim. As he dug ditches, he fantasized about having cubs of their own someday. As the day wore on, uneasiness rode him, chipping away at what scant patience he had.
He held off briefing his enforcers on Flo’s true mission because the Khagrish were watching too closely and the news was so huge, his men might react visibly, leading to awkward interrogation.
There was no possibility of sneaking away today. The Khagrish had all the men working at a fast pace to make the lab ready for the coming storm and would notice immediately if he took off. Besides, leaving without permission would be exactly the kind of behavior to put the enemy on the alert he wasn’t a simple soldier as they’d been led to believe. Defying orders was a hallmark of those with higher dominance levels.
When the prisoners were finally marched back into the Preserve, he didn’t wait another second but broke into a sprint, ignoring the hoots and good natured teasing from the other Badari. Worry was clawing at him for no reason he could identify. He pounded up the stairs to their hut and burst inside, calling her name. “Flo?”
The hut was empty and from the scent, she’d been gone for hours. He remembered she’d mentioned going to visit the other women but as he tore out of the hut again, he didn’t hesitate in heading straight to the beach. She didn’t have much in common with the other humans as far as he could tell and wouldn’t have lingered there, certainly not past the point where he was due to return. But the beach on the other hand, held a huge allure for her, as he well knew.
Ahead he saw a limp form crumpled in the sand and he put on another burst of speed, arriving at her side in a spray of sand as he slid the last foot or so to gather her into his arms. A glance was all he needed to comprehend she’d run afoul of the wave drifters and their insidious poison. She was lucky to have reached the shore. Usually they swarmed their prey and once the unfortunate victim was paralyzed and drowned, the creatures feasted until only the bones were left. Daegan rocked her in his arms, his heart cracking open with pain. There was no antidote for this. Even if he took her straight to Dr. Nyddfalorr and begged for help, there was nothing the Khagrish could do either. Even a Badari like him had a hard time throwing off the poison, although his kind always did thanks to their supremely powerful immune systems but it was one substance that made them struggle for their lives.
He heard her heart beating ever so faintly as he bent to kiss her.
Flo’s eyes flickered open and she tried to reach up with one hand to touch his cheek. “Daegan.” Her voice was a mere whisper. “I’m sorry—I went in alone.”
“Don’t leave me, hang on.” He held her tightly as her eyes closed again. Sending an urgent call to his enforcers and the healer, he feared saving her was a lost cause but he had to do something. He sent the Great Mother a prayer for mercy, for humans to possess a rare gift or hidden ability that might allow Flo to survive but he cherished no real hope. Miracles were nonexistent in the Badari world.
Taking off his own shirt, he wrapped her in it, because she was cold to the touch.
The other three men arrived one right after the other and stood around him in a half circle. Hainn swore as Daegan twitched aside his shirt covering her body and showed them her leg, swollen, with the telltale red dots of the stingers. The healer dropped to his knees next to Daegan and ran his brightly glowing hands over Flo, concentrating on the worst areas of her leg. He shook his head even as he worked.
“My power doesn’t recognize her. I have to force it to heal even the slightest amount.” Eyes burning brightly in his face, Hainn looked at Daegan with a sorrowful expression. “I can slow the progression of the poison a bit but not for long. Or I can give a merciful death.”
Daegan lashed out with his free hand, talons bared and the healer rolled away to avoid the blow. Ivokk stepped forward to grip Daegan’s shoulder hard while the other enforcer steadied the shaken healer.
“I’m sorry,” Daegan said immediately, �
�The thought of her dying is more than I can bear. She’s my mate, unclaimed or not, she’s my heart. I can’t lose her.”
Unspoken regret and sympathy radiated from the three closest friends he had to his name but they were as helpless as he was in the situation. He tried pouring his power as an Alpha into Flo, but what he possessed was a different energy than the healing gift. He was losing her and there was absolutely nothing he could do.
“She’s trying to speak.” Hainn pointed to Flo.
Daegan leaned over, putting his ear as close as he could get to her lips. “Say it again, beloved.”
“Blood,” she whispered.
“You’re not bleeding, don’t worry about that. Stay with me, sweetheart.” He heard the desperation in his own voice and rage at his powerlessness to save her threatened to choke him. He could not lose Flo.
Rolling her head side to side, she tried to clarify, her voice fading. “Blood transfusion, you to me.”
The men exchanged skeptical looks. The healer shook his head. “Won’t work, she’s an alien species to us.”
“Been done in the valley several times,” she said, grabbing Daegan’s tee shirt with surprising strength. “Only chance.”
“Even if we take her word for it,” the healer said, “She doesn’t need blood.”
“Drain some of hers first and then add mine,” Daegan said, wild to try anything to save his prospective mate’s life. “Can you do the transfusion or not?”
The healer assessed Flo, who’d closed her eyes and lay limp in Daegan’s arms. “I have the right equipment in my field medic pack in the barracks for a live donor transfusion. It-it can’t hurt, I guess.”
“Go, get what you need.” Daegan’s command was fierce and the healer broke into a run. I’ll take her to our hut so we have privacy and she can be comfortable.
“Should you move her?” asked Ivokk as he steadied Daegan while he rose with Flo held close to his chest.
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