Aydarr dropped a kiss on her cheek and held her closer. “Tell me of your life instead.”
She pushed away thoughts of the colony her people had been so happily building. Those memories weren’t going to be of any use in the current situation, could even become paralyzing if she let herself give in to the grief. “The relevant fact right now is I used to be in our military.”
“A soldier?”
She nodded and elbowed him in the ribs as a warning. “Don’t sound so surprised. I was a tech with the Special Forces. I can take things apart and reassemble them to function even more efficiently. I can hack systems like nobody’s business, and I have a memory like a steel trap. My abilities with computers and artificial intelligence networks are why I’m so interested in the data pads. If I could hack into the Khagrish AI, I might be able to get us out of here, find my people wherever they’re being held—the possibilities are intoxicating.”
He was silent and when he spoke again his voice was low and intense. “You give me hope where I never expected to find any again.” He put his hand under her chin and gently raised her face to his. “Promise me you won’t take any chances. Swear to me you won’t initiate any escape attempt without discussing the idea with me first.”
“No problem. Hey, I’m a member of the pack now too, remember?”
“And we’re stronger because of it.”
She stared at him. “You sound as if you really mean that.”
“I do.”
The next day at breakfast, Jill asked, “May I keep Pratym’s data pad today, to study?”
“Much as I hate to deny you anything,” Aydarr said with a smile, “I can’t allow him to loan it to you. Pratym would be in trouble and so would I.”
Jill had anticipated the refusal and moved onto her second objective. “What’s on the agenda for today?”
“Same as yesterday, calisthenics, unarmed combat drills, more briefings on aspects of the mission. Why?”
“I’m coming with you. I can observe or maybe I can participate to some extent, but I want to see more of this facility. And I want to test how far the Khagrish will let me push back.”
“I like both goals,” Mateer said, earning himself a glare from the Alpha. Raising his eyebrows, he said, “Your mate offers us a chance at learning new things about them for a change.”
“I’m not risking your safety to gather data.” Aydarr’s face was set in grim lines.
“My safety—the safety of all of us—might depend on what I can learn or observe.” She wasn’t giving an inch. “Me sitting in this cell isn’t much safer than me being wherever you are.”
“She’s probably less safe here actually,” Mateer said. “You wouldn’t be here to protest if the scientists wanted to take her for tests or other purposes.”
Aydarr set his eating utensil on the edge of the plate with great care, rose from the chair, and held out his hand to Jill. “Come.”
“Now?” She was surprised but decided not to make a fuss. She took his hand, and walked with him into the sleeping alcove.
He crowded her into sitting on the end of the bed and sat as close to her as he could get.
Mateer had risen as well and now he and Reede stood with their backs to the bed, blocking the rest of the pack from watching whatever was going to transpire.
“What is the matter with you?” Jill tried to establish space between them but his grip was iron on her wrist.
“You cannot, you must not, argue with me in front of the pack.”
“I wasn’t arguing,” she said, anger beginning to stir. “We were discussing the options for today.”
“I said I wouldn’t risk your safety just so you can gather data. You challenged me and Mateer backed you.” Releasing her, he ran his hands through his thick hair and took a deep breath. “Try to understand, in a pack the concept of dominance is everything. You have to remember we Badari may look humanoid to you, but we have genetic material giving us instincts and impulses drawn from animals. The soldiers and cadets have to accept their alpha as the absolute ruler. Or they can challenge me to a fight to the death and try to take the spot from me.” He gestured at her. “If the two of us present less than a solid front, our behavior confuses the pack.”
She glanced at the two men shielding them from the others and lowered her voice further. “You think Mateer wants to kill you and take your place?”
He ground his teeth. “No, my enforcers are loyal to me, and know I can take them in a fight. You’re missing the point. You said you were in the military, therefore you should understand I can’t have the pack unsettled when we’re going into combat. When we may be fighting not only for our own existence but the continuation of the Badari race. Created naturally or created by unprincipled scientists—how we came to be doesn’t matter, I want us to survive. Including you. There can be no doubts cast on my leadership.”
She held her breath and counted to ten, only now realizing what deep waters she’d strayed into. Have to handle this right or we’ll have issues going forward. “In my branch of the military there’d be a certain amount of open discussion permitted from the leader’s staff, until those in command gave an order or said the time for considering alternatives was done. I didn’t mean to disrespect your authority. I guess human military units are a bit different from being in a pack. But you told me yourself there’s never been a pack with an alpha’s mate in it before, right?”
He nodded.
“So you and I are free to set new guidelines for my role.” She held up her hand as he opened his mouth for what she was sure was going to be a protest. “I will promise you while we’re held here in this prison, I won’t surprise you in front of the pack unless there’s an emergency. We can discuss and come to a consensus privately on anything important, so we present the united front you’re worried about. But if and when we ever manage to escape to a life beyond these walls, we’ll have to work on how we run the pack together. I’m not willing to be the submissive bedmate with an empty brain, gazing adoringly at your muscles. We can get a divorce from this mate stuff and go our separate ways once we’re free, if that’s what you expect.” Thinking of walking away from Aydarr made her heart falter a bit. But I need to be equal partners. She uttered her final word on the subject aloud. “I won’t settle for less.” She held out her hand.
He looked from her face to her hand. “This signifies what?”
“We shake hands on a deal where I’m from. Now are we in agreement or not?”
There was a moment of silence and Jill realized she was holding her breath. Aydarr nodded. “I can accept what you propose.”
He shook her hand awkwardly but with a firm grip.
“The guards are here,” Mateer said over his shoulder. “Better finish up whatever you’re deciding.”
Aydarr rose from the bed, and she joined him. “My mate will accompany us today but will take no risks to do research.”
Jill walked with the others to take her place on the black line while the guards watched.
“Where do you think you’re going?” asked the head guard.
“With my pack. You don’t have any orders against that, do you?” She made her tone more deferential than she preferred. “Check with Dr. Sheyall if you’d like. I’m sure she wants me to spend as much time with the alpha as possible.”
“We can wait,” Aydarr said with a suppressed laugh.
The guard gestured with his weapon. “Don’t get ideas, animal. All right, come through the portal one at a time and line up to report for training.”
As Jill moved into a section of the prison she hadn’t seen before, she tried to commit the route to memory. The trip ended in a large open room reminding her of a gym. The guards took up positions spaced all around the walls and a more muscular Khagrish than she’d seen previously stood at the front and screamed orders for the calisthenics he wanted done.
“Don’t over tax yourself,” Aydarr said. “You sit on the bench over there when you tire.”
“Just watch me—I’m tougher than I look.”
Jill kept up with the group for a while, doing her version of the stretches then the actual exercises, but she’d been out of the military for five years, after all. While life on a colony planet was no bed of roses, she hadn’t exactly been physically challenged. There were groundcars and flitters. So, when she thought she’d done enough, she sat and observed. The guards were vigilant about watching the Badari and pretty much ignored her. Clearly, she wasn’t viewed as much of a threat, which might work in her favor at some point. Jill hid her smile.
Next the Badari paired off and were put through their paces doing unarmed combat drills. Jill stayed out of that one. She didn’t want to show off the techniques she’d learned in the Sectors military, not while there was any possibility she might have a chance to take a guard unaware at a critical moment.
The third activity was more exercise, disguised as a game, with a ball and hoops lowering from the ceiling, four evenly spaced around the floor. Jill watched the Badari split into two teams and play an exciting match, constantly running, dodging, shooting the ball. They played till one team scored ten points then took a break. The baskets seemed to be worth different numbers of points. She had a grasp of the rudiments of the underlying strategy. The guards had gotten animated and sloppy during the game, appearing to make bets and even yelling encouragement to the players. Despite the circumstances, the game appeared to be fun.
Jill walked onto the floor as they were forming up to play again. “Which team am I on?”
Eyes narrowed, Aydarr evaluated her and pondered the question. “We play rough.”
“Yeah, I saw that.” Hands on her hips, she stood at the center line. “Well?”
“Pratym, you sit this game out.” The alpha shrugged. “Jill, you take his spot on my team.”
She thoroughly enjoyed the next half hour, beginning with her move immediately after the game began, stealing the ball from Mateer’s hands, doing the required dribbling and putting up the shot into the highest scoring basket from the length of the floor away. She understood the Badari were making efforts to avoid hurting her, even as the men played aggressive bump and run against each other. She felt she legitimately held her own with the ability to be nimble and outmaneuver the men while stealing the ball. And her skill at making impossible shots had even the guards cheering on a couple of occasions.
When the game ended in their team’s victory, Jill accepted the accolades from the pack members graciously. “I played a similar game in school,” she said. “Some things you never forget.”
“Rematch,” yelled the head guard.
Jill shook her head as Aydarr said, “No.”
“My foot’s a bit sore. You’ll have to excuse me. Maybe tomorrow.” She retreated to the bench, limping, passing Pratym and indulging in a jubilant hand slap as he hustled to take her place.
Timtur, the pack’s medic, jogged over to kneel at her side as she sat. “The alpha wants me to check your injury.”
“I’m fine, nothing but a few twinges toward the end.” She saw Aydarr glaring at her. “But you can certainly do an examination.” She’d played barefoot, as had the men, so she extended her foot gracefully.
The guards were ordering the game to begin, but the medic took his time. “Healing well, as you’ve said.” He rubbed his hand over the red mark one more time, and there was an odd tingling sensation against her skin. Startled, she blinked and shifted on the bench. Timtur gave her a bland look from his brown eyes and left to rejoin the team. Rubbing her foot, which now felt much improved and was noticeably not as red, she pondered how much psychic ability the healer might have. And how about the rest of the pack?
A guard tapped her on the shoulder. “Dr. Sheyall wants to see you. Now.”
She flashed a glance at the game surging across the floor. “Let me tell my mate where I’m going.”
He grabbed her by the elbow and hauled her to her feet. “Don’t give me orders, bitch. I’m not the prisoner here.”
“All right, no need to get worked up about it.” Yanking her elbow free, Jill walked in the direction he indicated. Aydarr was watching them, and she gave him a wave to indicate the situation was fine. “Going for my chat with Dr. Sheyall,” she said, raising her voice. “See you later.”
As she and her escort reached the door, it opened and a line of Badari men she’d not seen before entered. The man in the lead—their alpha she was sure—paused then changed direction to cross her path.
He moved into her personal space, but she didn’t believe she should retreat. Like all the Badari, he was tall and heavily muscled. “So this must be Aydarr’s mate, the human we’ve all heard so much about. I’m Jamokan, and you should be sad you weren’t given to me. I’m sure I could show you a much better time than he does.” He laughed and his pack, crowding around, guffawed. Jill repressed her instinctive panic at being boxed in by the overwhelming group. He took a strand of her hair in his hand and lowered his head to sniff, then placed his nose on her neck, trailing down to her shoulders. Furious, she stood stock still, fearing injury. Jamokan could break her with one hand. His grip on her waist was tight, pulling her against his crotch. “Sweet,” he said, raising his head to wink at his enforcers.
CHAPTER FOUR
She took advantage of his momentary distraction to knee him in the groin, breaking away and running smack into Aydarr, who caught her in his arms and passed her to Mateer in one motion. He went toe to toe with the other alpha, both men displaying their talons and fangs.
“My mate.” Aydarr thumped Jamokan in the center of his chest with one scythe-like claw, drawing a thin line of blood. “Touch her again and die.”
“You can’t take me, and you know it.”
“Brave words—you ready to die today?” Aydarr gestured toward the game space. “Right here is fine. Easy for the guards to clean up the blood and guts when I kill you.”
A guard stuck the barrel of his weapon in between the two. “All right, break it up before we have to activate the bracelets and punish all of you. I will make it hurt.”
The other guards used their weapons and stun sticks to jostle the Badari from the two packs into separate lines. Jill stepped to join Aydarr, happy to have his arm around her, drawing reassurance from him. I probably was lucky that of all the packs, the Khagrish dropped me into his territory.
“We should fight for possession of the woman.” Jamokan rubbed his jaw, giving the guards a speculative glance. “No female jabs me in the nuts and walks away unscathed. I have a score to settle.”
“You deserved more punishment,” Jill said. “I didn’t give you permission to manhandle me and—and sniff my neck, or whatever you were doing. I’m no one’s possession, for your information.”
“Jill is my mate and my partner.” Aydarr expounded on her assertion.
“The Khagrish should have allowed us to contend for such a sweet prize.” Jamokan sounded bitter.
“I said that was enough.” The guard’s voice echoed in the room as he shouted, raising the controller for the bracelets in his free hand and brandishing it in a threatening manner. Pointing it at one guard, he gave an order. “Take Aydarr’s pack to the pool for the water exercises now. I don’t care if we’re off the schedule. Make them do extra laps.” Eyeing Jill’s original guard, he rebuked that underling as well. “Weren’t you supposed to be escorting the woman to see Dr. Sheyall? I could say this is your fault. You’re late. Don’t keep the scientist waiting or you might find yourself a part of the experiment. It’s happened before. Remember Birtom? The Tzibir pack had a lot of fun with him out in the Preserve before tearing him apart and eating him.”
The designated guard gestured emphatically at Jill. She stood on tiptoe to kiss Aydarr’s cheek. “I’ll be fine,” she whispered. “Enjoy the water, boys,” she said cheerfully, waving at the rest of the pack. “See you at dinner.”
The guard escorted her through corridors that became familiar the further she went. Dr. Sheyall had sa
id her office was located close to the staff shower. Her guard knocked and admitted Jill to the scientist’s rooms. “I’ll be right outside, doctor,” he said. “I’ll take her to the cell when you’re done.”
Jill waited inside the door. She calculated the odds of successfully overpowering Sheyall were pretty high, but then would she be able to take the guard? And what would be the next steps? She had no idea where Aydarr and the others would be until the pack returned to the communal cell, no idea how to escape the lab complex.
“Go ahead and sit, I’ll just be a minute.” The scientist gestured to the chair in front of her workstation.
See how far I can push her. Instead of obeying, Jill joined her, peering curiously at the brightly colored creatures crawling in a terrarium. Sheyall had several of the animals undulating like caterpillars on her hand and gently shook them off, the three-inch-long creatures raining onto the leaves in the enclosure, flipping in midair and grabbing at the greenery and branches with a myriad of suckered feet.
“Pretty. What are they?” Jill asked.
“Haruma, from my home planet, not quite insects, not quite animals.” Sheyall got a green and yellow striped one to crawl onto her hand again and offered it to Jill to touch. “They’re harmless.”
With the tip of her finger, Jill stroked the creature’s back. “Soft.”
“I did my research on them when I was in advanced schooling. I was exploring how they learned new things and whether the DNA from an older generation could be spliced to assist a new generation to learn faster, or to assimilate completely new things the species wouldn’t ordinarily do.” Sheyall brushed the last haruma onto the leaves and closed the lid. She moved to the desk. “Would you care for some refreshment?”
“Sure, I’ll have whatever you’re having.” No matter what she thought of the scientists here at the lab, Jill judged Sheyall to be the closest thing to a sympathetic ally she had, so she was willing to meet the Khagrish female halfway. If I can get the person in charge of our experiment thinking of me—of us—as people the same as she is, it might help.
AydarrGoogle Page 6