“What about we eat here, order something in, and then head to the compound.”
“Zander, you’re my kinda guy. I’m starving after wrestling that little badger.”
“She’s exhausted herself. She slept straight through the bath. I had to put a tee shirt on her because we didn’t have anything else.’
Zander squinted his eye as he watched her sleeping on one of the sofas. “I imagine the sedative had lots to do with that, Sterling. Tell you what, I’m fairly good at getting clothes, why don’t I get them. I’d say she’s about my sister’s size so five juniors.”
Sterling nodded. “All right then. I’d say light and airy but not floaty to eliminate the binding of the clothes. Still, get a pair of jeans and a few tops as well. Better get her some slippers and a pair of sandals. Feet look about size seven-ish.” He pulled out a ruler from the desk. “Yep. Better add a half size to that.”
They finished their Mexican platters and considered staying in town for the evening. She appeared fine when Sterling checked on her again. He kissed her temple. “She’ll probably be out all night. We might as well go home so she is in a protected place.”
“Good, I could use some peace and quiet. We need a game plan and it will work better if she’s sleeping while we put one together.” Pax began clearing up.
Zander left for a clothing store and the other two secured the house before gathering their baby badger to take home.
“She’s sleeping so peacefully. Right now, she looks more like a little rabbit than a snarling badger,” Paxton whispered as he kissed the top of her now clean head.
She made the cutest sounds as she snuggled into Sterling’s lap. “I know. I don’t want to disturb her.”
“We need to head out. She’s dead to the world. Don’t think bombs would wake her up.”
Her sleeping body was gently laid on the back seat. Sterling crawled in next to her, holding her feet in his lap while Paxton drove. The men spoke quietly on the way.
“You sure she’s worth all the work?”
“I know she is. You seem to have grown a soft spot for her too.”
“I can’t explain it, so I won’t waste time trying to. It’s the damnedest thing. She just looked me in the eye and I was a goner. But don’t tell her. When we can communicate, that is. We won’t ever retain control or keep our disciplined life if she finds out we’re such easy marks.”
“That’s just it, Pax, I don’t think we ever have been. I mean, I’m such a stickler for the rules and protocol, I can appear cold and uncaring. You live a very orderly life and want your women to obey you when you demand it. She’d have never turned our head if it was any other woman acting this out of control. She’s different. It’s almost like she was chosen for us.”
“Maybe she is but we have to be careful to stick to our principles just in case that’s all we’re left with at the end of this roller coaster ride.”
“I agree in principle.” Sterling grinned in the dark car in answer to Paxton’s derisive snort. “But I don’t think things will go badly. My intuition is usually on the mark.”
“God, I hope so.”
Chapter 4
Two and a half hours later, they arrived at the compound, and if anyone cared to listen, they would have heard a collective sigh of relief.
“Look, Zander has beat us home. How is that even possible?”
“Don’t know, but I hope that doesn’t mean he failed to get the clothes.”
Zander met them at the door with several bags of clothing.
Sterling walked ahead of them. Pax asked, “How did you do that so quickly?”
“Talent. I’ve a friend who owns a women’s clothing store. I called her, she got what we needed, and I picked up curbside. Never left my car.”
“Nice.” The two men followed their friend, and their baby badger. Quickly placing her in the guest room closest to him, she roused before Sterling could close the door.
“Darla begin recording Maya’s words. Language identification needed.”
“Is Maya the woman in this room?”
“Yes,” he responded to their computerized house aide. “She is our charge and must be protected. She does not speak the language, nor does she understand any of her environment.”
“Understood. Is she to be assimilated?”
“Yes. That is the goal.”
“Recording.”
Sterling reached over with a glass and the young woman before him hesitated and then reached out her hand. “Here baby, take some water.”
She mumbled something he couldn’t decipher. With his help, she drank the water but turned her head away from the Mexican food he offered.
Zander, who stood in the doorway, offered a suggestion. “Here, let’s try some unprocessed food. I’ll get a peach she had in her sling. Good thing we carried it and she didn’t wear it or they would have been toast like Pax’s shoes.”
He left, returning quickly with a peach and some berries. When Sterling offered it to her, she hesitated but took the peach and bit into it warily. Her eyes closed and there was the hint of a smile before suspicion returned. She reached for the berries and ate them delicately although it was obvious she was hungry.
Bringing in a piece of reheated brisket they had left over from the night before, Paxton sat on the floor in front of her and shredded the beef with his hands, feeding her each bite until she turned her head away. When he stood to go, he leaned down and kissed her cheek. She hunched her shoulders to rebuff the contact, but he wouldn’t allow it.
He ran his finger down her cheek and leaned in for another kiss, this time on her forehead, and she didn’t move away. “Good night, little rabbit.”
Zander grabbed the empty bowl and the peach pit when he stood to go. Pushing the hair out of her face, he leaned in and kissed her other cheek. “Sleep tight, baby badger.”
Sterling offered her more water and she drank. “Maya, I wish you could understand how much we want to help you, but you won’t even know our intentions until we can speak with each other. We’ll figure it out, hon, I promise.”
This time, when Sterling leaned down to kiss her, fondling her lips with his, she accepted his touch. Sterling smiled. She must have decided these men who surrounded her now would not hurt her. He sat in the armchair positioned in the corner of the room and waited for her to relax and go back to sleep. She seemed awkward in the bed but curled up against the wall and was soon sleeping again, giving the men an opportunity to discuss how to communicate and to formulate a plan in another room. As Sterling entered the media room with his colleagues, Zander spoke. “Okay, so I have the translator cued up. Sterling, bring me the recording of her words.”
Sterling passed Zander his handheld computer after bringing up the recordings made in the intake room while he was in with her.
“Okay, the translator is working on finding the language. So now, we need to make a game plan when we do discover her language.”
“She’s a cute little rabbit. If we can get past her insecurities and assimilate her enough, I’d want to keep her.”
Zander laughed. “I know I didn’t sign on with you guys too long ago, but I’m sure you can’t just keep her. There are laws about those types of things.”
Sterling grimaced. “You know what I mean.”
Zander laughed. “I do. There might be something to consider first: Is she going to want us?”
Pax added. “We can’t rush her. I know that without being a behaviorist. I am a connoisseur of women, however, and that brings me to another question. How old is she? I assume she isn’t a minor, but will she even be able to tell us? Isn’t it a more complex society that measures things like exact age? She looks adult, but given where she might have grown up, that could be deceiving.”
“I was wondering much the same thing,” said Zander.
“I’m sure she has an idea, but in my dreams, she was always doing adult things. At least I thought they were adult.”
“So, she’s been with someon
e already?”
Sterling looked at his newest partner. “I don’t know. In my dreams, she wasn’t with another that seemed like her lover. Culturally we’ve no idea what was acceptable. And we won’t until we figure out her origins and her language, so we can talk. I only know her name because it was used to call her in my dream. Someone was following her, calling out to her.”
“Sterling, you need to do what you do, and we’ll support you, but Zander has plenty of things he still needs to set up. I have a heavy workload this next week. I say we proceed in the same way we have whenever you’ve brought anyone home. You do a modified assimilation protocol and I, we, will continue to do our own projects, helping during the day when you need us.”
“What do you mean?”
“If we are going on the premise that this unexplainable attraction is because the universe wants this girl for us, I don’t agree to the full assimilation. No mind alteration, no heavy penalties for non-compliance. You will not use the standard responses the center uses to assimilate our girl.”
“When have I ever done that?”
“There have been a few that you felt needed some altering to allow them to stay in the country.”
“Within the allowable parameters and with full understanding and agreement from the immigrant.”
“No dispute on that. I’m just saying not on Maya.”
“I intend to place an implant due to her considerable gap in cultural knowledge.”
“I’m good with that.”
“Sterling, I don’t know what the methods were, but I think Pax’s hand is the most violent we want to go with her. I know she was difficult today, but we need to go gently.”
“Agreed. In my dreams, I’ve been meeting her nightly for a month. She is part of me. I would never do her harm.”
“Then we are in agreement.”
“I just hope it works that way. How do you plan on getting more familiar to her and growing closer if we stay on the normal routine?”
Zander answered, “We’ll work her into what we do. She seems simpler, as though technology isn’t her forte. I don’t mean simple in an intellectual capacity, but her enjoyments will be more basic. Board games rather than electronic. Books rather than videos. You know?”
“In my dreams, there wasn’t any technology. At least I don’t remember any.”
“You could be right on low tech. So, we’ll go slow, integrate her as a part of us and watch what happens. This could be wasted time and energy if we find out she’s from the local commune and she was out for some excitement.” Paxton leaned back in his chair.
Sterling answered. “I know that isn’t the case. I just can’t explain it yet.” As the men drank their beer and talked about their work the next week, the translator interrupted them. “I’ve located a similar language to Maya’s. Would you like to hear it now?”
“Yes,” said Zander. “Tell us the language.”
“I’ve isolated the language as Native American. Specifically, predominately Uto-Aztecan with a large Caddoan influence.”
“Damn. That sounds ancient,” said Zander. “Darla, where do they live?”
“They have been scattered within the present culture and there are none who speak the specific language now. There was a pure language at one time, but it seems the blending took place because of the forced integration of peoples. There are remnants that retain a limited knowledge but not to the extent Maya does. On record, as of this date, she is the only identified fluent speaker alive.”
Paxton shook his head. “That can’t be right. She’s too young to be the only fluent speaker.”
“Right,” said Sterling, “Where do they live, Darla?”
The disembodied voice, while not all monotone, could not disguise its computerized techno quality. “When the language was spoken as in the sample, there were many in Central Texas.”
“So, near where we’re living now,” clarified Paxton.
“That is correct.”
Zander spoke to the computer. “Darla, now, I need you to compile a list of cultural norms for these peoples.”
“I’ll need to know what time parameters you want me to use, Professor.” Darla identified Zander as professor. They assumed it was due to the seminars he taught regularly.
Sterling answered, “Use the timeframe this language was used most often.”
“Are you sure you want cultural information from the years surrounding 1790?”
“Yes, if that’s when this language was most prevalent,” said Sterling.
“What the hell? 1790? Is that computer telling us our girl in there is from the year 1790?” demanded Paxton.
Zander answered, “Yes, or pretty close to it. I doubt she’d know the actual year.”
“Yeah, and showing us on a map wouldn’t work, even if we pulled out a map of 1790. I’ll lay odds she would’ve never seen one before. Well, none we’d have on record, anyway,” Paxton agreed. Zander was strangely quiet. Pax continued. “Pretty incredible but if we’ve isolated the language and find she understands it, it’s pretty significant. It would answer many of our initial questions.”
“And present us with so many more.” Sterling appeared to be struggling with something.
“What is it?” Zander asked quietly.
“It’s just… I mean… Look, if this is all true, how did I see her in my dreams and how did she get here, and can we get her back?” Sterling shook his head.
Zander spoke pensively. “You have this ability to slip inside a person’s mind. What’s to say she doesn’t have the same ability and through something we have no understanding about, you two are connected? I don’t know about getting her back because I can’t be sure how she got here.”
“Do we want to? Get her back, I mean. I’ve gotta say, I have a strange affinity for her, myself. I know I sound like Sterling, but I feel this attachment already. I’m not a human or animal expert but my gut is pretty opinionated, and I know it, somewhere deep inside, that she is part of my life, somehow.”
Standing, Zander thought out loud. “I usually have a way with animals, some might say it’s instinct and others think it’s more than that, but whatever it is, I understand what you’re both saying. I know there is some exciting new research with Ambrose on the time space continuum. Maybe there was an event that put you and Maya in exactly the right place and time to bring her to you? You said you had a nightmare last night.”
“Yes, someone was chasing her. She was frightened.”
“Okay. Tell me, what was the last thing you remember in the dream?”
“She was trapped in something like a cave. It was cold, dark, an animal was coming after her and she was calling for us to save her.”
“Right. Then what?”
“Then nothing. That was the end and I mean it was the end. Quiet. It was odd really. I remember being there with her and it was like she was terrified. I began calling to her, telling her we would protect her and then you two added your voices to mine. Then she vanished.”
“At that moment, she was frightened, and had a strong connection to you. It might have been enough to pull her through a ripple in the continuum.”
“My God.” Paxton sat up. “If you go on that theory, there could be an undetermined number of people who have done the same. Could do it in the future. How many have gone through the Center that this has happened to? Throughout history? Ambrose’s main council needs to know about this.”
Sterling shook his head. “Let’s not rush into anything, even with Ambrose. How about we give it a few days of exploration before we bring it to the leadership.”
“Agreed,” said Zander. “Why don’t we call it a night because we aren’t going to answer any more of our concerns or questions until tomorrow.”
“Sterling, since she’s in the room next to you, I’d say you’re on baby badger watch. I bet you don’t dream tonight but if you do, we need to know about it,” said Pax.
“Absolutely. We should compile all the information we gain from
here on out and document everything that occurs. The questions are so many and the answers so few, it seems a bit overwhelming. Like why, when she was so terrified in the dream, could I still know her thoughts, hear them clearly. Then when she was in front of me, I couldn’t do more than get impressions.”
Pax shook his head. “Don’t know. It might be as simple as situation or communication methods. You know, similar to the differences between dream dimension versus waking dimension. Something tells me we’ve hit on a truth more significant than we could have ever known.”
They were all organized men and each accomplished that differently but for Paxton, he needed to know there was an agreed upon plan of action. “I agree. How are we going to approach her first thing in the morning? I don’t want our little rabbit running scared.”
“I’m going to have to lock her door because we haven’t reviewed our security for a while and we need to update Zander. Tomorrow we go through the protocol to initiate the section lockdowns. That way we close sections and not the bedroom. It bothers me that we’re doing it now but since she’s got a bathroom and we left her food, we shouldn’t have any issues.”
“But does she know how to use the bathroom?” asked Pax.
“Probably not, but since I’m usually up first, I’ll take care of any issue that might present itself. I’ll unlock her door and make sure she’s okay. I won’t bring her out but wait to see if she comes out on her own first. When one of you relieves me, I’ll go out to the pens.”
“Yes, that’ll work. Then I’ll do paperwork and take the first shift of babysitting after breakfast.” Paxton stood to stretch and gather the empty glasses. “Sterling, you can get things set up and take her after that.”
“We’re really going to do this, aren’t we?” asked Zander.
“Yes, I think we are.” Sterling paused. “If either of you have any thoughts of not taking her on as a project—or possibly more—let me know now. I don’t know if it’ll change the course for myself, but I won’t ask you to give up anything if you aren’t all in. If you don’t believe we might have found our forever.”
Captured Obedience Page 5