Without the interference of the Anunnaki, it seemed likely they would still be little more than the barely intelligent beasts they’d found when they’d first discovered Earth. They hadn’t gained much more than a toehold on intelligence in thousands of years of evolution, after all, and still looked, and behaved, more like beasts than human. Even with their knowledge, it had taken them generations to produce something acceptable—not that they’d expected any different. They’d barely scratched the surface on genetic research in those days. Apart from the fact that the indigenous humanoids were amazing similar to them on a genetic level as far as they could tell and perfect for research and development, what they didn’t know had far exceeded what they did. They certainly hadn’t cracked the codes to accelerate cell regeneration. They hadn’t had the ability, then, to speed things up. They’d had to plod along at a virtual snail’s pace, waiting for the humanoids to reproduce naturally so that they could study the results of each attempt at manipulating the genetics.
He didn’t know how the old ones had had the patience! The advances they’d made since that time made it possible to accelerate cell division at a rate that could take them from first division to a fully matured adult in a matter of weeks and then simply ‘turn off’ the hyper growth cycle when the clone reached the target ‘age’. And he’d still been in a near fever of impatience for Emerald to reach that point long before she had. Then, off course, they’d had to wait another full week for the cells to stabilize and fully mature before they dared remove her from the pod and awaken her.
Right up until he’d finally managed to drag his attention from Emerald long enough to notice the look in Tariq’s eyes, he’d thought he was merely giddy with triumph at having successfully regenerated her from virtually nothing! True, it had crossed his mind, several times, that he finally understood why the old ones were almost obsessive about the purebloods—on a sexual level. He’d thought it strange that they would discuss their defects, their backwardness, and talk about them being the children of the Anunnaki one moment, and then reminisce with such yearning about the lovers they’d taken among them. Because, of course, their life cycles were woefully short and, speaking purely from a scientific perspective, it hadn’t been desirable to lengthen their life spans. It was enough of a headache to complete their research as it was and there’d actually been some debate over shortening their life spans so that they could get results faster.
Their imperfections should have made them repulsive, or undesirable at the very least, but he’d realized as soon as Emerald became recognizable as a being that the imperfections were not only minute, they were what made the purebloods so fascinating—at least part of what made them so fascinating. He hadn’t enjoyed studying the most beautiful Anunnaki woman he’d ever seen nearly as much. Physical perfection, he’d realized, could be downright boring, whereas he’d never tired of studying Emerald because every time he did, he noticed something different—had begun to realize he never would—just about the time he realized that his sense of possessiveness went well beyond a scientist’s love of and territorialism for his pet project.
He would’ve been better off if he’d never reached that understanding, he thought with disgust, because it changed nothing beyond making him furious and miserable.
Actually, more accurately, he would have been better off if he could’ve remained objective about Emerald. He’d had as much to gain by taking part in the expedition as everyone else, but he couldn’t say that he’d been particularly keen about the necessity. He had, in point of fact, been furious that they’d been so arrogant as to allow themselves to get to such a pass—as pissed off with himself as anyone else since it hadn’t occurred to him what they’d done, either, until they’d had their noses rubbed in it!
It still disgusted him that they’d been so blinded by their pursuit of perfection and longevity that it hadn’t occurred to any of them that they were cutting their own throats. Generation by generation they’d winnowed out ‘the ugly and undesirable’ until they’d reached the point where they’d so bottlenecked their gene pool that everything they’d worked for had collapsed like a house of cards!
Of course, as far as he was concerned the entire fucking mess was the fault of the old ones—the cloners! Five hundred years or so should be enough fucking ‘lifetime’ for any damned body! But, no, they’d decided they needed more. They were too important, themselves, to pass down their knowledge and power. They were needed.
Unfortunately, the council had agreed with them. They’d gone a step beyond that, though, requiring that anyone with such skills and scientific knowledge be resurrected for the good of the Anunnaki.
And look where that had gotten them all! An entire generation of young that was so hideously defective they’d had to abort the whole crop! It had thrown everyone into a blind panic—including him!
So while he’d agreed it was absolutely necessary to collect enough fresh contributors for their gene pool among the ‘children’, he hadn’t been terribly enthusiastic about it when he knew from the data on them that they were considered purebloods only because they were the baseline for the Anunnaki—without improvement.
He had no trouble, under the circumstances, understanding why it rankled so much that he might not end up with one at all, let alone a prime choice. He had his own lines to think of, after all. But Emerald … He realized he hadn’t thought about his bloodlines at all once he’d become so enthralled with her. Nothing had really crossed his mind but the fact that she was his … until Tariq had brought him back to reality with a jolt!
From the moment she’d left the pod she’d ceased to be ‘his’ and become the property of the Anunnaki—which meant, as it always had—that she would have to go through the selection process until the higher ranks had made their choices before he would even have a chance at making a selection himself.
And he couldn’t honestly see that happening. Maybe he was obsessed with Emerald and no one else would want her, would think she was the most beautiful, desirable creature ever conceived, but he didn’t believe that, hadn’t believed it from the moment he realized Tariq was as fascinated with her as he was.
What he didn’t understand was why he felt like beating Tariq to a pulp every time he thought about the fact that Tariq had claimed first rights. Tariq was well within his rights considering his position. It had never particularly bothered him before and, besides that, Tariq had offered to share her. Even if Tariq wanted to breed several children on her, eventually, he would get the chance, and he didn’t even have to wait that long to slake his desire for her. Tariq had said that he could fuck her as soon as he was certain she was breeding.
It wasn’t as if the two of them hadn’t shared lovers in the past!
There was no getting around the fact that he didn’t want to share her at all, however, or that he resented the fact that she would belong to Tariq and he must make do with seconds.
Short of killing Tariq, though, which he was unnerved to admit even to himself had crossed his mind, there was no changing the situation.
Unless the female he was currently developing appealed to Tariq more, he thought abruptly.
Or they found another that appealed to him.
He sure as fuck couldn’t have more than one when they were in such short supply!
It would be a week before he even had any idea what this female would look like, though! All he did know was that she was Caucasian like Emerald, and had the genetics that would make her tall and slender, blue eyed and blond haired.
Another with red hair might have come closer to appealing to Tariq, he thought.
Dismissing his thoughts with an effort, he checked the time and realized why his stomach felt as if it was gnawing a hole in itself. He’d missed breakfast when he headed to the lab and it was past the noon meal time.
Emerald should be able to tolerate something a little more substantial without adverse reaction. With that thought, he left the lab and went to the ship’s galley to chose somethi
ng he thought might tempt her appetite and grab something for himself, as well. He could dine with her and use the opportunity to see how her mind was developing. Maybe she had remembered something of value by now?
He was still uneasy about her lack of memory. He’d put it down to the length of time that had passed since her death. Ordinarily, they resurrected, if they were going to, with fresh samples and, naturally enough, the fresher the better. And, of course, he hadn’t been able to retrieve even as much genetic material from her remains as they liked to have. It had been a full strand, though, as far as he’d been able to determine. There shouldn’t have been such a gap in her memory. He could understand a delay in retrieving the memories from the DNA, but nothing like they’d seen so far—with Emerald and the others.
It was almost as if someone had deliberately tampered with their memories—but that didn’t make sense. Granted, the purebloods had come a long way, technologically speaking, since the last reports on their progress, but even if they’d begun playing with genetics themselves, why would they deliberately damage the memory strands?
He discovered when he arrived at Tariq’s quarters that Emerald was asleep. He wasn’t surprised. She’d only been out of the pod a few days. She was bound to sleep a very great deal at first.
After a brief debate with himself, he decided to allow her to sleep a few more minutes before he woke her and carried the trays to the table to deposit them. He didn’t think he would’ve noticed she was in distress if he had simply settled to wait, but he hadn’t been able to resist moving back to the bed to watch her as he had while she was in the pod. Almost the moment he settled on the edge of the mattress, he saw that her face was twisted with some strong emotion she shouldn’t have been experiencing in deep sleep.
He frowned. He’d noticed the other two they’d resurrected had seemed to suffer a similar phenomena—nightmares. Was it memories her mind was trying to repress for some reason, he wondered?
The internal debate was shorter that time. If it was memories, he needed to try to bring them out. Speaking in a quiet monotone, he tried to reach her subconscious without waking her. “Relax …” Slowly, she relaxed yielding to his hypotonic suggestion. “What do you see, Emerald?”
“They’re coming,” she whispered.
Koryn felt his heart leap, but it was hard decide whether it was the suggestion that he’d been right about the dream or a reaction to the fear in her voice. “Who?”
“They’ll overrun us.”
That seemed, indisputably, a reference to a military operation. He was just about to suggest she go back further when he heard a sound behind him. He glanced around sharply and discovered Tariq had come in and had obviously leapt to the wrong conclusion. The absolute fury on his face, however, rather than unnerve him, shot adrenaline through his system and a responsive anger. He surged to his feet just as Tariq reached him. Tariq grabbed him around the throat before he could speak, squeezing tightly and cutting off any attempt he might’ve made to explain the situation at that point.
Not that he felt like attempting it. Rage enveloped him in a red haze. He gripped Tariq’s wrists, trying to wrench hands loose and when that didn’t work, balled his hands into fists and pummeled them into his stomach. He managed to catch Tariq on the solar plexus, which knocked the breath from him and loosened his grip fractionally, but he was at a disadvantage. He was a scientist, not a trained fighter. He tried to free himself from Tariq’s grip again and when that failed, caught Tariq’s throat in a similar hold.
Dizziness had already begun to envelop his mind, however, and although he squeezed with all the fury and grim determination he could muster, he doubted he could’ve broken the deadlock if Tariq hadn’t abruptly released his hold and drove a fist toward his face. It broke his own hold on Tariq and he stumbled back.
“I told you not to touch her,” Tariq said through gritted teeth.
The effort to suck in a reviving breath of air past his crushed throat set Koryn to coughing. “She’s asleep,” he managed to say finally.
“If you think that makes me less inclined to kill you where you stand …,” Tariq growled.
“Hypnotized. She remembered something,” Koryn snarled.
That gave Tariq pause. He glanced toward Emerald, studied her for a long moment and then looked at Koryn again. “Explain.”
Koryn glared at him angrily. “I brought her something to eat and saw she was asleep. I thought I’d let her rest a few more minutes before I woke her, but then I noticed she seemed to be dreaming something that distressed her. I decided to see if I could coax it out … if it was a memory.”
Tariq’s rage subsided but he made no attempt to hide the fact that he was still both angry and suspicious. “Maybe you could explain to me why you brought her food instead of sending a droid with it?”
Koryn studied him uncomfortably, feeling a good bit of his own anger subside as the question prompted the realization that Tariq wasn’t paranoid. He’d come specifically because he’d wanted to spend the time with Emerald and knew Tariq was on the dig site. He hadn’t consciously considered trying to seduce her, but it occurred to him that he’d hoped for an opportunity. “She’s still my charge,” he gritted out instead of admitting he’d only come because he wanted to see her.
And because he’d intended more if the chance presented itself.
“There’s some reason it’s better to check on her when I’m not here?”
Koryn’s lips tightened. “I wasn’t aware that you’d forbidden it,” he growled.
Tariq narrowed his eyes. “Was I wrong to trust you, Koryn?”
Discomfort wafted through him. “In Emerald’s case … possibly,” he admitted reluctantly.
Tariq looked for several moments as if he might explode again. He wrestled with it and finally paced away. “We have been friends a very long time, Koryn.”
Koryn shook his head. “Regardless of what you obviously think, I had no intention of trespassing,” he said finally.
“Unless the opportunity arose?” Tariq prompted with keen insight that made Koryn uncomfortable all over again.
He shrugged, but reluctant amusement flickered through him. “I couldn’t honestly say.” He raked a hand through his disheveled hair, making it more of a mess. “Not consciously,” he added after a moment. He scrubbed his hands over his face as if he could wipe away the last several minutes that had put a severe strain on a longstanding friendship. “I wasn’t thinking straight, I guess, but, whatever it looked like, the only reason you found me as you did was because of the dream.”
Tariq moved back to the bed to stand over it, staring down at Emerald. He glanced at Koryn after a moment. “So … finish what you started.”
Koryn moved back to the bed and settled on it as he had before. “Emerald … tell me where you are now.”
She didn’t answer for several moments. “In position.” She hesitated. “I don’t have much ammunition.”
“There’s a war?”
“Yes.” Some emotion flickered across her face. “The stupid bastards!”
Koryn lifted his brows and flicked a look at Tariq. Tariq, he saw, had moved closer to hear. “What started the war?”
Emerald frowned and moved restlessly. “They attacked them. We’ll pay. We’ll all pay.”
Koryn looked at Tariq. “Who are you talking about, Emerald?”
“The government ordered it. It was ours. They didn’t know …. Stupid, arrogant bastards!”
“This was a territorial dispute?”
“The new world. The colony. Then the cowards ran and left us to die. We’re all going to die. They’re coming! Oh god! There are so many of them!”
“It’s alright, Emerald. They aren’t here. They can’t hurt you.” He calmed her down and then lifted the hypnotic trance he’d placed on her.
He met Tariq’s gaze for a long moment and the two of them crossed the room. “I’m guessing Emerald took part in their last stand here,” Tariq said when Koryn joined him. �
�We found a tunnel system in the city. There are bodies everywhere—all civilians as far we’ve seen.”
“They left,” Koryn said, feeling curiously blank. “They must have developed far more superior technology than anyone on Nibiru guessed if they colonized another world.”
“They had to have. There’s nothing in this system suitable for colonization—nothing close to the Earth as far as habitability.” He glanced toward Emerald when his attention was caught by movement. “Do you think she’ll recall anything?”
Koryn frowned. “I don’t know in all honesty. It’s almost like someone deliberately erased their memories.”
“I might have disagreed with you on that before,” Tariq said slowly. “Now …. We have to consider they had the technology to do so and I’m guessing they had a strong motivation. I don’t think they were simply abandoned here when the others left. I think they were given the task of holding the enemy so that the others had a chance to escape. If they had the capability to do so, it would’ve made sense to make certain the enemy couldn’t find out where the others went. It seems pretty clear from what we’ve found so far that they made a dangerous enemy, or their leaders did, and underestimated their strength. They came to wipe them out, not merely to retaliate.”
“Gods! How the hell are we going to figure out how to find them?”
Tariq shook his head. “I don’t know, but unless this war of theirs set them back technologically, I don’t think we’re going to find the children of the Anunnaki. We might well find another war.”
Chapter Five
It took Emerald several moments to catch her breath and calm her runaway heart. There was nothing unusual about that. Every time she’d woken from the nightmare she could never remember once awake, she’d felt as if she’d been running from something or fighting or both. For the first time since the nightmares had begun plaguing her sleep, however, they lingered over her like a weighty mantel and slowly but surely, it settled inside her that the nightmare was real—a memory, not merely some imaginary thing that frightened her.
Deep Penetration; Alien Breeders I Page 7