Alien Genes 1: Daughter of Atuk

by Petra Theunissen

  The gesture was so gentle and loving that it brought back more tears and he pulled her closer. Smelling his manliness, she felt strangely comforted. Although she didn't remember much of her past, she knew that it had been a long time since anyone held her that close. She could feel the yearning to be touched, deep inside her, and looked up at him. “What if I do turn into some kind of monster?"

  He didn't need to answer her question. She could read it in his eyes. In them she saw the same yearning she had in her heart.

  Outside it had stopped raining, and the sun was breaking through the clouds, but neither of them noticed it. When their lips touched, it was as if time stood still. She closed her eyes, wanting to satisfy to the hunger inside her soul and body. Then, suddenly, there was a flash and she was catapulted back into a memory:

  The Professor motioned towards his colleague. “Miss McNeal, meet my colleague, Dr. Eqin O'Connor. Dr. O'Connor, meet Miss McNeal."

  “Pleased to meet you,” she said.

  “Pleased to meet you, too,” he replied with a telltale Irish accent. Judging by his tone, he was really pleased to meet her, and she blushed. He took her hand in his and she noticed how perfectly it fitted. She felt strangely at ease with him, as if she had known him all her life...

  Eqin's concerned voice brought her back to reality. “Cathy? Cathy? Are you alright?"

  She looked at him somewhat befuddled. “I think I just remembered something...” she said, trying to catch her breath. When he looked at her questioningly, she continued, “I think I remembered when we met. There was someone else with us—an elderly man."

  “That would be Hasan,” he said.

  She tried to recall some of the other hallucinations and memories she'd had over the past months. “He seemed familiar...” With a sudden beam of hope, she smiled. “Maybe my memories will come back now."

  He smiled too. “If that's what my kisses do to you, we should try it more often,” he said teasingly, and she blushed like a schoolgirl.

  As their gazes mingled, she felt that for the first time there was some hope for the future.

  * * * *

  When they returned to the Facility later that day, there was a comfortable silence between them. A bond had formed that wouldn't be easily be broken, but in the days that followed they didn't get to see much of each other. Not that it made much of a difference to Cathy. Time had become irrelevant to her.

  It was around the same period that new replacements arrived at the Facility, giving a welcome relief to those who lacked the appreciation for Earth and who had become frustrated with the situation with the human amongst them.

  One of the replacements was Anya, a dark-haired, dark-eyed young woman—and a woman Cathy immediately recognised as being different. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she knew Anya wasn't everything she appeared to be. She had a strange feeling that she'd met Anya before. It was a silly thought, because it was Anya's first visit to the planet, as Cathy soon found out.

  Eqin had sensed the growing resentment towards Cathy, and decided it was time to change her living arrangement. He brought up the topic one morning at the communal meeting when Cathy wasn't around.

  I think it's time for Cathy to move out of the Facility. She's regained sufficient strength to be able to live by herself in the old house.

  His announcement seemed unexpected, and for a moment, there was a stunned silence.

  S'Tha was the first to speak. She was unmistakably upset. Why?

  He'd expected that question, and was prepared with an answer. I think she needs more freedom than we're able to provide her with in the Facility. It would also lessen the risk to us.

  But she already knows of us, S'Tha said.

  Yes, but she won't be able to enter or exit the Facility on her own accord, and neither would any other human. She'll also not be able to leave the island without our assistance, he explained.

  There's a boat ramp close to the old house. We use it ourselves to travel. What prevents her from using it?

  We'll put a force field around it so that she can't enter, he answered calmly.

  However, S'Tha was not yet convinced.

  She still needs treatment and her progress needs to be checked and monitored carefully. We can't afford any mistakes now. This is the most important discovery in our careers. Her argument carried a sense of urgency that caused him to frown. What was she up to?

  He tapered his eyes. You can monitor her at a distance, he argued coolly.

  S'Tha responded angrily, This is ridiculous. I want it noted that I do not agree with your proposal.

  He didn't move a muscle. There have been many things you haven't been agreeing with lately, S'Tha. Is there something we should be aware of?

  The icy inflection surrounding the question was unmistakable.

  He had to have hit a chord. S'Tha seemed suddenly nervous.

  No, she said, subservient. This is just a very important project to me.

  His gaze rested on his older sister. Well, then. Cathy will move out today, he said, staring her down. You may all go now.

  The others left in a hurry, evidently unhappy about his decision, but not prepared to debate it any further. S'Tha was openly angry as she left the room, but Eqin felt little remorse. Their increasing hostility towards Cathy was placing her in danger and he was not prepared to risk her life. She was much too important.

  * * * *

  “You will have to come back for treatment every day,” S'Tha sounded irritated, and Cathy sensed she was far from happy with her moving out of the Facility.

  “I don't want any more treatment,” Cathy replied.

  “You will die without it,” S'Tha responded coolly.

  Cathy looked fleetingly at the other woman as she busied herself at the table.

  Why is she so upset that I'm leaving the facility?

  She'd have thought S'Tha would be pleased to have her removed from Eqin's presence. After all, S'Tha didn't approve of their friendship and what better way to restrict it than to separate them? She smiled cynically. In some way, she could understand S'Tha's concern. Maybe she'd have felt similarly, had she been in the alien woman's shoes.

  She brought her thoughts back to the discussion.

  “That's not what you said last time. You said it was just a pain treatment."

  “Well, the pain may cause your body to go into shock. The human body is very fragile, you know,” S'Tha said vaguely.

  She tried to read S'Tha's expression but it was unreadable, barring a tiny twinge in the corner of her eye. But it was enough to tell her that the woman was lying. “It can't be any more fragile than yours, since I have some of your DNA, remember?” She pointed out to her.

  “Our bodies are different to yours. We generate more energy than you do. Even with your foreign DNA, your body cannot produce enough energy to fight illnesses. That's why we have to continue the treatment."

  Cathy narrowed her eyes. Did S'Tha really think she was that gullible? “But then, I'm changing into you, aren't I?” she insisted.

  She watched S'Tha intently for a reaction, and detected the flicker in her eyes. It was brief, but just long enough for her to notice.

  “You are not changing into us—contrary to what Eqin may have told you. Your DNA is simply re-organising itself alongside our DNA,” S'Tha responded icily.

  “Really?” She got up from the examination table, avoiding direct eye contact. “So, what is the treatment for then? To fight off illness?"

  “Yes."

  Cathy slipped into her shoes. “I'll take my chances,” she said, without looking up.

  “Don't be ridiculous. You need the treatment."

  “I feel fine, thank you,” she said. “If I feel any pain, I'll come straight to you."

  S'Tha followed her to the door. “You may feel fine, but you are not. Whatever you may think of me, Cathy, I am right when I'm telling you that you need the treatment. You will die without it,” she said.

  The last words were unmistakabl
y threatening, and Cathy turned around to face the slightly taller alien woman. Their eyes were locked in a challenge, and after a few moments, S'Tha seemed to back off. With a tinge of surprise, Cathy realised the alien seemed scared of her. Why was that? Physically S'Tha was much stronger than she was.

  Cathy was mulling over whether S'Tha was being serious. Would she really die if she refused the treatment? She would have loved to enter the other woman's thoughts right at that point, but she knew she couldn't without letting her abilities be known. Everything in good time. Anyway, she wasn't too sure yet about her own abilities. She needed more time to experiment with them.

  She didn't trust the woman who'd treated her since she came to the Facility. Although S'Tha had partially saved her life, she was aware the alien had been experimenting on her. That much she'd figured out, but she still had to find out exactly what it was that had been done.

  It was hard to believe that S'Tha and Eqin were even remotely related. They were so different.

  She decided not to argue further and with a simple ‘we'll see', she left the room. She knew S'Tha couldn't stop her, not unless the woman contravened Eqin's order, which she wouldn't do openly. But she also knew that S'Tha wouldn't stop there. She was much too ambitious for that.

  * * * *

  In the days that followed Cathy moved out of the Facility into the old house—not that it was a massive move. She had very few belongings that meant anything to her. It was just a huge relief to be finally free from the aliens’ perpetual observance and non-vocal whispers.

  Now she could experiment freely with her newfound abilities.

  She wondered if that had been a reason for Eqin's decision. Did he know that her abilities had grown beyond simply being able to read their thoughts?

  A few days later Anya came by her house to install some technology to allow Cathy access to the Earth's computer and satellite systems. She busied herself with the installation, throwing an occasional glance in Cathy's direction. Cathy knew the younger woman wanted to speak with her, but she chose to ignore it and continued reading her book on the couch.

  She didn't feel like speaking to anyone. An indescribable pain in her body had kept her up the whole night, and she was completely worn out. She had seriously started doubting the wisdom of her decision to refuse further treatment. At times, she felt as if she was one breath away from death, and she could feel herself slipping in and out of consciousness. Perhaps S'Tha had been right after all, and she should have continued with the treatment—but something held her back.

  After a while Anya stood up and said, “I have finished."

  Cathy hardly looked up from her book. “Thanks,” she said disinterestedly, aware that Anya was waiting for her to say something more.

  “Are you certain you know how it functions? Our technology is more advanced than Earth's,” Anya said, evidently trying to make conversation.

  Cathy didn't even respond to Anya's dismissive comment about Earth's technology, but Anya was patient and after a long silence, she was forced to look up. “Is there something else that you wanted?"

  “Hmm. You seem so...” Anya said haltingly.

  “...Different to what they told you?” she said, smiling detachedly.

  “I have never met a human before you,” said Anya.

  Cathy tilted her head, looking at the slightly built woman. “Well, I hate to disappoint you, but apparently I'm not human any more. I'm turning into something else."

  “You are not what I had imagined. The others told me about you being..."

  Once again, Cathy interrupted her. There was a lot of pent-up anger in her voice when she completed Anya's sentence. “...Crazy and turning into some monster from hell? Let me see, the first part is right. I was crazy, thanks to the nanovirus that your people injected me with. So, I guess that the last part must be true too."

  Anya suddenly seemed uncomfortable and glanced nervously at the walls of the house without saying a word.

  “Yeah, well, that's life,” Cathy said without elaborating further and focused her attention at her book again. She wasn't interested in discussing it more, but Anya apparently wasn't going to give up that easily.

  “Does it not bother you?” she insisted.

  Cathy looked up and frowned. Didn't the younger woman take ‘no’ for answer? What was it with her? Hadn't the others warned her to stay away from the dangerous and unintelligent human?

  “Should it?” she asked.

  “It would bother me if I was unsure what I was becoming."

  Cathy narrowed her eyes and then fleetingly, entered Anya's mind. She read the same prejudices and anti-human thoughts the others had in their minds and felt suddenly hurt.

  “Well, I'm not you, am I? I'm human. We humans tend to do things differently, you know. We're aggressive and irrational creatures who make war, destroy our natural resources and kill each other,” she said bitterly.

  “I did not mean it like that."

  “No? But that's what you were thinking, wasn't it? That's what they told you before you came here, isn't it?” Cathy said looking down at her book again.

  “How did you know that?"

  Cathy froze, suddenly realising she'd inadvertently given away her secret to Anya. Annoyed with herself, she tried to cover up. “Isn't that what you all think about us?” she said. “Anyway, why are you asking all these questions?"

  Anya shrugged her shoulders. “I am curious. I want to know. The others do not talk about it. They tell me only what they think I should know. I want to know the whole story. I have to know the whole story,” she said, sitting down opposite Cathy.

  Cathy was taken aback, finding it rather forward for an assistant to speak in such a manner. None of the others had ever made an attempt to speak to her, trying to avoid her as much as possible. This one was definitely different.

  “What are you exactly?” she asked.

  This time her question seemed to throw Anya off balance. “What do you mean?"

  “What are you? You're not like the others."

  Anya hesitated, and Cathy sensed she wanted to say something. Then she said, “I cannot tell you."

  Cathy looked her straight in the eye. “I think you should."

  Anya looked at her for a moment and opened her mouth to say something, but a stern voice at the doorway interrupted them.

  “Are you ready?” Taluk seemed unhappy, and Cathy sensed that it was because of seeing the assistant being so friendly with the human. He barely looked at her, and she knew it annoyed him that she was still around.

  “Yes, I am,” Anya said compliantly and got up.

  “Let's go then,” he commanded.

  Before he left, Cathy put her book aside and got up to call him back. “Taluk!"

  Almost resentful at being addressed by her, he stopped. “Yes?"

  She took a small crystal sphere from her pocket and threw it towards him. “Take this back to S'Tha. Tell her I won't be subjected to any more tests and treatments,” she said coldly.

  Taluk caught the crystal without a word. If he knew what it was, he didn't let on and just walked away.

  Cathy noticed the expression in Anya's eyes and knew she'd recognised the sphere. She briefly glanced at Cathy before following Taluk out the door. “I am sorry,” she whispered. “We are not all like that."

  Their gazes met for a moment, and Cathy nodded. “I know."

  “Be careful, Cathy. You are not safe here,” Anya said almost inaudible.

  “Neither are you,” Cathy responded softly.

  She noticed the astonished look on Anya's face and knew that the young alien had not been aware that in the brief moment her attention was diverted, Cathy had glimpsed into her mind. What she saw, she didn't understand. Not yet, anyway. She did know for sure that Anya wasn't who she claimed to be. She'd read the words ‘Truth Seeker’ and wondered what they meant...

  * * *

  Chapter 11

  S'Tha pulled Eqin over to her side and handed him the minuscul
e binoculars.

  Look carefully. Do you see it? she asked.

  Eqin reluctantly took the binoculars. Staring closely through them, he finally shook his head, and handed them back to her. I don't see anything.

  They'd been sitting in the sand dunes by the beach, watching Cathy for some time now, but he'd seen nothing out of the ordinary.

  Look again. Look at the waves.

  Grudgingly he looked again, feeling as if he were betraying Cathy.

  When S'Tha first asked him to come with her because she wanted to show him something, he hadn't been particularly keen. Because he'd refused to allow further tests, S'Tha took it upon herself to find other ways to study her subject without his or Cathy's knowing—at least that was until Cathy found the crystal sphere.

  He wasn't particularly impressed when he learned about what S'Tha had done. She'd ignored a direct order and, theoretically, he should have sent her back home—but she was his sister.

  The device Cathy had found was designed to monitor everything within a two hundred meter radius of itself. It was a powerful little tool that dissolved chameleon-like into the environment, taking on the shape and colour of whatever was the most common. It was a piece of equipment not easily detected unless one knew what one was looking for—even by their own people. Humans certainly shouldn't have been able to detect its presence, and he was rather taken aback that Cathy had found it. How could she have? She had to have learned about its existence from their information spheres, but how had she been able to access them?

  He'd always known Cathy was no ordinary human, but he'd never suspected she'd become that powerful already. It saddened him somewhat. If the legend were true, then their paths would separate soon—probably for good.

  See? See how the waves move? S'Tha was avid for him to see what she could see, and he focused on the waves around Cathy's feet. Abruptly a chill ran down his spine—if he hadn't seen it for himself, he wouldn't have believed it. Wherever Cathy was walking, the waves moved in the opposite direction as if they were confronted by a very strong force field.

  S'Tha saw the expression on his face. Do know what this means, Eqin?