by Rena Marks
Robyn’s slow brain whirled. It was Steele’s DNA she had been injected with. Steele was the one to give her a hormone injection, whatever that was. “Yes. Who gave her the hormones? It needs to be the same person who she took the DNA from.”
“Who was that?” Renegade’s eyes narrowed, his face hardening.
“I don’t know,” she said. “Robyn injected herself later, after me. Only she would know.”
“Then all we can do is wait. You’re both at death’s doors.”
“Get me to her. Let me do a scan, see if her body is fighting these hormones, or whatever is going on.”
Renegade looked straight at her. “I’m sorry, Robyn. I can’t let you do that. You need to recover yourself, per Steele’s instructions. We are in agreement on this.”
He pushed a syringe into her IV, and the world blurred.
The next time she awoke, it was Steele at her side. His head was in his hands, and he looked exhausted. She was tempted to let him sleep, but she had to know about Amanda.
“Steele?” she whispered.
His head shot up. “You’re awake.”
“How’s Amanda?” she asked.
“Still unconscious. How are you?”
“I’m fine. I’d like to get up and check on her.”
To her surprise, he tossed back the covers on her bed. She blinked up at him. Her IV had been removed at some point. Then strong arms were picking her up and cuddling her next to a muscular chest before he grabbed the coverlet from her bed and wrapped it around her. What the hell had happened to the aggressively angry version of him? This was more like the Steele she had met and fallen in love with.
With her in his arms, he strode through the hallways of the small lab. When they reached the elevator room, it was a blackened hole of ash and metal. A myriad of boards had been spread over the disintegrated floor as a bridge. It creaked and bent slightly as he walked over the makeshift overpass.
Amanda lay in a small cot, an IV set up near the head of her bed. Renegade slouched in a chair near her.
“Good morning,” Steele said. “Almost.”
He placed Robyn gingerly on her feet, keeping an arm around her waist. “What do we have?” she asked Renegade. “A scanner? Stethoscope? Anything?”
“They were surprisingly well equipped up here. Adapted for life on the surface of the island.” His mouth tightened into a grim line as he handed her a small handheld scanner.
But Robyn was barely paying attention as she pricked Amanda’s finger for a drop of blood. She identified three different merging DNA strands. She could tell which one was Amanda’s, of course, even without the records she’d destroyed.
“I couldn’t find any records of her previous DNA,” Renegade mumbled.
“There are no records,” Robyn said. “I destroyed everything with a few different viruses. Everything. Not that it matters, they already have a sample of ours.”
“Now that you’re awake, we need to have a meeting with everyone and get on the same page,” Steele said. He was carefully neutral.
But Robyn was concentrating on the strange result of the scanner. There were indeed three DNA strands, but all three were related. How could that be? “Whose hormone shot, or whatever it was, was injected into her?”
“Mine.” Renegade’s voice rumbled. She didn’t miss the look that passed between him and Steele, but she couldn’t think of that right now. She didn’t have the same quick computing the Zetan DNA had given her.
She did a series of computations on the scanner. How could the three changing strands of DNA be so similar? If Renegade’s strand was subject C, it had properties related to subject B. And Subject B had related properties to A, which should have been Amanda. How could all the strands be related when they were clearly different subjects?
Something was off. The only DNA she could verify was Renegade’s. Without thinking, Robyn reached out and poked Renegade’s forearm to check his sample against subject C.
“Ouch,” he said.
“Oh. Sorry about that. I guess I should have warned you.”
She thought she saw a grin masked by Steele, but surely that couldn’t be. He was usually so angry and reserved. She hadn’t seen a grin on him since he’d died.
But then her attention was diverted. Sample C was already different from sample D, which was Renegade’s current DNA. Which meant that was why she couldn’t trace the DNA strands. They were already mutating at a phenomenal rate.
“I think the original injection she took was of someone related to you, Renegade. Which means we got lucky that your hormones were used. Instead of her body rejecting your DNA, they merged and became a new strand. Which is how I must have gotten lucky, too. Steele’s hormones were used on me, along with his same DNA injection.”
“What are the chances that Amanda used Renegade as the Quinteah injection?”
“Can’t be. These are three different strands though they are constantly changing.”
But he had a good point. Hurriedly, she stabbed herself with the scanner, wincing slightly. That hurt more than she thought. No wonder Renegade had shown surprise.
She cleared the cache and matched her own under the samples. Her DNA was no longer recognizable.
“Oh, my God,” she said. Dawning realization reflected in her tone. “You’re right. My two strands from before and after injection have merged into something else—something new. So Amanda may not have three different strands. They could be three different samples, merging at a phenomenal rate.” She felt sick. Who knew if this was a good thing or not? For all they knew, she could still die.
“Robyn.”
She had to study this. She couldn’t hook up a computer. She’d taken care to make sure the island wouldn’t be hacked. She didn’t want to waste any of the power, which could be cut off at any moment, leaving them on generators. But she was working blind here.
Her fingernail. She glanced down at her hand. Somehow, it had survived all of the chaos from the lobby. It should have files on it of what they had before. Maybe she could take samples of everyone revived. Of course, there were those who were still unrevived, living like pod people under the sun.
She mumbled under her breath. “Backup generator only has enough power for the refrigerated supplies. IV’s, liquid food…” she was barely aware of her own musings. “Certainly can’t use it for a live stream.”
“Robyn.”
She had to know exactly what this hormone was that they’d used. And why. And how. And for now, the pod people were safe in the sun.
“My telomeres, or the endcaps of chromosomes that shorten as we age, have actually become longer. I’ll need more genomics testing. On all of us, Amanda, Renegade, you, me. We’ve become something…different.”
“Robyn.” Steele’s hands placed over her scanner got her attention.
“The sun is breaking. Let’s get you fed and dressed. We’re meeting with everyone who escaped. We all need to get on the same page of what you and Amanda have done for us.”
She nodded. She had a lot of explaining to do. She pushed the scanner away and, with Steele’s help, got ready in record time. He waited outside a bathroom while she bathed quickly. He’d brought her fresh scrubs from a supply closet and a liquid protein drink with a straw that she could gulp while they met with the others. Now, she glanced around the conference table—a mimic of the one that they had underground—at all of the unusual faces of the people she’d revived. She explained the story for what felt like the umpteenth time.
“Amanda and I realized we were going to be killed. They needed our silence. When we were gone, they could do anything they wanted to you—and they already had. You were already alive, at least once before we accomplished the original revival. Who knows how many more times they would do it? Neither of us could stomach the idea. I knew what I was doing when I chose to have Amanda inject me with Steele’s Zetan DNA, which we labeled Quinteah. I needed the aggressive tendencies, the strength and speed. I knew it was a limited sente
nce, my human DNA would basically be eaten and my body would not be able to keep up. It would give out, and I was guessing I had about a week. During that time, I spent my nights hauling the bodies up here. I inserted viruses into the programs of Crested Ute Labs to destroy any evidence of the GAH project. Of course, when too many bodies began to disappear, I had to come up with an idea to explain why.”
She sipped from her protein shake. It was thick and cooling to her throat. The room was warm with so many bodies seated around the conference table. A few leaned against the walls.
“We decided to do groups of revivals. The scientists of Crested Labs cheered at each group being revived while the rest of you grew more distrusting. At the time, we didn’t realize each night they were remotely programming distrust into Esson Four. But with every revival, I claimed a percentage rate of twenty percent. Two lived, eight died. Those eight bodies were supposed to be incinerated. In reality, Amanda and I had the revival down to a fine science. One hundred percent revival. We revived two at a time, and I snuck the remaining eight bodies to the surface, placed into an immediate coma, and maintained by the solar powered pods. The two that were unlucky enough to be labeled ‘survivors’ were also placed in the coma, and you were woken up that day in the lab. I didn’t worry so much about you, but each day I checked the pods on the surface to make sure they worked correctly. We couldn’t have them powered by electricity; a sudden surge to the upper island would be detected. Or the power would be cut off suddenly, killing them all in a suffocation coffin.”
“You never slept?”
“I couldn’t. Amanda couldn’t haul bodies up, work all night on destroying files, and function normally the next day. I was only able to because of the Zetan mutation running through my veins.”
“Without sleep, the virus multiplied faster.”
“Yes. It shortened my viable life. That was when Amanda must have decided that she’d have to inject herself to ensure your revival above ground once I passed.”
“She willingly forfeited her life, also,” Renegade said.
“Yes. But we were dead anyway. We understood this. There was no way for us to live. Even if we managed to avert death at the hands of the scientists, our DNA is recorded everywhere above ground. We can be eliminated with the push of a button.”
“Not anymore,” Steele growled.
“What do you mean?”
“Your DNA is different now.”
Son of a bitch. He was right. Robyn felt her chest move, like a weight had been lifted.
“We need to buy time. The entire explosion underground was recorded live and distributed via an underground internet server. I chose that route because it would take them longer to stop the distribution. It worked, apparently.”
“So the world knows of our existence?”
She nodded. “It was the only way to keep you safe. Expose the secret.”
“What is the next course of action?”
“It’s only a matter of time before our location is found. Even though I scrambled the coordinates, Crested Ute knows of the existence of the island. I’m assuming the government knows since they were in cahoots.”
One of the men nodded. “Vehicles have been flying in. We have been shooting warning shots to keep them at bay. A couple of guys are outside right now, standing watch.”
“Our ammunition won’t last forever. I’ll need to make contact.”
Just then, the lights filtered out. They were in the dark for several seconds before the backup generators kicked on. The emergency lighting wasn’t as bright.
“Time’s up,” Robyn said.
Chapter Seventeen
They set her up with a laptop, placing her in the corner of the room where the camera couldn’t pick up anything else but her. She immediately hooked into the top name with the Global Government.
President Sam Gerard.
He accepted the call, his likeness appearing across the screen. He was straight to the point. “Dr. Robyn Saraven, I assume?”
“Sir.”
“You’ve caused quite a worldly commotion.”
“I wouldn’t say I caused it.”
“Nonetheless, our world needs fixed. Not sure if you’ve hacked in lately, but there are riots on each of the nine floating cities. Upheavals that have never happened before. Everywhere, population wonders what will be done if they overthrow the government. You know that can’t happen. Peace needs to be restored. Even the Crested Utilitarian officials have gone into hiding.”
“I can clear the government name as instantly as I tarnished it.”
The leader’s eyes narrowed. “How? The damage has been done.”
“The damage has been done to Crested Ute. With my help, we can easily split your involvement with them. You can be made to sound like the heroes, instead of those funding the nightmare. Restore power to the island and I will set up another live stream and verify that your ships are being seen as protectors around us, instead of a threat ready to shoot us. You are giving us time to decide when to leave the island and live among the outside. Eventually you can make a statement that negotiations will begin to assimilate the new species into the world.”
“And if we don’t? We can wait this out, of course. You can’t exist forever with a small generator. A hacker can’t live without electricity.”
Robyn smiled grimly. “I prepared for that scenario, too. Naturally I’ll keep that route of information to myself, but trust me when I say Earth government is about ten minutes from being overthrown without my help. It’s your call to decide which route to take. Check mate, Mr. President.”
He leaned back in his chair. There was silence on both ends as they tried to figure out how much the other bluffed.
“Our planet depends on a government to reign, Dr. Saraven. We will accept your offer. Power will be restored and we will give you two weeks’ time to straighten out the riots with your information via live feed. Contact me within the time frame for our next step.”
The screen darkened.
“Shut down the generator to the laptop,” Robyn instructed. “Enable it to help the others power the shields to protect us.”
The lights dimmed and she shut the laptop.
“You created a backup plan to blackmail your government?” Renegade asked.
“Our government now, Renegade. And no, I never did get that far.”
“You were bluffing?”
“Not exactly. The backup was just created. This recording of him acknowledging his involvement with Crested Butte Labs is all I have.” She unplugged the small communicator. “If they figure it out, they will expect me to have the device. Instead, we will transfer it around from person to person. Protect this with your life,” she said, handing it to Beast.
He cracked his knuckles and slid it into the bag he carried across his chest.
Just then the lights came on. They blinked against the sudden brightness, having gotten used to the dimmer emergency backup lights. Along with the power came the knowledge that Amanda needed her.
“Power’s up,” Robyn said grimly. “Time to revive our people, including Amanda. We have two weeks reprieve from fighting. Let’s get the pods moved in here and hooked to a power source. I’ll get the computers working. First step is Amanda’s revival. We’ll need her help with everyone else.”
She rose quickly, heading to the small room that housed her friend. At the door, Renegade placed his hand on her shoulder. “Wait. Before we wake her, I would like to do another hormonal transfusion. We are still not completely sure whose injection she took.”
“I forgot to ask. What is a hormonal transfusion? Will she…we…have to get them forever?”
Next to her, Steele nodded. “Yes. How often is determined by studying your changing DNA, of course. To see where it settles between ours…and your human strands.”
“So how is she transfused?”
To her surprise, Renegade began to strip. She averted her eyes when he pulled at his pants. When he was naked, he crawled int
o the bed with Amanda, carefully avoiding her IV tubes. He covered her body with his.
“Close the door on your way out.”
Robyn felt her jaw drop. She had to be led from the room. She was barely aware of Steele closing the door behind them.
“Trans…transfusion?”
A muscle tic pressed in his cheek. He gave a short nod. “Exactly what it sounds like. We transdermally transfer body fluids. Our sweat. Our saliva. And finally—though not exactly transdermal—our semen.”
“The injection? A cum shot?” The idea was ludicrous. She felt like laughing. But then it dawned on her…
“Me too?” she squeaked.
To her surprise, Steele winked. “You let me know when you’re ready for more.”
Her mouth fell open. “Are you kidding?”
He sighed, turning serious. “Apparently they had as much going on as we did. Like we shared before, Robyn.”
He was serious.
“In order to save you, I tied you to me. It was that or death. We discovered long ago that we could control which of our dormant traits activated while humans could not. It seemed plausible that we had something that acted as a switch to turn on and off certain traits. I gave you that switch. Unfortunately, you don’t produce it naturally.”
She shook her head to clear it. “Jesus. I can’t deal with this right now. There’s so much else going on. Along with the power came the bio-dome I created, blocking their access to the external island. I need to get a computer and check the stats on it. I need to tap into the outside world and see what they’re doing.”
“Two birds, one stone.” Taking her elbow, Steele steered her outside. A small table had been set out in the shade, her laptop on top.
Several Xeno Sapiens kept watch outside, loaded laser rifles across their chests.
She sat in the chair, flipping open the laptop. She tapped into a hotspot of one of the surface cities. She had missed that about living in the sunshine…the fact that internet was everywhere. That she wasn’t dependent upon the connection.
“Bio-dome secure,” she murmured, taking a quick peek up at the sky. The color had changed to a slightly bluer hue, filtering out some of the UV rays, and enabling them to look out, but making the dome too opaque to peer through from the outside.