A.L.I.V.E. (The A.L.I.V.E.Series Book 1)

by R. D. Brady

  Wanda stared at him, her lips pursed, her fists clenched. “This is murder.”

  “This is science. And our government has a long history of using its citizens to further the goals of science.” Martin stared at Wanda, his contempt barely contained. “You appointed me to this position because you know I could and would make the tough decisions.”

  “I won’t let you get away with this.”

  Martin laughed. “What are you going to do? The facility is under my control. No one can infiltrate it. By the time you cut through all the red tape and muster up some pitiful little security team, it’ll be weeks from now. The experiment will already be concluded. And the site itself will no longer even exist. It will be an irradiated crater that will take years to clean up. This is done, Wanda. You can thank me later.”

  “I mean it Martin, I won’t let you get away with this.”

  “But see, again, that’s a lack of vision. Because I’ve already gotten away with it.”

  Wanda stared at him before shaking her head and storming from the room. The door slammed behind her. Wanda didn’t see the big picture, not yet. But she would come around eventually.

  In that big picture, her support, her anger—they didn’t matter. What was important was Martin saw what was at stake and what needed to be done. And he knew without a doubt that his words to Wanda had been correct.

  One day, she would thank him.

  Chapter Sixty-Three

  Chris stared at Maeve. Alvie’s clones? Chris was a pretty straightforward guy. Despite that, he’d been able to accept that they were not alone in the galaxy, especially after seeing Alvie for the first time. But clones? He wasn’t really expected to buy that, was he?

  Then the words she actually said hit him. “Wait, what do you mean they’re clones too? Who else is a clone?”

  Maeve winced. “Alvie. I forgot to mention that.”

  “Wait, you said he had one human parent and one alien. So how—”

  “He does, technically. But he was cloned from an original subject who had an alien and human parent. He’s the first successful clone ever created. My mom created him.”

  Chris knew his mouth was hanging open but he couldn’t seem to get himself to close it. Alvie was a clone? Chris wasn’t a science geek. He’d done well in school and college but most of the stuff Maeve did was way out of his league. But as he looked at the three little ones and Alvie, he simply couldn’t wrap his head around the idea of them being clones. Clones were sci-fi extremism. They weren’t little baby aliens running around a secret base. Right?

  “Uh, so who was the original alien/subject/whatever he was cloned from?”

  “No one is exactly sure. He was created from the DNA of a skull found down in Mexico. The skull was a thousand years old.”

  “Wait, so the original hybrid wasn’t created in a lab.”

  “Well, at least not one of our labs.”

  Chris’s jaw fell open. “Holy crap. Um, so someone found a skull and just took some DNA to create Alvie?”

  “It was a little more complicated than that, but basically, yes.”

  Chris looked back at the three little aliens. One of them seemed a little smaller, its features finer. He squinted. It even had some very pale hair. “But isn’t one of them a girl?”

  Maeve stepped over to the glass, leaning in. Chris wouldn’t have been surprised if she pressed her face up against it. “I think so. Even with clones it’s possible to manipulate some aspects of the embryo. Or maybe the clone spontaneously became female.”

  “Spontaneously?”

  “Every single human embryo has the potential to be either male or female. It’s why men have nipples—just in case they end up being girls.”

  Surprise flashed through Chris. “Seriously? That’s the reason?”

  Maeve glanced up at him, and a brief smile crossed her face. “Learn something new every day, huh? Now, we need to get them out of there.” She reached for the door.

  Oh shit. Chris grabbed her arm as she reached for the control panel.

  Maeve yanked it back. “What are you doing?”

  “Okay, they’re Alvie’s clones. But we don’t know what they’re like. They weren’t raised by you and your mom.” He lowered his voice. “We don’t know what’s been done to them.”

  Maeve’s mouth fell open but then she shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. Whatever’s happened to them, whatever some monster has done to them, we are not leaving them down here for the other monsters roaming these halls. They’re coming with us.”

  A loud bang rang out from the hall, followed by a hissing sound, as if to emphasize her point.

  Alvie stepped next to Maeve and took her hand. Maeve looked down at him, and Chris knew his argument had lost all effect. She looked back at Chris. “Whatever’s happened to them, they are just like Alvie. He won’t leave them here. And I won’t leave him. Please step out of the way.”

  Chris stared at her, scrambling to come up with a way to convince her to come with him. He looked into the enclosure. The three creatures were huddled together, but one peeked its head out. Big eyes stared back at him. Chris could feel their fear.

  “Damn it.” He turned and keyed open the door. Chris started to step in, but Maeve touched his arm. “Let Alvie go first.”

  Chris backed up, and Alvie moved into the room. Chris stood in the doorway, leaving it open but blocking Maeve from entering. She peered around him, trying to get a better look.

  Alvie moved forward cautiously. The creatures first reared back, letting out a small cry. Maeve put her hand to her mouth. “They’re terrified.”

  Alvie stopped moving and just watched them. The one on the right looked at him before slowly standing and tottering over. Chris muttered a curse under his breath. There was a long burn mark that had healed over along the little guy’s arm. Alvie reached out his hand, and the small one placed his in Alvie’s. Then Alvie pulled him forward, wrapping his small arms around the smaller body.

  Next to Chris, Maeve sighed.

  Another series of loud noises came from the hallway.

  “We need to get moving,” Chris said quietly.

  “I know, I know. Just give him a minute.”

  Chris glanced over his shoulder at the door. “Maeve …”

  “Alvie, we need to go,” she called softly.

  Alvie nodded but kept his gaze on the two little ones that still cowered in the corner. Then they moved forward cautiously. Chris noticed they each had some injuries, but the injuries looked older. They hadn’t been caused recently, which meant the injuries weren’t caused by the breakout. Someone, some human, had done that to them.

  Something slammed into the lab door. Maeve whirled around, as did Chris. Chris knew he was running low on ammo. Whatever was outside the door, Chris really hoped it was alone.

  “Maeve, get in the enclosure. I’ll lock you guys in.”

  Maeve ran across the room for the closet in the back.

  Chris growled. Was she ever going to actually do something he said? “Damn it. I said—”

  She yanked open the closet door and pulled out a tranquilizer gun, expertly loading it and pocketing some extra rounds.

  The door burst open and Chris whirled around.

  Holy shit.

  The thing looked like the Green Goblin from the Spider-Man comics Chris had read as a kid. It was six feet tall and green with pointy ears and muscular arms.

  Chris pulled the trigger, but the thing moved so fast, all he hit was the doorway.

  Shit.

  Chris jumped out of the way as the thing lunged at him. He scrambled behind a lab table. The goblin leered at him from the other side.

  “Chris, get down!” Maeve yelled. Chris dove for the ground as Maeve opened fire. The first shot hit the goblin in the chest. It yanked out the dart, but Maeve was still shooting. She strode forward, unloading dart after dart until the goblin crashed to the ground.

  “Alvie, get them out of the enclosure. Chris drag that thing in t
here.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Chris said, then he grabbed the goblin by the arms.

  Alvie ushered the other three out and Chris pulled the goblin inside. He slammed the door shut and looked at Maeve, who lowered her weapon, trying not to smile at the fact that she had just turned all GI Jane on him.

  “So where did you learn to shoot?” he asked.

  “John taught me. He thought if I was going to be on the base and working, I should at least have an idea what it was like to shoot.”

  “Remind me to send him a nice, long thank you letter when we get out of here.”

  “We are getting out of here, right?”

  “Oh yeah.”

  Maeve met his gaze. “All of us?”

  Chris looked at the four aliens and tried not to sigh.

  I hope so.

  Chapter Sixty-Four

  Maeve struggled to stay calm as Chris closed the cage on the goblin. That thing had been terrifying. She still couldn’t believe she’d shot it that many times.

  She felt eyes on her and turned to see the three little ones watching her from behind Alvie.

  Oh no.

  This was not exactly the first impression she was hoping for—her playing Xena, warrior princess.

  Carefully and slowly, she laid the weapon on the table. She stepped away from it, keeping her hands in view and then knelt down. “It’s okay. I won’t hurt you.”

  The two boys ducked their heads, but the little girl stared at her.

  Alvie placed his hand on the girl’s cheek and she closed her eyes. When she opened them, she gave a little squeak and ran for Maeve, throwing herself into Maeve’s arms. Maeve hugged her tight. “It’s okay. You’re all right. We won’t let anyone hurt you.”

  The girl was incredibly light, but there was a strength in her little arms. Maeve could feel her heart pounding away through her chest.

  She’s so scared.

  Alvie placed his hand on the cheeks of each of the boys. Both looked at Alvie and then over at Maeve. Maeve held out one of her arms and the two ran to her as well. Maeve gave a small laugh, feeling tears in her eyes as she wrapped her arms around the three of them. And she felt an incredible sense of protectiveness.

  I’ll keep you safe. I promise.

  Chris stood nearby. “Well, I guess they trust you.”

  One of the boys looked up at Chris and then ran to him, wrapping himself around Chris’s leg. Chris gave a small cry and then looked at Maeve helplessly before awkwardly patting the little guy on the back. “You’re okay. We’ve got you.”

  Maeve stood up, the two others in her arms. They were each only about two feet tall and she guessed they weighed no more than fifteen pounds each, if that.

  “Do they have names?” Chris asked.

  Alvie shook his head.

  Chris pointed to each of them, ending with the guy attached to him. “How about Snap, Crackle, and Pop?”

  Maeve looked at Alvie, who gave her a small smile. “Sounds good to us.”

  “Okay, little buddy.” Chris reached down and patted the guy wrapped around his legs again before looking to Alvie for help. Alvie walked over and gently pried Pop from Chris’s legs.

  “Okay. No more side trips. We are heading out. Any objections?” Chris asked.

  Maeve and Alvie shook their heads.

  “Good. Everyone grab a baby alien and let’s go.” He paused, shaking his head. “I cannot believe those words just came out of my mouth.”

  Maeve lowered herself down and Crackle hopped onto her back. Pop went with Chris and Snap, the girl, climbed onto Alvie’s back.

  Chris led them out of the lab. At the end of the hall, he put his hand to his lips as he waved them into an alcove. They stood waiting tensely as Chris took up position, the door to the stairwell in his sights. Maeve could hear some sort of movement on the other side of the door but she couldn’t identify if it was human or otherwise. And apparently Chris didn’t want to chance it either. They waited there for what felt like forever, but Maeve knew it was only a few minutes. Finally, Chris waved them to the stairwell and they headed up.

  Chris had just stepped onto the landing outside the door to level ten when Alvie rushed up from behind him and shook his head, pulling Chris toward the door leading out of the stairwell. Maeve could feel Alvie’s urgency, but it was different from when he wanted them to go to level eleven. Chris must have felt it as well. He looked down at him and nodded, opening the door. Maeve followed the two of them inside.

  The door had barely closed when she heard the sound of something coming down the steps. Maeve stared down at Alvie. He was tense, his whole body rigid, but after two minutes he relaxed, looking up at Maeve with a smile.

  I’ll be damned. She tapped Chris on the shoulder. “I think we’re all right.”

  “Why?” he asked, not taking his gaze from the door.

  “Because Alvie says we are.”

  Chris gave her incredulous look. “What?”

  Maeve leaned down so she was eye level with Alvie. “Can you tell when one of them is near?”

  Alvie nodded.

  “All of them?”

  He nodded again.

  “How?”

  She felt a small pulse against her brain. Her eyes flew open. “You can do that with both humans and aliens?”

  Alvie nodded.

  “You guys want to let me in on whatever you’re talking about?” Chris asked.

  Maeve stared into Alvie’s eyes. All these years and she had never known about this ability. Amazing. She ran a hand gently over his head before standing.

  “Alvie can sense them.”

  “Sense them?”

  “Telepathically. He’ll know where they are before we do.”

  “Uh, okay.” Chris looked between Maeve and Alvie. “Did you know he could do that?”

  Maeve shook her head. “No.”

  Worry flashed across Chris’s eyes and Maeve felt a prickle of concern take root in the back of her mind.

  If you didn’t know about this ability, what other abilities do you not know about? Maeve chased the thought away, but she couldn’t quite remove the feeling of concern it left behind.

  “I guess that’s something in our favor.” Chris took a step toward the stairwell. “So let’s head back to—”

  Alvie took Chris’s arm and shook his head.

  Chris’s eyes locked on Maeve’s.

  “It’s not safe,” she said.

  Chris’s gaze flicked to Alvie before he gave an abrupt nod. “Okay, then let’s try to find another stairwell.” He started down the hall. Alvie moved ahead of him and Chris fell in step with Maeve. Pop, who rested on Chris’s back, peeked at Maeve, who smiled in return.

  Chris nodded toward Alvie ahead of them. “So you had no idea about this?”

  “This exact ability, no. But Alvie’s been having these bouts of depression. You saw him—he was sad, despondent. He’d have those horrible nightmares.”

  Chris nodded.

  “Well, I think it wasn’t him that was experiencing pain. I think Alvie was feeling what these guys were going through. He felt their pain, their sadness. I checked the dates—Alvie’s last episode corresponds to an electric shock experiment on these guys. Alvie felt their pain and he couldn’t do anything about it.”

  “But how did he know?”

  Maeve shook her head. “That I don’t know. But they’re bonded in some way.”

  “And his ability to sense the other aliens, are you okay with that?”

  “Honestly, it’s unsettling. I didn’t know he could do that. At the same time, all of these experiences, this environment, is new for him. Of course he’s going to demonstrate abilities and behaviors I’ve never seen before. It would be strange if he didn’t.”

  “Aren’t you worried?”

  Maeve opened her mouth to answer him and then shut it, thinking over his question. The fact was, in the last few hours, Alvie had seen her do things he’d never seen her do before—things that could easily tr
ouble him.

  “I guess not. I mean, Alvie saw me take down Henning, shoot aliens, run, fight—he’s never seen me do anything like that before. He’s never seen me violent.”

  “But that was to protect him, to protect us.”

  “Yeah, but are Alvie’s abilities any different? Isn’t he protecting us? And he doesn’t seem overly worried that I’m going to turn my violence toward him, so I suppose I shouldn’t be worried about him using his abilities on us.”

  “But he has. He got us to go to level eleven to get them.”

  “Yeah, but that was his way of talking. How else could he convey what he wanted? And if we hadn’t, I think he would have made his way to the triplets on his own. He wouldn’t have forced us.” She paused. “But his abilities make you nervous, don’t they?”

  “It doesn’t put me at ease.” Chris walked forward quietly, not saying anything for a few feet. “But what about his ability to share his thoughts? These guys can’t do that, right?”

  “I don’t think so. They’re too young. They’re babies, really. One day, they should develop the same abilities.”

  “I guess I’m glad Alvie’s on our side,” Chris grumbled.

  Maeve watched him out of the corner of her eyes. “Are you really scared of him?”

  “Alvie, no. But what if the triplets aren’t as nice as he is? What if these other aliens have similar abilities?”

  Maeve looked at Chris. He’d always been strong. She knew that in high school he’d been on the football team. He’d studied martial arts since he was a kid. He’d even gotten marksman trophies when he was younger, well before he joined the military.

  “Well, welcome to the club.”

  Chris frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Men are always physically stronger than women. You are always more powerful. From childhood, women are encouraged to be nice and polite. Males are encouraged to fight and stand up for themselves. Woman are always at a physical disadvantage.”

  “It’s not the same.”

  “Why not? Because Alvie might be more powerful than you? What about that weapon you’re holding? Doesn’t that even things up a bit? Aren’t people beholden to the fact that those who are physically stronger or who have more powerful weapons are good people? Isn’t that how life works, at its core?”