by Chandra Ryan
The camera sat close enough to her that he could see her pride as the Subservient woke and then sat up in the opened stasis chamber and began to look around. Lisa tried to speak with it but the life form only stared blankly at her.
This continued for a few minutes but then Lisa swayed and placed a hand on her temple. It looked as if she’d been about to faint but she managed to collect herself quickly. After that, Lisa just stood there staring at the Subservient for a few minutes. Her behavior seemed odd to Dixie, but he’d be lying if he said her behaviors on the best of days made complete sense to him. Even her decision to be with him was beyond Dixie’s comprehension. He was too big and too jaded for someone with her tender sense of vulnerability. He would be forever thankful that made sense to her, though.
A loud boom filled the lab and the video shook slightly as it recorded the dust cloud left by the explosion. When the dust settled, the scene played out much as the assistant described. Five commandos swept into the room and neutralized any resistance. When the assistants and guards were all incapacitated, they turned to Lisa. She looked frightened but held her body rigidly in place.
“Run, goddamn it.” Dixie tried to will her into following his order. But she didn’t. She placed herself between the men and the life form still sitting in the stasis chamber as if she could somehow protect the being.
He didn’t think it was possible, but he loved her more in that moment than he had just a few seconds ago. Oh, he was mad as hell at her for putting herself further in harm’s way. But he understood the need to protect the vulnerable.
In the end, the men didn’t even have to threaten her to get her to leave with them. They’d read her body language as well as Dixie had. All of their threats were directed toward the Subservient. If she wanted the life form to live, she’d have to go with them willingly. The being didn’t seem fazed in the least as it stepped out of the chamber and fell in line with them. So much for Lisa’s theory of muscle atrophy. The Subservient seemed to be moving just fine to Dixie. Hell, if Lisa hadn’t thrown a protective arm around the life form’s waist, Dixie would’ve suspected the Subservient had somehow helped with the attack.
They were almost at the end of the recording. Next Dixie would have to watch Lisa walk out the door to the lab with her captors. He cursed the inevitability even as his entire body tensed with the need for retribution.
“Wait!” Everybody’s attention shifted to Ben as he hit the key to freeze the screen. “Did you see that?”
“What?” He’d seen so much and yet too little. Nothing seemed important to the investigation despite the entire event having such a profound impact on his soul.
Ben keyed the video back a couple of frames and pointed to a small glint of metal on one of the commandos’ wrists. “Focus right here.” He then let the video play.
As Dixie watched the film play again, he clearly made out the metal gleam. It wasn’t the bracelet he originally thought it’d be. It was a watch. An antiquated timepiece like that was a rarity. He’d only seen one like it.
Lisa’s assistant gasped from behind them. “No. That can’t be right.” He moved to pull his reader out of his jacket pocket but both Dixie and Ben jumped into action. They grabbed his arms and then twisted them so they were held behind the man’s back. The position might not be one of the most comfortable ones but it certainly wasn’t painful. The man went pale and started to shake as if he’d just been threatened, however.
“You know who that man is.” Dixie didn’t bother to phrase it as a question. His reaction had given him away.
“No. There has to be a mistake. He must have lost it or maybe it was stolen.”
“Commander Wallace doesn’t let that watch out of his sight. If it’d been lost or stolen, the entire Coalition would’ve heard about it.”
“He wouldn’t do this.”
“We’ve got the recording. He did. The only question I’ve got is, who is Wallace to you?”
The man glared at Dixie and then his attention darted back to the image of the watch frozen on the screen. “He’s my father.”
“Guess that’s why you were the only one lucky enough to survive.”
“You’re wrong. He’s the one who assigned me to work in the lab. He wouldn’t put me in that kind of danger if he knew there was going to be a raid.”
Dixie didn’t like where this was going. “He assigned you to work with Dr. Colt?”
“That’s what I just said.”
“Did you report to him on her progress?”
“Of course.” The man struggled halfheartedly in their grasp but then remained still.
Dixie looked at Ben as the pieces started making a very unpleasant picture. “Wallace ordered Lisa’s rescue. He’s the reason she was here in the first place.”
Understanding filled Ben’s expression almost immediately. “No. This entire thing can’t be one elaborate setup.” Ben looked down at the recording again. “Can it?”
The more he thought about it, the more sense it made. “If the military was desperate to get those weapons up and running and the only person smart enough to pull it off was ethically opposed to it, what choice would it have?” As he said the words out loud, they made too much sense to dismiss. They hadn’t rescued Lisa, they’d handed her over to the enemy on a silver platter. And now that they’d disclosed her alliance with the Coalition to Ben’s journalist friend, they’d managed to dig the Coalition’s hole even deeper. Hell, by this point it could probably bury them all.
Chapter Ten
Lisa walked slowly down the dark, cold corridor of the spaceship. She was only allowed access to a small section of the ship that’d been secured. Still, every step she took reminded her of how far away from her life she currently was. And every second in space only served to take her that much further. The only thing worse than thinking about the space between her and her family was knowing there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it.
Her feet refused to budge another inch and her knees almost gave out as she thought about her men. She did find some comfort in the knowledge that Nate would have his father. She didn’t have to worry about him now as much as she did just a month ago. Still, as she pictured Ben playing with their son and tucking him into bed at night, the last of her control snapped and she sank to her knees on the cold metal floor.
Sobs racked her body but she couldn’t seem to release them. They got stuck in her throat and choked her with her own grief. She didn’t usually complain about the twists and turns in life but she’d been through so damn much over the past couple of years. To have everything ripped out from under her just when she’d found happiness again was unfair. No. It was more than unfair, it was cruel.
A warm hand rested on her shoulder and calm peace filled her. She didn’t have to look behind her to know who the touch belonged to. It was the life form she’d saved in the lab. They hadn’t been together for long, but already Lisa had started to become used to the woman pushing her emotions and thoughts into Lisa’s mind. If anything good ever came out of this, it’d be that she somehow managed to save the remarkable being.
Lisa looked up in time to catch her smile. Apparently she liked Lisa’s high opinion of her.
“Yes.” It was the first word she had ever spoken and hearing it threw Lisa into such a state of shock that she fell back onto her bottom.
“You can speak?” If so, why hadn’t she up to now?
“Little. Still learning.”
Lisa felt another, harder push into her mind as images filled her brain. With each image, Lisa compulsively thought of the object’s name.
“Shoes. I would like shoes.”
The image of shoes had just flashed thought Lisa’s mind. It had to be more than a coincidence. “You’re using my thoughts to learn language.”
“Yes.”
Lisa drew back at the invasion of privacy but then immediately regretted her reaction as pain flashed across the woman’s face.
“Sorry.” She stepped back from Lisa
just as Lisa felt the woman’s consciousness withdrawing from her own.
“No. I’m sorry.” She reached forward to grab the woman’s hand. “It was just a shock. We’re not used to sharing our thoughts and memories with others.”
The woman nodded. “It is the most efficient way for me to learn.”
“I understand.”
“I understand,” she repeated.
The pressure returned to Lisa’s mind as the woman pressed her consciousness back into Lisa’s. It was uncomfortable but Lisa tried to relax through the experience. She needed to help the woman more than she needed privacy at the moment. “Do you have a name? Something you’d like me to call you?” There had been a number one on her chamber, but Lisa didn’t like the idea of giving the woman a number. It felt hollow.
“Harlow?” She cocked her head as she tested the word out.
“No, hollow,” Lisa corrected softly. “It means empty.”
“I am empty, but I am not. Harlow is a good name. You may call me that.”
Her logic made some sense. Besides, who was Lisa to argue with her? If she liked the name, that should be good enough for Lisa. “Okay. Harlow it is.” Lisa looked down the corridor in the direction she’d been walking. “Do you know where we’re going or how long it’s going to take us to get there?”
“A lab. Like the one I was in. It scares the men.” She looked back over her shoulder toward the bridge of the ship. “The doctor scares the men. But he pays them well.”
“I’ll just bet he does.” She snorted as the benefits of having a telepathic friend became clear. “Any idea when they expect to reach the lab?”
She shook her head. “Time confuses me.”
“Don’t worry. It confuses us all. We think we have more than we could ever fill only to find out we’ve run out just when we need it most.”
Harlow smiled and nodded as if Lisa’s words had made sense. “You are a friend.”
“I’d like to be.”
“You saved me. I saw it in your memories.”
“I did what any good doctor would do.”
“And I will save you. That is what any good friend would do.” She offered her hand to Lisa and Lisa took it without reservation.
“Thank you.” A plan was already spinning in Lisa’s mind but she couldn’t be certain who it belonged to.
“I am drawing from your experiences. You seem to get kidnapped a lot.”
Lisa laughed at the woman’s straightforward personality. “This is only the third time. And the last was more of a rescue.”
Harlow smiled as images of Ben and Dixie filled Lisa’s head. “I can see that.”
“That is personal.”
Harlow nodded and instantly the memories of her men left her so completely that she felt empty.
“You’re hollow?”
Lisa noted Harlow’s use of contractions as she nodded in answer. She’d picked up the language quickly.
“But you also are not.” Harlow started leading her down the corridor. “We’re more alike than they think.”
Lisa didn’t have to ask who Harlow was referring to. As Harlow said the words the image of the men who’d taken her and Harlow flashed through her mind. “Do they know you’re speaking now?”
“No. I had nothing to say to them.”
“Good, we should keep it that way.”
“The element of surprise.” One of Harlow’s eyebrows rose slightly. “I like it. You’re more devious than I gave you credit for.”
“And you’re smarter than I gave you credit for.” Lisa was amazed at how quickly the woman picked up an abstract idea like deception.
“You should take that as a compliment. This form of learning is efficient, but it’s also limited. I can only be as smart as the people around me.”
The ship shimmied and a booming voice came over the comm system announcing their arrival. “Looks as if we’re about to meet the doctor.”
Once they’d landed, a group of armed men met them in the secured area and guided them through the ship. Harlow did a great job keeping up the silent act as she and Lisa were led down the boarding ramp and into what could only be classified as a compound. The high, thick walls were intimidating. But the security grid that stretched over the large building filled Lisa with dread. Every time a bug flew near the place, a loud popping noise filled the air as the bug disintegrated.
“Pretty drastic measures to guard against a couple of bugs.” She couldn’t care less about the insects though. If something as small as a bug couldn’t get in, how was she going to get out?
But the guards didn’t seem to question the validity of her statement. They turned toward each other and laughed. “Trust me, sweetheart, some of the bugs on this planet are the stuff of your worst nightmares. You should be thankful for that grid. It’s there for your protection.”
Sure it was. Despite their assurances, she didn’t buy it. She didn’t comment on it further, though. She didn’t want them to know she was examining the security. She didn’t really have a chance to check out much more of it anyway. As soon as the men guided them into the main building, she had to focus on making a mental map of the corridors. Her primary concern changed to memorizing the path out.
They took several turns and then stopped in front of a door. As one of the men punched in his security code, the numbers appeared in Lisa’s head. Being around a telepath might take some getting used to, but she quickly decided it was definitely worth the effort.
When the door slid open, it didn’t surprise Lisa to find Dr. Antihway standing on the other side. “Welcome to my humble abode. I wanted to greet you at the front gate but the life of a scientist…” He shrugged and then turned away from them before walking into a large lab. “Never a free moment. I’m sure you know what I mean, Dr. Colt. Our research is our life.”
He gestured to a large table in the middle of the room and Lisa had to cover her mouth to keep from gagging in disgust. “What is that?” A man-sized animal lay prone on the table with its arms and legs secured by cuffs and chains. It had iridescent scales that shimmered under the low lights of the lab as it fought against its captivity and a large snout that resembled a reptile’s mouth with the sharp teeth to match. That in itself was enough to cause her to tremble in fear. But that the creature currently yelled obscenities at them pushed her fear to a new level.
“That, Dr. Colt, is a prototype for what was going to be the next super soldier. But since you were so kind as to fix my last prototype, I fear he’s no longer needed.” He pulled a remote control out of his jacket pocket and pushed a button. The creature screamed in pain and twitched for a moment before he became still.
Tears threatened as she watched the being simply cease to exist. She would never condone Antihway’s methods or ethics. The man was as evil as the rumors made him out to be. But she couldn’t let that prejudice color his creations. Once a life form was created, it had to be respected. A mad scientist might be able to create a sentient being, but that didn’t give him the right to kill that life form on a whim. The injustice of it burned in the pit of her stomach. But the thing that made her heart hurt was her inability to help the poor creature. She’d just stood there and watched it die.
Harlow grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly but didn’t project any mental images or emotions. Something Lisa would be eternally grateful for. As a telepath and a madman’s science project, witnessing the creature’s death had to be infinitely harder on Harlow than it had been on Lisa. “I won’t help you.” The words were soft but sure.
Dr. Antihway laughed as he snapped his fingers. Two of his cronies grabbed Harlow’s arms and began dragging her away from Lisa. “Sure you will. I’ll tell you why. You’re too good-hearted to let anything happen to her. But just in case she’s not enough of an incentive, I’ve got several hundred more just waiting to be used as leverage.”
He walked to the back wall of the lab and pressed his hand against a biometric scanner. The wall made a hissing noise but then slid bac
k and revealed a room filled with stasis chambers. He turned to face her again before he stepped to the side to give her the full, tragic view of her current situation. “If you can’t help them, I fear there’s nothing to do but unplug them. That’ll also mean picking up where I left off with my cross-genetic studies.” He nodded toward the dead reptile-man. “Might go a little more subtle this time, though. Look a little more human but keep the cold heart of a reptile? Not to mention the venom glands. Of course that wouldn’t help with infantry, which is where the real money is, but imagine what a good assassin he would make.” Dr. Antihway walked over to a computer terminal and then started typing furiously. She’d already been all but forgotten, as were the life forms in the next room. If she didn’t do something, they were all as good as dead.
“Fine. I’ll show you how to fix them.”
He looked up at her and cocked his head as if trying to place her before shaking himself out of his stupor. “Oh, you’re still here?”
“Where else would I go?” she asked dryly.
“Guess you do have a point.” He giggled and then nodded. “Okay. What do you want?”
The list was too long for her to even contemplate. And, seeing as it started with his head on a pike, she doubted she’d get any of it. Still, she had to give him something. He was already suspicious of her. If she didn’t ask for anything he’d know she was plotting. “I’ll show you the procedure with one of them. They you’ll let me go and you will promise that we’ll never cross paths again.” The request had just the right self-preservation and selfishness to be believable to a man of his moral character—none.
He looked at her skeptically. “That’s all you want?”
“No. But I figure it’s the best I’m likely to get.”
“See, I knew you could be reasoned with.” He stared at her for a moment as if he was giving her offer serious consideration. “And the deal sounds fair enough. Okay, you have my word.” Which was about as good as a bowl of rotten fruit. Still, she’d bought herself some time. “Why don’t you get settled and we can start first thing in the morning.”