“Laci is just as beautiful within. She’s bound only to us. She has made us very happy.” Darion smiled. His hand moved up and down her back, almost as if he sensed her unease. “Laci, meet Davik and Camin, the Jatohn of the Mocant.” He gestured first to the red-blond then to the blond.
“Hello,” Laci greeted them tentatively. By the way they looked at her, she could tell they were trying to deem her worthy or unworthy. Satira was beginning to haunt her.
“Hello,” Davik chuckled, a genuine smile crossing his face. “She certainly doesn’t act like her.”
“She’s nothing like her.” Alek returned the smile. He kept his eyes on Laci. “She’s sensitive and has dreams of Satira’s life. They upset her. Laci cares about us already and she’s so damned hot that just keeping her satisfied is exhausting.”
Laci felt a blush wash over her cheeks. Strongly tempted to elbow him in the ribs, she ducked her head to hide the rising red on her cheeks. Her hair fell forward hiding her rosy face from the two men at her side. She was standing right beside Alek. He knew that a remark like that would embarrass her, but he liked seeing her blush. At every possible opportunity, he provoked that tide of red.
“She blushes,” Camin—the blond—observed, his voice filled with laughter.
“Yes, she does and she can’t lie to save herself. Everything is right there for everyone to see,” Alek said cheerfully. “We never have to wonder what she’s feeling. We can tell by her expression and the look in her eyes and if we miss that, she’s likely to tell us.”
Alek’s hand slipped low on her back. His hand slid beneath the material of her dress and one of his fingers followed the crease between her buttocks. His finger stroked lightly over her flesh, teasingly dipping lower and lower.
Laci couldn’t control her increased breathing, the pounding of her heart. A strange mixture of anger and arousal pounded through her body. Her nipples tightened into hard nubs. That teasing touch was igniting an uncontrolled desire she knew they had no intention of satisfying anytime soon. This caused her anger to increase, which heightened her arousal in a vicious cycle. When his finger drew near to that puckered ring, she couldn’t help pushing her buttocks against that caressing hand.
“Now, what could you two be doing to cause such a reaction? Your woman is aroused…very highly aroused. I can smell her heat from here,” Davik chuckled.
Laci felt another hot tide of red wash up her neck to her face. She wanted to storm away, but Alek’s hand was down her dress. The material was thin, silky. If she left, it would probably stay. She’d gotten relatively accustomed to baring her breasts in public, but she balked at full nudity.
“Jatohn, everything is loaded on the shuttle.” The man who walked toward them was clearly human and didn’t have the nano-cytes—the scientists had never been able to construct a nano-bot that didn’t kill a human host. He must have been a member of Davik and Camin’s crew, as he was wearing the Norik uniform and Laci didn’t recognize him. “Is there anything else? Perhaps the Jatohn of the Chimau would like me to take their lady to their ship.”
Laci pressed closer to Darion’s side. She didn’t want to go anywhere with that man. She couldn’t explain why but she knew something was wrong. Something didn’t feel right.
“Perhaps that would be best. We need to talk.” Darion gave Laci a one-armed hug. “You go to the Chimau. We will be up as soon as we finish.” He gave her a little urging prod toward the man.
Laci felt hurt and anger rip through her. They didn’t trust her enough to allow her to sit through their meeting. She was also certain that they knew that she wasn’t going anywhere. They knew that she wanted to stay with them. Laci looked over her shoulder even as she stepped toward the man. She turned, lifted her chin and followed the man as he led the way to the spaceport.
Damn, Darion thought as he saw the pain clearly on her face. If one tear fell he’d grab her and let her stay. Her tears had the power to send a knife ripping through him. They’d needed her honest reactions to help bait the trap, but he hadn’t thought of the pain she would feel.
The measures they’d taken to keep her from discovering that something more than a coincidental meeting was going on had worked. They’d known that she wouldn’t be able to carry off a convincing act if she’d been told of why she had to go with the man. She had needed to be genuinely surprised by the order. From the look on her face, he knew what conclusion she had drawn. It wasn’t true. They would deal with her doubts and her hurt when they went to get her.
Chapter Ten
Laci buckled the seat belt as the door to the shuttle slid closed. She paid little attention to the man in the pilot’s seat. They’d sent her away from their discussion as if she were some loose-lipped dimwit. She couldn’t believe how hurt she was by their lack of trust. She had had such faith in them that she had expected her trust to be returned fully.
Laci stared straight ahead as the craft rose and began its smooth ascent through the atmosphere. As she felt the transition from gravity to weightlessness, she heard a slight noise as the pilot shifted in his seat but disregarded it, lost in her own thoughts. A moment later, she felt something press against her side.
* * * * *
Laci came awake as two men carried her from the shuttle. She kept herself absolutely still, her eyes open to mere slits. She allowed them to carry all of her weight. She didn’t want to give them any advantage.
The two men holding her by her arms were not Norik. They were humans. She could overpower the stupid, overconfident guards with ease. They didn’t seem aware of just what they were carting around in their arms. Their lack of respect for her would be their downfall.
She listened as she was taken through a building. She tried to get a feel for exactly how many men occupied this base. As they carried her, she heard one other voice. On their path through the building, she saw only pale white, slightly dirty hallways until they reached a door which they opened with a palm-print scan.
In the small room, a man sat at a desk. He paid almost no attention to the two who came in or their captive. With a single glance up from the monitor, he waved, signaling the two men to continue. Using another palm scan pad on the opposite side of the room, they carried her into the room beyond.
She raged a she saw that the room housed a row of cells. She wasn’t going back into a cage. As soon as the door slid shut behind them, Laci acted.
She turned her body slightly, sliding down the arm which the man on her right had hooked under her armpit. This lowered her hand into position. She reached between his legs, grabbed and twisted in a quick, fluid move.
Almost simultaneously, her foot stomped onto the right foot of the man to her left as she turned, shoved him with her left hand and stripped the stun gun from his belt with her right. She fired. He crumpled to the floor without a sound. She turned and shot the other man writhing on the floor.
Most of the cages were occupied, and all the prisoners were women. They now lined the bars, eager to be free. Laci ran her eyes over them. They were of the Third Gen, but there was something different about their signal. The scientists had done something to them. As with the doors within the facility, a touch pad allowed entry to each cell.
“How many men are here?” She asked everyone as she lifted one of the men and awkwardly pressed his hand to the panel of the cell nearest to her to open the cage door. Her mind raced with possibilities and scenarios. From the careless way these guards had treated her, she would wager that these women weren’t experienced in any form of fighting, but she would take any help she got.
“Including those two, there are eight. The other guards will be in their quarters. They’re off duty. Two will be sleeping, two maybe not. The other two are the scientists. One of the scientists will probably still be at the guard desk. He sits there when the guards have to come get us.” The blonde woman who spoke stepped out of the cell. She took the other man’s gun and pulled him into the cell.
“Is the scientist armed?” Laci checke
d the charge on the stunner. It was full. “Is there an alarm at that desk?”
“Not armed, no alarm.” The blonde slammed her hand into the ID panel and broke the scanning surface.
The two of them freed the other seven women and then used the unconscious man to open the door to the outer room. Laci’s shot hit the man in the chest just as he spotted them and opened his mouth. Laci went to the desk and pushed the man out of the chair.
The scientist had apparently been working because the network was active, an accepted user already logged in. The program was in the standard language and not too complicated. To access security and make changes required an accepted hand print ID.
Once again, Laci used the unconscious guard’s hand. Laci then input her own hand print and that of the eight women behind her, erasing that of the guards and scientists. They now had control of the base. When Laci was certain the command had been accepted, she helped three of the women drag the guard and scientist into a cell.
“What have they done to you?” Laci looked around at the group of women. There were blondes with pale, cream-colored skin and dark-skinned brunette beauties. She focused on the coming battle. She knew there was a chance the guards might escape the locked rooms.
“They’ve altered our nano-cytes, made them more aggressive. The nano-cytes carry a program they intend to use to hurt others of our kind,” one of the dark-haired women replied.
“As soon as we secure the scientist and the other guards, I’ll see what I can do. I’m very familiar with all of the programs the nano-cytes use and just what they can do.” Laci shook her head. The scientists were relentless. Would they never stop in their attacks?
The scientist had been an easy enough proposition. It had taken only one shot to stun him. The guards had been more difficult. Although they’d been contained to their quarters, they had been able to pry it open just before the women arrived. Shots had been traded until finally the one conscious guard shielded behind a barricade of bedding had given himself up. The four guards and the scientist were now locked into cells and Laci went to the lab to see if she could find out what had been done.
Laci rejoiced when she found copious notes and detailed accounts. She loved the tendency of scientists to document and then document again. Knowing what they had done, how they had accomplished it, made finding a solution to neutralize the program much easier.
“They did make them aggressive, but fixing the problem will be easy enough.” Laci’s voice was calm and confident as she read the reports. “I would start, but I wouldn’t even get halfway finished. We’ll soon have company.”
“Who?” asked Cheli, a brunette.
“The rest of the universe knows them as the Norik. We called them the First Generation.” Laci was furious, but kept her voice even.
“You were sent here? They let you be captured?” asked Cami, a petite blonde, with surprise.
“I was bait. I didn’t realize it until almost halfway through the battle with the guards. They sent me in here without a word of warning. I’m still very angry with two of those men right now,” Laci growled.
“How can you be certain that your solution will work?” Cami tilted her head, her expression doubting.
“I’ve studied all three types of nano-cytes extensively. I know their strengths and weaknesses. When the males get here, don’t let any of them kiss you. That is a possible path of transfer with your nano-cytes.” Laci looked at each of them to ensure that they understood.
“We won’t, but why would they want to?” Cami swept out a hand to indicate their limp hair and dull, standard clothing.
“Some of you might have a mate among them, and they would be overcome with the desire to kiss you.” This, Laci knew well by now. “Make them understand that you can’t kiss them or have sexual contact yet because of what the scientists did. Although it will be relatively easy to stop the carriers in you, it would be harder if another person was infected.” Laci grimaced. “It could be done, but that is a battle that I don’t want to fight yet.”
The eight women found seats in various spots around the room and asked her questions. The questions ranged from wanting to know about the way the nano-cytes worked to questions about the Norik men. Laci answered them all. The questions about the men tended to be general—what were they like and how did they treat her.
Laci sat on a stool facing the door. The stun gun was clasped lightly in her hand and lay across her lap. She was prepared just in case the next people who came through that door weren’t Norik. Although she was aching for a fight with Darion and Alek, she wouldn’t conduct it with a stunner.
The door slid open with an almost silent swish. Laci raised the gun, her finger on the trigger. Alek was the first man through the door. He grinned at her as he strode into the lab. Laci lowered the gun, but glared at him and then at Darion, who was but a few steps behind him.
“Are you all right, Laci?” Alek strode toward her, eager to take her into his arms. “Never again will we even think about setting a trap in this way.”
“You mean have I been infected by nano-cytes whose one purpose is to kill me slowly? No, I haven’t.” Laci shot them an accusing look. They were an arm’s length away from her, but she wouldn’t let herself get sidetracked by their touch.
“Laci…” Darion began.
“I’ll warn your men now. Until the nano-cytes within these women have been neutralized and fully replaced, those women can’t be kissed or touched in any intimate way.” Laci pointed a finger at them. “And don’t give me those questioning looks. It wasn’t an hour after I woke up chained to the wall that you had your hands on my breasts.”
“The scientists have done something to them?” Alek’s gaze fell to the lush mounds beneath the soft fabric.
“That’s one nasty program these scientists have built. If you have a tech who knows all three versions of the nano-cytes and their capabilities, he could work on the neutralization. If you don’t, I’ll have to do it.” They could have warned her that she was going to be put into this kind of situation. Reliving her worst nightmares wasn’t her favorite pastime.
“I don’t think that we have anyone familiar with all three versions.” Darion frowned as he considered the problem. “Are you sure that you can do it?”
“Who do you think made the program to beat Vanya Steryan’s creation?” Laci narrowed her eyes. Did they think she was some fluff-brained ornament? “I’m not a simple hunter. In my group, everyone had to be able to do many things.”
“You were behind that program?” Darion asked, disbelief patent in his voice.
“I thought I told you of it while I was showing you the program that you needed to use, at least implied it.”
“If you did, we missed it.” Alek shrugged as he came to stand before her. Everything about her posture said, “Don’t touch me.”
“You had better make sure the men all understand about no kissing. Those women merely carry the program. If anyone is infected by it, destroying the nano-cytes within them will be tough. It would make Vanya’s little creation look like a toy.” Laci pointed a threatening finger at him as she kept the gun in her other hand. “And don’t think about touching me. I’m furious with you two.”
Darion chuckled. He stalked forward and plucked the gun out of her hands. “We’re properly scared of your wrath.”
“You sent me with that man without any warning of his very dangerous intentions. I could have been infected for all you know!”
“We were right behind you all the way,” Alek assured her.
“Because the tracker you implanted in me the first time I encountered you was still functioning, still there,” Laci seethed, angrier by the moment.
“Yes,” Alek acknowledged without hesitation. He saw no reason to deny it. She was theirs. It was time she admitted it. “We weren’t going to chance losing you in any way.”
“You were willing enough to use me as bait.” Laci fisted her hands and resisted the urge to swing at him. “You let
me walk unprepared into enemy hands. You should know that I consider myself quarantined. I don’t know what was done to me while I was unconscious. I won’t risk your lives until I’m certain that I’m uninfected.” She gave him a falsely sweet smile.
“We’ll find out. The shuttle has an onboard video system. You probably woke soon after it landed.” Darion strode toward the door. “That ploy won’t last long. As soon as you finish your work in the lab, we’re going to finish this little discussion.”
“Come on, Laci. You need to get started on neutralizing those nano-cytes. These women have mates among the crew of the Chimau and the Mocant. The men will be eager to renew the acquaintance and a long delay won’t sit well.” Alek curved an arm around her waist as he led her toward the entrance. “After you’re finished, we’ll talk.”
“Your actions spoke for you.” She tried to keep the distance between them with her voice and attitude. Actual physical distance was impossible.
* * * * *
Back on the ship, Laci was taken to the lab and allowed free run. All of the scientists’ notes had been brought aboard and Laci began her work. First, she made certain that the notes weren’t mere decoys by going line by line through the program they’d created. It was a long, tedious process.
Fortunately, Laci had all the help she could need. The lab techs willingly assisted her. Upon confirmation, she set part of them to work on a program to prevent the infected nano-cytes from infecting a person with the First-Gen nano-cytes while the rest of them worked on neutralizing the threat in the carriers.
After nearly seventy-eight straight hours of work, they had success. The infected carrier nano-cytes they used to test the efficacy of the program were all destroyed by the nano-cytes with the new programming and not one of them had been infected.
Second Chance Page 12