The Catalyst: (Book One)

by Devi Mara

  She could do it. Press the button to turn off life support. Let the thing suffocate. Her chest filled with something dark, pressing on her until she lifted her hand to hover over the keypad. It would be so simple. The thing was dangerous and on some instinctual level, she felt the threat. It would kill them all if it could. But it needed them.

  Robin was not sure how she knew, but she could feel that it needed them. But it would not require them forever. Once it was fully grown, it would break out. And then… Her thoughts stilled and she set her hand on the keypad. Then it would kill them all. Push the fatigue further until their hearts stopped beating or their lungs stopped expanding. Something.

  “Robin,” a voice called from the doorway.

  She snatched her hand away from the keypad to look at Tina’s pale face. The girl gave her a weak smile.

  “Time to shift change. Ken wants you to take a blood sample to your lab. Something about figuring out the growth rate.”

  The girl sank into the chair the moment Robin stood.

  “Of course.”

  Robin trudged across the room to open the refrigerator. On the top shelf lay three labelled vials. She grabbed them and tucked them into a cool pack for the trip. Ken was waiting for her outside the lab, when she stumbled and nearly fell into the hallway.

  “You were right.”

  Robin jerked at the sound of his voice, still regaining control of her limbs after the fatigue began to fade.

  “About it being too human to clone.”

  She gave him a curt nod, clutching the doorframe to stand upright. He fell silent. Slowly, she regained full control of her limbs and let go of the support.

  “Did you tell Renon?”

  “They are aware.”

  Robin raised her eyes to his face. “They don’t intend to terminate.”

  “No.”

  She looked away from him. “This violates the ethics laws.”

  “Renon is aware of that. However…” he trailed off, but she knew what he meant.

  Renon would simply buy the board. She found herself feeling mildly ill. Her father would be on the board in a matter of days. Would he be one of the members who could be purchased?

  “I see.”

  “Did you get the blood samples?” Ken said, changing the subject.

  “Yes. I will see to it immediately.”

  She turned away from him without meeting his gaze.

  “Robin.”

  She paused, but did not turn to face him.

  “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry to put you in this position.”

  “Would you have brought me in if you knew the work would violate the ethics laws?” she asked softly.

  His lack of reply was enough of an answer.

  “Have a nice day, Dr. Vine.”

  Robin waited at the front desk, while the secretary called her a taxi. She moved to the front door when the woman hung up.

  “Ten minutes, they said.”

  Robin nodded.

  “Is there anything I can get for you, Dr. Kay?”

  “No,” Robin said, giving the woman a small smile. “I’m fine, thank you.”

  Once the secretary went back to her work, Robin pushed open the doors and stepped out into the gray morning. The moist breeze tugged at her jacket, but she ignored it. She would have to do something. The creature could not be allowed to mature. It was dangerous, far more dangerous than Addar had proven himself to be. Robin ignored the small voice in her head that said he was simply biding his time.

  A flash of yellow from the corner of her eye drew her gaze toward the driveway. A taxi drove toward the building at a leisurely pace. It stopped at the curb and the backdoor swung open to let out a passenger. Robin paused midstep, as Addar emerged. For a moment, blind panic seized her. He could not be there. If anyone saw him, if Ken saw him, it was all over. For both of them.

  As if he could read her mind, Addar gestured for her to proceed him into the taxi’s backseat. She wasted no time in sliding into the taxi and making room for him. They sat in silence for the entire ride to her lab. Only the driver’s inane chatter disturbed the quiet.

  …

  He could smell her anger. The surge of adrenaline in her blood from panic and the slow burn of her frustration. It was all there in her scent. Beneath that, was the unmistakable sour scent of Ilan’s feeding. Addar turned his head to look at her. She sat with her spine straight, her chin raised. He noticed she kept her gaze fixed on the city passing by the window, even though he could feel her need to address him.

  The taxi stopped at the curb.

  “Twe—” the driver started.

  “Yes, thank you,” Robin snapped, cutting him off.

  She handed the money over the seat and stepped out of the car. Her posture was stiff, as she waited for him to follow. Before he had closed the car door, she was striding away from him toward the science building. Addar followed her at a more sedate pace. Her knee length jacket fluttered in the wind, the only part of her that was not rigid.

  “Robin,” he called to her.

  She paused, her hand on the doorknob of the outer door. “Yes?”

  “We need to have a conversation.”

  Robin sent him a look over her shoulder. “Yes. We do.”

  She opened the door and gestured for him to hurry. Down the stairs, she was silent, but he could see some of the tension in her shoulders had faded.

  “Talk,” she said the moment the lab door closed behind them.

  Addar walked further into the room, letting his gaze sweep over Robin’s equipment. Even with his eyes off of her, most of his senses were tracking her movement. She stood several paces off to his left, her arms crossed over her chest. He took a moment to organize his thoughts.

  “Why did you lie to me?”

  He turned to frown at her. “About leaving the apartment?”

  It was her turn to frown. “About everything.”

  Everything, she said. No. Not everything. Addar turned to face her fully.

  “There were two dig sites. Both found trace DNA.”

  She raised one eyebrow, but did not comment.

  “But you already know that by now.”

  “Yes. So, tell me something I don’t know.”

  He took in the stubborn set of her jaw. She would not accept anything but complete truth. He considered her. Robin had no idea what she was asking. He could make a small concession.

  “You asked me, not too long ago, how I derive my energy.”

  Watching her closely, he saw her tense.

  She gave him a curt nod. “Though, I now have a hypothesis.”

  “As you noticed, my body makes very little energy. I must obtain it from other sources.”

  Robin stared at him and he could see the pieces clicking into place in her mind. The knowledge that her guesses had been correct. The moment the full realization hit her, she took a step back from him.

  He frowned, but continued on.

  “The person in the lab at Renon, is called Ilan. He is…not so controlled with his feeding.”

  “By choice?” Robin demanded.

  Addar simply stared at her.

  “Did you kill, Mrs. Peterson?”

  Addar paused. Robin glared at him, as if she already knew the answer. He supposed, she probably did. From the beginning, he knew her intelligence would be the greatest danger to him. He met her gaze steadily.

  Her dark eyes slowly closed and she nodded. “Leave. Please.”

  “Robin, there are things you do not—”

  “Get out of my lab,” she whispered.

  “Ilan is dangerous. You must—”

  Robin’s eyes snapped open and she glared at him. “Get. Out.”

  “And where will I go?” he asked, watching the play of emotions on her face. “The street? A government lab?”

  Her gaze drifted, as she turned away from him. “Perhaps.” She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. “I was wrong to trust you.”

  “Robin.”
r />   He took a step toward her and she flinched back from him. He stopped.

  “Would you deny me my right to life?”

  She turned her head toward him, her gaze cool. “A life you would not have had were it not for me.”

  He stared at her for a moment, shocked despite himself. “If that’s how you feel.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Her heart pounded in her chest as she watched Addar. They were only separated by a few yards, a distance he could cross in a fraction of a second. Robin clenched her hands into fists to still their shaking. He had killed someone. Mrs. Peterson, her harmless neighbor. And she had slept in the same apartment with him. He could have killed others, he could have killed her.

  Robin’s entire body began to shake with a level of panic she had never felt before. He knew everything about her. Her parents. He could kill her parents, destroy her lab, have her arrested or worse. And she had lived with him. Stupid. She was so stupid to trust that he would not betray her kindness.

  The door of her lab slid open and the two of them turned to face the newcomer. Amber froze in place, a cup of coffee halfway to her lips.

  “What did I do?”

  Her words seemed to break the stillness.

  Addar sent Robin one last look and stalked from the lab. The doors slowly closing behind him.

  “Um, what’s up?”

  Robin blinked and turned her head to look at Amber. “Are you just arriving?”

  Amber blinked at her. “No. I went to the lounge. Are you okay?”

  I’m fine,” Robin said, just short of snapping.

  “Are you sure? You look really upset. Like you’re about to cry…” Amber’s voice drifted off when Robin stiffened. “Um, okay then. I got the results back.”

  “Let me see them.”

  Robin busied herself by walking to her desk and rearranging the papers and utensils. She ignored the burn in her throat, as she listened to Amber move around the lab. Addar was gone. It was as it should be. She would need to call someone, make sure they knew about the danger he posed, and somehow keep her actions out of it.

  “Dr. Kay?” Amber asked softly.

  Robin jerked her head up to see the tissue in Amber’s hand.

  “You’re crying, Dr. Kay.”

  Robin snatched the tissue and wiped at her eyes. “Thank you, Amber.”

  “Do you want to talk—?”

  “The results?” Robin cut her off.

  Amber gave her a searching look, but nodded. “Right here.”

  Robin took the offered notepad. The results were exactly what she expected. Addar’s blood essentially consumed the energy in human blood cells. She had incarnated an apex predator. He clearly had no trouble killing a harmless old woman, so there was really nothing to keep him from going on a rampage. With his superior senses and strength…

  She stopped herself before she could get ahead of herself. There was only one of him. And from what she knew, he could be killed as easily as a human. Once the creature at Renon was removed from the equation, Addar would have to be put down. For the safety of everyone. Robin tried to ignore the pain in her chest at the thought. She was a scientist first and foremost, she could not allow her experiment to hurt people.

  “Dr. Kay?”

  Robin snapped her attention back to Amber. “Yes?”

  “Is Addar in trouble?”

  “Trouble? Why do you ask?”

  Amber twirled a piece of her hair around her finger. “When you’re here, he’s here. And now he’s not.”

  Robin frowned. “I’m sure he’s outside.”

  “No, I feel fine.”

  “You usually feel tired when he is outside the building?”

  “When he’s anywhere on the grounds, Dr. Kay. You told me to keep track, remember?”

  “Right. Yes, I remember,” Robin muttered, as her mind processed the new information.

  Addar could feed from someone over three blocks away. It would make him far more dangerous. With that knowledge, came the greater concern. He had left the campus.

  “I need to go,” Robin muttered.

  She hurried to the door, while Amber stared after her.

  “Is everything okay?”

  “Of course. Everything is fine. I just need to be somewhere.”

  Amber gave her a weak smile in return for her fake one. “Um, okay.”

  Robin stopped in the doorway, her hand out to stop the lab doors from closing.

  “If Addar comes back here…” she paused and gave her assistant a stern look. “If he comes back, lock the door.”

  “Dr. Kay?”

  “Just lock it.”

  “Okay…”

  Robin let the doors close behind her.

  She took a taxi to her building and took her time searching the apartment, before she locked herself in. Addar was not there. She called down to the front desk. They had not seen him since he left that morning. Robin quickly thanked them and hung up. She wandered from room to room, slower than the first time. In the kitchen, she paused.

  To the right of the refrigerator, a small white square was stuck to the counter. She walked over to it and looked down at the familiar fruit-shaped paper. Three words were scrawled in the center of the notepad. The letters slashed rather than written.

  ILAN IS DANGEROUS

  Robin read the note twice, before ripping it free of the rest of the pad and crumpling it in her hand. She already knew that. That is why she had to go back to the lab tonight. She may have made a mistake with Addar, but she did not need to make the same mistake twice. She dropped the note into the trashcan under the sink and sank down into a kitchen chair. The one where Addar always sat.

  She sat in silence for almost five minutes, before the first tear came. And another ten before they stopped.

  …

  Addar stood on the roof of a building half a mile from Renon labs. As dark began to fall, he watched the lights go out on one floor at a time. Finally, only a few lights near the middle of the building remained. He watched the last car leave the employee parking lot, before he made his way down the fire escape to the pavement.

  In dark pants and a black sweater, he blended in with the shadows that covered the rolling lawn. Unlike the driveway, which was lined with small lamps, the grounds were left to the darkness. He would be able to get within fifty feet of the guard station before they would know he was there.

  Addar crept across the grass until it bumped up against the edge of the parking lot. From his position, he could see two guards inside the small shack. They stood facing each other, one laughing and the other looking disgruntled.

  “New guy always takes first walk,” the one with the wide smile said.

  “That’s not what Harris said.”

  “Well, Harris ain’t here. So, get to steppin’.”

  “Yeah, whatever man,” the younger man grumbled, as he slid the flashlight into his utility belt.

  Addar watched the two separate, the older guard taking a seat in front of the bank of monitors, as the younger left the shack still muttering to himself. Addar watched him until he rounded the corner of the building. Then, he rushed the shack. The older human only had time to shout, before his head connected with the edge of the counter and he slid to the floor.

  It would have been easier to kill him, no chance of him becoming a problem later, but Robin would hate it. As much as she now hated him. Addar scowled to himself, but left the unconscious guard where he fell and jogged across the parking lot to the front of the building. He tried each key on the stolen key ring, until the light by the door flashed green and the lock clicked open.

  “Hey! Hey you!”

  Addar sighed and released a surge of his power. Within seconds the man, barely older than a boy, collapsed in the dirt and lay still. Addar listened to the weak sound of his heartbeat for several seconds, before he pulled open the door and stepped into the lobby. He would need to destroy the surveillance system before he left. He would not put Robin in danger from the
authorities. No matter how she felt about him.

  He took the elevator to the correct floor and before he stepped off, he could feel Ilan’s power. It was impossible for his kind to feed from each other, but the pull of one of his people was difficult to resist. The power called to his own. Addar ground his teeth, as the elevator doors opened and a swell of Ilan’s power rolled over him.

  The current only became stronger as he approached the lab. Addar shoved at the door until the metal gave with a loud shriek and he stumbled into the room. Ilan’s head jerked up at the sound and they stared at each other for several seconds. Slowly, the assassin’s lips twisted into a smirk.

  “Scout,” he acknowledged.

  Addar straightened his spine. “Assassin.”

  Ilan’s gaze, pure black from the Laudir on his mother’s side, narrowed. “What brings you here, Scout?”

  “Were we not intended to fulfill the mission together?” Addar demanded. “Surely, that is why you were sent.”

  Ilan scowled. “I was sent when you did not succeed.”

  “I was set upon.”

  “By humans?”

  “By humans,” Addar agreed. “And you?”

  Ilan bared his teeth for a brief moment. “Same.”

  “They are formidable in large numbers.”

  “When one is weak,” Ilan spat. “And only then.”

  Addar inclined his head.

  The two stared at each other. Eventually, Ilan moved from his crouch on the floor beside the tank and he shrugged on a lab coat.

  “You have located the center of commerce? The land’s leadership?”

  Addar nodded. “I have.”

  He watched the assassin for a moment of weakness, but the man seemed as well as he had before his death. Addar feigned patience, as Ilan searched the lab for a makeshift weapon. He settled on a jagged strip of metal from the door.

  “Do you have shelter nearby?”

  Addar thought quickly. Ilan would happily kill Robin, as well as everyone within a block of her building, and use it as a base. If given the chance. Addar was not about to give him that chance.

  “No. We will need to secure a location.”