CHAPTER SIX
She was sitting on his lap at the table next morning, holding his hand tight, when the cell door swung open with no warning.
“Time to move out, 801,” the guard said. “Your buddies are at the cryo room already, but the doc wanted you to have all the time you needed with your mate here.”
Jill swallowed hard, trying to keep tears from flowing. She refused to make her grief his last memory of her before going off to war. She rushed to kiss him before the guards escorted him out the door. “Stay safe,” she said, managing what was undoubtedly a lopsided smile.
“And you as well.” His voice was soft.
Then he was gone.
The door slammed shut.
Jill let the tears fall then. She had no idea how long he’d be gone or what might happen, and her heart ached.
Eventually, she was conducted to the now empty pack cell and left alone, which was almost worse than saying goodbye to Aydarr had been. The space seemed to echo without all the others there. She wondered how many of the pack would return from the mysterious combat mission.
Dr. Sheyall arrived. She and one guard entered the cell.
“Present yourself for scanning,” said the guard.
Rising from her chair, Jill stood at attention while the scientist ran the sensor over her, not once but three times.
“How are you not breeding?” Sheyall’s voice was incredulous. “I arranged the private room you wished for, gave you the entire night alone—”
Jill remembered Aydarr’s quiet, sad question, whether she wanted to bring a child into this nightmare world. “It doesn’t always happen right away.”
“You don’t understand the consequences,” the scientist said, eyes wide with distress. “This was your last chance—having failed, you’re no longer part of my experiment. I can’t do anything else for you. You’re on your own.”
Sheyall seemed so upset that Jill invoked the status that saved her previously. “But I’m Aydarr’s mate, I’m part of the pack—”
“The Chimmer only cared if you became pregnant and, since you’ve failed, your role is done.” Sheyall stowed her scanner in the pouch and fastened the clasp with a loud snap. “Dr. Gahzhing is in charge of you now, and whatever future experiments he wishes to carry out, if any, will be undertaken by him.” She gestured to the guard. “We’re done here.”
Jill sank into her chair. Even if Aydarr was here, he might not be able to help. She considered trying to grab Sheyall as a hostage but the two guards were watching so closely, she felt as if they were reading her mind. The man on the left took a step closer and raised his weapon. Jill allowed the scientist to walk away without making a move.
As she stepped over the threshold to leave the cell, Sheyall hesitated. “I’m sorry for the way this turned out.” She scurried away before Jill could respond, and the guard reset the barrier to full.
Well that’s just great. How long did she have before Dr. Gahzhing took notice of her? Jill rose and went into the alpha’s alcove, falling onto the bed, blinking through the tears as she caught Aydarr’s lingering scent. There wasn’t time to give in to emotion. She had to see if there was anything to be done about escaping. Nothing Gahzhing had in mind would be good, the lecherous bastard. But what had the highest chance of success? What to try first?
She rolled over and peered under the bed at the ventilation shaft, wondering if she managed to short out the barrier charge running through the grille whether she’d have time to get the latches open before the guards came to check on her. Maybe there’s a smarter way to go about this. Pulling the handheld from her pocket, she opened the backdoor she’d created in the lab’s AI system and searched for the facility operations routines. If anyone was watching her on the vids, the observer would think she was amusing herself with the pretty pictures, as she’d done before. Grinning, Jill continued her hacking.
Once she’d isolated the desired processes, she started working through the subroutines sifting lines of code for the one controlling the power to the ventilation system safeguards. It was after lunch before she found the right one. The lab complex was much larger than she’d thought, and what she was looking for was a minor aspect buried in the millions of actions the AI had the capability to enact.
Access denied.
“Oh great,” she said out loud. “This they have controls over?” Biting her lip, she settled in to attempt hacking the extra layer of security. The code was different from what she’d dealt with before, as if it was an older iteration, unnecessarily complex. She suspected the original coding was still at the core, with layers and layers of modifications and upgrades overlaid. Maybe I should try escaping the old fashioned, way after all. Raising her head from the handheld, she scanned the cell for something she could use to short out the current manually.
Footsteps sounded outside the cell, and her adrenaline spiked. Too early for dinner. Powering down the device, she slid it into her pocket and rose as three guards stepped into the cell.
“You’ve been summoned to a meeting with Dr. Gahzhing,” the head guard said. “You are to bring the garment you were wearing when you were captured.”
The pink nightie? Is he serious? “It’s in the alcove,” she said, waving a hand at the bed. “Under the mattress.”
“Fetch it, and don’t waste my time.”
Incredulous, she hurried to retrieve the nightgown from where she’d hidden it, then walked from the cell with the guards. As the barrier was closed behind her, Jill feared she’d seen the cell—and the pack—for the last time.
The squad left the corridors she was familiar with behind and made their way through a much more upscale part of the facility. The walls were covered with wood panels, artwork hung at intervals and clusters of green plants broke up the institutional appearance.
Jill clenched her hand on the silky fabric of the nightie, remembering the way the scientist had ogled her the day she came in from the Preserve. If the Khagrish bastard intended to act on his lascivious impulses, she’d have to fight. Her steps slowed and one of the guards grabbed her by the elbow to hurry her along. Briefly she was tempted to fight but she couldn’t take on three heavily armed men and win. One scientist by himself she was confident she could take by surprise. Gahzhing had no idea she was a trained soldier. Hand to hand combat wasn’t her best skill but she felt confident she could take him. Surely he wouldn’t keep the guards or anyone else in the room to watch, not if his dirty little fantasies included the pink nightie.
Be smart about how I resist, keep my eyes open for the best opportunity. The idea of allowing him to touch her was abhorrent but she’d wait for the right moment and then strike without hesitation. It’s him or me.
Her procession stopped in front of a beautifully carved door, and the guard clicked the com unit set into the wall. “The human female prisoner is here as ordered, sir.”
The door slid open. The guard took her by the elbow and walked her inside. Dr. Gahzhing was seated at his desk. With a wide, toothy smile, he swiveled in his chair to watch Jill walk into his quarters. His attitude made her feel like prey, entered the den of a hungry predator. Without a word, he pointed the controlling device at her. Intense pressure and tingling pulsed in her arm, as if the black bracelet was constricting to crush her bones, and she allowed herself to fall prone without making any effort to break the impact. I hope me collapsing was the effect he was expecting.
Apparently, she’d picked the right response, judging by the satisfied smirk on the scientist’s face. Gahzhing rose from the chair and walked to her, squatting to brush her hair away from her face in a parody of tenderness. She wanted to slap him but continued to play the part of a paralyzed, helpless prisoner. An easy victim. “Not immune to the bracelet any more, are we, human?” he asked, satisfaction in his tone. “I upped the intensity by a factor of ten, which I calculated would work.” He tugged the nightgown from her fingers and rose to his feet, sniffing the fabric.
Ugh, never wearing that again.
Gahzhing seemed to belatedly realize the guards were lingering in the room. Waving his free hand toward the door, he said, “I’ll be conducting my private scientific evaluation of the subject this evening. The experiments may run all night, in fact. I’m not to be disturbed, understand?”
“Perfectly, sir. Do you wish security to remain outside your quarters?”
Gahzhing walked away, returning to the desk, still holding the nightgown in his fist. “For what purpose? She’s immobilized. Take your team and resume your duties in the cell block.”
Arrogant bastard. She hoped she’d get the opportunity to show him he wasn’t in control where she was concerned.
The guard left and the portal closed. Gahzhing walked back to her. Bending down, he picked her up with ease. He might not have the muscle on his frame Aydarr and the pack possessed, but there was strength in his grip. He carried her into the next room, which was dominated by a large bed. She forced herself to remain limp. Gotta wait for the right chance, but how am I going to know when that is?
Behind them, the comlink chimed. Gahzhing swore in his own language, obviously torn between proceeding with what he had planned for Jill and answering the call. He placed her on the bed carelessly, limbs akimbo like a broken doll, dropped the nightie on her chest and hastened into the other room.
Immediately she sat up, desperate to find anything she could use as a weapon. Shivering, she saw restraints lying at the foot of the bed, which confirmed her belief she had to act now, with no further delay. There was an arrangement of abstract metal sculptures on a shelf across from the bed, as well as an ornate lamp.
Quietly, she crept across the carpet and hefted the biggest sculpture. Deciding the lamp would be more deadly, she clutched it like a club and tiptoed to the entry into the next room. Gahzhing sat at the desk with his back to her, concluding the conversation from the sounds of the dialog. Moving with slow deliberation, she was nearly to the desk when he closed the comlink. Jill froze, but her luck held as he opened a file on his AI screen and began furiously typing notes.
Instinct must have warned her prey at the last second because he turned just as she swung the lamp. The heavy base crashed into the side of his skull with all the force she could put behind the blow, and he collapsed in slow motion, falling from the chair.
Jill checked quickly for a pulse, finding the scientist was alive, his breathing intermittent but his pulse strong. The Khagrish must have dense bones and thick skulls.
She wouldn’t have been upset if she’d killed him, not with the horrendous experiments this lab carried out and his obviously unpleasant intentions toward her. His alliance with the Chimmer was enough by itself to make him an enemy of the Sectors, but she wasn’t going to bludgeon an unconscious man to execute him. She used the restraints he’d planned to use on her, appreciating the irony as she trussed him tight. Before dragging him into the other room, she stuffed a scarf in his mouth to keep him from yelling if he regained consciousness. If he awoke, she didn’t want him to watch whatever she did. Taking no chances, she tied his feet to the legs of the bed with his ornamental belt and left him on the floor.
A rapid search revealed no weapons in the drawers. Jill stood in the center of the room, hands on her hips, and considered the next move. She took deep breaths to calm her shaky nerves and worked to control her adrenaline. I have all night. The guards have orders not to disturb Gahzhing’s private fantasy scene. She slipped into the desk chair and sat with her hands poised above the data entry keyboard. Do I dare?
Screw it, this is my best chance to get the information I need to help myself and Aydarr’s pack.
A moment later, she hit the jackpot. Dr. Gahzhing had unlimited access to the entire contents of the AI system, including the oldest core programming. He was a super user as far as privileges went, although she didn’t find much evidence he actually interfaced with the AI for anything other than communication and making research notes.
And accessing alien porn trideos. Ugh.
She created multiple access points into the core of the AI’s processor for herself, using Gahzhing’s credentials, setting up her own user names and encryption but then erasing the signs of the activity. Pulling the handheld from her pocket, she made sure she could use the device to access what she’d created, then she began surfing the thousands of applications and files, doing a rapid scan for whatever might be useful. A layout of the complex was high on her list of priorities. Information on her fellow humans was a close second.
Increasingly driven by an uneasy feeling, Jill got up to check on her captive, who was still unconscious. On her way to the desk, she grabbed a few morsels of the dinner the scientist had evidently ordered for their evening. Taking a piece of spicy bread to munch on, she hastened to the chair. Immersing herself in the AI’s processes again, she continued her education on the lab complex. She found an intriguing reference to a natural disaster quite a few years earlier and an abandoned set of buildings deemed unsafe for occupancy. Might be a good temporary lair if the whole place hasn’t fallen down by now.
Nerves on edge, she admitted to herself she was spending too much precious time on gathering intel and needed to escape. If I don’t get away now, I’ll never have another chance, even if Gahzhing doesn’t kill me. She pulled up the ventilation shaft system specs and studied the serpentine twists.
Leaving the desk, she examined the vent in the next room in the opposite direction from the bedroom, which was being used as a kitchen and a storeroom. The vent was big enough for her to climb into, and the diagrams showed she could work her way out of the lab buildings and transition into the abandoned facility. That discovery led her to call up topographical studies of the countryside beyond the complex.
If she, the other humans, and Aydarr’s pack could escape where could they run to be safe? There were interesting possibilities, including one large river valley a few miles away with odd notations about anomalies in the observations and problems with aerial overflight. Mineral deposits blocking the scanners? A possible refuge.
Gasping, Jill startled and nearly fell out of the chair when the comlink pinged at her elbow. Fortunately, Dr. Gahzhing had set it to take messages or whoever was calling might have seen her sitting at his desk. Disastrous. I gotta go now. Pushing it too far, trying to gather data..
She still hadn’t located the humans, nor found any indication of what plans there were for those prisoners. This was her best opportunity to easily discover the answers she craved. “But I can study all of it at my leisure. Prioritize once I hole up in a safe spot.”
Someone or something brushed against the door in the corridor, and she froze. The noise wasn’t repeated, but it was past time to go. She had the AI create and store a series of fleeting, false images of her running through the corridors, then opening the door to the Preserve. Hopefully, they’d believe she was dumb enough to flee to the one place she was familiar with. Maybe the Khagrish would eventually decide she’d been eaten by a predator and stop searching for her.
Jill glanced at the sleek black cuff on her wrist. I hope they can’t track me with this. The surface was more dull than usual—maybe Gahzhing had burnt it out with his increase of the stun power.
With a shrug because there was nothing she could do about the cuff right now, she re-examined her falsified vids. It’s the best I can do, no time for elaborate red herrings.
She left the desk, walked into the kitchen and opened the grate covering the entry to the ventilation shaft, which wasn’t charged here in Gahzhing’s quarters. Fingers clumsy, she bundled up the easily carried food in a cloth napkin, grabbed two water bottles from the store-all in the kitchen, made sure all traces of what she’d done on the AI were erased, wiped the input device keys to remove her fingerprints, and fled.
Swallowing hard, she slithered into the dark ventilation shaft and curled like a human pretzel to close the cover securely behind herself. She hoped the Khagrish would believe she’d fled into the Preserve like the silly, scared animal they assumed her to be and take her faked trideos at face value. She scooted along as fast as she could, pushing her makeshift pack of food and water ahead of her, while trying not to make any noise. Periodically, there were squares of diffused light where the vent opened into another room. She’d memorized the route she wanted to take to reach the partially destroyed building and escape from there into the wilderness.
Hearing voices ahead, she paused, controlling her breathing and trying not to make any noise. Moving an inch at a time, she crept to the edge of the vent and peeked into the room. Here the grate was at ceiling level, so she was looking down onto a group of the guards, maybe recently off duty, drinking hot beverages, laughing and playing a game with dice and cards.
I’ve got to get past them.
She waited, hoping there’d be a distraction causing them to stop the game and leave the room, but there were no signs of the gathering coming to a conclusion. This might be part of their barracks, in which case no one would be leaving. Not until the alarm sounds when someone finds Gahzhing. Jill wanted to be much farther away from the complex by then. She called on her previous military training and moved literally an inch at a time, sliding herself past the vent and avoiding any sound, any rapid motion likely to attract attention from the men below.
At one point she froze, as the man sitting opposite the vent stared off into space, pondering his next bet or the cards he’d received. If he’d focused, he would have seen her.
He made his wager, his buddies gave him a hard time, the game continued, and she forced herself to move.
Once past the square of light, Jill’s instinct was to crawl as fast as she could, but she made herself continue to creep, wary of making too much noise. When she reached the next junction of the shafts, she was relieved to veer left and get even further away from the guard room.
She had no idea what time it was or how much longer she might have until Gahzhing was found. Slow and steady was the only way to proceed. The lighted squares grew fewer and far between, and eventually there were none. If she was remembering the maps correctly, this should be the long tunnel to the abandoned part of the facility.
She reached forward and felt tiny bodies, dry as husks. She swallowed a scream. Apparently, there’d been a nest of vermin here at one time, but the creatures had perished. Swallowing hard to keep from throwing up, Jill worked her way past the obstacle.
Now a swathe of misty moonlight bloomed ahead and she moved faster, not worrying as much about noise.
The end of the shaft was jagged, with a pile of debris on the other side of the break. She let herself down from the end of the shaft carefully, landing on top of shifting rubble and barely keeping her balance. As best she could manage in the moonlight streaming in through the broken roof, she worked her way toward the interior of the building, on a quest to find a place to hide while she considered her next move.
Eventually, she found a partially destroyed room and dragged a broken door over to disguise the opening. She sat with her back against the wall and closed her eyes, weary beyond belief. Fishing out the small packet of food she’d brought, she forced herself to eat a snack.
Tomorrow she’d have to decide whether to flee into the countryside. She wanted to remain close to the labs, where her fellow humans were held, and where Aydarr would return to, but perhaps it would be better to put more distance between herself and the Khagrish. Do her planning from further away?
She curled up as best she could to get some sleep. She missed the warm, reassuring bulk of Aydarr’s body next to hers. Teary eyed, she prayed to the Lords of Space for his wellbeing. I hope he’s doing all right wherever they sent him. I hope we can figure out a way to escape together once the pack is back on the planet.