Chapter 6
After two hours, I finally stop blaming myself.
Ruthiel knew from the start that the story of the poison was just a faked maneuver. I should have pushed the “secret spot” on Shazuul’s body, from where the alleged antidote would be released, before the men led him away. The question is and remains, why did Ruthiel sign his name to the contract? I grow increasingly uneasy at the thought of him playing his own game again and me not being able to see through him. Would Johar have seen through him more quickly?
The longing for my cyborg is so intense, that tears come to my eyes and I am so restless that I cannot stay in my bed any longer. It is way too big without Johar and I am cold. Ruthiel had no objection to me moving into my usual quarters, right next to his, but today, the familiar surroundings feel oppressive. I get up, pace the room, sit down on the bed, all the time looking at my watch. When 3 o’clock finally arrives, I think the time is right for me to … have a little look around. Guards will still be moving through the ship, but since I have been accepted back into the fold, it should be easy to justify my presence in the lab. Of course, I would prefer that nobody catches me there, but what is the worst that could happen? Who could blame me for going to the quarantine ward and checking on my newly acquired test subject, to be sure that he is okay?
Poor Shazuul is probably lying in his cell right now, just as lonely as I am, but the difference is that I can walk out of this prison anytime I want to. That is exactly what the Solarian has become for me; a prison where everyone looks at me suspiciously. I cannot be who I really am here. It won’t be much longer, I encourage myself, and then Johar and I can start a life together. While I make my way through the halls towards the lab, without even trying to hide the noise of my footsteps, I dream once again about a rosy future at his side. He has undeniable skills as a bounty hunter, and could use these talents as a private detective, teaching me everything he knows. We would make a name for ourselves as the most honest and cunning detectives in the entire solar system. And then, when …
I slow down as an unusual sound reaches my ears. Someone is crying. It is a woman, and her heartbreaking sobs are coming from the guest wing. Carefully, I peek around the corner, but pull my head back immediately when I see what is happening there. A guard is standing in front of a door, trying to fend off a crying blonde. She is pushing and scratching him, going for his eyes. Surely, she must know that she isn’t strong enough to move the guard out of the way. He obviously has orders not to hurt her, because he is trying to evade her and to push her back into the room at the same time. Without much success, because the woman is quick on her feet, despite her enormous pregnant stomach. She is desperate, something the guard has obviously underestimated. She gives him a swift punch, between the legs, and he sinks to the ground, his eyes rolling back in his head. He barely manages to grab her by the hair before she can get away.
Time for me to intervene.
I rush to the pile of legs and arms, all of them clawing at each other, reach for the woman’s very thin arm, and help her to her feet. The guard, who is a pale, red-head, seems vaguely familiar to me. Sweat covers his forehead. His baby-blue eyes are glazed over, and when I scream at him that he should snap to attention and get up, tears of anger and humiliation come to his eyes. He staggers to his feet with great effort, and stands almost upright. “What is going on here?” I ask softly and stare directly at him. He is at least a head taller than me, but he knows exactly who I am and what I have been infected with. However, he doesn’t dare step back from me, when I, still holding on to Cassie’s arm. I get right up in his face. “I want to know right now what is going on here,” I hiss.
“She said the babies were coming, and when I tried to confirm this, she attacked me,” he whines and points an accusing finger at Cassie, in spite of himself. She looks miserable, but smiles with satisfaction when I smack the man’s fingers. He lets out a small whine. My thoughts automatically go to Johar. He would never in his life have let himself be humiliated this much by anyone, neither man nor woman, as this guy has. The smile that plays on my lips startles him more, and he even forgets to stare at the spot where my fingers smacked his bare skin. I must look horrible in the dim night light. My skin is white, almost see-through, and in contrast, my hair is so dark that it almost seems black. It is curling unkemptly around my face, and I imagine I must look like Medusa with her snake head, or like an ancient goddess of revenge, whose touch can make a man insane or deathly ill (or both, ha-ha).
Enough daydreaming. Back to the present. “I will take the woman to her room and examine her thoroughly. If this wasn’t a ruse to try to escape, you will notify Dr. Ruthiel, on my orders.” He pales when he realizes that the feared Dr. Ruthiel will find out about his unmanly and less than clever conduct. “If the contractions are just being faked …” I leave the rest of the sentence hand in the air, and the man eagerly goes for the bait.
“I … um … would be very grateful to you if you wouldn’t report this incident,” he stutters.
I don’t want to stall him any longer, so I nod curtly and slam the door in his face. I look closely at Cassie Burnett for the first time. The only thing round about her is her bloated stomach. Everything else is sharp and bony. “Are you getting enough to eat?” I ask her first, setting her down on the bed gently. Her whole body is shaking, now that her escape attempt has failed, and the adrenaline is still coursing through her veins. I put her under the covers and brush her damp hair out of her face. “I am Mara,” I say, and sit down next to her. Frantically, I try to figure out if I can risk telling her about the escape plan. Not only is she just skin and bone, but her nerves are raw, and I don’t know if she will give the secret away. On the other hand, I know from personal experience how unnerving it can be, if every important piece of information about survival is kept from you. “I work on board here, and am a trained physician,” I start carefully. I can hardly tell her that Ruthiel is my father, and that I assisted him with his experiments. “I am going to have a careful look right now, to see if the babies are okay.”
She looks at me for a long time before giving her consent with a nod. I must have passed some kind of test, because she relaxes just a tiny bit and bares her big stomach willingly. Gently, I feel for the children, evaluate their position and waiting for them to move. It won’t be long before they come into this world. They are big, much too big for petite Cassie. I am almost happy that she is on the Solarian. At least she will have medical care here if the babies need to be born via a C-section.
“The boys are both okay,” I assure her. “You know, as well as I do, that they will be born soon. Is there anything I can do for you? Do you need anything?”
“Yes,” she replies through clenched teeth, “I need my beloved, and I want to get out of here.” She laughs. I don’t like the sound of it. She sounds like someone who is close to going crazy. That tips the balance. I need to tell her that she and her children will be safe soon.
“Cassie,” I say, trying to get her to focus on me, “I am here to free you. But I still need to wait for someone, for two men who will help us make our escape from here. One of them is called Johar, and right now, he is trying to get your husband out of the caves.
She sits up abruptly, and grabs my hands with a strength I wouldn’t have expected from someone so delicate. “Swear that this isn’t a trick, to try to gain my trust,” she says and looks at me strangely. She closes her eyes, before I can say anything, and then I feel it. Someone is in my head. Cassie is in my head, and she is helping herself generously to the information she finds there. I suddenly feel the irresistible urge to talk, to tell her everything she wants to know. Not only can she read thoughts, but she can also manipulate people to do things against their will!
I am not sure how I reach this conclusion, but I can feel her digging around in my head. She reaches for something, pulls it out, turns it this way and that, and then turns her attention to another part of my brain. So this is how it feels to others when I jump over to them, I think, and at that moment the woman in front of me stops. She retreats and looks at me, stunned. “You know Shazuul! And you can also read minds! How long will it take your beloved and this other man to bring Khazaar here?”
In just a few split seconds, she has accurately pinpointed the information she needs. When we get out of here, I absolutely need to ask her for help. With her and Shazuul as teachers, I should be able to learn how to control my new skills very quickly. “Your husband is Khazaar Drasurq?” Everyone, and I mean, everyone, knows the name of the man who chased the Sethari from Earth and took Earth women in exchange for his fallen warriors. In my mind, I can see the image that was all over the press at the time: Khazaar Drasurq, running ahead of his men, his dark hair wafting behind him, with his piercing gaze, his scales raised slightly, and sword in hand. No wonder my father really wants to get his hands on the twins that have come from this connection. The children are more valuable to science than any precious metal, since the Qua’Hathri is the father of one of them, and one who was perfected in my father’s lab is the father of the other. If they really are exchanging information and abilities in their mother’s womb, then they are priceless. I would love to know what special skills this other man had, and how it came to be that Cassie was able to conceive two children from two men. I am sure that she wasn’t intimate with both of them at the same time. This is highly interesting. I notice the scientist inside me coming to life, but I push her far away. Now is not the time for analyzing things. Increasingly, I have the urgent feeling that time is running out.
A real, love-filled smile makes her face light up, when she hears me say his name. “Oh, yes,” she replies. “Khazaar is my husband. “And he is going to kill your …,” she hesitates before using the information she stole from my head “father.” I remember that she is one of the women who were given to the Qua’Hathri as payment, after they had fulfilled their obligation. I want nothing more than to ask her how it came to be that she fell in love with Khazaar. I think it is odd that you would love someone who was assigned to you by a higher power. On the other hand, I, of all people, should not wonder about the strange ways of love.
“That could happen,” I say flippantly, in response to Cassie’s remark, even though it gives me chills to hear someone speak of my father’s death with absolute certainty. Couldn’t he just be locked up for life? I have no idea why I still have any sympathy left for the man, even though all he did was use me. But I can’t deny my feelings. I sigh loudly and look at her. I envy her for the absolute certainty she exudes. How can she possibly know if her beloved is still alive? “First, we need to hope that our men will be able to get here soon. Can you hold on that long?”
She shrugs. “Do I have a choice?”
I grin, and she smiles back. At this moment, I can fell that we are making a pact. We will survive. And we will also live happy lives with our men.