Anaz-Voohri (12 page)

Zack nodded. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we ended up at NASA for space camp.”

“Are you serious?" Although Tia liked the idea of such prestigious training, she feared she wouldn’t do well in space. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to question your information.”

“But you should." Zack leaned back in his chair, as if enjoying her confusion and smiled. “As an investigative journalist, I learned to question everything. It’s the only way to get to the truth.”

Tia recognized the wisdom of his words but chuckled. “I was groomed at West Point. Believe me. You don’t question anything or anyone in a position of authority over there, or anywhere in the military for that matter.”

His gaze met her eyes, earnest and candid. “How can you make decisions affecting the lives of thousands of soldiers if you don’t have a personal knowledge of the truth?"

Unsettled by his frank stare, she lowered her gaze to her plate. “Decisions are simple enough to make, Zack. They are usually harder to live with." Tia had questioned some of her decisions lately and might have a difficult time respecting them.

“I agree with you there." Zack’s smile illuminated his face.

Surprised by her fascination for Zack, Tia realized that her appreciation for his expertise and unexpected insight would make it challenging for her to compete with him. But she never refused a challenge and relished the opportunity.

Chapter Eight

Captain Kavak hovered around her private chamber in the flag ship of the Anaz-voohri fleet. She hated delays. Finally her communicator chimed and the large view-screen on the bulkhead came to life.

Dr. Devertas, the hybrid in charge of finding adoptive parents on Earth’s surface, looked slightly younger than his thirty years. He had the good sense to appear nervous. Kavak smiled inwardly at the memory of his face when she’d dispatched his predecessor so he could get promoted. A few primitive instruments in the background indicated the doctor called from his office in the human medical facility they called the CEM.

“What took you so long? Speak!”

“I apologize, Exalted Leader. I had to make sure all your requirements were met." Dr. Devertas spoke in barely more than a whisper.

“Don’t we have enough hybrid couples in your vicinity?”

“Raising these girls is a grave responsibility, Exalted Leader." Dr. Devertas looked right and left, as if expecting to be caught by his colleagues. How pathetic. Even as a hybrid he feared simple humans.
Typical scientist.
“I had to find the perfect couple for each of them, but I think you will be pleased.”

“Kokopelli be praised!
Seven suitable couples?"
Two of the twelve abducted girls had died during surgery, and Kavak had decided only seven of the remaining girls would be reinserted into human society at this time. Seven was an auspicious number, the number of stars in the Pleiades system, so she called the girls the Pleiades sisters.

“Only one adoptive father is not a hybrid." Disgusting fear made the man’s brow sweat profusely. “But he has a bright political career that could lead to the US presidency.”

“For which girl?"
Kavak pondered the risks over the advantages.

“Tierney, the oldest.”

“This better work without any incident or it’s your life on the line." Kavak hoped this dangerous maneuver would work to her advantage.

Tierney represented the star Taygeta. Kavak had chosen girls whose names approximated the names of the stars of the Pleiades system. Names carried not only meaning, but power as well. It made sense that girls named after the Pleiades stars would prove better suited to serve the Anaz-voohri.

More receptive to the technology, the girls would serve their purpose, not like little Ashley, who had defied the memory eraser and kept communicating with her brother under Kavak’s nose for two years. But Kavak had special plans for Ashley the renegade. She would come in handy when the time came to neutralize her brother, if he became a problem.

“When and where shall we take delivery of the seven sisters, Exalted Leader?”

“Tomorrow night." Kavak enjoyed the panic on the good doctor’s face. “Call for a general meeting at the usual place just after sunset, and I will appear personally and speak to them.”

“You?"
Dr. Devertas swallowed so hard his Adam’s apple bobbed, “will appear?”

“Why not?
Can’t you guarantee my safety among your local hybrid cell?" Not that Kavak needed any protection. Her superior weapons and constitution insured her immunity against any human or hybrid mob.

“Yes, Exalted Leader. Of course you are safe among us.”

“So what’s bothering you?" She enjoyed watching him squirm.

“We aren’t worthy of such an honor, Exalted Leader.”

“Bull." Kavak liked the human expletive and had cultivated it for thirty years. “I decide who is worthy of my presence." She could read the man’s fear of finding himself in her physical proximity. As a warrior and a defective clone, Kavak had a natural aversion to scientists, but she tolerated them as a necessary evil. “Get everything ready for tomorrow night.”

“As you wish, Exalted Leader.”

*****

New York
–
Fall
2005

Dr. Devertas bowed toward the recording device and severed the communication. After Captain Kavak’s disturbing face vanished from the computer screen, he shuddered. He could never get used to the abominable freak. On his computer screen the CEM logo appeared.
Center for Evolutionary Medicine.

Sometimes Devertas wondered whether borrowing medical knowledge from the Anaz-voohri constituted true evolution for the human race. But as a hybrid, he was half Anaz-voohri and shouldn’t care. Besides, he couldn’t resist the call of cutting edge medicine, and in the war to come, it made sense to pick the winning side.

After sending a bunch of coded e-mails to convene the local hybrid cell, Devertas pressed a button on his desk. He had other duties in his state-of-the-art clinic, and he couldn’t wait to announce the results of his latest experiment. “Are the kid’s parents still waiting?”

 
“Yes, Dr. Devertas,” said the disembodied female voice. “Mr. And Mrs. Brady
are
here.”

Devertas strode out of his office to meet them in the waiting room. Mr. Brady rose, tall and dry as a stick with a flop of black hair. Mrs. Brady, a short plump woman in her forties with a kind face, quickly stuffed her romance novel into her tote bag. She wiped her blurry eyes as Mr. Brady helped her stand up.

Devertas offered his hand to shake and didn’t have to fake his best reassuring smile. “I’m glad to report that the surgery went extremely well, and little Dylan is doing fine.”

“The Virgin Mary
be
praised!" Tears rolled down Mrs. Brady’s puffy cheeks.

The father still seemed skeptical. “When can we see him?”

“How about right now?"
Devertas started down the hall, followed by both eager parents.

“Is he awake?” the father asked, struggling to keep up with Devertas’ fast clip.

“Not yet." Devertas slowed his pace. “But I have to warn you that he may be startled. He’s never seen shapes or colors and he might get scared or overwhelmed. I would recommend you speak to him gently and touch him. He knows your voice, your touch, your smell...that will help him adapt to his new sense of sight."

Devertas didn’t elaborate. Unknown to the parents, however, he’d triggered more than eyesight in Dylan’s brain. Thanks to Anaz-voohri science, he could conduct his own experiments, and his miracle patients constituted the perfect guinea-pigs for his special research. Yes, little Dylan might be scared when he awoke, but it might have more to do with the awakening of new psychic abilities than with the discovery of simple sight.

Ten-year-old Dylan, pale faced under a shaven skull, slept peacefully as they entered the room. The regular beep of the monitors attested to his serene state, but the intravenous line still fed him.

Devertas dimmed the light then nudged the mother’s shoulder. “Go ahead. Wake him up as you would do at home.”

Mrs. Brady smiled and approached the bed hesitantly. She kissed the boy’s forehead, lifted her hand to caress the shaven head, but stopped and patted his cheek instead. “Wake up, sleepyhead.”

The child stirred but didn’t open his eyes.

The father remained at the foot of the bed as if afraid to get closer. “How come there is no bandage on his head?"

“That’s the latest technique." Devertas hated to explain his work to simple folks. “The skin was lifted then glued back into place after the surgery. There was practically no bleeding. There will be no scarring. The thin laser cut along the hairline at the nape of his neck is barely noticeable and will disappear completely within a few days. His hair will grow back as black and curly as before.”

Mrs. Brady took little Dylan’s hand and kissed it. “Wake up, angel. It’s okay.”

The boy opened his eyes and blinked, then closed them back and frowned, as if ready to cry.

“It’s all right, baby. Don’t be scared. Mommy is here.”

Devertas dimmed the lights further. “You can open your eyes, Dylan. The light will not hurt you." He turned to the father. “He’ll get used to it gradually.”

Curiosity must have taken over Dylan, because he resolutely opened his big black eyes and stared. His mouth opened and remained gaping.

“He’s trying to comprehend what he sees,” Devertas explained in a soothing voice.
“Hi, Dylan.
It’s me, Dr. Devertas.”

Dylan reached for his mother’s arm and smiled in recognition, then looked straight into her eyes.
“Mom?"
A new spark shone in his dark eyes, leaving no doubt that he could see her.

Mr. Brady touched the boy’s foot through the blanket. “And I’m your dad.”

Devertas wanted to get out of the room. He couldn’t stand such debilitating outpouring of emotions. “Congratulations on your first sight, Dylan. I’ll leave you with your family. I’ll see you later." He strode toward the door.

“Thank you, Doctor." Dylan’s mother glowed with gratitude. “I apologize for ever doubting you. This is a true miracle.”

*****

Just after the shadow of night covered the East Coast of the American Continent, Captain Kavak’s shuttle craft swooped down to Earth then hovered above Lord McDougall’s mansion. “I hope the phasic shroud will hold this time." Kavak didn’t trust her engineers. Concealing devices had been known to fail at the worst possible time. Like many other instruments in Anaz-voohri technology, they were old. Kavak desperately needed new machines, and only on a home planet with plenty of ore and labor could they be manufactured.

On the ship’s viewer, the private estate looked entirely bordered by a powered fence. It
lay
leagues away from any human activity. In the stables to the side, Kavak sensed several large riding beasts. How primitive. All around the buildings spread green meadows, surrounded by a private forest that teemed with small prey and provided absolute privacy.

Kavak didn’t want to attract the attention of the local authorities, so she’d chosen this isolated mansion for hybrid meetings.
That,
and the fact that McDougall was a loyal hybrid, and her regular supplier of sublime liquors…
 
Surveying the screen, she zoomed on the front lawn, crowded with a great number of motor vehicles. Many more hybrids had gathered than she expected. Armed guards, phase-gun in hand, walked the perimeter with large dogs. More guards manned the gate to the estate.

After checking the weapons concealed under her shimmering robe, Kavak turned to her crew. “Get the ship down to the roof line and stand ready for any eventuality, phasic cannons charged. Keep an eye on the girls. I don’t want any mistakes. And don’t forget to kill the engines as soon as I get to the surface." She’d learned of the humans’ sensitivity to the vibrations emanating from the Anaz-voohri ships. It could attract unwanted attention.

When Kavak beckoned her young aide, he nodded, and together they glided through iris hatches and tubular hallways toward the exit at the underbelly of the craft. Kavak had chosen the young Anaz-voohri for his skills as a warrior. In case of unforeseen aggression, the two of them could easily hold off any attack on the ground.

The fact that these chosen humans had been blessed with Anaz-voohri DNA before birth didn’t ascertain their unswerving loyalty. In fact, many hybrids had not been called to duty yet and lived among humans, unaware of their hybrid nature.

As they descended inside the pillar of light, Kavak smiled inwardly at her theatrics. The people on the ground couldn’t see the shrouded craft. It must seem to them as if Kavak and her aide had materialized out of thin air, coming straight down from the heavens in a rumble of thunder. Kavak had seen their religious images depicting angels coming to earth in such a fashion. She delighted in profaning human beliefs, or any other religious beliefs for that matter.