Dark Warriors: A Dark Lands Anthology (Darklands) (13 page)

Ignoring her as if she were three years old, the man went on, “Still, I can’t take responsibility for this.” He looked at Kynan hopefully. “We could always do a mind wipe and send her back.”

There was a little gasp of horror from the patient.

Kynan sent her a look of amusement tinged with compassion. “Let’s not. No telling what the drugs would do to an alien. I’ll assume responsibility for her. Any other concerns?”

The medic shrugged and made some notes. “She’s healthy. If you’ll just sign here, you can be on your way.”

Made mute by embarrassment, Kelsa fast-walked from the examining room. This place was barbaric! What would they do next, strip her naked and set her up for auction?

Kynan caught her before she could break for the gate. Holding her trembling body, he said softly, “Easy. No one’s going to hurt you. In a few minutes you’ll see Vana, and she can reassure you.”

Vana. Nodding grimly, Kelsa jerked out of his arms and stalked up the stairs. She just hoped the nightmare wasn’t about to get worse.

Vana blinked as Kelsa walked into her room, closely guarded by Kynan. By the aggrieved expression on Kelsa’s face, it was obvious they were not getting along.

“Kelsa! What…” Uncertain whether to be thrilled to see her friend or concerned about how she came to be there, she started forward.

Kelsa wrapped her in a frantic hug. “Are you all right?”

“Of course, but how did you get here?”

Holding her away with urgent hands, Kelsa scanned her face. “No, I mean are you all right?” Did anyone hurt you?

Hearing the silent question, Vana gripped Kelsa’s hands reassuringly. “I’m fine, really. Nobody would dare hurt me.”

Peering at her, Kelsa demanded, “Why?”

A little blankly, Vana looked to Kynan for help, only to find that he’d retreated and shut the door behind him. “It’s complicated. But for one thing, I’m going to marry the king here…” she trailed off at Kelsa’s sickly expression.

“Are you nuts?” She began to pace. “No way! No. We are getting out of here and finding a way back home. I don’t know what they’ve done to you, but we’re leaving.”

“They haven’t done anything.”

“Some kind of mind control or something.”

Trying for patience, Vana shook her head. “Kelsa, I’m in love.”

Unimpressed, Kelsa shook her finger at her. “I’ve heard of this. It’s called the Stockholm syndrome or something, isn’t it? Where you fall in love with your jailer? Don’t worry, as soon as I get you home, you’ll get over it.”

“I don’t want to go home. There’s no way home.” Vana was getting irritated, for a fearful part of her was waking up and clambering that maybe Kelsa was right.

Going stock-still, Kelsa stared at her. “How can you be in love? You haven’t been gone that long.”

Letting out a quivering breath, Vana nodded. “True, but I am. It just happened.”

Eyes narrowed, Kelsa grilled her. “What’s he done to prove his love?”

Caught, Vana bit her lip. “Well…he wants to marry me.”

“And?”

The girl was merciless. “He’s told you he loves you?”

Crushed under that hard stare, Vana dropped her eyes. “Not in so many words.”

Kelsa began to pace. “Why did they bring you here?”

Hating the truth, Vana admitted softly, “They have a woman shortage.” The truth she’d been trying to ignore flashed before her eyes, taunting her. “They needed wives,” she whispered.

Pain and compassion shimmered in Kelsa’s eyes as she came and placed a gentle hand on Vana’s shoulder. “Well, their shortage is about to get worse, by two. They never should have taken you, Vana.”

“You what?” Dagon couldn’t believe his ears. Vana was refusing to marry him.

Looking as if she’d been sobbing all night, she lifted her determined face toward him. “You don’t love me. There’s only one thing you want from this marriage, and you can get that anywhere.”

The few people who had been in the room scattered, unwilling to witness the fallout.

Dagon stiffened. Before he spoke, he made himself think. She hadn’t been this way yesterday. Yesterday Kynan had brought that woman. He’d bet a fortune that they’d been up all night, talking; apparently, about him.

He made the mistake of saying so. “Where is your friend, the traitor?”

Bristling like a wild animal with threatened young, Vana snapped, “Don’t you touch her! It’s not her fault that you have no feelings for me.”

Carefully, he ground out through a stiff jaw, “I have feelings for you.”

“You don’t love me!”

His mood got blacker. What did she expect him to say to that? “You’ll be my queen, won’t you? You’ll have my honor, my fidelity,” he argued.

“But not your love.”

The broken way she said it made his heart twist. “You don’t know what time will bring.”

She turned her back to him. “I want to go home.”

A soft growl rumbled from the back of his throat. “Guards!” he shouted, louder than needed. “Take the lady back to her room. And bring me Kynan!” He had some choice words to say to his good friend.

Kynan blinked at him. “You seem to have a problem.”

Dagon sent him a murderous look.

He sighed. “I couldn’t leave her there, man. She threatened to come back with others. You’ve said that the operation is closing down now. We’re drawing too much interest.”

“That doesn’t solve my immediate problem,” Dagon said coldly, with a commanding stare.

Kynan smiled. “I’ll take your problem in hand, then. At least she has spirit. I was beginning to wonder if you’d found the only woman who had any.”

“Just get the woman under control before I have her gagged and sent to Nikon. And keep her away from Vana! I’ll have enough trouble bringing her out of her snit without her “friend” undoing my efforts.”

Kynan regarded him thoughtfully. “It’s possible she would have been less susceptible to damage if you’d courted her more. This might even be an opportunity to cement her affection.”

“I don’t need advice on how to win my woman.”

“As you wish.” Kynan shrugged and made for the door. “You have my best wishes, just the same.”

“I say we take a hostage. It’s the only way.”

Vana listened to Kelsa talk and kept her mouth shut. The other women in the harem, those known as troublemakers by the Beasts, hadn’t wanted to include Vana in their talks, but Kelsa was a fast talker. She’d insisted that Dagon’s interest in Vana was not returned. The others had recognized a fellow malcontent when they saw one and grudgingly accepted.

Cherry, the most persistent griper, scowled. “How do you suggest we do that? They’re twice our size and armed to the teeth.”

Clarissa, the chief troublemaker, shot Cherry a quelling stare. “So we don’t tell them we’re going to do it. Anybody can be taken by surprise.”

“Have you seen them workout?” Vana said slowly, not liking this plan for reasons she didn’t care to dwell on. “They’re dangerous, and fast. Experienced, too, since they’ve been making war on Nikon and his bunch for a long time. It won’t be easy.”

Clearly unwilling to take anything Vana had to say as gospel, Clarissa stared her displeasure. “We can do anything we put our minds to. There are men wandering in here all the time. All we have to do is grab one when there aren’t others around to help. Then we tie him up and use him to get out of here.”

Barely resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Vana looked away. They didn’t need her to jinx their work; with plans like that they’d fail on their own. She frowned as she realized what she’d been thinking. When had she switched sides? For while she wouldn’t betray these women’s plans (what passed for plans, anyway) she didn’t want to help them escape, either. Had she really come to feel that the Beast’s world offered so much?

It dawned on her that she didn’t want to leave. True, Dagon hadn’t exactly courted her, but her instincts said he felt something for her. That had to count for something. Maybe she should talk to him, give him another chance…

“Stop mooning!” Kelsa hissed in her ear. “He’s no good for you. We’ll go home and find you a nice lawyer.”

Vana gave her the evil eye. She didn’t want a lawyer!

Kelsa frowned at her and addressed her cohorts. “Look, I’ll be back later. I’ve got something to do.” She took Vana’s arm and dragged her out of the room. “You need something constructive to do,” she said with a worried look. “Didn’t you tell me that creepy Dagon had given you a lab to work in? Weren’t you supposed to fix his women’s fertility?”

“He’s not creepy,” Vana answered testily, even as Kelsa steered her toward the lab she’d showed her.

Shivering, Kelsa shook her head. “Gave me the creeps. How can you stand that scar? It makes him look like some convict from death row.”

That earned her a black look. “He’s good looking and you know it.”

“To each her own.” They arrived at the lab and Kelsa opened the door. “Now be a good girl and go save the world while I deal with the other things. You know you’re dying to outsmart that bonehead medic. Besides, I know how you are. Once you’ve got a book in front of you, you don’t see anything else. It’ll be good for you, get your mind off what ails you.”

Vana favored her with a droll look, but entered the lab.

Relieved, Kelsa ignored her guards and turned back toward the harem. While she loved Vana like a sister, she didn’t need her lovesick friend wrecking the plans she was making with the others. She had a feeling that Vana would balk at some of the more nefarious measures they might use. For her own good, Vana needed to be otherwise occupied.

Determined, Kelsa lengthened her stride, eager to get to the harem.

Vana sat down at a computer terminal and began to read the translated texts on Beast fertility. She’d been over several copies of the history of the war and the fertility virus and was working her way through gestation and health texts in her spare time, putting together the puzzle pieces of who, what, where and how. It wasn’t bugs, but it fascinated her all the same.

Due to the enormous volume of research on the issue, she did a lot of skimming. The Beasts had tackled their problem from several interesting angles, but she had the feeling they were making it too difficult. She was reminded of scurvy and pellagra, two deadly diseases from Earth’s past that turned out to be simple deficiency diseases. The doctors at the time had been stumped, trying all kinds of dangerous medicines to treat what had turned out to be curable by a simple change of diet. The papers looking into that subject were scanty to non-existent, so that was where she focused her efforts.

Kelsa had been right; Vana never noticed the passage of time when she was taking notes and dissecting a mystery. She ignored her belly’s grumbling for lunch, more interested in the pictures of the virus and scans of dead eggs. It wasn’t until Dagon knocked on the door and entered that she realized it was past dinner.

Still in a fog, she blinked at him. “Yes?”

His expression was inscrutable. “You missed dinner.”

She glanced at her wrist unit. “Hm.”

Annoyance crossed his face. “Why didn’t you have something sent to you?”

Assuming he knew that the same way he knew everything she did, she shrugged. “I was busy.”

He growled. “Come and eat, then.” He glanced at her computer screen and raised a brow. “Your research isn’t urgent.”

Now that ticked her off. Flicking off the computer, she rose and said acidly, “How is it you automatically assume that what I’m doing isn’t important? Just because you don’t care, it doesn’t mean that I don’t.” He was in her way, so she moved around him to the door.

Silence radiated behind her, but he followed. Once in the hall, she noticed that he’d dismissed her guards. Pity she couldn’t do the same. “Has it occurred to you that we might not be immune to this little virus of yours? What happens if someone decides to drop a canister full of it into the harem, for example? It would ruin your plan.”

“No one would be that stupid,” he said with such savagery that she checked. While she stared at him, he went on same chilling tone, “You are carefully guarded for just that reason. Anyone who tried such a thing would die a painful death.” He took a deep breath and looked ahead as he started walking. “Besides, no one from the other side would risk it, either. I’m more worried about Nikon staging a raid.”

Reluctant to prod his temper, she nonetheless said, “I think I’ll complete my research anyway. Just for my peace of mind.” She recognized their hallway and was surprised when he passed her room and opened the door to his. “What’s this? Didn’t you eat?”

“I’ll keep you company.” He remained where he was until she warily entered and shut the door.

Vana eyed it. “Isn’t that against the rules?”

“I doubt anyone will break it down,” he answered with a faintly challenging air. “You can always scream if I try to eat you.”

Rolling her eyes, she followed his silent invitation and sat down at his low table. While he reclined, she filled her plate and tried to ignore the silence. He was going to talk. Being fair minded, she’d listen and try to ignore the tension between them.