Starcrossed: Perigee - A paranormal romance trilogy (21 page)

"Why?"

The human creature is sub-standard, stupid and prone to disease. We are working to advance its makeup.

How philanthropic of them, I thought wryly. "They're deceitful little devils," Smith had said. Was it telling the truth? I didn't know what they had done in the numerous procedures they'd apparently performed on me. I didn't get sick very often, but that, according to my Uncle Tom, ran in the family. In the top range of my class most of my school career, I didn't think I was particularly stupid either - was that down to the intervention of the Innaki? I needed to get deeper into its mind. I'm sure it was blocking me from its real thoughts, just as I was locking it out of mine.

"Are you a male or a female?" I got the distinct impression it was male, but I wanted to be sure.

There is no distinction in our species.

"You mean you're both? Male and female?"

It blinked and said nothing. Perhaps it thought I wouldn't understand.

"Are you going to tell me what he's saying?" asked Johnson again.

His voice startled me. The creature was holding all my attention and I kept forgetting he was in the room.

"He says he is neither male nor female. They are working on the human genetic code because they think we're stupid and disease ridden."

Johnson made a scoffing sound and turned back to his computer screen. "Nothing he hasn't said before," he said, "keep going."

I inhaled, straightening my shoulders, and turned to the Innaki again. Perhaps it was time to be frank. "Do you abduct humans and trade their blood for wyk?" I strained to read its innermost thoughts.

Its head jerked up; I'd caught it off guard. Its eyes narrowed, its gaze piercing.

Foolish human. You think you can get into my head? You are weak, and the ones who sent you will learn nothing here today.

I felt a small surge of triumph - for an emotionless creature, it sure seemed kind of ticked off. I hoped I'd pushed its buttons. Perhaps I could taunt the truth out of it.

"You do do it, don't you?!" I went on. "You are lying about helping the human race!"

It took a step forward, its eyes narrowing, and I stopped myself from moving away.

"Why?!" I continued, "How can you treat people..."

Humans are an arrogant species. They are vessels for wyk. That is their only use.

"That's not true! We have feelings, emotions - we feel pain, love, joy, sadness... you can't do this!"

Its eyes narrowed again, and the bump on its head pulsed faster.

What you speak of is meaningless to me.

I remembered Smith saying they didn't feel anything. I couldn't fathom that notion at all. It had definitely been angry - why couldn't it feel empathy as well?

You can't do this - we will stop you,
I said in its head.

For a long moment it stood still and watched me, its eyes expressionless, and I couldn't reach its thoughts. Then it turned to Johnson.

We created you, and we can destroy you.

Johnson began to scream, holding his hands to his head. The Innaki continued to watch him dispassionately. The laptop crashed to the ground and Johnson fell, curled up in fetal position, cradling his head. He was screaming in agony.

"Stop it!" I yelled, crouching beside Johnson. My insides were trembling like jelly and I felt like I was going to vomit. "Stop! Leave him alone!"

The creature ignored me, its gaze on the man writhing on the floor. Gradually, Johnson's movements slowed, his screaming died away. He lay, still on the floor, blood oozing from his nostrils and ears on to the pristine white floor. I took his wrist and felt for a pulse, but I couldn't find one.

"You've killed him!"

We created you, and we can destroy you,
it repeated. Narrowing its eyes again, it looked straight at me; my brain was instantly inundated with the most excruciating, buzzing energy. I'd never felt such pain. Grabbing my temples, I staggered backward. I could barely think, but my survival instinct kicked in. Straightening up, I produced a large ball of glowing wyk and threw it as hard as I could at the creature. It hit it full on the head, and it swayed backward, then stood watching me through narrowed eyes.

I shot a desperate look at the window. Wasn't Smith going to send someone in to rescue me? Making for the door, I yanked on the handle but was instantly enveloped in the excruciating pain again. I turned to see the Innaki focusing its tortuous thoughts on me. Desperately, I heaved on the handle and thumped on the unyielding door, but my head was feeling as though it would cave in, and I was ready to sink to the floor. This was not fair! I didn't want to die like this. Through a haze of agony, I focused on the Innaki, pumping all of my fear, anger, loneliness into one giant surge of wyk. I let it go sailing through the air, and it hit the creature squarely, sending it flying with a sickening crunch against the wall. It fell to the floor, and didn't move. The pain in my skull disappeared instantly.

I ran to Johnson and tried to find a pulse again. The door to the room was thrown open - Smith and a number of men in white safety suits rushed in. Two raced to the Innaki, declaring him still alive - barely. The other two headed to Johnson. They examined him, and pronounced him dead. I looked up disbelievingly into Smith's face. He was standing over the body, his attention solely on me.

"You are even more interesting than I thought, Lucy Doyle," he said thoughtfully. He turned to a white suited man. "Get her out of here. Put her in SB5." He strode out of the room, ignoring the small crumpled body of the Innaki in the corner.

I shuddered, stood up on wobbly legs, and allowed the man to escort me out.

* * * * *

"They tell me you haven't been eating, Lucy, you've lost a lot of weight." Dr Chenski shone a small flashlight into my eyes, and frowned as he studied them.

"I'm not really hungry."

Switching off the flashlight with a click, he took my wrist and began to check my pulse.

"You've got to eat something. You're wilting away."

I swallowed and stared across at the meshed window of my 'cell'. They'd put me in a shielded room, similar to the Innaki's; the only difference was that mine had a bed which was bolted to the floor, and a toilet and a curtain-less shower, which, being in full sight of the two way window, afforded no privacy whatsoever. I had resorted to holding my bed sheet up in front of me if I'd needed to go to the bathroom. It seemed Smith, after seeing me throw the Innaki across the room, had upgraded my security status. He never appeared in the room without two armed soldiers, and usually stood near the door for an easy exit if I were to turn against him. I wondered at his reasoning - if I were able to escape through walls as the Innaki did, I would have tried to do it the first day I'd arrived. The soldiers were unnecessary too. I felt too drained, exhausted, to muster up any kind of energy to attack anyone. Dr Chenski was right - after nearly two weeks held captive in this facility, I was wilting away - physically and mentally.

He turned and addressed Clare. "I think she's suffering from depression. I need to have a private word with her."

"I'm sorry, Doctor, but she's too dangerous to be left with you alone."

"For God's sake! She's not eating - she's skin and bones. Look at her, by the looks of things her mental state is deteriorating rapidly. Do you want her in a useful state or don't you?" He glared at Clare, then turned back to me.

"All right, but we'll be watching through there. If she tries anything... starts getting violent, then it's your own neck that's on the line." She gestured for the soldiers to follow her, and she left the room.

"Phew, thank God they're gone," he said, patting my hand. I continued to stare at the window.

"How are they treating you?"

A tear ran down my face. "They keep telling me to show them how I did it - how I pushed the Innaki against the wall. I try, but I can barely move a pencil along a table any more." I looked at him for the first time since he'd entered the room. "I'm... exhausted. I think they're going to keep me here forever."

He took my hand in his, and patted it encouragingly. "Listen, Lucy, you are your only real ally here - I can't do much for you. It is you who needs to be the strong one. Eat properly, don't lose hope. You need to keep your strength up - if you don't, you won't last long in here, and they'll have won."

I wiped the tear from my face, and sniffed.

He leaned closer, making a play of checking the lymph nodes in my neck. "Can they hear us in here?" he whispered. "Any bugs?"

I shook my head. "No, the system they use, it seals the room up tight - no communication signals, in or out."

"What about the cameras up there - can they record what we say?" he asked.

I shook my head. "The security cameras just record video, no sound, like the ones you get in shopping malls. They don't work right around me anyway." I was grateful for that small mercy.

"I'm going to prescribe you some medication for your depression. It'll help you cope better with the situation you're in."

"Tell me about your daughter," I asked suddenly. I didn't want to feel like a specimen any more. I didn't want to think about aliens, or blood farming, or using wyk to move objects about. I just wanted to hear about everyday 'normal' things.

He looked at me in surprise for a moment, then straightened his back.

"All right. Well, her name is Taylor, she's seventeen like you, although I see you're having a birthday soon - tomorrow in fact - happy birthday." I glanced at him. I'd be eighteen years old - some birthday.

He threw me an uncomfortable half-smile and continued with his story. "She's an only child. Probably spoiled rotten. We get on pretty well, although we've been butting heads lately over this boy she likes. I'm not sure he's the right one for her."

I smiled weakly. "Fathers always think that though."

He paused for a moment, considering my observation. "Yes, yes, I do believe you're right. Well, in any case, he had her out way past her curfew last night, and we had a huge screaming match before I came to work."

I envied him being able to get out of this place and go back to his home, whenever he liked.

"Where did they go?"

"Bowling - apparently. But bowling doesn't finish at three in the morning."

My smile was genuine now. "No, I don't think it does." I sat up straighter, and rubbed the denim on my jeans. Clare had given me some extra sets of clothes, but I'd stuck resolutely to the ones I'd been wearing when I arrived here - Aric had bought them for me, and it was a precarious link to him I didn't want to give up. They were beginning to smell, but I didn't care.

"My last date was the best day of my life," I said dreamily, my mind escaping the white cell to sit at the table by the river again. "An Italian restaurant by the river, fairy lights in the trees. "I blushed. "It was really romantic." I told him about the paddle wheeler plowing the river, the 'stingy roses' episode, and my aversion to shopping that day.

He was laughing quietly. "Well, you're certainly an exception to the usual teenage girl - most girls love to shop. And aren't women supposed to like getting flowers?"

"Yeah, well, it's usually the men who are nagged to buy flowers aren't they? The women complaining about their stingy men? Aric's sister-in-law runs a florist store - maybe she could start a new line called 'stingy roses', for cheap men who don't like to buy flowers."

He chuckled. The conversation was getting silly, but I think he was glad I was talking at least. His expression grew stern, and he leaned closer again.

"Lucy, listen. You need to be careful what you say. If you want your boyfriend kept safe. All that information you just told me, it could be used to locate him." I looked at him in alarm.

"Don't worry, it's safe with me, but, please, think first before you open your mouth okay? You know you're surrounded by enemies here. They're ruthless - they need to be considering what they're up against. Be careful."

He moved to collect his things together. "I'm sorry, that was probably a bit of a downer and I was trying to cheer you up. I'll send you some anti-depressants. They should help."

Throwing the stethoscope around his neck again, he stood up to leave. "Keep your chin up. Don't lose hope - and eat something!" He left the room, and I stared bleakly at the window again. Could he be trusted - would he relay the information about Aric to Smith? A lump formed in my throat; I forced it back. Lying down on my bed, I curled my legs up towards my belly, feeling more alone and vulnerable than ever.

* * * * *

The two pound iron weight rose half an inch into the air, then dropped to the table with a small bump. Smith blew a cloud of smoke above his head, and sighed.

"This is getting old Lucy. I'm running out of time, and I'm running out of patience." He stabbed his cigarette butt out forcefully. I winced as he ripped away the sticky circles which held some electrical wires to my forehead. He'd been trying to get me to perform these tricks, hooked up to all sorts of machines, for two days now. It was all I could do to make anything move at all, let alone perform the type of impressive feat he was after.

"Come on," he said. He grabbed my arm and pulled me to a standing position. "I'm going to show you just what's at stake here."

I was surprised when he hauled me through the door and out into the corridor. It was the first time I'd left the room for two weeks. Evidently, after my poor performance, he'd lost his fear of me. We went up a floor, and he bustled me down a corridor to another door guarded by two more armed soldiers. I baulked at the sight of them.

"Oh, no I don't want to see another Innaki - please!" I pulled back as he urged me into the room.

"It isn't an Innaki."

Relaxing slightly, I wondered why they needed armed guards here - was it another captured human? A hybrid?

Still grasping my arm, Smith pulled me to stand in front of the meshed window. He hit the switch forcefully with his free hand, and the opaque window became transparent. For a moment, I saw nothing, and then something hit the glass with such force I felt the wall vibrate. I jumped back and squealed, shocked at the hideous creature bashing itself violently against the window in an attempt to reach me. It looked like a cross between a human and a gargoyle. About the size of a large man, it stood upright on muscular legs, pounding its leathery body against the wall and gnashing sharp, fang-like teeth at the glass. Its head was triangular shaped, with ribbed horns protruding from the top of its skull. The eyes were yellow and slit shaped like a cat's. It looked like the devil himself.