The Mendel Experiment (20 page)

The two humans stopped short, but the woman did not lower her weapon.

“What your uncle was doing here is a travesty,” the man burst out. “It has to stop!”

Windemere’s eyes narrowed to thin slits. “What my uncle did was at the direction of the Federation!”

“He, or you, went beyond,” the man continued. “You went beyond what was right.”

“I have seen the ‘casts,” the younger Windemere purred. “They extol the virtues of homo-formed colonists and the benefits it will give the Federation starved for resources and space.”

“But the destruction of an entire sentient race? What gave you the right to destroy the Ologrian home world?” the man argued.

Windemere’s face purpled. “After destroying that colony? Killing men, women, and children? After they murdered my cousin; my uncle’s son and his family? The Ologrians are vermin and only deserve death—if not long and painful then fiery and quick!”

It was as Corree suspected. Her smoldering anger flamed. She gathered her thoughts as well as her energy. The blue gem pulsed in its biological pouch and sent her power. The mutation was even quicker than she had hoped. It was so fast her jumpsuit flopped over her body, hiding her new form from view. It didn’t matter. She could taste her surroundings, sense where the others were. The muscles in her sinuous body propelled her forward. Fully grown root snakes were almost as long as she was tall, but no thicker than her wrist. She slithered out from under the clothing, wrapped around Windemere’s ankle and up his leg. He looked down and saw her purple and red striped form undulating up his body. The pistol jerked around as he tried scrape her off of him.

Corree hissed and struck; her fangs sinking deep into the calf of his leg. Someone grabbed his weapon at the same time Windemere grabbed behind her head. Pulling her loose, he flung her away. She felt, rather than heard, a scuffling. The change back to her forest form was slower than the mutation into the snake had been. Changing that fast into something so different took energy. Besides, there was no reason for speed now. As she pulled on her jumpsuit, Corree saw the man and woman standing over Windemere. He was unconscious.

“Get him in a seat and make sure he’s secure,” the woman ordered. “This is very convenient. He needs to answer some questions on…” She studied Corree with wary eyes. “How did you do that?”

Corree shrugged. She had other things to worry about. The blue stone was no longer in the mutated skin pouch. It rested in her body; within the muscles under her pelt. It was enhancing her mutating ability far beyond what she had before and now it was a part of her. Now the three humans had seen an example of her increased ability. She pointed her chin toward Windemere. “They made us that way.” The woman’s bland expression returned, but there was something in her eyes that made Corree even more nervous.

“Was the venom deadly?”

Corree shook her head. “If I had been a real root snake, it would have been.” She felt wary, too, but found a seat and buckled herself in. The woman occupied the pilot’s chair. Corree was coming to the conclusion that it was the woman who was in charge.

“Are you comfortable?” the man asked.

“Yes, I’m fine. It shouldn’t take any longer to get back, will it?”

“No, it shouldn’t,” he replied, but his response didn’t seem as light as the rest of his conversation had.

There was a slight jerk and the woman announced, “We’re away.”

Corree thought it was strange that they had met no resistance other than Windemere and the guard. She said as much.

“The colony here thinks too highly of its prowess,” the woman grumbled. “Besides, Windemere didn’t want us to have too much resistance getting here.”

“My name is Jeron,” the man told her. “And this is Leena,” he added, pointing to the woman.

Leena kept her eyes on the read-outs, mumbling to herself.

Jeron began asking her about her life on Mendel again. They talked for some time, his curiosity seemingly insatiable. It was also genuine. When he finally asked about the Ologrians, Corree didn’t feel the same resentment she had when Windemere and his scientists had drilled her.

Jeron pulled out survival rations and they all ate. Corree slept but woke up from a dream where she was being interrogated by scientists and steely-eyed humans in brightly colored uniforms. They reminded her of The Claw and his guards. She was in a place that was like the science space station, but strange. It was on a planet because she could see tall structures outside a window and flying ships in the distance. It was inhabited, but it felt cold and barren to her.

Corree’s side ached. She opened her eyes and saw the woman dozing in her seat. Jeron was standing near Windemere. The scientist was still asleep.

“You slept well?” he asked.

Corree gazed out the viewport. Something wasn’t right. “Where are we going?”

Jeron said nothing for several moments. “We are going to the Federation home planet.”

She was not surprised; intensely disappointed, but not surprised. “You said you were going to take me home—to Mendel.”

“We are going to our human home,” Jeron began.

“No! Mendel is my home. I am not human. I am Mendelian.” Corree tempered the growing anger. “Why did you lie to me?”

“I didn’t. We had every intention of taking you back.” At her stony gaze, he continued. “We saw you mutate and…and Leena decided your ability needed to be studied further.”

“Who are you?”

“Leena and I represent the legal arm of the Federation.”

It was gibberish to her. “Explain.”

“We are sent out if the Federation feels laws are being broken…if someone has gone too far in their actions.” He appeared sad.

“So you were taking Windemere back because of all he and his friends did.”

“His actions against the Ologrians were not sanctioned by the Federation. In other words, we did not give Windemere’s science team permission to develop devices to cause the Ologrian sun to go critical.”

His thoughts were muted, but Corree felt he was telling the truth. A fleeting thought came that he might see the truth of what he was saying, but others in the Federation would see what Windemere was doing as welcome or necessary. “Why does it seem to me as though the Federation is always trying to go back on promises it has made,” she asked. She glanced at Windemere. “I was just a thing to him. A toy to play with and toss out if it didn’t work right.”

“The Ologrians didn’t run tests on you?”

She shrugged. “I’m sure they did while they were trying to save Riss and me. I know we were always being watched, but Greelon never made promises he couldn’t keep. They took us home.”

“I’m sorry, Corree.”

“There was no intention of letting me go home. You couldn’t take me home to Mendel. I should have thought of that.”

“We could have sent you home in an emergency pod,” Jeron tried to explain, pointing to a small hatch at the bottom of the ship.

Leena was gazing at her through half closed eyes. Corree thought she looked rather satisfied.

Corree turned away from both of them and watched the now darkened view port. She would never return to Mendel. Never go home. Her mind was as dark as the void outside their ship and she felt as though something had reached into her chest to squeeze her heart. Corree wished they would finish the job….

Read the next exciting installment of Corree’s adventures in
Blue Fire.

Before You Go…

Share your voice and help guide other readers to these wonderful books. Even if it’s only a line or two your reviews help readers discover the author’s books so they can continue creating stories that you’ll love. Login to your favorite retailer and leave a review.

About the Author

Susan Kite was born in Indiana, but because her father was in the Army, she moved extensively during her growing up years. The post library was the first place she found after a move, avidly reading the works of Andre Norton, Robert Heinlein, Anne McCaffrey, J.R.R. Tolkein and many others. In her teens, she dabbled in writing, creating stories based on characters from her favorite TV shows. (Today that’s called fan fiction!) With college and marriage, writing was mostly put on hold.

That changed about fifteen years ago when the writing bug bit again. For a decade fan fiction was the main focus, but this provided practice and helped develop skills needed to write original works. A visit to the Mission San Luis Rey in California in 2001 and subsequent research became the catalyst to write her first novel,
My House of Dreams
. A fantasy short story was included in an anthology published in 2013 called aMUSEing Tales. Another short story won second place in an online contest.

The author earned her Bachelor’s degree in secondary English and followed that up with a Master’s degree in Instructional Media at Utah State University. She has worked in public school libraries for over thirty years, most recently in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Ms. Kite has been married to the love of her life, Daniel, for over 35 years. They have two children and six grandchildren and are owned by two bossy cats and an opinionated chiweenie-terrier.