Charged - Book One (24 page)

“Let’s go see Collin. He can give you something that
will control the pain if it happens again.”

I got up and gave Aaron my normal nod that everything
was fine, but then I was stuck in the moment of what had just
happened. She had done the same thing to Aaron in the control room
when he was attack by the one of creatures.

“Wait.” I said, grabbing her hands and looking into
them for a moment.

“What was that? That thing you did to my head.”

“I stopped some of your synapses from firing in your
brain. Thus, no pain.”

“Really?”

“I’m better with humans than my own kind and your
brain is all human, still.” She stopped for a moment and was
distracted by the busted table in the center of the room. “I knew
you and Danel were going to argue, but this is ridiculous. You know
I could feel you both the whole time. I think you really hurt
him.”

I didn’t know how to answer her. Clearly, we were
acting like children. I wanted to defend myself, but I didn’t. I
followed her out the door, toward the lab.

“That synapse-halting thing you do. Why didn’t you do
that with my knee when we first got here?”

“If you don’t recall, that first twenty-four hours
were already pretty intense. I don’t think you would’ve let me,”
she said, smiling a little.

She was right. At that time, I wouldn’t have.

“And when I was absorbing Ben?”

“You don’t remember?”

She paused for a second, looking me in the eyes,

“I came in every hour to stop them from firing.” She
then made a sad smile, as if she’d hoped I remembered, but I
didn’t. I tried to recall the same orange light, but nothing
manifested. I had no memories of my change except for pain. I
wanted to pull her to me, hold her, show her my gratitude… but I
didn’t.

“It seemed to help. Just ask Aaron.”

She turned to leave and I quickly grabbed her
hand.

“Thank you.”

WE HEADED TOWARDS Med Lab 12 on the other side of
the station and I was wondering why we weren’t headed to Med Lab 4;
the lab I’d changed in. I could only assume that Collin was working
on analyzing my chromosomes somewhere else on the ship. We headed
down a long corridor and turned left and then another and another.
We passed so many others, human coverts and Tanjennians, that I was
starting to feel like I was in a mall and I was surprised at how
many humans there were.

“I take it no one topside is aware of us yet?” I was
concerned, especially with all the gunfire when Station Ten
arrived.

“There are a few rumors floating around, but nothing
concrete. No photos surfaced on the Web. Station Ten sent mostly
humans, ex-military coverts we recruited. The others didn’t arrive
until a few days later and we had to bring them in after dark. We
got lucky, really. Station Ten informed all the coverts that there
was to be no firing topside unless it was absolutely necessary, so
not much was heard up there,” she said.

“Kye, I’m really sorry I couldn’t save them.”

She stopped in the middle of the corridor and others
had to move around us. She almost seemed angry, but I could sense
it wasn’t at me.

“Danel’s plan was a bad one. There should’ve been at
least one armed person in the main hall. I wished I hadn’t listened
to him. But it had nothing to do with you. I’m still shocked at how
you ran to help my people. You have ten times the courage that he
has. I remember that you told him it was a bad idea, but he didn’t
listen and we lost a lot of precious lives because of it. My only
regret is that I let you go alone, that I never warned you what
happened when they died.”

The sadness in her voice pulled at me and I grabbed
her tiny hand and caressed it for a second. She wasn’t going to let
me blame myself, like I did with so many other things. I guess I
was transparent to her and for some reason it was reassuring.

She started walking again, leading me through another
long corridor and eventually stopped in front of two large metal
doors.

“This is where Collin is studying the remains of the
creatures, so don’t be alarmed; they’re all dead.”

Before I could even protest about being next to those
things, dead or alive, she punched in the code and the giant doors
slid back, revealing a brightly lit room. There were a number of
humans and other Tanjennians, all in white lab coats, working in
the large medical lab. All the creatures were laid out on large
stainless steel examining tables, lined up in a row down the center
of the room. My heart raced and I didn’t want to enter the room,
but they were smaller now, somehow less terrifying. I would’ve been
mortified if they had actually captured one and kept it alive.

Kye walked in and reluctantly I followed her to the
back of the room where Collin was. She was explaining the pain I’d
felt and my eyes locked on the creatures on the tables. I looked to
see if any were moving, even the slightest twitch, but they
weren’t. Some of them were literally blown into pieces. Not one of
them had a complete skull and most were also missing a claw or an
arm. I thought of the one that dropped down in front of me in the
control room. I remembered how his body opened at the center and
the black giant tar-like tongue that darted out and grabbed me. I
grimaced and shuddered at the same time.

Collin handed Kye a bottle of glowing green liquid
for my pain and sent us on our way. I shook Collin’s hand, said
thank you and followed Kye out the door back into the corridor.

“You’re studying the creatures?” I said.

“Yes. We know nothing about them.”

“How do we know that was the last of them? That there
aren’t more coming on another ship?”

She walked a little quicker.

“We don’t.”

AFTER I DRANK the very strong painkiller Collin had
given me, I woke up the next day, thinking about all that had
transpired.

Something just wasn’t right. There were too many lies
from Danel, too many looks of despair in Kye’s eyes. Why didn’t
they just ask Danel about the creatures? He was held captive by
them along with Ben and Alma. More secrets. Alarming scenarios
started to breed in the back of my mind.

I got up and left the room. As I passed the others in
the corridors, I sensed small parts of them. One seemed to shield
himself from me, as if he was afraid. Another seemed concerned
about me and met my gaze with compassion as I passed. His face was
sad; for me, I think. He was Boyd. I didn’t know him well, but I
knew he was Ben’s son. I searched my mind for information about
Boyd. But I wasn’t sure what triggered the pain I felt yesterday
and I didn’t want to relive it, so I tried just skimming the
surface of Ben’s memories. Boyd was different from the rest. His
compassion for others overwhelmed some of them. He was nothing like
Aric, whose self-control was unsurpassed even by Ben himself.

I passed many and the urgency in my walk seemed to
alarm all of them. There seemed to be more of them; a lot more. I
recalled what Ben said the first time we met. “This ship is taboo,
kid.” I guess all that changed when I survived. But I could tell I
wasn’t what they were expecting. There were plenty of faces I
didn’t recognize. I knew they were from Station Ten. They saved us
and from what I could draw from them, they stayed behind to meet
me. I caught a few of them looking at my hands, which hadn’t
changed. There was one who seemed fixed on my hair, something that
none of them had. I tried to slow my pace and guard my emotions and
Ben’s emotions. Not one of them approached me and I didn’t think I
was going to be approachable until I settled things with Danel.

Twenty minutes went by as I searched lab after lab. I
didn’t even know what I was looking for until I heard a soft
whisper in corridor G, which was supposed to be off-limits due to
needed repairs. It was dark and empty and I tried to calm myself
and lightly search out where the whisper came from. I focused,
little by little and it reached out to me again, a light whisper at
the end of the hall. It was Kye, but she wasn’t talking to me. I
don’t think she knew I was here. Her voiced lulled me back into an
utterly relaxed state.

Being as quiet as I could, I followed the
almost-inaudible whispers into a dark medical lab. Staring deep
into the room, I noticed the silhouettes of two figures behind a
dimly-lit frosted glass wall in the back of the room. I focused
again and could hear Kye’s whispers clearly now. My calmness left
me and I grew irritated by the thought that she might be back here
with Danel in some secretive discussion.

“Just a few more moments,” she said.

Then there was a gasp that was definitely
pain-filled. That was all I needed. Five more quick steps and I was
staring at Kye’s back. She heard me half a second later and turned
around so quickly I thought she would fall over. She steadied
herself and there was actually relief in her face when she saw
me.

She stepped aside to let me see who she was talking
to: it was Collin. He was noticeably in pain, lying back on a large
examining table. He was gasping over and over again. His shirt was
off and was draped over the end of the table. There were large
black marks covering his chest that looked like bruises. Slowly,
they started to fade and he said nothing, staring at me.

I wanted to know what was going on, but no one said
anything. I pushed my emotions out to brush up against Collin, but
I didn’t feel anything but pain, intense pain, so I withdrew. Ben’s
compassion filled me at the sight of Collin. Quickly, I suppressed
it and looked at Kye. I wanted to ask Collin if he was okay, but I
knew he couldn’t speak. It seemed to take all his energy to block
out the others, excluding me and Kye and just breathe. His breaths
were shallow and focused. The purple gills running vertically from
neck to stomach seemed to quiver slightly as he inhaled.

Kye leaned over him and turned on an IV drip filled
with a pink fluid that was going into his hand. Then, he was out.
The creases in his face relaxed and the purple marks on his chest
completely faded. Kye seemed disappointed looking at him, shaking
her head slightly.

“Is he sick? Why are you in this corridor?” I
whispered to her, but she didn’t respond. She seemed stuck in the
moment, looking at Collin intensely. So I got impatient and said
something stupid.

“Are you trying to breed with him?”

Her expression clearly said no and I no longer felt
threatened, just stupid. I tried to quickly correct myself.

“What I mean is… that I can’t stop thinking about you
and worrying about the things you don’t say.”

This was honest, but not planned. It was a surefire
way to push her away if she still didn’t want to tell me
everything. I thought about all the conversations we had and none
of them seemed to reveal what was really bothering her or what
caused the sadness that seemed to envelop her. All I had was the
vague understanding that she was somehow bound to Danel. I guess I
believed it would fade now that I was more like her, more like her
people and that I wouldn’t ever be leaving.

“I can’t breed, remember.” Her face was emotionless
as the words left her lips, answering my original question. “But if
I could, it wouldn’t be with Collin; he’s like a brother.” Her
expression softened a little; as she sighed deeply, the blue and
purple veins under her translucent skin moved inward, fading
slightly. I could sense her grief. I slowly clasped her soft small
hands into mine. She squeezed my hands and looked into my eyes, as
if she desperately wanted to say something, something dreadful.

“What are you doing here with Collin?” My voice was
full of compassion and love. Time seemed to crawl in that moment of
silence as she contemplated what to say.

“I’m just trying to free myself, that’s all,” she
said, tightening her squeeze on my hands.

“From me?”

“No… to you.” This confirmation of her feelings
verbally did alleviate some of my doubts, but just augmented my own
confusion of her connection with Danel.

“I don’t understand.” I pulled her closer and she
melted against my chest and buried her face into it. She was
already with me. And I was happy, but the statement itself just
furthermore affirmed she was not wholly mine.

“It’s Danel. He won’t let you go, will he?”

She looked up and her eyes betrayed her. Her face was
completely changed and I was getting mad.

“It’s not like that. It’s complicated.”

“Do you love him?” I knew she felt something for him;
I could sense it in her and I almost regretted asking.

“Lew, he’s my father… my mentor, my—” She paused and
then just stopped.

“Then, is it you? Can you let go of him?”

“I did many years ago. That’s not the issue.”

So it was Danel. I could feel my anger grow and she
was acutely aware of what I was feeling.

“Lewis, we are connected, me and Danel,” she said,
almost fearfully. She was trying to explain something to me. As if
hurting Danel would in turn somehow hurt her. I didn’t want to hurt
him. I just wanted him to leave us alone. I wanted him to leave her
alone. But she said nothing to explain the secrecy of her meeting
Collin here. She divulged nothing that would explain how she was
bound to Danel. The only understanding I could muster was that she
was trying to break that invisible hold that Danel had over her and
somehow Collin could help her do this. I was guessing, but I felt
pretty confident in my assumptions.

“He should have let me die a long time ago,” she
whispered.

This statement utterly confused me. This made me
angry with Danel and I wasn’t completely sure why. Yet I was
certain that Danel was in control of what tied them together. To
me, it looked like if Kye could’ve broken this link, she would’ve
done it years ago. I couldn’t push her for more information; she
would explain it to me in her own time. I held her tightly, knowing
that she was trapped by him somehow.