Experiment (Hybrid Book 2) (26 page)

The boy’s eyes lit up, and he repeated Darin’s name several times. Eventually, Darin had to place a finger on his lips to quieten him.

He’d heard horror stories about how Dakarans were treated by other species. It seemed that familiar abilities amongst his kind were unknown by others, so secrecy was always required.

As an inexperienced sub-adult, Darin decided that observation of the planet’s population before revealing himself was the intelligent option. He might be alone on an alien world, but these were the boy’s people, and he might have still have living family. Certainly humans were far more prolific according to the records that his own species. It was probably why the ruling clan council of the Dakaran worlds were so concerned about the rate humanity were spreading across the galaxy.

So far, they humans had not ventured into Dakaran space, but political debates about how to handle the situation had been one of the reasons Darin’s family had sent him away. The D’Ahanal clan advocated getting to know other alien races. They were considered radicals by the most traditional clans. Other clans proposed extreme changes to the way they reproduced to increase their population so they could compete or even conquer other sentient species.

For the first time in his life, Darin realised the Dakaran politics did not matter. In the space of what seemed like less than a day, life had changed from academic debates and political threats on a global scale, to the life of this brave alien child who was relying on him.

If there was one thing he was certain of, it was that the child would be better off with his own kind. He was not entirely sure how humans managed their offspring, but for dakarans, it was a co-operative effort, not one that could be done by an individual, especially a lone adolescent male of another species who did not even speak his language. It meant taking the child back to his own kind, and the sooner the better.

After packing a small bag with food and water from the ship, they set off. The journey to the settlement took three days. Darin could have gone quicker alone, but Rustek only had small legs, and he needed a great deal of rest. Rest that could apparently only occur when he was cuddled up against Darin’s chest. Humans appeared to be a very tactile species.

Each night, Darin had found a suitable tree and carried the child aloft to prevent attacks by the large predators he could scent around them. He had settled into a fork of a tree each with the boy sleeping on his lap, and he’d managed to doze a little himself.

On that first morning, Rustek had obviously decided that it was his responsibility to teach Darin his language. As they walked, Rustek pointed out various objects, and mimed actions. Darin laughed out loud when Rustek had tried to demonstrate the human words for ‘female’ by miming breasts and wiggling his backside as he walked.

Through considerable effort for both of them Darin finally established that the planet they were on was called Teora and that Rustek’s female parent was called ‘Mother’ and in the settlement they were approaching. As they neared the settlement, Rustek’s excitement increased at the same rate as Darin’s concern.

Revealing himself to the rest of the population was not something he felt comfortable with, certainly not now, maybe not ever. He just wanted to get back to the ship and make a more thorough inventory of the damage. It might even be possible to send a message home with some repairs on the communications system.

“Come on Darin, they won’t hurt you, you’re my friend,” Rustek said as he tugged on his hand.

Darin was far less confident about the influence of a young child on the authorities of his world. Human and Dakaran interaction had been minimal and entirely one way. To his knowledge, humanity was not even aware that his species existed as none of the few humans his people had come across had ever been allowed to return to human space.

He had a good idea that if the human authorities found out about him, he would lose what little choices he currently still had. His people had not been cruel to the captured humans, but they had not let them leave either. Expecting to be treated any better would be folly.

Being a captive of humanity might be a better option than being a slave/food item for garians, or it could be a great deal worse, if that was possible. At least he and Rustek seemed to eat the same sort of food. Staying out of the way of either alien race would be a far better plan.

Focusing on Rustek’s needs had, at least, taken his mind off what might be happening to Panaya. As she was pregnant, she would require the attention of sufficient males to maintain the pregnancy. He was not sure if he hoped there were other dakaran males on board the garian ship or not. If there were, it would mean Panaya would birth her children. Children who would live as slaves. The captured garian back home had boasted about breeding human slaves, and he hated the thought of Panaya being the start of generations of slaves who would never know their own culture.

The fact that Rustek seemed to enjoy the rations from his ship made Darin wonder if they were compatible in other ways. Could human males maintain a dakaran pregnancy? Would Panaya react to any human females as rivals? Telling himself that there was nothing he could do about it, did not halt his mind whirling every moment that Rustek did not demand his attention.

The boy finally grabbed his hand and started to pull him down the widening track, shouting as he did so. An older adult female carrying a basket appeared ahead of them. Darin immediately faded, although the boy still had hold of his hand. The woman exclaimed, dropped the basket, and ran towards them with her arms open as she shrieked Rustek’s name.

Darin pulled his hand away from the boy’s grasp just as the female swept him up into her arms and turned, almost running down the track with him. Darin followed, slowly and silently as he concentrated on maintaining the fade as he walked. Until he found a more appropriate carer for his charge, the boy was his responsibility, and he wanted to see if Rustek made it back to ‘mother’. It was irrational, but somehow seeing one family reunited felt as if the sacrifices of his friends had not been in vain.

As a child, he had often wondered about the usefulness of his gift. Other males possessed increased strength, or an unnerving aptitude with technology or beasts or weapons. Some could tell if another was lying, or could influence others with their words. Darin could become invisible. Unfortunately, once his family had worked that out, it had proved fairly pointless, as they detected his presence by sound or scent.

Whatever the special talent a male possessed, it was paltry compared to females. The scientists said it was due to the genes for the abilities being carried on the x chromosome, and as females had two, their abilities were stronger.

A mature female with his ability would have been able to fade to the extent that she would be able to walk through solid objects or cloak whole buildings or even a spaceship if she touched them. Darin could only make himself invisible for short periods, and then only if he really concentrated. His proficiency would likely increase with age and dedicated practice. Under his present circumstances, he could see a great deal of practice in his future.

The female carrying Rustek soon attracted other curious humans as she rushed into the settlement, still calling out. If there was one thing he’d found out about humans, it was that they were noisy. It was highly unlikely that anyone would hear him in this environment, but if someone touched him, it would likely disturb his concentration enough that he would be revealed.

As he kept well to the rear of the growing group, he was seriously starting to regret following the boy. The woman carrying Rustek reached a large wooden building with a sign bearing a picture of a beautiful sea cove and her cries brought forth another woman from the building.

The new human’s face froze in shock as Rustek wriggled out of the arms holding him. The boy ran to the new woman shouting ‘Mother’. The woman cried tears of joy as she went to her knees and hugged her son as he threw himself into her arms.

A wave of grief and loneliness washed over Darin. Even though he was standing still, he briefly lost his hold on the fade. He re-established it quickly, but as he was standing in the shadow of a building, and all eyes were focused on the reunited pair, no one had noticed him.

The tiny remnants of this family were reunited, and he supposed the whole planet would soon know what had befallen the ship if they did not know already. He hoped his own part would be dismissed as the fantasy of a traumatised child, but there was nothing he could do about Rustek talking.

He was happy for the feisty little boy, but his own position was far more unclear. He had no idea if his immediate family still lived, or if the one remaining member of the group he’d been travelling with was still alive. Even the length of time he had been in stasis was unknown.

Niun had said Panaya was pregnant, but not how far along she was. Twenty days or twenty weeks could have passed. The reminder of Panaya had him turning back towards the forest and the crashed ship. If he could get communications back on line, it would be a start.

As he turned to leave, he heard his name being called. Rustek was staring right at him, beckoning for him to come closer. Darin hastily checked that the fade was still in place by looking at his hand.

Somehow, the boy could see through his cloak. Darin waved and hastily made his way back to the forest. In order to fulfil his promise to find Panaya, he first had to survive and stay free.