Sex or Suffer [Dark Colony 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (3 page)

“Fine. But make sure you bring the poison along when you bring Karl. I’m not having sex with him again to stop the pain if your cure doesn’t work on me.”

Penelope nodded, said a silent prayer. She retrieved vial attached to the hypo jet shot filled with the last cure from her pocket. Surreptitiously, she blocked the camera and put the pressure device against Alice’s upper arm. She released the final dose to cure the dreaded and horrifying SOS Virus.

Seconds after the cure released in her system, Alice smiled. Penelope smiled in return.

Alice giggled. “Well, that didn’t hurt at all. I feel good.”

“That’s great. Why don’t you try to rest? I’ll be back later.”

“Okay, but don’t forget your promise.”

Penelope forced a smile onto her lips. “I won’t. Now get some sleep.”

“I mean it Dr. Drake.” Alice cackled with glee making Penelope wonder if there was a mood enhancing drug mixed with the SOS cure.

She turned to go but Alice grabbed her arm. With a huge smile plastered on her face, she added, “If you don’t bring poison when you come later, I’ll find another way to kill myself. Please make my death more humane.”

Penelope nodded and patted her arm. “Let’s hope for the best, okay? Perhaps when I bring Karl back you’ll be completely immune to him.”

Alice exhaled a deep breath. “I hope so.”

Little was known about this virus. It had been dubbed the Sex or Suffer virus by the barbarians who’d developed it more than three hundred years ago. Initially, they’d wanted to find a way to get an opposing force to pay attention. They decided if the women on a conflicting army writhed in agony and begged for sex, it would be a means to not only demean a populace in the worst possible way, but strongly distract the male forces of opposition during planet conquests.

When Dr. Ledreder had assigned her this case only two days ago, he brought her the only information available in the form of an old marketing slide show video of limited and dubious validity created to promote this horrible disease. He also assigned two patients, Cora and Alice, for her to study. He tasked her with finding another cure as the only one available wasn’t one hundred percent effective.

Penelope had accidentally discovered the two doses of SOS cure on her own last night after sneaking into the Bravura Science Lab’s pharmaceutical vault.

Once the virus had been in the victim’s system for longer than sixty days and acclimated to the body’s cellular structure, it became permanent. At least it’s what the barbarian’s archaic digital video slide show reported as truth.

Penelope hadn’t been able to confirm this information on her own. She barely understood the rudimentary process of how the virus worked. Once she got the information on Alice’s results after the shot of cure, whatever they were, Penelope planned to bury herself in her lab and work non-stop until she found a cure. She made it a goal to keep Alice from suicide.

* * * *

Penelope didn’t linger in Alice’s room. Damon buzzed her I-link communicator from the observation room, so she went back to see what he wanted. She suspected she knew
exactly
what he wanted and put a stranglehold on her anger.

Picking a fight with Damon wasn’t a good idea, his powerful family lived in the most prestigious circles on Bravura and associated with the richest of the rich. Besides, it might be a career ending move. She only sought positive progress for her livelihood.

Once she stepped her foot inside the room, he started asking questions.

“Did you give it to her?” he asked. “The last dose?”

Penelope wished she hadn’t confided in him. “Yes. It’s supposed to work in less than an hour. I’ll give her at least four hours and then we’ll test her with Karl again.”

Damon zipped around the room like a wildcat doped up on speed and pinging off the walls. Suddenly very fatigued, Penelope sat down at the only table in the space. Seeing a small water spot on the desk, she wiped it away with the palm of her hand before putting her file down. Damon shook his head and an amused expression crossed his face. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Dr. Penny.”

“We’ll know in a few hours.”

He picked up an I-link box from the table. “This message came for you while you talked with Alice.” He handed her the small silver container. “It’s from the Interplanetary Alliance Coalition.” From the awestruck tone of his voice, the return address apparently impressed Damon.

He handed her the shoebox-sized container as if it were the sacred jewel encrusted scepter of the Chantilly, the ruling party on the planet, Bravura, where they resided. The return address listed her older brother, Philip’s name. He held a lofty position as a very junior assistant to the political manager of the Alliance Coalition’s top man, Governor Brawley. Philip’s position wasn’t the top spot, or even near it, but with respect to the lowly origins of her and her brother’s humble birth place, any nebulous link to Governor Brawley was considered an impressive accomplishment.

She grabbed one end of the box, but Damon held tight, not giving it up. In a tight low whisper, he caught her eye and said, “You may regret giving Alice the last dose, but just remember, I’m here to help out if you need me.” His eyes glittered and a smug grin formed.

Jerking the message box from his tight grasp, she didn’t respond, not believing for a second he gave a shit about helping her unless it was into bed. She’d rather slit her wrists than to lower herself by sleeping with Damon.

Penelope retreated to her private office for peace to get a few hours to work on a plan for either the success of the cure or the failure for Alice and any repercussions. The message from her brother was perfunctory like all his previous mail. She loved that Philip sent her a note each week, but he never really said much. His job was fine. His apartment was fine. His life was fine. He was fine. They both lived fine lives.

She placed the box on her desk and made a mental note to return it with the same message “she” always sent. She loved her job. She loved her apartment. She loved her life. It reassured her brother and kept him from worrying.

For the most part what she said was true. Oftentimes the only negative fact in her life was that she got lonely. The opportunity to meet men hadn’t materialized with her crushing workload. And that was okay too, because she did love her job. She watched for possible contenders in the very limited time she enjoyed away from her job. So far no one had inspired her to take a further look, but she was hopeful.

When enough hours had passed for the cure to have taken effect, Penelope gathered her things and headed back to Alice’s room. Peeking into the observation room, she noted Alice slept. Penelope exhaled in realization of the first nebulous hope the cure had worked.

From her limited study of the original test victims on the digital video from the barbarians’ own test studies, Alice’s slumber was a good sign. Many SOS victims weren’t able to sleep longer than a couple hours at a time. Others slept endlessly, the virus impacted diverse women in a variety of different ways.

Alice endured nightmares on both nights of her stay from all of the different men she’d had sex with before arriving at Bravura. Her painful symptoms had accelerated quickly, but her friend Cora had manifested slower and less obvious symptoms before the virus gave her pain. The virus was troubling in that it impacted different women at different paces and with varying degrees of pain. But in the end the emotional factor had a hand in each female’s ultimate fate.

No woman wanted to be sexually dependent on a man for this most personal of acts. Not forever.

The timepiece on the wall made a sudden sound which signaled the hour. Glancing up, Penelope realized if she wanted something to eat, she’d have to hurry. The café, Nikki’s Place, across the street to the science facility closed in less than an hour. Since Alice slept peacefully, she decided to grab something to quench her growing hunger before she brought Karl back for testing.

She didn’t want to watch the impact of the virus again on an empty stomach if the cure hadn’t worked. Penelope put a plan into her brain for that eventuality. If the virus cure she had
didn’t
work, she’d put Alice into a medically assisted coma until she could figure out what to do about her condition.

Penelope left a note for Damon and hurried to the exit on the first floor of the science building where she’d worked for the past three years. Up to now she enjoyed her job, this case notwithstanding. Her studious upbringing had paid off and her family enjoyed the benefits of a child earning good pay as a scientist. Her brother also had done well for himself. She made a mental note to write a message in response to his communication when she got back with her dinner.

The street before the Science building was eerily quiet as she pushed through the glass doors to the sultry night air. The buzz of her communications device startled her as she released the door and stepped outside.

Penelope took a deep breath of evening air before answering her I-link. “Dr. Drake,” she responded, hoping this call wouldn’t keep her from a good meal tonight.

“It’s Damon. Where are you? I thought you were coming back to check on the cure you gave Alice.”

Penelope rolled her eyes and held her tone in check before answering. “Alice is sleeping. I didn’t want to disturb her. I’m on my way to get a bite to eat before we do another test.”

“Where are you going? I’ll meet you. We can have dinner together or whatever else appeals to us.” Damon’s persistent requests to further their relationship made Penelope a little annoyed. She could only rebuff his advances and laugh them off, reiterating that his family would never approve of her as a spouse.

“Who says I’m looking for a mate,” he’d always say and laugh uproariously, insisting in the next breath he was only kidding. His father, an Alliance Coalition High Committee member and former military hero, enjoyed respect and authority in his position.

While being a scientist was considered a generous step up for Penelope as a career path, she suspected it was a huge step down for Damon and his illustrious family.

Damon had mentioned a loathing of all things military even though it was one of the most prestigious professions on Bravura. Either way, she wasn’t remotely interested in him romantically.

“No. I won’t be out long. Stay there and watch over Alice. I’ll be back in thirty minutes.”

“Fine. I still can’t believe you used the last dose of cure on her. What if someone else comes in with the SOS virus? What if it’s someone important?”

Penelope didn’t want to rehash this argument. “Drop it, Damon. It’s done. I can’t change it, and I wouldn’t even if I could.”

“Okay, Dr. Penny don’t get your panties in a wad. Call me and I’ll meet you in the observation room when you get back from your lonely dinner.”

Penelope closed her eyes and grimaced at his use of the nickname she hated. “Fine.” She hung up without any pleasantries and strolled inside the nearly empty bar.

It was Penelope’s favorite place partly because the owner was a woman. In fact, many women frequented the place which cut down on all the propositions she usually got from desperate men when she went into other drinking establishments.

An occasional date might be nice, but her work was the predominant force in her life and never more so than with this horrible virus. Lonely or not, she wasn’t really looking for a mate or to settle down. She worked too hard to be distracted.

The only downside to being a scientist in her dream job was Damon. She had to be on guard to keep him from riling her emotions. She loved her job regardless of Damon and all his inappropriate behavior.

Given his connections, Penelope didn’t dare make a formal complaint against him. If any disputes were realized, she would be the one fired in any test of wills between them. She was lucky to have this job. She was continually reminded of her ignoble birth nearly every day, but only by those crass enough to care about class and familial history.

Not everyone had a bigoted attitude. Her boss, Dr. Ledreder, for instance was very tolerant. He’d been the one to search beyond the borders for anyone with the aptitude for science. She’d been one of fifteen candidates invited to the golden city for training. Likely her older brother had lent his assistance in the process. He told her he merely helped get the invitation. She’d won her place in the science field with her sharp mind and a willingness to work hard.

Top of her class, Penelope had graduated with honors including a position at this premier Science lab. She lived very frugally and with the credits she earned, she sent care packages to the family she’d left behind.

Penelope shook off the despair of missing her family and entered her home away from home. Nikki’s Place was the first restaurant she’d eaten at on this side of the border. After three years, it was still the only place she ate when not in her tiny apartment.

Busy pouring a cup of coffee in front of the only other patron, Nikki glanced at her wrist watch and winked, “I didn’t think you were going to make it tonight, Dr. Drake. Want to take a walk on the wild side and get something different for a change?” She put the slim coffee pot back on the laser warmer and approached.

Penelope laughed. Nikki always cheered her up. “I’ll just stick with my usual sandwich.” She’d had as much
wild side
as she could handle for one night and still had to face one more test with Alice. “Could you wrap it to go? I know you’re about to close.”