HASH: Human Alien Species Hybrid (7 page)

“This is for an experiment, ma’am?”

“Exactly.”

“So, you’ll have put in the paperwork and all that? If I just check…”

Aric was fast. Almost faster than I could believe. Strong, too. His fist only swung around once, and then the guard was on the ground. He was still breathing, but for a moment or two, it was difficult to be sure.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Dr. Stevens insisted.

“Yes, he did.” Em looked rapt. “That was amazing.”

I looked from one to the other of them, then at Aric. He hadn’t ever looked quite as alien as in that moment. I shook my head. “We need to get out of here.”

“Yes, of course.” Dr. Stevens still looked a little rattled as she used her security card on the electronic reader. I could understand the feeling. I had the excitement of potential freedom bubbling through me, but I wasn’t enjoying this violence the way Em seemed to be enjoying it. I wasn’t ready to hurt people like Aric just had. Suddenly, this all seemed very real.

The doors slid back with a slow, silent grind of hydraulics. We stepped through them, into probably the largest space I’d ever been in. I could barely see the far walls, while the space in between was filled with row after row of crates. Supplies, materials for experiments, or things they’d taken from ships like the one Aric had arrived on, I didn’t know.

There were air vents at regular intervals along the walls. At the far end, where Dr. Stevens led us, there was a semicircular section protruding from the wall. A tube leading up, with doors at the bottom locked by another electronic system, this time connected to a keypad. Dr. Stevens punched in a number.

Nothing happened.

She tapped it in again. Still nothing. I saw her hands slap down at the keypad.

“Someone has changed the code.”

“
Ah.
”

Even from that one syllable, I recognized the voice. Professor Ahern stepped out from behind one of the nearby shelves, accompanied by half a dozen security guards with Startech logos on their shirts. All of them had their guns drawn. “I’m afraid that would be me.”

We were caught and I was scared. I didn’t know if we should run or surrender and after two seconds, I didn’t have a choice. Aric grabbed both Dr. Stevens and me by the arms and dragged us back in the direction of the nearest shelving.

Em stood with her hands on her hips as if she’d stand between Professor Ahern and us. But, of course, neither Professor Ahern nor her puppets could see Em’s stance of bravery.

“Are you actually going to try and outrun us?” The sarcasm in Professor Ahern’s voice was all but oozing.

“They’re children. Let them go.” Dr. Stevens kneeled down next to us from a location where we could see over a few boxes directly at Startech’s goons.

“They are
not
people, Stevens! They are extraterrestrial beings that could cause havoc if they’re released into the world.”

“Jade is human!”

“Jade is contaminated! And you’re aiding and abetting which might be considered treason by the government, should this attempted escape action leak out past Startech.”

Dr. Stevens glanced at Aric and me and then focused back on Professor Ahern. “This is inhumane.”

“There you go with that humane stuff again. You’ve let your emotions become vested in a project, Stevens. You’re destroying your credentials and career because of two subjects that should have been terminated long ago. We don’t need them anymore and knowing that, you’re willing to throw away everything?”

Em now flickered near us, her hands on her hips. “Hey, what does she mean she doesn’t need us? I thought they wanted you two for breeding.”

My heart was racing and my eyes wide when I responded to Em. “Yeah, you showed me the emails and documents that said they needed us to have a baby?”

Em shrugged.

Dr. Stevens reached over and grabbed my arm. “Jade, Startech had a breakthrough last night. They were able to find a way to clone Aric using his DNA and so, they don’t need you two. The only thing they need is the metal from your back and the metal from Aric. I read the email just after you left my office. This is why I thought I should get you out
today
.”

“They’re not taking either one of us,” Aric said.

“So, what’s it going to be, Stevens?” Professor Ahern yelled out. “You want to come out and do this the peaceful way, or are we going in there to get the subjects that Startech paid good money for?”

“Doctor?” Aric said. “Where’s the vial of my blood? Where is the room where they discovered they could clone me?”

“It’s on the other side of the facility. It’s under maximum security and lockdown. You’ll never get it.”

“I’ve no choice. My DNA map holds more information than you humans realize.”

Em maneuvered to Dr. Stevens’ other side. “He’s right. It’s dangerous and deadly for them to clone Aric. They don’t have certain elements from our planet that would make the clone compassionate and obedient. Aric has to get that vial of blood and any other blood that the Institute might have.”

“That’s impossible! That’s sixteen years of testing.” Dr. Stevens glanced from us back to Professor Ahern.

“Then we destroy this place and everything in it.” Em flickered again.

Aric stood up. “No, my ship is here. It’s the only way we can get back.”

I stood, upset that he was so quick to think about leaving. “Get back where? You grew up here. This is where you belong.”

Dr. Stevens stood. “We need a game plan. We can worry about the semantics of all of this later, but right now, if they capture either of you, they will kill you.”

Aric stepped closer to me and pulled me into his arms. Comforted by this familiar place against his chest, I wasn’t sure what happened when I heard a shot ring out.

All I know is that I watched Dr. Stevens body fly through the air and hit the wall hard, leaving a trail of blood as she slid down the wall to her butt on the ground.

Slow motion. Everything moved so slow that I heard another bullet whiz past our heads and I heard Professor Ahern’s voice in contralto yell, “Cease fire! Cease fire. Tranquilizers only!”

Aric already had me to the ground, was covering my body when a sharp-pointed tranquilizer hit the stuccoed wall.

Aric’s voice was rugged and angry. I saw the metal on his arm flowing like a river of silver contained in the walls of his arms. I even heard him growl, but I was too scared to look up and see what was going on.

I could hear Em next to Dr. Stevens, assessing her injuries and yelling them out to Aric. I looked up to see if Dr. Stevens was okay, but four more tranquilizer darts whizzed past our heads and stuck into various items, including boxes and crates.

“Wait here,” Aric whispered in my ear.

“Don’t go. Please,” I begged.

Aric reached up and pulled a whole section of shelving over as effortlessly as if it were made of cardboard. Crates clattered to the ground in front of us, some of their contents spilling out, creating the closest thing to a barricade that we could get.

In my panic, I crawled over to Dr. Stevens and grabbed her hand. She moved her head slowly to the side to look at me and she smiled, a slow forced smile. She had her right hand pressed down on her wound and dark blood was seeping through her fingers and spreading over her lab coat.

“You’re hurt. You’re hurt bad. Do something, Em.”

“What can I do? I can’t
do
anything.” Em kneeled beside Dr. Stevens on the other side.

Dr. Stevens kept her eyes on me. “It’s okay,” she said, breathless, swallowing back tears and emotion. “I need you to listen to me.”

“Okay.” I quickly glanced back to make sure Aric was okay and I could see he was grabbing those nasty darts out of the air and throwing them back at the guards with such force that a few guards were hit and were now on the ground. I returned my attention to Dr. Stevens.

“Jade, you have to promise me you’ll do whatever you have to do to get out of here. When you do, you need to get to a small town called Rutherford. There’s a man there, a teacher by the name of Dieter Copeland. He’ll help you both.”

“You’re talking…” I swallowed. “You’re talking like you won’t be coming with us.”

“Do whatever you need to do, Jade.” Dr. Stevens closed her eyes. “And that includes leaving me behind, if you have to. Em, I know you can hear me. Can you get the door?”

Em looked over at us. The tears in her eyes mirrored mine. I hadn’t known that she could cry. “I will try.”

Dr. Stevens closed her eyes and with small catches in her breath, she didn’t say anything else.

Em stared at Dr. Stevens and tried to run her hand over her forehead, but it went through her.

I felt the panic in my throat grow thicker. “Em, the door!” I nearly yelled.

Before Em took off, Professor Ahern had stopped her guards and called out to us, “Miriam, this is foolish. Are any of you hurt?”

Dr. Stevens didn’t answer, so I had to. “Dr. Stevens has been shot. She’s hurt.”

“Then let us help her, Jade. Let us come through there and get her to the medic.”

Aric shook his head. He didn’t need to.

“I might have lived all my life in one room, but that doesn’t mean I’m stupid,” I shouted back. “We’re not letting you through, just so you can hurt us more. We know your plans. We know it all.”

“I’m trying to avoid hurting you. You heard me tell security to stop firing.”

“If we die, the metal dies. You want us alive so you can rip it from us and use it on your clone once you’ve cloned Aric. I’ve read your computer files.”

There was a pause, obviously, as Professor Ahern considered her options.

“Yes, Startech wants the metal so we can research things that will help people, Jade. Imagine what it will do, if we can use metal that is smart in order to help those who have lost limbs and give them the chance to walk again, or hold their kids again. Imagine the good we can do for those who are dying because of some crippling disease.”

“Why do you have to kill us to help others?”

“Luck of the draw, Jade. Sacrifice yourself in order to help millions. It’s a beautiful thing. We’ve kept you safe here for all these years; don’t you think you should give back to the world?”

Aric narrowed his eyes at me. “She’s trying to play on your human emotions. Block her out, Jade.”

Professor Ahern took a step toward us. “How’s Miriam? She’s a great doctor and you’re letting her die. Do you think that kind of behavior warrants you to be saved as a person? People have compassion for those who have loved them and cared for them all these years. Where’s your
human
compassion?”

I squeezed my eyes tight, trying to ignore her words, but they were maneuvering through my mind like a freight train and destroying my common sense and logic.

“Let us help her, both of you. You can see that this escape attempt is over, so why draw it out when you’re hurting her by doing it?”

Em snorted. “Can you believe her, talking to us like she’s our friend? Once I get that door open…” Her expression creased in concentration.

Professor Ahern sighed. “We cannot allow you to get to the surface, Jade. Neither of you, but particularly not you. The security personnel will open fire again if you try it. I have no control over that.”

“Because you’re all about trying to protect me and not just dissect me, right?”

Aric was still trying to find a way out. He made his way to the back wall of the aisle. There was an air vent there, one of the large ones scattered throughout the storage area. He was looking at it thoughtfully.

“I won’t lie to you, Jade. When I got here, I considered doing exactly that. I forgot that you are a young woman, as well as a test subject. But I have seen more of you since I got here, and I understand now why Dr. Stevens has been so eager to help you, even if she has gone about it in a…misguided way.”

“Em,” Aric asked, hooking his fingers into the grill of the vent, “Can you get that door or not?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think I have the power from here and they have something stopping me from moving away from Jade.”

“Jade,” Professor Ahern said, and again she sounded oh-so-reasonable, “I want to protect you and Aric. We will find a way to remove the implants without hurting the two of you.”

“Lies!”

“If you go up to the surface, you will die. You’ll experience a technology overload in her nervous system and you won’t survive.”

They’d told me the same thing so many times here. Yet, it was a lie. Wasn’t it? “Dr. Stevens wouldn’t take me up there if that were going to happen. I’m as human as anyone else is. It’s not like I can’t breathe the air.”

Professor Ahern’s voice changed volume as she changed position. She stepped into the aisle we were in, letting me see her. She didn’t have any security guards with her.

“Dr. Stevens obviously decided that the risk was worth it in what she believed to be extreme circumstances, but the risk is still there, Jade. The device implanted into you wants to grow and connect exponentially. It wants power. Yet, that power comes at the expense of you, Jade. Your personality. Your existence.”

Em appeared beside Professor Ahern, as if to scold her. “That is so not true. Why are we listening to this psycho, Jade? We should be opening the doors and getting out of here. Um…I’m going to need a bit more power to do that, though.”

Professor Ahern went on. “The device is designed for use with alien creatures, not with humans. The Institute has always believed that you are not strong enough to fully control it, Jade. That it would obliterate you if it came to the surface. That is why it is necessary to contain you.”

I shook my head. “You’re lying.”

“Am I? Dr. Stevens’ files indicate that you see an avatar of the implant as some kind of twisted reflection of yourself.”

This time, Em poked her in the chest. “Hey!”

“Is it a reflection of you, though? Or have you merely grown to be a reflection of it? May I come over and help Dr. Stevens?”

That question came seemingly out of nowhere and I nodded without thinking about it. I didn’t trust Professor Ahern, but if she was willing to help Dr. Stevens, I’d let her.

Em didn’t seem anywhere near as happy. “What are we messing around for? We need to get out of here, Jade. Come on, I need your help to open the door. Just open yourself to me so I can do this.”

“Why?” I couldn’t help thinking of what Professor Ahern had just said. “So you can control me?”

“What? You’re listening to her now? Come on, Jade. I just want enough power to—”

“What? Get out of here? Grow a little more? I’ve felt you changing on my back, Em. You never told me why.”

Em shrugged. “I’m not sure. Look, if you don’t want to let me in, maybe I can connect with Aric’s metal so we can get free of this lunatic.”

“No. Just listen to me for…ow!” I stopped as something sharp jabbed into me. I’d only turned my back on Professor Ahern for a second to argue with Em, but that seemed to have been plenty of time for her to pull a needle from the pocket of her coat, stick it in me, and press the plunger.

I understood then.