Jaci's Experiment (16 page)

***

The fire that erupted from her console burned her fingers, but that was the least of Jaci’s worries as her small craft plummeted toward the trees. She’d managed to dodge the patrol ship and it had spun on a vector over the ridgeline, thankfully out of sight at the moment, but they’d gotten off a few shots in their mad scramble and more than one had hit Jaci’s ship. It was going down. There was nothing she could do but to try to steer it to a more controlled crash, but she was definitely going to crash. Jaci said a quick goodbye to her men in the privacy of her mind as the first tree branches buffeted the sides of her vessel, eliciting metallic pings, bangs and shrieks as she hurtled toward the earth below. She was thrown from side to side, the harness digging into her shoulders and thighs, but keeping her from hitting anything vital on the crunching shards of metal that were cascading all around.

She screamed as a thin sheet of jagged hull imploded and sliced into her upper arm. She screamed again as the craft bounced off a giant tree trunk and careened into another on its way down to the ground. She knew the crashing rebounds slowed her descent, but each bone-jarring thud sent her careening off into dizzying spins that threatened to pull her right out of the safety harness.

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The noise was deafening. So much so that she could no longer hear her own screams, though she was certain she still pled for mercy from the horrific twists and turns of the crumpling metal.

When the clash of the hull made a swift and final boom on the pine needle-strewn floor of the forest, the very last thing Jaci noted was the blessed silence.

***

“Sweetheart, where are you?” Michael’s voice came to her out of the mists of her unconscious.

“I’m here,” she whispered into the darkness.

Moments later there was light and warmth as Michael’s arms cradled her against his chest. David was there too, his hands on her head and his warmth at her back. She felt the worry in both of them, but was powerless to reassure them. Her head was swimming and even in the dreamstate, she felt pain radiating up her leg.

“This is a dream, right?” She asked just to be sure. Everything was fuzzy. “You’re not really here?”

“I wish we were,” David said next to her ear. “I would give anything to touch you. To heal you. What happened, Jaci? You’re in pain. We can tell.”

“Ship crashed.”

“What ship?” Michael asked, cupping her cheeks as David soothed her with gentle hands sliding over her head, neck and back.

“Mara 12 found out about me. Hara warned me and gave me the codes to a transport. I was…” She gritted her teeth against the pain. “I was going to try to reach you, but a patrol spotted me. Shot at me. I got him back, though, before the crash.”

“Where are you? Where did you crash, love?” Michael’s voice was urgent, but the dream wavered.

“Tried to find the ranch. Thought the O’Haras could help.”

“God! Jaci, stay with me. You’re in the mountains by the O’Hara ranch? Is that right?”

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She nodded, feeling David’s dream hands slip away as she started toward wakefulness. She would rather have stayed with her mates, but the pain was pulling her away, back toward the daylight and the broken ship in which she lay.

“I love you,” she whispered, but she wasn’t sure if they could still hear her.

***

“Did you see where it landed?” Bill asked Sam as they sped through the woods near their campsite. “Crashed would be a more accurate term,” Sam said as he followed right behind. He was strong for a human, silent in the woods and skilled. All in all, Bill didn’t mind having him for company now that they were hiding out together in his aerie.

“It didn’t look like a patrol ship. More like a civilian transport.”

“Either way, we can’t let them find our camp.” Sam’s tone was grim. Bill knew they might have to kill whoever they found, if they weren’t dead already. He hated it, but knew it for the truth. Still, he’d look for any other alternative before he added one more soul to the long list of those who haunted him.

They came upon the wreckage a moment later, approaching cautiously. The hull was still smoking, but it didn’t look like fire was imminent. Bill could make out only one occupant, still strapped into the pilot’s chair of the small craft. A female. And she looked familiar.

He approached cautiously, motioning Sam to stay back.

Terrified, water-filled eyes looked up at him when Bill stepped up to the destroyed ship. He’d never seen such emotion in an Alvian face before and it gave him pause.

“Sinclair Prime.” His old name was a gasp of surprise and dread from the female he’d known briefly in that other life. He saw her thoughts reflected in her eyes. She knew him. Knew what he’d been. Knew there would be no mercy from the man who had been the Council’s top assassin. “Please…” she whispered. “
Teaverda.
”

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“What’s that mean?” Sam stepped up behind him, jumping in where fools fear to tread, as usual. Any hope of keeping the woman in ignorance of Bill’s new life evaporated in that moment.

Bill sighed. “She begs for a final request before I kill her.”

Sam seemed surprised, which made Bill feel somewhat mollified. “But we can’t kill her. She’s
frightened
.”

That one observation changed everything. Bill looked back at the crying girl, realizing the truth of his friend’s words. The Alvian woman was displaying very un-Alvian emotions. Perhaps Bill had been associating with humans too long. It had taken his brain longer to process the obvious clues that something wasn’t quite right with the lab tech he’d known as Jaci.

“What is your
teaverda
, Jaci?” He stepped closer, noting the straps that held her immobile and the odd angle of her right leg. It was most likely broken.

“My…mates.” Her voice trembled. “Please let them know what became of me. Let them know I…love them.”

Bill stooped low to look directly into her eyes. “You feel love?”

Tears fell freely from her eyes as pain slashed over her features. “I do. I feel…so much, Sinclair Prime. I only wish you could understand.”

He watched her reaction for a long moment. He knew what he had to do. Decision made, he reached for his knife, compressing his lips in a grim line as she gasped in fright, but he went on, cutting the restraints from her bruised body as gently and quickly as he could.

“You’re running, aren’t you?” he asked as he lifted her from the pilot’s chair. Her arms automatically went around his shoulders, though her gaze was filled with confusion.

“Yes. The patrol is after me. I damaged their craft and it spun out over the next ridge, but I believe they will regain my trail soon.”

“Then we’d better get the hell out of Dodge,” Sam said from behind them.

“Anything in the ship to give away your identity or location?” Bill asked her as he carried her clear of the wreck.

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“No. I smashed the beacon before I left the city limits. The ship is not mine and I had no luggage.”

“Good girl,” Bill said in approval. He jerked his head toward Sam. “Clear our tracks, friend, and we’ll see about patching her up.”

Bill was rewarded with a huge grin from his friend. Sam had a soft heart and something he called chivalry where females were concerned. They’d discussed women a lot while they sat around the campfire—one in particular. The angel-faced woman who haunted Bill’s dreams and who Sam knew to be the love of his life. A fragile human prisoner named Ruth.

They reached a hidden cave only minutes later. Jaci was shocked to see supplies and bedding that made her conclude the men lived here. Her leg was throbbing so bad she almost lost consciousness several times. In fact, she did pass out when Sinclair Prime jerked her leg to straighten the broken bone.

When she woke, her leg was wrapped and splinted, still throbbing, but manageable. She was propped up on a soft pile of blankets and furs while the men ate. Something was very different here.

The Sinclair Prime she’d known as a young lab tech was not the same man she observed now, consorting with a human and living in secret in the woods. The men spoke in low tones, but she could hear soft laughter from time to time and see Sinclair Prime smile and even look wistful at different points in the conversation. This was not the Alvian Prime she had known. He didn’t even look the same. His hair was long and wild, his face showing emotion the proper Prime had never known.

Sinclair looked over and saw that she was awake. He stood and came to her, his human companion not far behind.

“How are you?” he asked.

“My leg hurts and I feel bruised. It’s what I expected.”

“But I’m guessing I’m not at all what you expected, eh?” Sinclair Prime chuckled, making her gape at his humor. She’d known him for years and never had she seen him 145

smile or laugh. “Things have changed for me, Jaci, as I’d be willing to bet, they have for you.”

Mutely, she nodded.

“You’re a bright girl, Jaci. Surely you knew what was in the skinpatch you gave me all those months ago?”

“The gene-altering agent.” He’d been the first to receive the experimental treatment, she now recalled, but after she’d given him the patch and instructed him on its application, she’d never seen him again. “It worked on you.”

“It did. As, I suspect, it worked on you too. What happened, Jaci? Did Mara 12 make you take the treatment? I always hated that bitch, even when I couldn’t really feel hatred. She played with our lives like a child with its toys.”

Jaci knew the moment of truth had arrived. It was time to come clean with this man—this soldier—who had always treated her well, even when he had no concept of emotion.

“Nothing so sinister, I’m afraid.” She shook her head at her own stupidity. “I accidentally dosed myself when I was preparing a new batch of skinpatches. I didn’t find it until the next day, after it had turned blue. It was stuck to my arm.”

“How long ago?”

“A few weeks.”

“And you’ve hidden your condition all this time?” He seemed impressed, which made her feel oddly better.

“I had help. Two of the human prisoners I tended were able to help me.”

“Are they the mates you spoke of?” Sinclair’s eyes narrowed yet his expression seemed almost…hopeful?

“Yes. David and Michael. Both have been moved to Chief Engineer Davin’s facility. Without them—”

her voice cracked.

“I understand.” Sinclair Prime’s voice was soothing, the hand he put on her shoulder, comforting. After a moment, he moved his hand to her cheek, cocking his head as if 146

listening. “It’s a shame we don’t Hum, Jaci. I always liked you best of all the girls they sent to me.”

She was surprised and touched by his words. “You were kind to me, Sinclair Prime. It was no ordeal to be with you as it was with some of the Primes they sent me to.”

“Hold on a minute,” the human male stepped up behind where Sinclair knelt at her side, his face full of curiosity. “Do you two know each other in the Biblical sense?”

“I don’t know what that means, but if you’re asking if we’ve been intimate, we have.” Jaci looked up at the man, puzzled by his words and his reaction. She didn’t like talking about her past, but it was a fact she could not deny. She’d serviced more than a few Primes as part of her duties in the past. Sinclair Prime had been the nicest of them—until her encounter with Grady Prime—but she’d not talk about that.

“I had five Primes assigned in the collection unit while I was stationed there. I was only there for a few months.”

“How did you feel about it?” Sinclair Prime asked, shooting a look she couldn’t decipher to his companion.

“At the time it was just another duty. Of the five Primes I was assigned, you were by far, the most agreeable. You made certain I had some pleasure of the experience every time, Sinclair Prime, and for that I am thankful.”

Sinclair looked uncomfortable. “Please, Jaci, call me Bill. It’s my name now. Sinclair Prime is dead.”

“I don’t understand.”

“It’s a long story, but to put it as succinctly as possible, I was ordered to assassinate Chief Engineer Davin just after I’d taken the dose. As my emotions began to surface, I found I couldn’t kill him. I gave away my position and expected to be permanently sanctioned for my failure, but Davin and his new family took pity on me. I’ve been living in secret ever since. If the Alvians find me, I’ll be executed. I know too much.”

“And if the humans around here figure out he’s an alien, he’s just as dead,” the human male added. “So we call him Bill and watch his back.”

“You are a kind man,” Jaci said as she looked over Sinclair’s shoulder at his friend.

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The man looked uncomfortable with her praise. “I owe him. Wild Bill here saved my life. The least I can do is help him fit in when we get around people.”

“But we don’t see many people. We live up here in the wilderness,” said Sinclair Prime—no, she must think of him as
Bill
.

“You are fugitives,” Jaci realized.

“Yes, ma’am.” The human male grinned. “My name is Sam, by the way. And I hear him calling you Jaci.

Pretty name.”

“Thank you, Sam. And you, Bill.” She looked at the man she’d known as Sinclair Prime and saw the relief on his face. She thought she felt the beginnings of friendship too.

“I envy your mates, Jaci, as I envy you for having found them.” The sentiment touched her heart as Bill sat back, watching her. “Now we must decide what to do with you. It will be some time before your leg heals and our existence here is tentative at best. When they find the remains of your craft, they’ll search the area.”

“How do you know they haven’t found it already?”

“We put up some telltales—human tech—that should alert us when the crash site is disturbed without tipping our hand to the patrols. We have a bit more time yet, but I’d prefer to be cleared out of here before they start searching the woods in earnest. This cave is well hidden, but if I found it, they could too.”

“I understand,” Jaci didn’t like where this was heading. She was unable to walk and didn’t like the idea of being left behind, but she understood their reasons for wanting to stay hidden.

“No, Jaci.” Bill’s tone made her look up at him. “I don’t think you do. We have a place we may be able to take you. The trip will be hard with your leg the way it is, but it’s something we must do if we all want to make it out of this safely. Do you trust me?”

She thought about that for a moment. The man she’d known as Sinclair Prime was highly skilled and secretive, though she knew he was a top soldier of some sort. He undoubtedly had the knowledge to keep them all as safe as possible. More than that, he’d always been kind to her. Since meeting up with him again, he’d shown her more

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compassion than she’d ever known from an Alvian and seemed to actually care what happened to her.

He was the closest thing she had to a friend among Alvians, sad as that was to say, and she had little choice, injured as she was. She had to trust him.

“I trust you.”

He actually looked relieved. “Good. We’ll leave soon. Sam and I will need a few minutes to police the cave so it looks like nobody’s been in here. We have hiding spots for our gear, but we’ll pack what we need for the trek. It won’t take long. Rest up while you can. We’ll be carrying you down the mountain, but it’ll be a bumpy ride no matter how careful we are.”

“I understand.” She didn’t look forward to the pain as her leg was jostled, but being found by the Alvian patrols would be infinitely worse.

“Good girl.” Bill patted her head in approval as he stood.

Sam and he bustled around the cave, working well together as they hid their larger bits of equipment in ingenious places they’d devised throughout the dark cavern. Even when light was shone directly on the hiding spots, she couldn’t make out any hint of their passage or what lay hidden beneath and behind the rock in secret compartments.

When Sam came to her a few minutes later, she was surprised. She’d assumed Bill would carry her, since it was well known that Alvians were generally stronger and had more endurance than humans.

Some of her thoughts must have shown on her face because Sam grinned at her as he made ready to pick her up.

“Bill’s better at reconnaissance than I’ll ever be. I swear that man has eyes in the back of his head and sonar like a bat. We figured he’d be better off on point starting out until we’re more certain of where your people are.”