Star Catcher (15 page)

“Originally, my job was to learn your language and your gestational physiology. Later, I was to invite females to the collection site once I was accepted by your race.”

This time she looked like she wanted to strangle him. Her fists were clenched tight, and luckily for Noth, held down in the shackles. He could imagine the pain she wanted to inflict on him. He did not blame her.

“So, is that what I was? An anatomy lesson you could really sink your teeth into? Or should I say, your cock? The fucking college lab and your textbooks weren’t good enough for you, Noth?”

Her voice climbed alarmingly.

“Calm yourself. If they believe you are upset, they will insist on more drugs to quiet you. The commander in charge of security is harsh and unbending.”

“
More
drugs? Is that why I can’t remember how I got here? I was waiting for you at Tito’s. You never came.” She glared at him with a wrinkled brow as if trying to see past the
Tristayl
-induced fog that shrouded a fragment of time. Her volume had dropped, but her voice still oozed pain and contempt. “I trusted you. You made me believe…” Tears filled her eyes as her words trailed off.

“I never wanted to hurt you. You were not meant to be here. I planned to return, to be with you when I was done.”

“When you were done experimenting with my classmates? Are you crazy?” Stella screamed at him.

“Shhh.” Noth shifted nervously from one foot to the other. “I took this position to ensure the surrogates were treated gently.”

“Treating
captives
gently? How kind of you!” She turned her head away dismissively.

“Please, Stella. My government planned to execute this experiment whether I was involved or not. I worked hard to be here, knowing I would perform the procedures with the least amount of trauma for the subjects.”

She swiveled her face back to him, and her green eyes blazed with righteous indignation. “We’re not
subjects
! Where I come from, people have rights. There’s such a thing as consent. Taking people against their will and performing breeding experiments on them
is
trauma, no matter how nice you are, or how many drugs you pump into them to make them forget, Noth.”

An angry tear rolled toward the pillow behind her head.

“I realize that now. We were wrong.
I
was wrong.” Noth ran a hand through his hair. It was getting long again. The memory of Stella trimming it for him made something snap painfully in his chest.

“Do you believe, that in the same circumstance, and given the same resources, your kind would have done something similar to save your race? Can you assess the situation from our viewpoint? Perhaps your kind would not have used
wrovs
, but humans too can be ruthless from what I have seen.”

“Used what? What did you use on us?” Again her voice spiked with alarm.

“Not me. I never would have sanctioned their use. The female who heads the military troops—she brought savage beasts to the collection site to contain the women.”

Stella stared at him with a concentrated squint. “Beasts?” She paused and seemed to be in deep thought as her gaze shifted past his shoulder.

“Yes. I keep seeing this strange image when I close my eyes. A dark shadow with horrible teeth…”

“
Wrovs
. Perhaps the
Tristayl
does not completely eradicate the memories as we believed.”

“And screams. I hear women crying out in my dreams! What did they do to them? My friend was in that maze, Noth!” Moisture again collected at the corner of Stella’s eyes and sailed down her temples. Her green gaze was wide with panic.

“Your friend is safe. Do not worry, no one was harmed.”
Scrion
, he ached to unbind her, to hold her in his arms and comfort her, even if she clawed his eyes out in the process. He deserved it, deserved far worse.

Her face, now slack with relief, pulled at him. A tumultuous, nearly painful feeling clenched and released his insides. Her smile would be only a memory now. Stella was lost to him forever after this unforgivable act.

“First, do no harm,” he whispered.

“What?”

“First, do no harm. I read the phrase in your medical manuals at the university. It is the creed of your medical profession. It is one worth adopting on my planet, I think.” He reached out, careful to keep the camera to his back to mask his hand and his pained expression. He swiped the moisture from her temple with a featherlight fingertip and was satisfied beyond measure when she did not jerk away from his touch. “We can learn so much from your kind. I did not know what it truly meant to love before I met you, Stella. You taught me that.”

She sniffed but did not speak.

“I will find a way to get you home safely. Please believe me.”
Even if you never want to see me again.
“The commander on board this ship is cruel. She cares nothing for your race. Trust that I want you all as far from her grasp as possible.”

Her face looked wounded, but she stared him down as if she could see into his soul. She looked long and hard.

“You hurt me, Noth. And still, for some stupid reason, I want to believe you.” Her voice was thick with emotion.

“Please say that you will. I swear I will not stop until I have rectified this mistake. You will all be taken home and compensated for these insults in any way I can manage. Please,” Noth repeated. “Let me try to make this right.”

She shook her head slowly, and Noth felt tears welling in his own eyes. Finally, she spoke. “At the end of the day, what options do I have? I can’t get myself and a bunch of women out of here all alone.”

He had no answer for her. The sickness he felt for having hurt her irreparably and the cold rock of determination lodged in his gut seemed to leave little room for words.

Finally, Noth shook himself back to the present. He had a lot of work to do.

“I have stayed too long. The commander cannot suspect our relationship. One of my assistants will be in to take a blood sample soon. It is all for show. Our system does not use needles, and it is completely painless. I will prolong the preliminary work as long as possible so I may formulate a plan. It is to be hoped you will all be released before the implantation is expected to begin.”

“I guess I’ll play along for now.” She bit her lower lip in thought. “But no more drugs. And no more lies!”

Noth nodded.

“If you want me to even begin to trust you, then I want to know
everything
that’s happening from now on. Got it?”

He smiled at her authoritative tone. Held against her will in a solar system many light years from her home planet, Stella still retained the fire that so attracted him. Noth saw the corner of her mouth twitch ever so slightly.

Thank
Scrion
. There was hope yet.

Chapter 13

The light in Noth’s lab shone brightly over his workstation. Two nights before, he had inadvertently knocked into the heavy, adjustable lamp. At least, he had made it look accidental. The blow had necessitated a bulb replacement. The new multi-spectrum, light-emitting diode was not meant for this lantern. It would serve another purpose tonight. The intensity of the fluorescence had hurt his eyes and head as he labored over slides for the past two planetary rotations. Squinting against the glare, he had fed lab counts into his mobile data storage and assimilation device. The results could be immediately accessed by the scientists at Embassy headquarters.

There were eyes on him from every direction, but Krael was about to suffer from temporary blindness.

Noth finished his work and stood to straighten his desk top. He bumped the obtrusive lighting with his shoulder as he reached for a stack of slides.

“Blast this cumbrous light to burn on
Algrol
!” He twisted the crane angrily, his motions appearing random and born of his agitation. It was all an act.

He turned, as if to continue with his organization after a difficult period of work. He played the role, noisily straightening stacks of papers until his eyes rested on the camera in the upper corner of the room. A reflective beam radiated from its smooth surface, the result of the powerful ray of light that had been calculatedly angled at the device.

Krael would see nothing but a white screen in her control room, but Noth had precious little time.

Moving swiftly and silently, he unwrapped the shrouded vials of saline he had placed in a bottom cabinet. They were clearly labeled on the outside, but the inner vials had been painstakingly identified to match the test tubes within the deep-freeze unit in the lab. He removed the frozen embryos, wrapped them in the saline package, and then set them beneath the cabinet. At room temperature they would be unviable by the next mealtime. The imitation vials took their place in the freezer, and the switch was complete.

Noth packed his work bag with lab results to bring back to his room. He intended to analyze the data before he slept, in hopes of discovering a medical reason to delay implantation. It was unlikely, but he had to try. The whisper of his door opening caught his attention, and he turned to see Krael walk in.

“Finishing up?” She spoke stiffly and entered the room with a stride to match.

“I am. Can I help you with something, Commander? As I recall, the laboratory and patient quarters are my jurisdiction. Is there a security problem I am unaware of?”

Her dark eyes squinted as she looked him over. Noth continued to casually close his bag. She was scanning the room for signs of … what? His insubordination? If she raided the cabinets and examined the supplies he could be in trouble. A hand placed on the box of saline, and she would notice it was frozen to the touch.

“Perhaps,” she answered vaguely.

“I intended to come speak with you as soon as I finished up here. I plan to permanently release the bonds on the surrogates in the morning. There have been no signs of rebellion. They are compliant during the day without restraints and will sleep better unbound at night. Their serum levels of the
tvolt
are all within the therapeutic range. I do not foresee any problems.”

He walked toward her and cocked an eyebrow she could be jealous of, as if daring her to object.

His diversionary tactic worked.

“My soldiers will need to increase their presence if you plan to discontinue the restraints. I will not risk the humans harming us or one another.” She spoke in a voice laced with ice, obviously furious that Noth planned to give the captives more freedom. He suspected his telling her, rather than asking her permission, chafed her far worse than the act itself. The humans clearly were not dangerous.

“I have been informed that the preliminary tests are completed, Doctor. The embryonic transfers
will
begin at the beginning of this
saros
phase, correct?”

It was earlier than he liked. Noth needed time to find a wider crack in Krael’s control. He was desperate to free the captives before they were subjected to implantation.

But the preparatory time he had insisted on was already too long for Krael. The ovulatory drugs Uryu administered upon their arrival would make the humans ready to carry an embryo shortly. The time for implantation was near. Any more prevaricating and both the Embassy and Krael would be suspicious.

They walked out of the lab with Noth leading the way. Krael’s foot touched the threshold of the portal, but she turned and walked back to Noth’s desk. She snapped the light off by hand and angled the extinguished beam back toward the workspace.

“I am certain you do not want to leave your light on.”

He followed her to the corridor without comment, and the door zipped closed behind them along with any hope Noth had of removing the soon-to-be spoiled vials.
Not tonight.
In the morning, he’d begin to destroy a few at a time just as he had created their replacements.

Just as he would destroy all of Krael’s plans.

*

Stella lay on the bed, arms strapped above her head, legs spread wide. Her body trembled, not from cold, although she was completely nude, but because he had entered the room.

His hard body, solid and sinewy and completely bare, moved toward her. Iron muscles rippled beneath his silky soft skin. His luscious form stopped near the head of her bed with his saluting cock mere inches from her mouth. She was dying to taste him.

“Help me.” She spoke in English. She knew she shouldn’t, that they were only to communicate in Spanish for their safety, but somehow she couldn’t help it.

“It is time for the breeding process.” He spoke softly, his voice a caress like a tantalizing breeze on her naked skin.

“Yes.” She nodded, devouring his manhood with her eyes, pleading for release, for access to his body, without using words.

His eyes followed her tongue as it skimmed across her lips. She could see the flicker of interest, the spark of raw hunger in his gaze. She slowed the languorous motion and slid the wet tip across her upper lip and teeth the way she wanted to slide it over the tip of his prick. The tiny jewel of moisture there told her he wanted her just as badly as she wanted him.

“You must be restrained. You are my captive to do with as I please. Now I want you to ready me with your mouth, slave.”

He moved toward her, and she could feel her pussy getting wet at the thought of him taking her, fucking her while she was strapped down and helpless. He held his massive cock in one hand as he neared her. With his other hand, he ran strong fingers through her hair before he wrapped her locks in a tight grip, immobilizing her head just as her hands and feet were bound. He slid the slippery head, lubricated with his own desire, over her lips, teasing them open.

“Suck until I am ready to spill my seed inside of you.”

She opened her mouth and took in half his length. He loosened his grip on her hair, seemed to recognize her compliance. She was a good little slave, one who knew her place, her job. And she wanted to please him. Stella worked her mouth up and down his thick rod, watching his face all the while. His lips were parted while his eyes drank in her movements with a scorching intensity. Noth groaned as she pushed him closer to climax with her slick mouth, taking in every inch of him before moving back to suck on his sensitive helmet.