The Druid Gene (14 page)

I
can do this
.

Darcy had been avoiding her own reflection, averting her eyes when she hurried through bathing and grooming. She hadn’t wanted to see a murderer’s eyes looking back at her, bleak and accusing.

She’d done a lot of thinking, though, over the time she’d been held captive in these rooms with Raub. There was little else to do but think.

How long had it been? She didn’t know. She hadn’t scratched hash marks into the walls of her sleep cell to mark the passage of time. It was less painful to just succumb to the monotony and try not to think about how every single day there were more light-years of space stretching between her and her home and all the people there that she cared about.

But she had put that time to good use, learning new skills that might help to change her fate, and now she’d come to a conclusion. She couldn’t ignore the power she had. She hated that she’d hurt anyone with it, but that couldn’t be helped. All she could do now was learn to master it, the same way that she was becoming master over the rest of her body.

Nothing worthwhile came easily. She could forgive herself for fighting for her life and flailing. She would not forget—she would just learn to be more careful.

And that meant practice.

The first step was to see if she could manifest the power by thinking about it. She wanted to see what it looked like, to monitor herself as it happened.

She needed to face herself.

Raub had left the rooms on his daily mystery errand. She stood alone in the washroom, nude, hoping that Hain had enough decency that she didn’t monitor her there.

She stepped in front of the mirror, her blood racing. Her breath caught. She almost didn’t recognize her own reflection. Her hair, normally so carefully arranged in twists, straightened, or at least pulled back in a puffy ponytail, was a thick, glossy mass of wild curls that stood on end. But that wasn’t what surprised her.

She was toned. She looked strong. Muscles moved under her skin. She was like an athlete in her prime.

Never in her life had she seen herself this way. She turned and flexed a leg and saw muscles pop out in stark relief. As her gaze travelled up she saw that her stomach was now flat. The little pillow of flab that Adam used to rest his head on was gone, replaced by a taut six-pack.

She’d come a long way from the girl Adam had to coax into going for a bike ride or a hike. She’d transformed herself. He’d be proud of her.

Adam. Despite her protestations, Raub refused to include Adam in the escape plan. He’d told her, in no uncertain terms, that if she wanted to survive she had to give up childish notions like love. Adam’s fate was separate from hers, he’d said, and she had to accept that.

She’d pretended to acquiesce, but she was her own woman. When the time came, the route to the place where the tern was berthed would pass by those cavernous rooms where the prisoners were held. Whether Raub liked it or not, she was going to try to find him because that was who she was. If that cost her a chance at freedom, she could bear it. She couldn’t live with herself if she didn’t try.

She centered herself in front of the mirror, as though she were preparing to meditate, and focused on the memory of how the energy had felt before, when it had come without being summoned by her conscious mind. She remembered how she had tingled, how she had felt so alive, how she had felt it building inside her.

She didn’t know if there was any energy left in her, or even what percentage of it she’d discharged on the hymenoptera. It seemed odd that she didn’t know, but she reasoned that she never knew what her O
₂
sats were, or her blood-alcohol content, though she always had a general idea, just based on how she felt. There was no such sensation attached to this energy—that she’d noticed so far, anyway. Hopefully that would come someday.

She sat there for a long time trying to summon it, but nothing happened. Her sit-bones hurt, her jaw ached from clenching it, and she began to doubt that she could succeed without something pushing her into a highly emotional state.

Her mind wandered. She thought of Adam, knew he was thinking of finding her and escaping too. She contemplated her father, his strong face a mask of worry, the search parties he must have waited fruitlessly for. Her mother and the gurus she’d probably paid every penny of her savings to, hoping for some clue as to what had happened to her only child. Her friends and professors, for whom by now she was only a memory, a mystery in the past.

She was alone, more alone than anyone ever should be, with only herself to rely on, and she had some special attribute that she couldn’t even use.

A tear fled down her cheek. She watched it fall, her brown eyes brimming with more, her reflection swimming in a blurry haze. She remembered the night she’d been captured, how helpless she’d felt, even with Adam there with her. Then there was the moment when Raub had held her against the wall and nearly taken her last shred of dignity.

She could fight some, now. She was stronger, but against a more skilled opponent or a gun or shock stick, she had nothing. Would she ever regain control of her life? Was she doomed to be a victim until the end?

She blinked. Her eyes emptied over her cheeks and she leaned forward. There was a faint glow just above her right breast, a mirror to her heart. She knew instinctively that was the core of her power. She focused on it, breathed into that place, moved her consciousness there and felt it grow, felt her body warm and strengthen in response.

She watched the blue lines radiate out until her fingertips crackled. She laughed out loud. She was alight with blue fire. It was exhilarating.

Slowly, she stood and turned, to see the energy from every angle. As she concentrated on rising, the light dimmed somewhat, but it blazed again when she refocused her thoughts. She attempted to dim it on purpose and was rewarded when the blue light quickly reversed itself, flowing back to the centering point opposite her heart.

She banked the flame close to her heart, then stoked it again, over and over, panting with the effort of controlling it, waves of heat rolling off her and sweat trickling from every pore. She shut out every other thought and committed the sensations to memory. She was mesmerized by how it looked, racing along those mysterious pathways under her skin, some kind of secondary central nervous system.

Something made her look up. She turned.

Raub stood in the doorway, watching. “This is very good. What else can you do?”

D
arcy made
it a daily habit to slip into the washroom whenever Raub left. She concentrated primarily on calling up and controlling the intensity of her energy. It became a meditative practice. She could keep it low and smoldering for long periods, then, on a moment’s notice, whip it up to a crackle.

She was unsure of how to explore it further. Discharging it would likely be noticed and she felt a strong need to conserve it, to hold it in reserve for when it was needed. She had no idea how much was stored within her.

Once she felt she had that well in hand, she turned her attention to the other ability Hain had mentioned—camouflage. She found she had only to think hard about hiding and to press herself against something. Some element in her skin or nervous system searched for input on a level that her brain didn’t consciously comprehend. It was some kind of extra sense that sought data about her surroundings—color and texture—then did its best to mimic what it found.

It didn’t exactly work the way it was meant to in a stainless-steel-plated bathroom on an alien ship—it smudged her skin a dappled, sooty grey. Only her hair remained unchanged. The process was exhausting, but she could see that it could be very useful under more natural conditions.

In quiet moments, the childhood memory of being invisible repeated in her mind. She’d been playing hide and seek, just as Hain had said. She’d always thought that she had somehow confused the memory of a childhood dream with reality. But now she knew she hadn’t—as a child she’d used the ability instinctively, and never realized its significance. By the time she was old enough to know that it might be important, she’d already labeled the memory as fantasy.

Today, instead of leaving her alone, Raub motioned at her impatiently. She’d been summoned to Hain’s quarters. It was the first time Darcy had been allowed to leave since the day she woke up inside the sleeping cell.

The hymenoptera kept well back and chattered nervously when she and Raub emerged. They insisted Raub keep one of his meaty hands around Darcy’s arm while they brandished their shock sticks at arm’s length in front of themselves. There were eight of them to escort her and Raub to Hain’s quarters. They seemed to be expecting her to cause trouble.

She started to reassure them that she meant no harm, but Raub shushed her. Reluctantly, she complied. She guessed the threat of her power might serve them well during the upcoming escape attempt.

Darcy recoiled as Raub led her into Hain’s quarters. A horrible smell, like sour, composted onions, hit her in a wave and the room was lit up brighter than noon on a midsummer day. She squinted, averting her gaze from the dazzling source of the light. Raub pulled her forward into the room as though leading a blind person, his hand on her arm clenched so hard, her fingers were going numb.

Darcy peeped through her lashes to see Hain lying on her back inside a clear container studded on all sides with brilliant white lights. She was partially submerged in a glowing, cloudy, green liquid that bubbled and frothed around her body.

“Mistress,” Raub said dryly.

“Ah, yes. Good,” Hain said in her strange, breathy voice. She lifted the lid and the light switched off.

The room instantly seemed dark by comparison. Darcy looked around owlishly as her eyes adjusted. She realized that this was a laboratory and noted the hymenoptera were lined up in front of the only door, still waving their shock sticks warily.

Hain sat up, the murky liquid sheeting off of her. She nimbly hopped out of the acrylic container, sending droplets flying in all directions. She stood there, dripping all over the floor as though that was normal, and eyed Raub and Darcy appraisingly.

Darcy couldn’t help but gawk at the container Hain had just vacated. The liquid inside continued to churn, as though it were alive. She wondered if there was a gas being pumped through it or if it was undergoing a fermentation process, or both. It seemed to be the source of the powerful odor.

Hain spoke again. “You are a fortunate individual, Darcy Eberhardt.”

Darcy turned her attention to Hain and didn’t hide her contempt. “Really? It sure doesn’t feel like it.”

Hain’s eyes narrowed. “Despite all the trouble you’ve caused, you still live. I would have spaced a less valuable commodity. Are you ready to cooperate? It’s in your best interests, I assure you.”

Raub squeezed her arm harder, almost possessively. She didn’t like that. She glared at him, not that he noticed.

Darcy gritted her jaw tightly so she wouldn’t yelp. He’d warned her to go along with whatever Hain wanted from her. If they were separated now, their plan would be blown and they might not get another chance before one of them was sold. He’d reminded her that working together, they were stronger than either of them was alone. She had to act as though Raub was keeping her in line so Hain would leave them be for just a little bit longer.

Under ideal circumstances she’d never have allied herself with someone like Raub, but in the name of survival, she’d settle for uncharacteristic measures.

Hain gestured to some instruments laid out on the bench in front of her. “It’s time to quantify the scope of your genetic gifts, don’t you think?”

“I—” Darcy glanced at Raub.

He nodded almost imperceptibly, his expression grim.

She had to admit to being curious, herself. It was patently wrong that Hain knew more about her genetics and heritage than she did. The knowledge could be useful in the days to come, especially if Hain had more information than she’d offered up so far. Raub hadn’t given her any hint of what to expect from this interview, but Darcy wasn’t surprised that it had taken this tack.

“Yes. I’ll cooperate.”

Raub’s fingers loosened on her arm a fraction, then he shoved her forward and let go. Inarticulate but distressed clacking sounds came from near the door. Darcy picked her way around the puddles and droplets Hain was leaving all over the floor. She wasn’t about to slip and fall in front of this audience, nor did she like the idea of getting the mystery substance on her bare skin. She had never been given any shoes, after all.

Hain turned to gesture at a boxy instrument on the bench and a tray of small metallic discs. “If you’ll allow me to place sensors on your body,” she said. “I’ve cobbled together a rudimentary bioelectric meter that will measure your electromagnetic output, efficiency, and, of course, heat generated as waste.”

Darcy nodded. Hain picked up a tray from the bench and began to press the tiny metal dots into Darcy’s skin, starting with each of her fingertips, her palms, the back of her hands, her wrists, then a spiral configuration up her arm.

Hain’s touch was moist and cool and she had a graceful way of swaying from task to task that reminded Darcy of foxtail grass moving in the wind. “I thought you were a geneticist?”

“Biology is my area of specialty. However, my work often demands a broad base of knowledge.”

“What else will you test?” Darcy asked, bringing her hand to her face to examine one of the thin metallic discs. It was roughly the size and shape of a watch battery, clearly an electrode, like something used on an ECG or EEG, but it was wireless.

“I’ll document the extent of your senses and abilities as they are present at this stage, though they will surely require continued monitoring as they develop.”

Darcy frowned. That hadn’t told her anything, really. “Such as?”

Hain kept working. “Oh, the energy you store is but a small part of it, Darcy. Based on the research I’ve done, you have the potential to be a formidable combatant, nearly impossible to defeat.”

Darcy frowned. “I don’t want to be a combatant.”

Raub leaned forward, his voice low and gravelly. “You’ll
be
whatever your master desires you to
be
.”

Darcy choked on her own spit. It shouldn’t matter. She and Adam and Raub would be leaving all of this behind soon and she could try to find her way back to Earth somehow. “You’re advertising me as a weapon?”

Hain didn’t look up. Cool air blew from her mouth and nose in a constant flow, bringing with it the noxious odor of her bizarre bathing fluid tinged with a sickly sweet undertone. While in one of his rare loquacious moods, Raub had told Darcy that Hain didn’t have lungs, that her diminutive nose had been carved surgically to make her appear more like other sentient species. He’d said that it was surprising how important a nose was. Without one, people were treated as “other” and never commanded any respect.

Hain crossed the room and slid what looked like a rolled-up sheet of rubbery black plastic out of a compartment under a workbench. She unrolled it and slapped it against the wall near Darcy and Raub. She fiddled with her tablet then tapped it against the dark sheet as she turned away. Instantly, the sheet lit up.

Darcy stepped up to the sheet, now a screen, and stared. A painfully thin female face looked back blankly, her angular cheekbones standing out in geometric relief. Her skin was a warm brown, contrasting with a cream-colored garment festooned with swathes of fabric and ties. Her hair was light brown and pulled away from her face severely in complex braids. She was poised, unmoving. When she finally began to speak, Darcy jumped.

“Greetings. I am your host, Elorpha. This Sectilius Scientific Moment concerns the subspecies drudii, known on some worlds as druids, scientific designation
Inaricaaria hominidae,
subspecies:
drudii.”

Text appeared at the bottom of the screen, spelling out the scientific name, which Darcy was surprised to realize she could comprehend. Her heart skipped a beat. What did that mean to her? Was she human or druid or both? Was she a footnote in someone’s reference book, like a mule or a liger? Darcy barely registered that Hain was kneeling before her, resuming placement of the electrodes on her feet and lower legs.

A planet came on-screen. It was beautiful and blue-green with wispy white clouds like Earth. Darcy swallowed hard. Then she noticed it had three moons. The planet rotated slowly, revealing a large land mass very different from Earth’s as well as another moon. Four moons? Was this her druid ancestors’ home?

“This novel, anthropoid subspecies hails from Inaricaa, fourth planet in the Hesteau system. Genetically engineered and enhanced with heritable nanocytotech in an effort to protect its homeworld, it was later reviled by its progenitor species and hunted to virtual extinction by the predatory race,
Lovekitus quamut.
To learn more about the complex and dramatic history of these two species, click on the entry notes.” The presenter paused, as if to give the viewer an opportunity to do just that.

Darcy took an involuntary step back. Hain clucked and followed her. Heritable nanocytotech? Reviled? Hunted to virtual extinction? The presentation seemed to be some kind of documentary, but it sounded like this alien woman was reading an entry from a zoology textbook. That felt incredibly weird. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as the woman took a breath and continued.

“For legal reasons, it must be noted that the knowledge and technology used to give rise to the drudii was destroyed long ago. Any attempt to revive the experiment is forbidden by law on every member planet of the Alliance of Unified Sentient Races. If you believe you have come in contact with an individual of druidic heritage, it is best to keep your distance and alert local authorities, wherever applicable.”

What the hell?
Alert authorities for what? For being alive? Darcy looked to Raub and Hain in confusion. This smacked of separate water fountains and segregated buses. What kind of bullshit was this?

Hain remained busy, placing the electrodes. Raub watched her with steely eyes.

Elorpha hadn’t stopped speaking. “As the war the drudii were engineered to wage concluded, the inaricaans demanded mandatory sterilization of the surviving drudii before allowing them to return to their home planet.”

The parallel rocked her. Eugenics laws of the early- to mid-twentieth century led to thousands of women of color in the United States undergoing forced sterilization, sometimes without their knowledge or consent. It was just one among many reasons that blacks didn’t trust doctors. How could this happen in a society that was capable of creating these kinds of abilities? Were people everywhere just inherently evil?

Elorpha continued, “The drudii fled and scattered throughout the galaxy, interbreeding with compatible species of anthropoid origin, leaving a secret legacy behind on many worlds.”

Like Earth.

They’d lost the only home they’d ever known.

Like me.

“Within most anthropological circles, it is commonly believed that there are no longer any full-blooded drudii remaining. Hybrids are discovered from time to time. Depending upon the presence of a range of possible genes, some, or all, of the following traits may be present in drudii-hybrid progeny.”

Darcy leaned forward, straining to absorb every scrap of information that Elorpha would give her.

“These include the capacity to absorb energy from loci of electromagnetic density on high-gravity planetary bodies and to store this energy in nanocytotech called apochondria—engineered organelles disguised as mitochondria and passed down from mother to offspring in the same manner. This energy can be utilized in various ways.”

Darcy’s hands clenched. Her nails dug into her palms painfully.

Elorpha continued to speak. “When fully charged in this manner, drudii hybrids experience increased speed, endurance, and agility, accelerated wound regeneration, rumored—but unconfirmed—limb regeneration, and camouflage, via metachrosis. For more information about metachrosis, the process of altering skin color and texture via chromatophores, please click on the entry notes.” Elorpha smiled enthusiastically as she spoke about metachrosis, something Darcy had once relegated only to the octopus, an animal that could not be farther removed from her own experience of existence.

She forced herself to focus and not go down a rabbit hole of crazy just yet.

“Drudii hybrids are capable of producing bursts of light to distract an enemy and of creating electromagnetic pulses to disrupt electronics. They may possess the ability to manipulate magnetic fields around a ferromagnetic object. It is also reported they may be able to detect and possibly perceive broadcasts on many wavelengths and frequencies on the EM spectrum. One anecdote claims a subject with some druidic traits was capable of identifying known individuals by brain-wave signatures when prevented from sensing them by standard means. That same individual was suspected of interfacing with binary processors via wireless radio waves. These claims were never substantiated.”