Conduit - M J Marlow (best short books to read txt) 📗

a part of what was happening to me. I had not misjudged her, I realized. Perhaps I could convince her to help me? I saw her looking into the distance and saw only trees and hills. There were no indicators to tell me where we were. I got to my feet and went as far as the chain allowed me to go, my eyes locked on the corner of the room. I was seeing a castle in a valley surrounded by mountains, and I knew it was the valley from my earlier visions. I could feel their minds welcoming me, encouraging me. I could feel their excitement as they saw the changes that had already occurred in me. They did not understand why I was so angry. Did I not realize the gift they had bestowed on me? It was no gift when it was forced; I shot back at him. Their amusement at my ferocity only made me angrier. Someone touched my shoulder and I whirled and punched George in the face. “Whoa, Dulcie,” he laughed as he got back on his feet. He touched his jaw gingerly. “You could have broken something.” ‘I’m sorry, Professor,” I said with true remorse. “I was somewhere else.” I shook my mind free of them and saw the bruises. “Did I really do that?” “Hurts like the devil,” George frowned. “I’d better get something on it.” I watched him leave and sank down on the cot, shaken that I had hurt George. Of course, I hadn’t done it on purpose. Someone had touched me and I had reacted, as I always did, with anger. Too many people had tried to hurt me while I was growing up; it had left me very defensive. I settled down to eat with Mary and she smiled at me. At least I had one friend here, I thought as I ate. If only she could do something to help me. Winston came into the room and I pulled on the chain and manacle on my ankle. “I want out of this.” “Maybe once you settle down, Princess…” “NO!” I broke in coldly as I broke the manacle like it was cardboard and pulled it off. I smiled as I realized that I had become a great deal stronger than I had been. “I want out now!” I watched him back away in shock and stepped up to the door. It was locked but that did not stop me. My mind reached out and the lock disengaged. I could feel the shock and some fear in the minds of the soldiers standing guard on me. There was also a lot of excitement and fascination. I was just a scientific experiment to them. I sent them flying and ran. I knew the way out now and I was going to take it. I was halfway up the stairwell when I felt something hit me in the back and I collapsed. “Get her to the Infirmary,” Winston ordered the soldier who had shot me with the tranq dart. “We’re going to have to keep her secured now.” I was waking up when they got the final straps on me. I pulled on them and an electric current shot though me; punishing me. I sank back with a whimper. The woman doctor reached out to stroke my cheek and I turned way from her, angry. She shrugged and nodded to a glass wall. I knew I was under observation and that only made me angrier. A door opened and a tall man in a well cut suit, the kind I associated with lawyers, bankers, and politicians, came into the room with the General. “You seem angry, girl,” the suit smiled at me calmly. “Why is that?” “You had your muscle bring me here against my wishes,” I snapped at him. “I am strapped down to a table. I would like to know why you think you have the right?” “You are here because of what those aliens did to you, girl,” Gibbons snapped. “We know what they did now,” he said as he held up the recorder. “We want to know why.” “Does it make a difference, Senator Gibbons?” I asked him. “They have lived in the valley for four hundred of your human years and done no harm to anyone. Suddenly it is an issue?” I looked through his mind. “Has the Swiss government asked for your intervention?” I shook my head. “No.” I looked past him to the military man, who was looking very uneasy. “A covert ops force?” I looked through his mind with an ease that stunned me. “You do not seem the type to be involved in such things, General Wainwright. Your companion, however, is a man of many secrets.” I was pulling on the straps again, my eyes blazing with anger as the pain surged through me. “Why couldn’t you simply ask them what you wish to know?” “Because it is easier this way,” Gibbons replied. “Continue your tests.” My new immune system kicked in and I was only dazed as the drugs were pumped into my vein through the IV line. I saw them placing leads on my body and my anger mounted. I was completely unaware of the storm happening around me as my temper increased. I only knew that I was shocked back to myself and I looked down to see five men on the floor, moaning in pain. I could see bruises and cuts and broken bones as my eyes ran over them and I was horrified. I had done that throwing a temper tantrum. “I don’t want to hurt anyone,” I sobbed. I looked at the Senator who was pale white. I wasn’t feeling much stronger. “Please don’t make me, Senator.” I saw the man’s mind coiling like a snake and it sickened me. He was still looking for a way to get control. And I caught a glimpse of the reason for this. He was a willing ally to the creatures who had done this to me! Wainwright was dismissed and I saw his mind. He was rethinking his position in this matter. A moment later, the door opened again, and I gasped as I saw what was coming into the room. I looked at the alien standing there and saw him sneer. He was a human in appearance, but I had the impression of a lizard, heavy built and powerful. I tried to move away from him, and the current shot through me. He came towards me slowly and I glared at him as he cupped my chin and turned my head to examine me. His mind was hidden behind a numbness and it felt like moving through molasses to get to his thoughts. “So this our little mutant,” the lizard thing smiled, displaying his sharp, shark-like teeth. He looked at me. “You are very beautiful, female.” I met his gaze fearlessly as his nostrils flared and he took in my scent. He looked at the designs on my wrists. “ Still only a fledgling.” He ran his tongue over his lips. I bit my lip to keep from screaming as he leaned in closer. “Do not fear, little one. We have no wish to harm you.” “What are you doing on this planet,” I asked him the question that shot into my mind. “These are not your hunting grounds.” I looked up at Gibbons as the information I needed regarding this alien entered my mind. “Has this thing told you about his race, Senator?” I asked him bluntly. “How his odious kind invade peaceful systems and turn their people into livestock?” “It is all lesser races are fit for,” the alien snarled. His fists pounded into the wall and I heard it crack. “We approached our friends here to help us find you, and allowed them to study you as an act of gratitude.” “Does the Earth know,” I said darkly, “that you plan the same for them?” I turned to Gibbons; still maintaining ignorance of his true nature. “They will sweep over our world’s defenses like they are nothing, and our people will become cattle.” “Not all,” the Dyhazri laughed. “There are many among this race who could become quite useful as cannon fodder or gladiators in our combat arenas. They are a fierce and combative race.” He realized what he had said and hissed. “You play with my mind, female! You will regret that!” He nodded to his companion and I watched him set up a machine near me. It began to grow as he set the program. “Subject analysis,” the medical technician said. “Minor samples. This one must be kept alive.” I watched as claws and clamps sprung out of the box and came towards me. I was subjected to a full series of medical analysis via their crude methods that removed samples of skin, blood, and tissue. Every last inch of my body was gone over in excruciating detail. I swam in and out of consciousness as the pain ebbed and flowed inside of me. I woke up several times to see the leader watching me. He laughed when he saw the anger in my eyes. I could see his delight at my stubborn refusal to break. I knew he would make it his personal task to making that happen. I had no idea how long I was kept there. From the lack of wounds on my body, it had obviously been days and not hours since the sampling had begun. “She is completely mutated, though her outer appearance is human,” the med tech told the leader. “Her DNA is a familial match to the Ancient Queen herself.” He looked at me. “But she is a fledgling; only 17 Earth years in age.” He looked at me. “She is a goddess by our standards of talent.” “The Emperor will be quite pleased to have her as a pet, then,” the leader nodded. He turned to Gibbons. “Your humans are growing problematic, Senator. Must I bring in a security team?” “They can’t stop you,” Gibbons frowned. He looked at me. “So there is no trace of human left in her.” He beamed at me. “There is no reason to return her to her grandfather or her guardian.” He looked at someone out in the hall. “Arrange for the faked death scenario. We are keeping the alien.” “Her appearance and her behavior patterns are still primitive,” the med tech continued his report. “This female is not docile. She will be hard to control.” “It makes her more entertaining,” the leader replied. He ran his claw tip along my arm and I glared at him. He laughed. “She will delight the Emperor!” he laughed in triumph. He nodded to the tech. “Have her put in the enclosure now.” I watched him leave and turned as the med tech came to let me up. He put manacles on my wrists and ran chain between them. He clamped his hand on my arm and led me out of the Infirmary. I followed helplessly. We entered a room two levels down and I saw a wall of bars around a garden enclosure with a pool and waterfall. The med tech opened the door and removed the chain and manacles. He pushed me inside and keyed the lock. “There is sufficient nourishment in the fruit trees, lady bird,” he told me as he watched me looking around, “and the water is fresh in the pool. There is a small cave at the top of the walk along the cliff face with furs for your nesting. This is where you will stay until we leave this world to convey you to the Emperor.” I entered the cave. Every inch of a ledge was lined with fur and there was a pile of furs nearby if I wanted to wrap up in them. I sank down with a sigh and let myself sleep. When I was rested, I found some food