Renegade Runner by Nicole Conway (ebook reader with highlight function .txt) 📗

fingers and toes spread wide. Tingling, itching heat buzzed under my skin and something cold and metallic pressed against my bare back beneath where I lay. An exam table? Was I in surgery? Had there been an accident? Mom! Where was Mom? Was she all right?

“We’ve got all muscle systems back. Cognitive tremors from the implant should subside as she acclimates.”

As I acclimate? To what?

I tried lifting my head to see. I needed to see! Where was I? Who were these people?

Splitting pain shot through my neck and along the back of my head again like a muscle cramp. A desperate whimper leaked through my clenched teeth. Tears ran down the sides of my face, warm against the biting cold of the chemically tinged air.

“Diagnostics complete. Everything looks stable. Tag her and get the rest of her data profiled for sale. I want all specimens prepped for immediate transport once we make dock.”

Another thundering tone made my head loll, blaring through my brain like someone had cranked the volume up way too loud.

“There’re a few jackals in the area.” The second voice scratched at my brain like car keys down a chalkboard. “We should put out lure signals in case any of them try to board us.”

“Agreed. Get it done as soon as she is processed.”

“Shall I put her under mild sedation?” The screechy voice grew louder, seeming to come even closer. “Human brains don’t tolerate the cerebral system calibration to the lingual converter well. Too primitive, I suppose.”

“Very well. But no more than a day. We need every specimen ready for show and analysis when we dock. Humans don’t sell like they used to.”

“Yes, yes. A shame the other one was so combative. Fugitives make for such fine profit. Perhaps we could try to—”

“No,” the deep tone snapped firmly. “We will not chance another dive to the surface. It’s far too risky. Even Faulbender’s agents have become far more careful in their acquisitions. Our hold is sufficiently stocked, and this one might be of interest. See there? Her DNA coding is odd. The sequences seem to be … ”

A cold prick on the back of my neck made my fingers twitch. The voices faded, ebbing away to silence as everything began spinning, slowly at first, then faster and faster. Memories of sitting on the twirling carnival rides at the county fair, shrieking with delight while Mom spun us as fast as she could, blurred through my brain.

My body went slack. My eyes rolled closed. I surrendered to that feeling as it fogged my mind and swept me quickly back into that calm, drifting darkness. Soothing. Quiet. Restful.

Too bad it didn’t last.

My eyes flew open as I gasped for another ragged, desperate breath. Only this time there were no screeching or booming voices. No sanitary chemical smells. No cold metal table.

Lying on my back, I coughed and sputtered, wheezing as I struggled for every gulp of air. My chest shuddered as my lungs stretched for every gasp, strangely stiff, as though I hadn’t breathed in a long time.

No, that was ridiculous. Of course I’d been breathing. Get a grip, Brinna.

My arms and legs were numb and clumsy as I dragged them in closer to my body. No sooner had I rolled over and gathered my knees under me, than the wild, erratic spinning in my head sent me toppling sideways. My head lolled and my vision tunneled in and out, like I’d tried to stand up too soon after being whipped around on a merry-go-round. My body shivered with a cold sweat and I clenched my teeth.

No. Up—I had to get up. Right now. I had to move, figure out where I was and what was going on. I had to find Mom. She needed me. I couldn’t leave her.

A sudden sharp pinch on the back of my head made everything get clearer. I blinked and the spinning, whirling sensation slowed.

Then it hit me with a vengeance.

I was about to vomit.

Floundering back to my knees, my insides clenched and spasmed as I gagged, dry heaving until a big glob of something like clear jelly erupted from my throat. I sat back on my heels, shaking with a cold sweat as I stared at it in horror. What the hell was that? A freaking jellyfish?

“I-It’s okay,” a soft voice quavered nearby.

I managed to force my trembling, wobbling head to look up.

Less than five feet away, a creature I didn’t recognize sat peering at me through a thick glass wall that stood between us. My vision swerved in and out of focus as I stared back at it—her—whatever that thing was. Its voice had been higher and more feminine-sounding. But her skin was green? No, yellow? I couldn’t focus long enough to be sure.

And I didn’t get a chance to figure it out right then. My stomach lurched again and I doubled over, throwing up more of the thick, clear gel onto the glass floor.

“You’ll be okay. It’ll pass soon,” the impish creature coaxed, scooting closer to the glass. “I … I think it’s just a nutrient compound for transport. You’ll feel a lot better once it’s all out, I promise.”

“W-What’s … what’s going on?” I managed to croak, my throat raw and burning as I wiped my chin and looked at the creature again. “Who … what are you?”

“That’s … well, it’s sort of complicated.” The creature offered a tentative smile that never touched her wide, sky-blue eyes. It did offer a view of her tiny, pointed teeth, though. Creepy. “You should probably be asking where we’re going.”

I blinked slowly, still half-delirious as I studied what my brain told me could only be one incredible, impossible thing: an alien. I mean, that had to be it. Nothing else made sense. Everyone said aliens were green, after all, and this, er, whatever-it-was had faintly scaled, pastel-green skin that faded to a vibrant yellow around its eyes, hands, and feet. Definitely alien, right? Or, you know, I’d finally had a full-blown psychotic break