Jaci's Experiment Page 11

  While Davin had been prepared to fake the results of the test if necessary, he was more than a little surprised when both of the men turned out to have a high degree of very real crystal talent. It would make what he had to do easier. The crystal gift took precedence over all other experiments. There were too few Alvian crystallographers to run the ever-expanding power grids that were coming online each day. Suitable candidates among the Breeds were learning at a rapid pace and were already doing some of the day to day tasks quite well. But he always needed more gifted people.

  Suddenly his mission of mercy turned into a something slightly different. These two men would be more than welcome in his training program given their scores on his little test. They wrapped up their visit with a promise to be in touch and Davin sidestepped over to the very next cell. He had one more small task to perform.

  He knocked politely on Ruth’s door.

  Ruth settled her fussing daughter into the cradle and stood in front of it as the two strange men lowered the shield and entered her cell. She tried not to show her fear as they moved within the small cell. She could see that one was Alvian, but one was human, and they both held their hands up, palms open in a gesture of peace. She didn’t relax though. Her daughter needed her. She was the only thing that stood between her precious baby and the Alvian experiments that could come at any time. She lived in fear of what they might do.

  “Be at ease. You are Ruth?” the Alvian man asked in a calm voice. “I am called Davin. Caleb O’Hara asked me to check on you and your daughter.”

  “Caleb O’Hara? The precog?”

  The one called Davin nodded respectfully. “The very one. I mated with his niece Callie not long ago and together with Rick—” he gestured slowly toward the other man, “—we’ve set up a training program for humans who have the crystal gift.”

  “I don’t know what that is,” she admitted, still suspicious. Davin smiled and wonder of wonders, it was a real smile. It lit his eyes from within and radiated out from his handsome face. “You’re different from the others,” she found herself saying. “Who are you? What are you?”

  The human he’d called Rick laughed hard at that and turned to her. “He’s a throwback, ma’am. He was born with emotions, unlike the rest of his kind. He’s not a bad guy once you get to know him, but believe me when I say, we mean you no harm. This is strictly a social call. We told Caleb we were taking a tour of the city and he asked that we check on you and your daughter.”

  The baby was still fussing, her cries pulling at her mother’s attention even as she weighed the men’s words. She turned swiftly and picked up her baby, rocking her to try to quiet her.

  “Ma’am.” Rick stepped forward slowly. “I have a bit of the healing gift. Is there anything I can do to help your baby?”

  Ruth looked deep into his eyes and made a decision. She stepped forward hesitantly.

  “She’s been fussy all day and I think she’s running a temperature.”

  Rick moved his hand to hover near the baby’s forehead. He looked to Ruth first, before touching the baby. “May I?”

  Ruth nodded swiftly, holding the baby while Rick put his hand on her chubby cheek. She watched carefully as he closed his eyes and concentrated. She thought she saw an ever-so-slight glow from his fingertips where they touched, light as a butterfly, on her daughter’s chubby cheek.

  After a few moments he opened his eyes and moved back. The baby quieted and nestled against her mother, dozing happily and no longer fussy.

  “Just a minor ear infection. It hadn’t really set in yet so it was easy to get rid of. Be careful to keep water out of her ears and she should be fine.”

  Rick moved a few feet back to his position near the door, dragging just a little, she could easily see. He was a true healer, then. She’d seen how they gave of their own energy when they healed another person once, long ago, and she remembered it well.

  “Thank you, Mister…um….”

  “Rick St. John,” he introduced himself, leaning forward to shake her hand politely. “Caleb really did send us down here. He told us he’d sent you a note when you were pregnant and he was wondering how you’re doing.”

  “You can tell him that I’m doing well and I can never thank him enough for sharing what he knew with me in that note. Please tell him how grateful I am. I owe him.”

  “We’ll tell him, ma’am. We’ll be going back up to see him before we leave the city.”

  “You can come and go as you please?” She was shocked that Rick, a human, could have such free run of the Alvian city.

  Rick nodded, kindness in his eyes. “It wasn’t always that way for me, so I know how you must feel. But I’m part of Davin’s group in the Southern Engineering Facility. We work with the Alvians, training, learning and helping maintain the technology that runs their cities. In return, we have a certain amount of freedom.”

  Ruth felt tears gather in her eyes. “I’m truly happy to hear that, and happy for you Mr. St. John. It gives me hope to know at least some of us are finding our way out of imprisonment.”

  Davin chose that moment to step forward, his hand outstretched with three crystals. Ruth had no idea what he wanted her to do with them, but it was pretty clear he was handing them to her. She moved forward and took them from his hand. Immediately they began to glow and she jumped.

  “What are they?”

  Davin looked at Rick, who broke into a broad grin.

  “They just might be your ticket out of here, ma’am. Would you be interested in learning how to work with crystals?”

  She looked more closely at the purple, white and yellow crystals in her hand. “These are beautiful. Amethyst, citrine and quartz, right?” Davin’s eyes narrowed and she felt the need to explain. “I used to make jewelry back in the old days. I owned a small boutique. I did special orders and some metalsmithing too. Folks came from all over to buy my pieces and I made a good living. I worked with faceted stones of all kinds, so I got to know them pretty well. But I never did anything with raw crystals like these. Never saw them glow like this before either.” She handed them back to Davin, who took them gingerly. They glowed for a short time longer and then dimmed as he put them back in his pocket.

  “I think if you had worked more with raw crystals, you would have encountered the glow long ago. You are almost certainly a natural conductor. It’s a rare gift, Ruth, and one that is much sought after in my engineering facility. Would you like to join us there and learn to use your gift?”

  Ruth’s heart jumped in her chest, but then she looked down at her baby.

  “Only if I can bring my daughter. I won’t leave her behind, no matter what.”

  “Of course,” Davin was quick to reassure her. “I’m not heartless enough to separate a mother from her child.” With a pointed look to the monitor she knew was in the corner, she realized he was making a point that was more than likely lost on the emotionless techs who were watching the cells from the city above. “I will talk with the scientist in charge of your area and see what I can do. If you are told to move in the next day or two, don’t worry. I will be asking for two othersyour next door neighbors, as a matter of factso if you end up on a ship with them, you’ll be heading for the southern facility. I will see you there.”

  Davin turned on his heel and strode out the door but Rick took a moment to smile at her. She felt reassured by his human face and his easygoing manner. That he’d also healed her little girl meant a lot as well. Suddenly things were looking up for them both.

  “I’m glad you’ll both be joining us. We have a small but friendly group of trainees and Davin is a good teacher. I think you’ll enjoy your new life.”

  “Thank you. Thank Davin as well, and please thank Caleb. Once again he’s interceded in my life for the better. He’s an angel.”

  Ruth realized as Rick left and the door shield powered up once more that Caleb O’Hara truly was her guardian angel. She’d never even met the man but he’d done so much good for her and her little girl.
She included him in her prayers that night as she had from the day she’d received the note telling her that she would see Sam, her baby’s father, again one day. She lived for that day and her heart had hope. All thanks to Caleb O’Hara.

  Mara 12 was not pleased to learn that Davin had been randomly testing her subjects and even less thrilled to hear that three of them had proven to have very strong crystal giftsone of them a natural conductor, which was rare indeed. There was no help for it. She had to relinquish custody of them to him. Crystal technology ran everything and crystallographers were growing rarer and rarer. Since his last, dramatic appearance before the High Council, Davin could pretty much request anyone who showed the crystal gift be transferred to his control.

  “I realize you are probably in the midst of observations of these people and I don’t wish to inconvenience you any more than necessary,” Davin was saying as he sat before her in her office. “Therefore, I would have no objection to hosting one of your techs as well. This way, your tech can continue the observations and send you the data for your continued study.”

  Mara was surprised by his reasonableness. She’d thought because of their past dealings and the fact that he was a throwback, he’d be completely contrary. But he seemed to understand the value of her work and was willing to allow her to continue her study of the subjects, if only from afar. It wasn’t ideal, but it was better than nothing.

  “In fact, I was going to ask you, even before this development, for the services of one of your techs. I believe she is designated Jaci 192. It seems she was recently sent to check my mate’s health and my mate took a liking to her. I am concerned about my mate’s pregnancy and would feel better if we had a tech available to relay data about her pregnancy to the natalogists here in the city. My mate, being human, has a preference for Jaci 192 whom she has already met and found agreeable.” Davin sounded entirely reasonable to Mara, which she definitely hadn’t expected from a throwback. “So if perhaps you could spare the tech and reassign her to the southern facility, you could use her to continue the observations of the three Breeds I’m requesting as well as my mate’s pregnancy.”

  Mara sat back in her desk chair, thinking through his proposal. It seemed to make perfect sense and she silently congratulated the throwback for being able to reason things through calmly and rationally. She’d expected a lot of fist thumping and heated words, but instead he was almost as sane as a normal Alvian. Intriguing. Perhaps finding his resonance mate had a calming effect on his expected aggressive tendencies, she thought, and perhaps closer evaluation was in order. All the more reason to reassign one of her techs, and if he wanted Jaci 192, well, she was high enough in the hierarchy to be trusted to do the job well without direct everyday supervision, but low enough to not be missed. Mara nodded with satisfaction.

  “I will reassign Jaci 192 to your command effective next quarter. She is in the midst of preparation for a very important clinical trial that will commence soon and I would rather have her see that to its injection phase than bring in someone new at this crucial stage. However, once the experiment is initiated, she can be easily replaced. Is that sufficient?”

  Davin stood, his expression calm, surprising her yet again. “Very good. I will look forward to adding her to my staff, along with the three adult Breeds and the infant.”

  “You want the infant too? I would prefer to have it here.”

  “Regretfully, the mother will not cooperate without her child and she is the most important of my finds. She is a natural conductor. Her gift is too rare to let go, so the infant must come with her.”

  Mara sighed. She would never understand these Breeds and their silly attachments to their young. “Very well. You may have the infant as well.”

  Davin strode to the door. “Thank you, Mara 12. I wish you well in your experiments.”

  Ruth was in tears when Jaci’s duties finally brought her to the woman’s small cell. Jaci quickly shut down the monitor for the daily maintenance routine, careful not to let any of her feelings show while those upstairs could still see. She went immediately to the other woman, dreading what might have caused her such an emotional breakdown.

  “Ruth, what is it?”

  “Oh, Jaci! It’s the most wonderful thing!” Ruth grasped Jaci’s hand and laughed outright when she saw her confused face. “We’re getting out of here! Two men came to visit me earlier. The Alvian’s name was Davin and his human friend was named Rick St. John. Davin put an amethyst, a citrine and a quartz crystal in my hand and they glowed and now I’m going with Samantha to something called the Southern Engineering Facility.”

  Jaci felt her stomach clench and her heart expand. Ruth was getting out so maybe Davin had succeeded with her men too. She felt tears she didn’t understand.

  “That is great! But why are we crying?”

  Ruth laughed and sobbed with her friend. “Tears of joy, my friend, that’s what these are.”

  Jaci was pulled in for a quick hug as Ruth stood to pick up her baby who was awakened by their laughter. “Little Samantha is going with me. I told them I wouldn’t go without her and they still want me. I’m so relieved.”

  “I’m very happy for you both,” Jaci said, feeling bubbles of joy bursting in her chest, in the vicinity of her heart as she watched the mother and child, happier than she’d ever seen them.

  “Oh!” Ruth whirled with a smile. “Dave and Mike are probably going too. Davin said he would be requesting them. Lita showed up just before you did to tell me to pack, so if the guys are going too they probably already know for sure.”

  Jaci wiped her eyes and schooled her features, hastening through the rest of her duties and heading straight for the monitor. Before she switched it back on, she turned to her friend.

  “I’ll miss you both, Ruth, but I’m happy for you. Truly. Davin is a good man and I think you’ll do well with his group. I won’t be able to say goodbye when you go so please accept my wishes for a safe journey and a good, happy life ahead.”

  Ruth cuddled her daughter and nodded. “You’ve been a good friend, Jaci, even when you didn’t quite understand what my funny moods were all about. You were kind even before your accident and that’s more than can be said for many of your people. I liked you even then, but now, I hope you won’t be mind if I say I consider you a true friend.” Ruth’s eyes started to flow again and this time Jaci thought she could tell they were happy tears. “I’ll miss you too and I can only hope and pray that someday our paths will cross again.”

  Jaci swallowed hard against the tears that threatened. “That’s my wish as well, Ruth. I’ve never had a close friend before, but I always liked you, even before I could sympathize with you. I am honored more than I can say that you would call me friend. I don’t deserve it.”

  Jaci couldn’t spend any more time. The monitors had to go back on and she had to be in control of her emotions. Swiftly, she turned and composing herself, switched the monitor back on as if nothing of import had happened. Ruth was still cuddling her laughing child and Jaci took her leave, showing only a mild fondness that was allowable for an unemotional Alvian. Inside, she agonized over whether she would ever see her newfound friend again. She was happy for Ruth and Samantha, but still feared for herself.

  Steadfastly, she made her way next door and nearly stopped dead at the sight of her men packing their few belongings. As calmly as she could, she made her way to the monitor and switched it off, then turned and launched herself into the nearest pair of outstretched arms. Kisses rained down all over her head and neck and she reveled in the sensation of feeling her mates in the flesh.

  The Hum surrounded her and imbued her with energy. Sexual energy that had no real outlet, as rushed as they had to be in this, and all their encounters.

  “You’re really going then?” she asked when they let her up for a moment of air.

  Dave nodded down at her. “Lita came just before you with the word to pack and two carryalls. We’re being shuttled down there tonight. God, I’m going to miss
you!”

  “But I’ll love you in our dreams, sweetheart. Every night, I’ll bring us all together. I promise.” Mike kissed her neck, biting softly so as not to leave a telltale mark.

  “Will your abilities work over such a distance?” She couldn’t see his expression but she felt the hesitance in him. Turning, she took his face in her hands. “It doesn’t matter. I will dream of you anyway, even if you can’t dreamwalk to me from such a distance. I’ll know you would if you could.”

  “I’ll do everything in my power to be with you, Jaci. That I promise you.”

  “And don’t forget Davin. He’s working behind the scenes to get you reassigned,” Dave reminded them softly. “Personally, I think if anyone can do it, he can.”

  “You liked him then? That’s good, because he’s in charge of the engineering facility. You’ll have to work with him a lot, I think.”

  “He seems like a good guy, for an Alvian.” David laughed at his joke. “Damndest thing I ever saw. An Alvian with feelings and a human friend he treats like an equal. It’s going to take some getting used to.”

  “I’ll let you in on a little secret. Rick is Davin’s equal, at least in their relationship with Callie. They are both her resonance mates.”

  “No shit?” David seemed to think that over. “I had no idea such an arrangement could work. I didn’t think an Alvian would willingly share his true mate with a human.”

  Mike drew his cousin’s attention with a low whistle. “Says a lot about Davin though, doesn’t it? I think I’m going to like this guy.”

  She couldn’t bear it. They were leaving. She was overjoyed for them, but she felt a gaping hole begin to form somewhere near her heart. She clutched at them both, pulling them close, surrounding herself in their warmth as if she’d never see them again.