Jaci's Experiment Read online

“There are facilities for livestock on the fourth level,” BURTIN chimed in, startling Sam until they explained about the intelligent computer.

  They filled him in on their discoveries about the place as they took the animals down a series of wide, gently sloping tunnels that corkscrewed through the complex. They unpacked the animals, rubbed them down and left them with water and some of the grain Sam had brought with him. He explained that the mules were a loan and could be returned anytime or used for as long as they needed them. Justin O’Hara had thought some extra horsepower might come in handy depending on what they found inside the mine.

  Sam had also packed some gifts from the O’Haras and he gave them out as he sorted through the packs. There were baked goods from Jane for them to share, other food items and perishable goods as well. Lengths of rope from Justin and medical supplies from Mick. All the things they might need for living on their own for a while. It was a treasure trove for them, considering everything in the complex was decades out of date. A few items could be salvaged, of course, and the physical plant seemed to be in good working order, but things like food and medicines were at a premium.

  Sam handed one particular burlap sack to Bill, much to his surprise. “Caleb O’Hara sent very specific instructions to his brothers before I left. I was supposed to give this to you, Bill. Caleb says you need to nurture life, whatever that means.”

  Intrigued, they all watched Bill open the bag. It was full of seeds. Mike recognized corn, cucumber, melon and other kinds as well as smaller ones, packaged in paper with handwritten instructions on the side. Once again, the Oracle had foreseen their needs.

  “What is this?” Bill asked, his expression nothing short of confused. Jaci was just as confused and it brought home how far the Alvians had gone from living off the land.

  “Those are seeds, Bill,” Mike said as gently as possible. “From those, food crops will grow. Caleb just sent us the beginnings of our little hydroponics experiment.”

  “But why did he send them to me?” Bill still looked confused. “I’ve never created life or nurtured it in any way. I have no idea how to make things grow.”

  “Maybe that’s why,” Dave said, understanding in his voice. Mike recognized that tone. This was Doctor Dave, counseling a patient who needed him. Mike stood back and let Dave work his magic. “A garden can be therapeutic. It can teach us things about ourselves and our world. I think it’s important for you to take charge of the hydroponics experiment, Bill. Caleb O’Hara must have foreseen something that made him bother his brothers, Sam and us with this special request and that man hasn’t been wrong yet. We’ve done well taking his advice and I think you would benefit from it too.”

  “If you’re sure.” Bill still looked uncertain.

  “I’m sure,” Dave’s tone was reassuring. “Gardening is often a very solitary occupation. It allows time for the soul to commune with nature and is said to bring peace. I think you need that now, Bill. Even more, I think you’ll enjoy it.” Mike had noticed how quiet and introspective Bill was most of the time and he knew Dave had picked up on it too.

  Bill held Dave’s gaze for a long moment before stepping back into the shadows with a curt nod. He’d be their gardener for now, which was apparently what the Oracle wanted. Dave was right. They could do far worse than follow Caleb O’Hara’s instructions.

  They ate together that night, dining on the delicious food Jane O’Hara had sent along. It was a celebration of sorts, a time for the cousins to get to know the men who had rescued their mate. Dave found a bottle of whiskey in the commander’s quarters that had only gotten better with age and shared it around. They only had a shot or two each—wanting to prolong the remnant of Earth’s past glory—but it was enough to leave the cousins feeling pleasantly uninhibited and Jaci was downright naughty.

  Alvians, it seemed, could not hold their liquor. She was fast asleep after only one round of loving, laid low by the combination of pleasure and very old Scotch whiskey.

  Dave and Mike left her sleeping and did more exploring around the huge facility, enjoying the quiet hours of the night. Bill was fast asleep, also done in by the Scotch, and Sam was tired from his trek, so it was just Mike, Dave and BURTIN. The complex was quiet, the lights lowered to nighttime levels to help the inhabitants keep track of what time it was in the world above.

  Respecting the quiet, Dave and Mike spoke telepathically, used to keeping their innermost thoughts to themselves after years in captivity.

  “Emotionally, Bill’s a mess.” Dave’s words surprised Mike. He’d known the Alvian warrior was conflicted, but he’d never heard Dave assess someone so starkly. It had to be bad for Dave to lose his usual professional demeanor.

  “In what way? Could he be a danger to Jaci?”

  “I don’t think so. The man is consumed by guilt and self-loathing, but he’s got a core of steel, Mike. He’s an honorable guy. If he weren’t, he wouldn’t have made it this far after they awakened his emotions.”

  Rick and Davin had told them a little about Bill’s past on the flight up here. They’d been reticent to speak of the man who’d been Sinclair Prime, but they’d decided—rightly so, Mike thought—that the cousins needed to know what they were walking into.

  “Even knowing what he was, I feel kind of sorry for him, Dave. He didn’t choose his life. He was bred to be a killer. Hell, they even gave him wings so he could drop in from above to silence his victims. What must they have gone through to give him wings? And what must he have gone through, hiding them all his life except when training with his keepers?”

  “I think his instincts were always at war with his predetermined path. Anything with wings wants to fly free, but an assassin always has to keep to the shadows. It’s a paradox that must have created an internal, instinctual conflict in him even before they tinkered with his emotions.”

  “Poor guy.”

  “Yeah,” Dave agreed.

  “Do you think you can help him?”

  “At this point, I don’t think he’ll let me close enough to even try. Maybe in time. I think Caleb’s onto something giving him the role of head gardener. Bill needs to learn how to nurture. He’s got the instincts or he wouldn’t have been taking in strays like Sam and Jaci, or keeping watch over the O’Hara ranch. Give him a few hundred baby plants to develop those instincts more and maybe he’ll start to heal on his own—at least enough to get him to the point where he’ll accept my help.”

  “But do you really want to help him?” There was the big question. Bill was Alvian, after all. A soldier. A former Prime and master assassin. Did they really want to help him? Did he deserve it?

  He’d saved Jaci’s life and Sam’s too. He’d pulled his shot at the last minute and missed Davin when he’d been sent out with orders to end the Chief Engineer’s life. He’d changed from the ruthless Alvian assassin he’d once been. He had feelings now and nurturing instincts, though he didn’t seem to recognize them at all.

  Bill had a lot to learn.

  But everyone deserved a second chance. Mike was a firm believer in that. As was Dave.

  “I want to help him,” Dave confirmed Mike’s thoughts. “Deep down, he’s an honorable man. And on a practical note, with his skills, he could be a great asset to us and any other human refugees we might come across. And what Caleb O’Hara predicted keeps running through my mind. Bill could be the start of something…eventually. But for now, he could be a big help getting this place habitable.”

  “So you’ve given further thought to the idea of setting this complex up as a sort of sanctuary?”

  “Yeah. Come on, Mike, you have to admit it’s a perfect setup. We even have a smart computer that’s kept the place functional all these years. It’s like it was meant for us. I think, once we get used to the place and get it spiffed up a bit, we should seriously consider letting just a few select people know we’re willing to take in those, like us, who are on the run and need a place to hide. It’s what the O’Haras want and what Caleb expects, plus, it just f
eels right. You can’t deny that.”

  Mike shook his head with a faint smile. “No, I can’t deny it, though I had no idea we’d start ourselves a half-way house for troubled fugitives, be they Alvian or human. The only things that worry me are Bill’s wings. How are we going to deal with the predictable human reaction to seeing them? I mean, we can’t ask him not to fly. After all the years he’s had to hide his wings, he can at least fly around down here without fear of discovery. I wouldn’t want to take that away from him.”

  “You’ve always been a soft touch, Mike.” Dave rolled his eyes at his cousin, but he was grinning. “But I agree with you. The guy needs to fly. I guess we’ll have to deal with our tenants’ reactions—if and when we get any tenants—when we get to that point. It might even work in our favor. Angels are the good guys in most human belief systems.”

  “They’re also the harbingers of change and messengers of momentous events.”

  “I don’t know how just yet, but we might work that to our advantage some day.”

  A few days later, Bill found Sam skipping stones at the edge of the vast underground lake. The lovers had been here earlier and the walls still glowed with echoes of their resonance. Bill had wanted to spend some time stretching his wings in the vast cavern above the lake, but Sam’s mood spoke to him.

  Bill was learning to read emotions better the longer he observed humans, and the more he became used to his own emotions. Each new revelation Bill achieved made him feel that much closer to sanity and reminded him of all he’d lost and all he’d gained. Each time he discovered some new way of reading people and recognizing that he had the same emotions in his own psyche, he knew every last trial was worth it. He wouldn’t go back to the way he was—even if it could remove the pain.

  For pain let him know he was alive. The pain of his past and the guilt that sometimes threatened to swamp him were reminders that he was still here, among the living, not the lifeless automaton he’d been before. He’d sooner die than go back to that featureless existence and he pitied any Alvian who had to exist in ignorance of the emotions the scientists had so cavalierly discarded for their entire race.

  Bill cleared his throat to alert Sam to his presence, but Sam had already known Bill was near. Sam was almost as good as Bill was when it came to sensing others in his vicinity.

  “What troubles you?” Bill hoped he’d struck the right tone with his query. He was still very new at talking about emotions and even newer at having human friends.

  “Mike and Dave told me about my daughter. They’ve seen her. And Ruth.” Sam pitched a stone across the surface of the water with expert skill, watching it skip seven times before it succumbed to the power of gravity and sank beneath the rippling surface.

  “Is Ruth the woman in your journal?” The answer was suddenly vital to Bill. That woman’s image had haunted him.

  Sam nodded. “We were only together a few days, but I’ve never forgotten her. She’s special. If I believed in your people’s ways, I’d say she was my mate—I feel that strongly about herbut we’re both human.”

  Bill wondered if true resonance mating could occur between humans and he suspected, given the evidence of the O’Haras, it could indeed. Though the idea that the woman whose image was etched in his mind was already mated, grated on Bill’s new emotions. He didn’t understand it at all, but then, there were lots of things he didn’t understand about emotion. He’d spend his lifetime learning it all.

  “I’m missing so much of my daughter’s life.” When Bill didn’t comment, Sam continued speaking, skipping stones and studying the lake. “Hell, I didn’t even know about her ’til I met Jaci. She told me that Ruth talked about me and she named the baby Samantha—for her daddy.” Sam’s voice broke and Bill thought the man might be near tears, but he wasn’t sure. Sam cleared his throat and went on in a stronger voice. “I never thought I’d have a child of my own, much less a little girl. This world is so hard for humans, Bill, and it’s really bad for females in particular. I don’t want my baby girl in danger every waking minute, much less her mother. My only consolation is that they’re with Davin. I know he’ll do his best to keep them safe, though his position is as precarious in some ways as theirs. I wonder how long the Alvian High Council will let him get away with defying them?”

  Bill knew the answer to that one. “As long as they need power, I would imagine. Chief Engineer Davin has something they desperately need. They won’t dare to destabilize him. As a throwback, they think him too volatile. They’ll humor him as long as he gives them what they want—energy.”

  “But then why did they send you to kill him?” Sam turned to gaze at him with accusing eyes. Bill sighed. He knew he had much to answer for. This was the least of his sins.

  “It was a minority faction of the Council that has since been eradicated. Davin and Rick saw to that. The display they made before the Council and all those news feeds did the rest. Nobody will go after Davin again. He’s far too powerful now.”

  Sam’s eyes narrowed. “You’re sure? You wouldn’t just say that to make me feel better?”

  Bill didn’t understand the concept well, but he did see that Sam needed reassurance. “I’m positive. I would not lie to you, Sam.”

  Sam stood and clapped Bill on the shoulder. “I’m glad to hear it.” He walked past him and made for the tunnels heading back toward the main complex. “Thanks, Bill. Enjoy your flight.”

  Bill nodded, surprised Sam realized why he’d come to the giant, high-ceilinged cavern. But Sam was very observant for a human. In fact, Sam was the closest thing Bill had to a friend among his new acquaintances. He genuinely liked the man and respected his abilities.

  Bill had had friends before, among the men he’d commanded, but they were far away now, lost in another life. And Bill couldn’t be sure the camaraderie they’d shared had ever been true friendship—not the way he now understood the concept. They’d shared experiences and training, but they had never shared emotions of any sort. The emotional connection is what made friendship feel good, Bill realized as he took to the air with one powerful thrust of his wings.

  His former comrades may have shared his physical attributes and abilities, but they’d never shared his feelings.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The four of them settled into a routine of sorts. Each day they checked the perimeter they’d set up within the tunnels and worked on restoring the facility. The mules came in handy for some of the heavy lifting that needed to be done, since they didn’t want to dip into the gasoline stores to run trucks and other vehicles that had been left behind, if it could be helped. Plus, most of the vehicles would need major mechanical work to function properly after sitting dormant for decades.

  BURTIN was a wealth of information, giving Bill step-by-step instructions for setting up a small corner of the hydroponics area. The others helped him move the bigger pieces of equipment into place and saw him through the first planting stages, but left him to the task when it seemed he had it well in hand.

  Jaci had become something of a scavenger, locating odd bits and pieces from the various bedrooms that had once been inhabited by a large number of men and women. She took it upon herself to freshen and clean each of the chambers, though there really was no need. Dave thought it was because the tasks were familiar to her, and therefore comforting. She’d done much the same in her work performing upkeep of the cells below the Alvian city.

  Each night, they’d adjourn to their chamber and make love long into the night. Sometimes they’d venture outside the complex, just to the hot spring and make love under the waterfall that brought cold water from above to the hot below and made the pool the perfect temperature for bathing…and other things.

  On this particular night, the cousins left Sam and Bill far behind in the main complex, taking their time bathing in the hot spring and making love to their woman. Jaci loved the place, as did her men. They’d spent hours here, showing her just how much they loved her and making the small crystals embedded in
the walls glow like little stars from their passion.

  Grady Prime was on a mission. Perhaps it would prove to be his last mission, but he welcomed the unknown future if it meant a change from the endless monotony of his existence. Still, this mission had delayed the experiment for him. He needed to be off-duty in order to administer the experimental treatment, and he was most definitely on duty until Jaci 192 had been apprehended and returned to the city for questioning.

  He’d known there was something different about her, but he hadn’t been able to put his finger on exactly what it was. Now that he knew she’d already taken the treatment, albeit accidentally, he wanted to talk to her about the changes she’d undergone as the agent reshaped her DNA on a molecular level. Maybe she’d speak with him on the shuttle trip home, though he knew she’d have little incentive to want to speak to him after he captured her. Especially since he’d be delivering her into a prison cell at the end of that journey. Still, he liked the woman and hoped she would speak with him. She’d already been through the journey he would be undertaking as soon as he got back to base.

  Of course, he had to find her first. She’d led him a merry chase, but he thought he had her now. She had to have help, and following the human male had led Grady Prime to a place he never would have expected. It was an unknown human base of some kind that had weathered the apocalypse in surprisingly good shape.

  He and his men had found other places like this from time to time, but he’d never suspected there would be one here in the middle of the mountains they’d already searched in every way possible—with every instrument they had.

  But Grady Prime had always had an instinct for the hunt. He could feel when he was being observed and he could sense prey long before they showed up on sensors or were picked up by other hunters. He felt eyes in the woods now and picked his path carefully. He also sensed his target nearby. How he knew these things, he’d never bothered to ask. He just took it as the natural ability it was and used it to his best advantage. It was part of what had helped him become Prime at so young an age.