Laura Jo Phillips (12 page)

Darleen nodded and reached up for the fastenings, but Doc was faster.  “I’ll get it,” he said.  Darleen lowered her hands.  The cloak slipped down her shoulders when Doc released the fastenings, pooling around her on the table.  Doc reached for one of Darleen’s hands and lifted it up toward the light so he could see it better. 

“You sure that man can’t lie to you?” Doc asked Summer.   

“I’m sure,” Summer replied.  Doc nodded and lowered Darleen’s hand back to her lap before releasing it. 

“Guess we’ll find out,” he said as he crossed the room and began opening and closing drawers.  He finally found whatever he was searching for and returned to Darleen with a small metal object in his hand.  “Whether this works or not, it won’t hurt, nor will it harm you,” he said. 

Darleen shrugged.  “I don’t care if it hurts, I just want it to work.”

Doc smiled.  “If it doesn’t, we’ll just have someone get that tool from Lio’s office.”

Darleen’s eyes brightened.  She hadn’t thought of that.  Summer had, but had dismissed the idea because she didn’t think the Katres would be willing to do it for them. 

Doc placed the metal object gently against the skin at the back of Darleen’s neck and pushed a tiny switch.  As promised, Darleen felt nothing.  Not a shock, sting, or pinch.  Nothing at all.  Except that suddenly her skin felt lighter.  The tight sensation that she had felt for so long she had become used to it, was gone.  She looked down at her hand and gasped to see her own, normal skin tone instead of the hated silver. 

“Thank you,” she breathed softly as she raised both hands and turned them over as though hardly daring to believe they were a normal skin tone now.  There were long thin strips of dull gray polymer on the floor and table, but none of it clung to Darleen’s skin any more.  

“You are very welcome,” Doc said.  Summer glanced at Doc’s face and was surprised to see an expression in his eyes that had nothing to do with the feelings of a doctor for a patient. 

“Now, let’s see what else we can do here,” he said, his tone suddenly brusque.  “I noticed you have a limp.”

“Yes,” Darleen said, dropping her eyes to her lap.  “My hip has been dislocated a few times.  It doesn’t seem to want to go back into place any more.”

“That shouldn’t be too difficult to fix,” Doc said.  “Anything else?  I assume you would like to have your hair follicles reactivated?”

Darleen raised one hand to her head, then dropped it.  “You can do that?” she asked.

“Yes,” Doc replied.  “Its easy enough, and I can even accelerate growth a little.  It does tend to sting a bit though.  I suggest we start with your head and not worry about the rest, at least for now.  And we might be able to do something about the scarring too.  I don’t say we can get rid of it, but I think we can reduce its appearance some.  If you want.”

Darleen nodded eagerly.  “That would be wonderful,” she said.  She dropped her eyes to her lap again.  “There are...a few other things,” she said haltingly.

Doc’s eyes flew to her face, hearing the shame in Darleen’s voice.  “What things?” he asked.

Darleen hesitated, but he couldn’t help her if she didn’t tell him.  “Piercings,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.  Doc’s jaw clenched tightly.

“I don’t expect you to be able to...fix...the damage,” Darleen continued, her eyes still on her lap.  “But if you could remove the...the metal...from...my body, I would be grateful.”

Doc’s eyes blazed angrily, but his voice remained gentle.  “I will remove the metal immediately,” he said.  “And I will do my best with any damage.”

Darleen heaved a sigh of relief, but still kept her eyes on her lap.  She just couldn’t bring herself to look into Doc’s eyes.  She was too ashamed of what had been done to her. 

Summer felt a helpless mix of anger and disgust at this new revelation of what Lio had done to Darleen.  She stepped up to the table, reached out and placed a finger lightly beneath Darleen’s chin.  “Look at me, please,” she asked.

Darleen raised her eyes and looked at Summer.  “What was done to you is not a reflection on you, Darleen,” she said.  “You have nothing to be ashamed of.  It is not your fault.”

Darleen wasn’t so sure about that.  She had often thought that the past year had been her punishment for things she had done in the past, but she wasn’t going to admit that right now.  Not in front of Doc.  Instead she just nodded.  “Thank you, Summer.”

Summer smiled.  “Now, I am going to leave you here in Doc’s capable hands,” she said.  “You do not need an audience for what is to come.  Unless you want me to stay.  If you do, I will.”

Darleen glanced quickly at Doc, then back to Summer.  “No thanks, Summer.  I’ll think I’ll be okay now,” Darleen said.  “I’ll see you later.”

Summer leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Darleen in a spontaneous hug, and she was very pleased when Darleen hugged her back. 

“You take good care of my friend Doc, you hear?” she said.

“Don’t you worry any, Miss Whitney,” Doc said.  “We’ll have her back to her beautiful self in no time.”

“No,” Darleen said sharply.  Summer and Doc both looked at her in surprise.  “I don’t want to be beautiful,” she said earnestly.  “I’m done with beautiful.  I just want to look normal enough that people don’t stare.”

Summer wasn’t sure how to respond to that so she patted Darleen lightly on the hand and left, closing the door behind her. 

Chapter
15

Maxim leaned in between the cockpit seats to look out the windshield.  He glanced down at the exterior sensor display, then out the windshield again.  The landscape below appeared to be heavily forested, with no sign of habitation by anything other than deer and rabbits.  He did a partial shift into his katrenca form so that he could look with his cat eyes rather than his human eyes.  Now he saw a faint hint of red outlining a large rectangular area.

“I see it Ran,” he said.  “There is something down there, even though it doesn’t show up on any of the equipment.”

“That’s what I thought,” Ran replied.  “Whatever they are using for camouflage works well, as there is only a tiny bit of EM phase shift around the edges.”

“Set us down just beyond the southern edge,” Maxim said.  “Then the Falcorans can fly in and do a little recon.”

“Aye, Commander,” Ran replied, his fingers already flying over a different screen, searching for a clearing in the trees large enough for the VTOL.

Maxim returned to the VTOL’s cabin, wondering for a brief moment if he should have brought more men with him for this raid.  Too late now, he thought.  Besides, if there were two dozen women here as Summer had said, they would need all of the free space to transport them out of here.

“Merrick,” he said, addressing the eldest of the Falcoran male-set that had accompanied them.  “Ran is going to set us down on the outside edge of what appears to be a camouflaged rectangular heat signature.  Unless there is a very large rectangular animal down in that forest, I think it’s what we’re looking for.”

Merrick grinned.  “We’ll fly in and check it out, shall we?” he asked.

 “Keep in mind that the compound was more than likely setup by the Xanti,” Maxim cautioned.  “That means technology we probably know nothing about, so watch yourselves.”

“Aye, Commander,” Merrick replied with another grin. 

Maxim wished for a moment that he had an older, more experienced male-set with him.  The Lobos or the Bearens would have been great.  But, he reminded himself, though the Falcorans were light on age and experience, they were very good at their specialty, covert ops and recon, which just so happened to be exactly what he needed them for. 

Maxim automatically shifted his balance as Ran did a quick direction change, then brought the VTOL down for a landing.  Loni released the door locks and slid them open just as Ran touched down.  The Falcorans leapt out, shifting so quickly that they never even touched the ground.  Maxim watched the gigantic black furred birds as they flew through the woods, weaving in and out between the trees without apparent effort in spite of their size.

“I’ll take guard,” Loni said before jumping out of the VTOL to the forest floor.  He called his katrenca, then began pacing the small clearing, his sharp feline senses on high alert.

Maxim stood in the cabin doorway, gazing into the dark forest around them, wondering how long this compound had been here.  And how many more such places there were on Jasan that they knew nothing about. 

Ran stepped out of the cockpit and joined Maxim in the main cabin, a worried frown on his face.

“What?” Maxim asked.

“The camouflage system apparently blocks only aerial probes,” he said.  “Now that we’re on the ground, the instrumentation is having no trouble with parallel views.  At least, it doesn’t seem to be.  I almost hope it’s another camouflage, because if it isn’t, there are a lot of very recently dead people in and around the building about a 250 yards north of us.”

“Damn,” Maxim said softly just as Merrick and his brothers, Tor and Jerri, returned, shifting back to their human forms as they landed beside the VTOL.

Merrick’s usual grin was absent, a grim indication of what they had discovered.

Maxim and Ran joined them outside the VTOL, Maxim mentally bracing himself for whatever was coming.  Loni shifted back to his human form and joined the small group.

“There’s a fairly large brick building ahead, one guard tower at each corner, three smaller outbuildings that appear to be storage, garages and a bunkhouse for the guards.  No sign of life outside the building, but the scent of death is almost overwhelming.”  Merrick paused a moment to rub his nose.  “We neither heard, nor scented any signs of life in or around the main building.  But, the scent of death is so strong that there could be survivors, and we just couldn’t scent them.”

Maxim clenched his jaw, unable to prevent himself from imagining Summer in that building, sharing whatever fate had befallen her fellow prisoners. 

Summer
, he thought, picturing her in his mind as she had been that first moment when they had entered the office that morning.  Standing there in no more than a coarse shift, her feet bare, challenging them with a pain baton in her hands, and defiance in her chocolate eyes.  He had never imagined a more beautiful sight in all of his life.  Even now, just remembering her was enough to make the breath catch in his throat. 

But she had been so argumentative, so illogical and demanding that it had raised all of his defenses.  He admitted that, now, after the meeting with the Lobos, he understood the reasons for her actions and her words, and they made sense.  But it was not enough.  She could have explained her reasons to them, he insisted to himself.  That she hadn’t was just one more mark against her as far as he was concerned. 

Yes, she was beautiful, strong, intelligent, and brave, and yes, his body and mind both yearned for her.  But he could not,
would
not, allow her charms to sway him.  Just because she was their Arima did not mean she was a good person, or that he and his brothers would spend the rest of their lives with her happily.  They had seen with their own eyes the consequences of being taken in by a pretty face and sweet words.  He refused to commit himself and his brothers to such a fate.

Maxim gave himself a little shake.  Now was not the time to be thinking of Summer Whitney. 

He focused his thoughts on the current situation and the information Merrick had given him, then quickly sketched out a plan for approaching the compound.  The Falcorans would take the rear, and he and his brothers would go in the front.  Merrick asked a couple of brief questions and they were ready to go.

“Sharp eyes, Brother Warrior,” Merrick said, raising his left fist to his right shoulder.

“Brave heart, Brother Warrior,” Maxim responded solemnly, returning the Falcoran’s salute in the age-old tradition.

Merrick turned and took a running step before leaping into the air and shifting quickly into his alter form, Tor and Jerri right behind him.  Maxim turned to his own brothers.

“Ran, I want you to find and secure the computer system,” he said.  “That’s your main priority after we get inside.”

“Understood, Commander,” Ran replied.

“There are going to be women in this building that have been badly treated.  Many of them are going to be dead from the looks of things.  Keep a tight rein on your emotions.  I don’t want any blood-rages,” Maxim said. “Understood?”

Ran and Loni both nodded, their faces grim, but determined. 

“All right then.  Let’s do this,” Maxim said before setting off through the trees at a quick jog.  They all knew that there was little likelihood they would find anyone alive in the compound.  But they all hoped.

Chapter
16

After leaving the med-lab Summer crossed the gravel path and reentered the Lobos’ house, uncertain exactly where she should go.

“How’s it going with Darleen?” Saige asked as she stepped into the hall.  “I was just coming to check on you.”

“Doc got the silver skin off, so she’s a normal color now.  That’s the best part.”  Summer hesitated.  She didn’t think it was her place to reveal the more private things Darleen had said.  “She’s more comfortable with Doc now, so I left to give her some privacy while Doc works on some other things.”