The door opened to Nhyht bearing a plate of kreso.He placed it on the table, shoving daggers aside.“Eat.We must be strong for what is to come.”
Cylo scowled at his disappearing back, not liking that the male spoke the truth.He sank onto the chair, grabbed the closest dagger, and sliced through the soft steak.He was careful when he peeled the sliver off the blade with his teeth.While he chewed, he mentally planned the route he and his males would take.They’d start at the beach and work out which doors to open first, which rooms to check, what the quickest escape would be.Porting then?Yes, if a male found a female, then porting would be the safest.He killed imaginary Yithians with a blaster or his sword.Upon locating a blurry-faced female, he’d toss her over his shoulder and port.If he retraced his steps to the beach, they might encounter a swath of Yithian soldiers, all intent on taking her back and killing him.
If they couldn’t port…
He tapped his O.D.I.“Olin, is there a male on board who can strap theKevol’sChokaars to the shuttle?”
“Their combined weight would hinder the kuta’s ability to take off.Perhaps one will do?”
“See to it as a last resort should we be surrounded.”
“I shall speak to Koddo.I like this plan.”Olin ended the comm.
“Durok,” Cylo spoke into his wrist, twisting to do so and dripping momaberry sauce off a sliver of steak.“Ensure each male carries two med-guns.Should a female require immediate healing, a faulty med-gun is unacceptable.”
“Agreed,” Durok said.“Like I said earlier, you have considered all variables.”
For minutes afterward, Cylo sat there.The impossible still had to be considered.What if the females were well, safe, and did not want to leave?
He shook his head.With what he knew about humans, they were impulsive, stubborn, and almost damu-like in their emotional range.He didn’t think male or female would take too kindly to being taken.
Still, if a hostage chose to stay, he would accept that was her decision to make.He pushed aside his half-eaten meal.Maker, I hope that is not the case.In two days, he’d know if all their efforts were in vain.
He pocketed the nugget, grabbed his plate, and carried it to the common’s waste disposal.
Chapter Nine
Iphara Island
Planet of Yithia
Year of 2254, August
Wrenneededtopee.No way was she going to go on the bed when she’d just gotten clean.Parts of her were beginning to go numb, tingling to her toetips.How long had it been since Nice Guy had left?She’d dozed off and on, throwing her concept of time out of whack.Her stomach twisted, spiking a sharp pain in her abdomen.
She grimaced.If she could eat anything, it would be pizza or a grilled cheese sandwich.Iced coffee?Soda?Hell, a chilled bottle of water.
She had one thing to be grateful for, though.Gone was her craving for splice.Still, if she ever got back to Demeter, she’d be imprisoned for going A.W.O.L.while on parole.The sharks had made things worse for her.The two-year extension on her probation was nothing compared to what E.A.F.would do to her.
“Hello?”she called, straining her ears to hear.
A sneaky thought silenced her.What if the labs were soundproofed?After all, no footsteps came from the passage, no screams or chatter from staff or victims.She peered at the walls, trying to assess with her non-X-ray vision whether the walls were flimsy or filled with dampening foam.Not that she was an expert, by no means.
No windows meant no weaknesses, but the gap between the ceiling panels and the floor above could be an option,ifshe could free herself from the restraints.Even then, she wasn’t sure she could climb into the gap.
What would it buy her anyway?Delayed experimentation?As nice as that sounded, she needed a better plan.Making it out of this place would mean fresh air and nothing more.They were on a friggin island, one she didn’t know at all.
A cave would be good for hiding, where she could starve to death.No, the best bet would be to kill her way through these assholes.She’d at least have freedom, shelter, and food.Anyone landing some sort of shuttle could be taken out.Then she would have to figure out how to fly the damn thing.There were too many obstacles she’d have to surmount to survive.And on top of that was the question of whether she could take someone’s life.
Hell, it’s them or me, isn’t it?
She grimaced.
The alternative was to let them do to her what they wanted, but by what One Eye had said, not many of their previous victims had made it.Her only opportunities were in transit, if she could get her hands on one of those gun-thingies they carried.Except the scientists and Criass sported no such weapons.She grinned.Stabbing them with their own concoctions would be justice served.
She pinched her thighs together.“Listen.Anyone, I need to pee.Seems like humanity and dignity do not extend outside our galaxy.Let me pee, you bastards.Stealing women for your experiments,” she sang at the top of her lungs.“This is gender-based violence, but I’m human, a woman, and this bullshit is done.”
She caterwauled with no tune in mind and probably sounded like a drunk space pirate way past his splice fix, but her bladder was making her desperate.
