Heart's Prisoner (Dark World Mates Book 1) Page 2

  As soon as the ship came to a smooth stop, Lana quickly unbuckled and readied her things, swinging one bag over her shoulder and picking up another. Lights flickered off and on and the engines slowed to a dull hum as she slunk out of the room and rushed down the aisle. The exit doors slid open and bright light beamed across her face, catching her off guard.

  Lana raised her hand, squinting her eyes and reaching for the rail of the steps when she nearly bumped into someone.

  “Dr. Hart, welcome!” came a sweet, feminine voice. “Oh, please let us get those for you. Your items will be waiting for you at your personal unit.” Lana felt her bags being taken from her and a hand on her elbow to help guide her down the steps. When the light passed her eyes, Lana blinked carefully then looked around, coming to a dead halt just as she made it onto the bottom landing. She took in the sight of the port first: A large and impressive space with several docked ships and cargo lined up to be taken in and out of the base. Bots of all sizes marched by, carrying equipment and placing them in the necessary holdings. Then she looked over to her left and saw the cheerful, smiling face of a young, well-kept, blond.

  “Dr. Hart,” said the blond in that sweet voice. “I am Officer Kingsley. But you can call me Nicole. I will be directing you today.”

  Lana glanced at Officer Nicole’s attire, noticing the gray and blue suit with the Lazris’ insignia on her right breast–a black star with eight points. Above this star was a red badge with an ID. She looked back at Nicole’s face and smiled, holding out her hand. “Lana.”

  Nicole’s smile widened and she took Lana’s hand, shaking it firmly. “Lana. You’ve got a lot to see today. Let’s get you settled in.”

  Lana followed Nicole out of the dock to a security clearance midpoint located just before the terminal that would lead down into the center base. She presented her IDs and credentials to various stoney-faced officers before going through one last routine exam. With all required vaccinations in order and her background confirmed, she was presented with her own official Lazris ID, badge, and keycard. Once securing each to her shirt, Lana followed Nicole past the checkpoint to the main terminal where an elevator car was already waiting for them. Nicole pressed a button with her polished finger and the doors parted. Inside, white seats were secured to both sides, each fitted with a seat belt. Blue lights flowed around the upper half of the car like waves. Nicole took a seat on the left side gesturing for Lana to take hers on the right. Lana sat facing her and grabbed at the seat belt.

  “No need for that.” Nicole smiled. “It’s just a precaution.”

  ‘A precaution for what’, Lana thought and almost let the words slip out. Instead, she shrugged, letting the belt fall.

  “There have been a few tremors,” Nicole said, as if hearing her thoughts anyway. “Nothing too serious, but can’t be too safe either.”

  “Have they been happening often?” Lana asked curiously.

  “No, only maybe a few a month. But you can be assured Lazris and everything within was built to withstand any planetary or natural event. The storms, the tremors, are just slight inconveniences at best.”

  A loud bell rang and the doors of the car shut tightly. A second later, the car began to move downward at a smooth pace. A few seconds after that, an image on the back of the car popped up as if the wall had now turned into a screen. On the screen, a woman with her hair knotted back and her smile just as pristine as Nicole’s, began speaking.

  “Welcome to Lazris,” the woman said in a polite tone, “home to human advancement and discovery. Here we create and innovate.” The woman grew smaller in size and to her right sprung an image of LV012. “Lazris was built on the planet known as LV012 approximately 2 miles under its surface. Made from thick titanium steel, Lazris is the most secure base in our governing system.” The woman disappeared and images of Lazris took her place. “Here a total of twelve thousand three hundred and twenty-two military and civilian employees work and live. Each level is built to hold each unique facility and sector. A map can be found beside each elevator, emergency stairway, and accessed through a Scibot or a computer. The levels are as follows: Level One, City and Welcome Sector, where this terminal arrives and departs. Also the location of specialized shops and entertainment. From here you will take the elevator to other levels. Level Two, Agriculture and Natural Resources. Level Three, Armory, Supply Warehouse, and Mechanics Bay. Level Four...”

  The levels were listed off, twelve in total. The very last one by no margin of surprise was her own facility.

  “Level Twelve, Center for Bio-scientific and Specimen Research. Access to this level is prohibited unless given special authorization. All Levels have emergency stairs. A keycard will be needed to access certain floors and rooms and will be used to enter your unit.”

  The car shook slightly and the screen glitched, making the woman’s smiling face distort briefly. The car began to slow.

  “Thank you for joining us.” The woman gave a salute and the screen disappeared. The car came to a stop and Nicole stood up as the doors slid open.

  “Follow me.”

  Lana carefully exited the car. She followed Nicole, turning left and then around to a set of doors behind the terminal. When they approached, the doors opened and Lana paused, eyes widening.

  “Jesus...Jacob really hadn’t been joking,” she whispered. She followed Nicole into the bright, vast foyer that was the base city sector. A several-stories tall, football-field-long strip that held a fountain at its center and a digitally enhanced ceiling above that portrayed light like the sky.

  It was flawless.

  To each side were various stores, restaurants, and bars almost like she was stepping through a mall or resort. The walls and ceilings were white and gray, the floor was a colorful mosaic of green and blue, and the Lazris star was displayed as a piece of floating metal within the fountain beyond. Banner-screens hanging from the ceiling displayed ads for the various stores; one looked like a luxurious spa–another, a fine-dining restaurant. Trees and plants had been planted in various pots along the sides of the walkway and Lana could see they were real, not the fake, cheap kind she had seen in her old base.

  As they walked, they passed groups of other personnel, most making their way to the glass elevators between the shops that would take them up to other floors within the city sector. Nicole passed them by without a glance while Lana watched them curiously. Something caught her eye from above and, when she peered upward, she caught sight of several drones hovering silently, several feet from the ground.

  ‘Interesting method of security,’ she thought. She had seen no standing guards either. Lazris didn’t seem to want to waste bodies by having them just standing around to watch.

  As they approached the end of the great hall, they came to a set of much larger, metal elevators, at least eight in total. Nicole brought out her keycard, swiped it, then pressed the button on the side, going down.

  “I’ll take you down to your unit first so you can get situated and comfortable, then we can start our tour of each level and…”

  Lana couldn’t hide the impatient grimace on her face which Nicole seemed to notice and stopped.

  “Is it really necessary?” Lana said hesitantly. "I think I got the gist while heading down here…”

  Nicole’s mouth turned up. “Ready to get to work huh, Doctor?”

  “It’s been a long two months of waiting. Can you blame me?” ‘And I've been waiting for this chance for even longer,’ she thought.

  Nicole glanced around, then looked back at Lana. “It’s usually protocol but…” She gave a little shrug. “Well, I guess an exception could be made for you. Though I ask that at some point you do make your way through the levels. You’ll want to become familiar with them.”

  Lana placed a hand to her heart. “Promise I will.”

  The elevator doors opened and they stepped inside. “We will make a quick stop to your unit and while you’re inside I will call in on level twelve and let them know you are co
ming down,” Nicole stated and hit the button for level nine. The elevator doors closed and it immediately began its descent.

  “Thanks, Nicole,” Lana said gratefully.

  Nicole slipped another smile. “In truth, Dr. Kingsley has been pretty impatient to see you too. He’d be grateful to hear that you're ready to go. It’s been pretty wild down on twelve...” Nicole cleared her throat. “At least so I’ve heard.”

  “Kingsley…” Lana looked at her curiously. “You are related?

  “My uncle. And the head of the department.”

  “Ah,” Lana said. “Well, if he is as nice as you have been then I have nothing to fear.”

  “Unfortunately…” Nicole’s eyes turned on Lana. When Lana looked at her with slight concern, she laughed. “Don’t worry, he’s no drill sergeant, but he can be...intimidating when he wants to be.”

  “I guess it comes with the territory.”

  Nicole let out a breath. “Yes, you’ll definitely get the serious ones around here. The stiff-necks I like to call them.”

  “Do they mostly run security?” Lana joked, thinking of the officers running the security clearance.

  “Mostly. I’m sure you know how it can be on base.”

  “Oh, do I.”

  The two laughed and Nicole glanced at her, bright-eyed. “We are glad you’re here. It goes without saying that I'm a fan of your work. I studied a little bit about interspecies communication and neo-biology back in the day. Fascinating stuff. I read your paper on the Gyda. Got to meet a few myself.”

  “So you know what I'm up against now then?”

  Nicole’s smile dropped slightly and she nodded. “It’s been challenging. But they are confident you can help.”

  “I hope so.”

  The elevator doors opened and Lana stepped out with Nicole into a hallway lit by soft blue light trailing along the walls. To each side were sets of doors with keypads similar to that of some hotels. Numbers ran along each side starting from twelve hundred. Nicole took Lana down toward the middle and stopped at room twelve sixty-three. Lana used her keycard to open the metal door which slid open just as she slid her card through the pad.

  “I’ll wait out here and call twelve,” Nicole said as Lana stepped inside. Lana nodded to her just before the door slid closed and locked soundly. She turned to look around and take in the sight of her new home.

  It was a small apartment really, but comfortable nonetheless. A bed at the back with a makeshift window above, making it look similar to daylight. A kitchen area with a table to the left, a desk, and a computer to the right along with a small closet. Through another door beyond she could see a shower. It wasn’t much but it was enough. Her bags, just like Nicole said, were already placed alongside the bed. On the bed itself was her uniform. Gray and blue with a black star.

  Lana changed quickly and met Nicole back outside. With her arrival now expected, they made their way back to the elevators. This time when the doors opened, they found a Scibot waiting inside. The humanoid, faceless robot, with a computer screen mounted on its chest, turned towards them.

  “Hello, please let me know if you need assistance.” It spoke in a male voice.

  “Did you have Scibots on your base?” Nicole asked.

  “They were only just being introduced.”

  “They can be handy when they want to but, oh, how I hate seeing one loping around in the dark.” Nicole seemed to shudder.

  The elevator moved down and it was then Lana noticed her heart beginning to race. When the elevator stopped and the doors opened, they stepped out to a small, yet long, foyer where a large, thick steel door sat at the end guarded by two soldiers. To one side of the foyer, a window looked into a security office where an officer sat within.

  “Hello David, I’m here with Dr. Hart,” Nicole said as they approached.

  David looked up at Lana with icy blue eyes and nodded. He typed in a code into his computer and a loud beep responded. The door at the far end started to slide open and the soldiers before it stepped aside.

  “This is as far as I go,” Nicole said. “Good Luck, Doctor. If you are ever in need of...well, anything, don’t hesitate to contact me.”

  “Thank you, Nicole.” Lana’s heart thumped harder but she gave her a confident smile. “I know I'll be seeing you.”

  Lana watched Nicole step back into the elevator before she turned around. She took a deep breath, kept her head up, and walked on alone. The soldiers said nothing as she walked past and when she entered through the wide door, one turned to follow behind her.

  Beyond the door revealed an impressively large, hexagonal room, carved and smoothed out of the very rock. Vertical lights melded along the walls, lighting the chamber in dim white light that cast a yellowish glow on the walls. To each side of the hexagon was a thick metal door similar to the one she had just entered through. Lana could only assume behind each was one of the alien species Lazris kept contained within its compound. Her assumptions were correct when she glanced upward and saw several monitors hanging from the ceiling, each showing video feed into the different cells. She didn’t linger on them long enough to see the aliens in detail. Instead, her focus turned to the mix of computers and lab equipment that had been placed in the center of the room. Several men and a few women gathered around the machines too caught up in their work to take notice of her approach. The soldier who had been following her now took the lead, directing her around the equipment. A containment pod to her left gave her a glimpse of an unidentifiable plant growing within, purple and veiny. Past the pod, she spotted a water tank holding strange lime-green crustaceans with some kind of coral growing on their backs.

  "Doctor Hart," she heard the soldier say. Lana forced her gaze away from the tanks to steer her eyes over to the two men before her. One got up from his seat at a long desk with several monitors and pinned her with a blue-eyed gaze, his lips twitching up into a smile.

  "Miss Hart, Cole Kingsley." Cole extended his hand and Lana took it, squeezing gently. She was forced to lift her head up to the towering figure in order to meet his eyes. Despite his graying hair, Cole was much younger looking than she had anticipated; no wrinkles or facial scars to be seen, his face perfectly shaved and clean. His smile turned into a grin, showing perfectly white teeth. "It's a lot to take in at first, isn't it? You're not the first to come walking in here with an awestruck stare."

  Lana blinked and shook her head. "It's just hard to believe I'm really here."

  Cole released her hand. " It can seem daunting, but I think you'll feel right at home in a few days." His eyes shifted over to the second man wearing a military guard's uniform, sitting beside the desk, his feet propped up on its edge. His black eyes regarded Lana as Cole gestured to him. "This is Officer Justin Torrence, head of security and defense on level twelve."

  Torrence didn't move to stand or extend his hand, nor did he smile. His eyes flickered down Lana's form then back up. Lana noticed his hands moving in a circular motion and saw the flash of a wrapper. His jaw moved in a similar motion as he chewed on what she could only assume was some kind of gum or perhaps tobacco. He gave her a single nod and a low grunt of acknowledgment.

  "Nicole told me you were ready to get started as soon as possible," Cole said, turning back to her. "I'm glad to hear. We've been impatient to have you. Can I assume rightly that you have been given all the necessary information about what you'll be working with?"

  "General Hartin sent me a few files and gave me the run-down but only the barest of details on the...specimens within. And what is required of me exactly".

  Cole nodded. "Makes sense. There's already been talk of information getting leaked. Thankfully nothing serious enough but we can never be too cautious." Cole gestured beyond Lana, pointing to the doors along the walls. "As I'm sure you guessed, behind each door contains the assets, all contained within their own unit. Yours"–he pointed to the door opposite the one she had come through–"will be within unit three. I assume General Hartin has already warned y
ou of its nature."

  Lana stared down the door of unit three. "He mentioned it was aggressive, yes."

  Officer Torrence laughed low behind her. Lana turned to look at him and watched as he set his feet on the ground and leaned forward. "Aggressive is an understatement, Miss Hart. Try violent and offensive. Hostile."

  Lana frowned. "Jacob...General Hartin, mentioned that too."

  Torrence fixed his eyes with hers. "Then you won't take offense when I say that I think you being here is a fuckin' waste of time."

  "Careful now, Officer Torrence," said Cole.

  Torrence shrugged. "I'm just telling it like it is." He slowly unwrapped the crumbled wrapper in his hands and dropped the gum he had been chewing into it, then wrapped it back up. "Did Jacob mention what happened to the last two 'behaviorists' that tried to work with that thing?"

  Lana glanced at Cole then shook her head.

  "One lasted two weeks then stormed out without a word and never came back. The other only lasted four days and went as far away from here as possible."

  "It is unfortunate," said Cole. "However, none had your unique kind of expertise."

  "This also isn't some docile land fish like your–what were they called? Gida?"

  "Gyda," Lana corrected.

  "Yea, that." Torrence threw his old wrapper then fished for a new one out of his pocket. "This one's more like a demon if you ask me. Straight out of hell itself. And if it were up to me?" He unwrapped his gum and popped it in his mouth, chewing slowly. "I'd send it right back to where it came from. With a single bullet."

  Lana shifted uncomfortably on her feet.

  "Officer Torrence, always the dramatic one." Cole laughed softly. "He doesn't exactly share our views on the preservation and discovery of these new species."

  "Your little discovery nearly killed four of my men just to transfer it here," Torrence growled.