Heart's Prisoner (Dark World Mates Book 1) Read online

  "Very little would have prepared you for that. You did well."

  Lana looked back at the door to unit three and frowned. "He tried to scare me," she said softly. She looked back at Cole. "I think I might have angered him. So much for a good first impression."

  Cole chuckled. "I wouldn't worry about it. The creature already hates us. But that's why you are here, to hopefully remedy that."

  Lana heard Torrence make a noise behind her. When she looked over at him he was smiling.

  "I think you've had enough for today. You can be shown the rest of the facility tomorrow. Go and get some rest." Cole patted her, turning back to his desk before she could speak. Lana frowned but decided against arguing. Her hands were still cold and clammy. She nodded to Torrence and went to leave.

  "Ah, one thing, Lana," Cole said. He brought out his own ISpad and began sifting through files until he swiped his hand toward her and she heard her ISpad ring. She brought it up and saw the files he had sent her pop up.

  "That's the rest of the confidential files about the asset I had forgotten to send. Not much still I'm afraid, but you can go over it before your next meeting." Cole sent another file over. "And that one is your appointment."

  "Appointment?"

  "You'll have to go to level six before you come back."

  Lana opened the file and saw it was a required appointment with Dr. Ramstine and his associates. Signed by Cole.

  "This isn't necessary," she said. "I'm fine."

  "Sorry, standard procedure."

  Lana wanted to argue but Cole's stern gaze quieted her.

  She was completely fine! Sure a little shook up, but who wouldn't be after seeing a creature that might have come out of a nightmare dimension. It didn't mean she was scared, or in trouble of gaining PTSD...

  "Also," Cole continued without glancing back at her, "in your room you will find your new work cell. I'm afraid your old one won't work here. Your computer should be up to date as well. See you tomorrow, Doctor."

  That hollow dismissal didn't go unnoticed by her, but Lana shook it off. She eyed the other doors, her gaze falling last on the door to unit three, before turning away.

  ***

  Lana didn't finish working despite Cole's orders to rest and get herself situated in her new home away from home. Instead, she poured over Xerus' files, organizing and studying each carefully. She didn't even bother to unpack, only taking a moment to use the bathroom and eat a small meal before turning on the computer at her small work desk where she remained late into the night.

  Several of the files were just notes from the other doctors, each describing their encounters with the creature; trying to decipher every movement, every sound, word, gesture. One–a Dr. Grimmer–mentioned in his theories that the way Xerus moved and the way he was built showed evidence of what he believed to be the "perfectly evolved predator", unequaled by any other. He even believed that Xerus' species could withstand bites or stab wounds of even the most critical nature. That the species' skin was so tough he wondered even if it was bulletproof. Course, there was no way of knowing any of this for sure unless one tested the theory. His notes mentioned his and Officer Torrence's discussions on the matter.

  The other doctor–Dr. Cronberg–had other ideas. He believed Xerus was far more than just some top predator. That he was highly intelligent. Much more than what they were led to believe. Though Xerus had given them little information or background on himself (and there had only been reports of a few others of his kind being sighted on the hellish planet where he had been captured), Dr. Cronberg firmly believed Xerus' kind were more than just some primal community like those groups seen and studied in the amazon; that they came from a vast civilization, with technology beyond anything they currently held. Sadly, most of his theories and remarks were shot down or slighted, and he made very clear his frustrations on the matter.

  Though, even Lana couldn't help wondering too how he came up with the theory. As she searched through the report on the day of his capture, it showed no indication that Xerus came from any such civilization; no equipment had been found, no tech, no ships. And by the information given, Xerus had never mentioned or even hinted about others of his kind. Granted, Lana reminded herself that the last behaviorists didn't exactly stick around long enough to gather a wellspring of data on the subject.

  As the digital clock on her computer ticked at 2 AM, Lana sighed and sat back, biting her nails as she stared at the screen. Lost in thought, she searched the folders, thinking she'd found everything and just needed to go to bed when she clicked on one folder and found several undiscovered videos. She perked up, leaning forward in her chair.

  The videos were feeds from previous sessions.

  Lana could clearly see Xerus in the still and the other doctor sitting behind the large window looking into his cell. She clicked on the first video and it instantly started playing.

  "Asset X, analysis 3," came the voice of a man clipped with static. "Hello, Xerus."

  The room was bright red. Within, Xerus paced as she had seen him do before. He didn't look at the man, only ahead. He was irritated.

  "Tell us about your world, Xerus. Tell us where you are from."

  Xerus said nothing, though she caught the flash of teeth in a quick snarl.

  "We only wish to help you. We want to understand."

  Lana's face heated. The words–a near repeat of her own session–made her realize her folly. How could she think Xerus would have cooperated with her when all he heard was the same thing over and over from another scientist just trying to coax information from him. Then she remembered his own words and wished she had listened.

  When Xerus said nothing, the man only looked down at his tablet, made a note, and continued. "If you don't cooperate we will have no choice but to keep you locked in here. We don't want that. And I'm sure you don't want that either. Just tell us why you were in the forest. Is that your home?"

  Xerus growled. With clenched teeth, he looked over at the man and hissed something in his language–something the translator couldn't pick up. He got real close to the window, his tail swaying furiously.

  "Is that your home?"

  The doctor stilled, his face turning pale. He stared at Xerus in wide-eyed wonder. Confused, Lana paused the video and went back a few seconds.

  "Is that your home?"

  The doctor's lips hadn't moved. The question came from Xerus, clear English, and in the exact tone of the doctor's voice.

  Nothing in the files stated he understood their language yet...at least what they believed. The video was dated several months ago meaning Xerus couldn't have been able to communicate in English; the QS translator could be softly heard within the cell speaking in his own language to show proof of that. He must have insanely good hearing to make out the doctor's voice over the translator.

  'He isn't communicating', she thought. 'He's mimicking.'

  So Cole's warning hadn't been an exaggeration.

  The doctor in the video (who she figured then to be Dr. Cronberg) stared at Xerus, speechless. He opened his mouth to say something then closed it several times.

  "W-what did you just..." The doctor finally stammered out. Xerus repeated him.

  The doctor, clearly disturbed, ended the session early and the video ended.

  Lana's throat felt dry and she took a sip of water before starting the next video. This time it was of Dr. Grimmer.

  "Asset X, analysis 12," the doctor said in a monotonous, almost bored voice. "Asset appears agitated, did not take food or water for the fifth day."

  Xerus sat as far from the window as possible, his body facing the opposite wall. He didn't look back at the man. His tail swayed.

  "Asset X..."

  Xerus' head only turned slightly.

  "We just want your cooperation. Tell us where the others are."

  Xerus said nothing.

  "Tell us why you attacked the camp on planet 421. What were you doing there."

  Xerus' head turned back to th
e wall. The doctor sighed.

  "If you don't talk we will be forced to make you."

  The alien didn't move. His face was too dark for Lana to make out.

  'This is more of an interrogation than a conversion,' Lana thought annoyingly. 'How could they think this would ever work?'

  The doctor wrote something down in his tablet, his mouth set in a deep frown. "Asset refuses to cooperate. May need to prepare shock-induced thera–"

  The QS translator interrupted in a low, sharp tone, translating Xerus' words. "There's blood on your breath."

  The doctor stopped, his frown deepening into confusion. "What was that?"

  Xerus didn't turn to look at him when he said, "The scent of blood. I can smell it."

  The doctor paused. His hand raised to his mouth where he breathed into his palm and then sniffed. "I smell nothing."

  Xerus looked around at him. "I do. You're going to die soon. You're too weak."

  The doctor stiffened at this but seemed to keep his composure. "I was just checked in the medical bay and I assure you I'm just fine." He paused and his frown turned to a scowl. "Are you threatening me, Asset X?"

  Xerus lifted his lip, exposing his teeth in a strange smile. "Do you really want to know what I was doing in your camp?"

  The doctor shifted forward in his seat. "Yes."

  "I was on a mission."

  The doctor's brows raised. "To do what?"

  Xerus turned away. "To kill."

  The video went black. Lana leaned back in her seat, feeling a wave of cold hit her spine. A knot started to form in her stomach as she sat staring at the blank screen as if in a trance. She closed out the files and turned off the computer but didn't leave the desk right away. Instead, she remained deep in thought.

  Getting through to Xerus wasn't just going to be difficult. It might very well be impossible. If what he said was true, that he intended to kill them, then the chances of converting him into human society were very low.

  A waste of time Officer Torrence had said. And her worst thoughts were that he might be right.

  Still, Jacob had believed she could somehow do it. That meant he thought there must be a chance. Perhaps Xerus was only tasked to kill them; maybe his intentions were not his own. He'd said he was on a mission–from who no one knew but him. There was the chance he could be convinced otherwise. That he could be swayed to change his mind.

  Unfortunately, based on what she just saw in the videos, he had very little cause in his current situation to do that. Even a human being would have perfectly good reason to resent, even hate, the very people keeping them locked up and questioning them, even threatening them. With an alien species, it would be no different, in fact, it would be much worse.

  Lana finally rose from her seat and made her way to the bathroom. As she turned on the shower with a press of a button and began to unclothe, she thought about the way the other doctors had treated the alien. As a specimen or as a prisoner, it didn't matter. Xerus had reason to be enraged.

  If she wanted to get through to him she couldn't use the same tactics as the others. She wasn't here to pose as an interrogator. He would push her away like the others if she tried.

  As the hot water poured over her skin, Lana began to form her plan.

  ***

  "Blood pressure seems fine so far, and no abnormalities have been seen yet in your brain scan, I'd say you're doing fairly well, Ms. Hart," Doctor Ramstine said, flipping through her medical files on his tablet as Lana sat on the doctor's table. She clasped her hands tightly in her lap, chewing on her lip to keep from shouting at him.

  Obviously, she was perfectly fine. But she didn't think that would get her out of these tedious tests and appointments. They had to study her just as much as they studied everything else.

  "Now that the physical evaluation is over, I'll let my associate take over from here," said the doctor with little interest. "Just a few more moments, Ms. Hart, and you'll be good to go. Have a nice day, we will see you soon." He placed his tablet under his arm and shut the door behind him. Lana stared at the door, burning as much disdain as she could muster, imagining melting a hole right through the steel.

  Every other week she was to visit the medical bay on level six for these physical and emotional evaluations. Exactly twice a month. It was too much. She would have a serious talk with Cole that if he wanted her sane and compliant he'd do well to free her from these appointments altogether, though, in reality, her best bet would be to cut them down to once a month.

  It wasn't that she didn't understand the severity of the situation. Being close to a new, otherworldly species held the risk of becoming exposed to unknown, possibly deadly diseases and viruses. But she knew they had already tested for that based on Xerus' files and found nothing they deemed harmful to people. Though testing was always being done to discover anything they missed, she had no reason to fear being contaminated by the alien (unless of course, she were to be sliced by his tail which was found to be poisonous after all, but that risk only came if he somehow got out, and by then she'd probably be dead before it mattered).

  So the tests were really just precautions. The physical side she might be able to deal with once in a while but having to see a therapist as well seemed pointless. If she couldn't deal with the work then she would just leave as the others had.

  The door opened and Lana straightened, her eyes widening as a familiar blond-haired woman stepped into the room.

  "Hello, Lana. " Nicole smiled her dazzling smile. "How did things go yesterday?"

  Lana gave the girl a questioning look but smiled back. "It was fine. Why are you..." Lana almost began to ask Nicole what she was doing in the room when she looked down and saw that Nicole no longer wore the officer's uniform as before, but now a doctor's coat. "You work in the medical bay?" Lana asked instead.

  "Yes, I double as one of the therapists as well as a nurse and medical assistant in various departments." Nicole placed her tablet on a table nearby and sat opposite Lana. "So just fine?"

  Lana pursed her lips. "It was probably one the most thrilling and terrifying experiences I've had so far," then she said quickly, "did you know before or after you sent me down to twelve that they were going to send me up here to be evaluated every other week?"

  Nicole gave her a pitying look. "No. At least not so consistently, and I didn't think I would be assigned to do it. Unfortunately, they keep me in the dark about certain things just as they have you. The joys of military life I suppose."

  "I guess I'm not used to it like I thought," Lana said. "My research might have been on a base, but we were separate in a way."

  "Nothing is separate here, I'm afraid," said Nicole.

  Lana eyed her wearily. 'And I didn't exactly have a boss watching my every move, either,' she thought. 'How I miss it already.'

  Lana was thankful for Nicole's friendly, cheerful demeanor. Without it, she might not have cooperated so easily. Nicole asked her questions about how she was feeling and if anything were bothering her but Lana had little to say in such a short time so Nicole released her quickly from any more prodding, making short notes about their session.

  "I will talk to my uncle and see about cutting back to once a month. I can see it will do little good to do more than that," Nicole said as she finished writing on her tablet.

  "And I promise if I need to talk more for any reason, I'll come to you," Lana said as she rose from her seat.

  Nicole opened the door for her. "You'll likely find me here most of the time. As I said before, I help in many departments and most on this level."

  Lana stepped out of the room then paused and turned back to Nicole. "How much can I say about my work to you next time we meet?"

  "As far as I'm concerned anything we speak of is confidential."

  Lana eyed her seriously. "And if I have questions of my own?"

  Nicole smiled. "If I can answer them I will."

  "May I ask you one now?"

  Nicole raised her eyebrows. "Of course."


  "The other behaviorists working with...the asset. Do you know where they went?"

  A flicker of something passed over Nicole's eyes, something Lana barely caught. "They left the base. We didn't keep track of their whereabouts after," she said.

  "Yes, I understand, but do you know if they are both alive?"

  Nicole looked at her confused. "Why do you ask?"

  "Some of the old sessions I found in my work files seemed to hint that one was ill," Lana said. "Dr. Grimmer."

  Nicole frowned. "I see."

  "I was just curious if he recovered. Maybe I could even get in contact with them, get some personal insight about their work."

  "I'm afraid I can't say," Nicole said stiffly. "Dr. Grimmer and Dr. Cronberg left very quickly. Any medical records we have on file are of course confidential."

  Lana nodded. Of course they would be. Though she couldn't help wondering what happened to the doctor; If he really did have a sickness as Xerus had said or if the alien had only been trying to scare him.

  Nicole didn't look comfortable giving out any information though Lana couldn't understand why. Surely she would at least be able to tell her if he had passed away. Unless she really knew nothing about it.

  "My uncle might be able to get you their contact info, but I'm afraid I know nothing about one being sick. I'm sorry."

  Lana forced a soft smile. "It's alright. Maybe I'll ask Cole at some point, when I'm not stressing over my work."

  Nicole gave her another bright little smile. "And I suspect that feeling won't end. And we'll have much more to discuss."

  Chapter Four

  Before her next session with Xerus, Lana was taken through to the other units, giving her a glimpse at the other alien species Lazris had discovered and continued to study. She was surprised to find that, unlike Xerus' lone unit, there were many more containment rooms beyond each of the thick, metal doors, housing more extraterrestrial creatures than she had first thought. Some were not very threatening but Lana could still understand the need for caution. One pair was huge. At least twice the size of an elephant with sharp green shells on their backs and horns on their heads. The pair of 'Arothidons' she heard them called, were stuck in one large tank filled partially with water and moss. Others had likenesses to creatures back on earth, only larger or with more aggressive features. Asset C, for instance, looked like a huge dog with a sleek, near shiny coat as black as oil and a tail as long as its body that, when whipped around, could slice through thick wood like a knife. It seemed pretty timid but, when she and the others got near, it growled and snapped its tail in their direction, leaving a temporary mark on the nearby wall.