Beyond the Stars: INEO (31 page)

I shook my head. “That wasn’t our deal,” I replied.

“Fine. Give me your arm,” he said coldly.

His harsh demeanor almost made me laugh after the friendly message he gave to me a moment ago. He removed the strange tool from his cloak pocket. I heard Gaelan grunt when I held out my arm and let Hyril hastily push up my sleeve. Then, without warning, he grazed the scratchy metal instrument across the length of my forearm extracting a thin, one inch wide, layer of my skin.

“Ouch.” I flinched and moaned. My eyes watered from the pain.

He went to do another pass with the shaving instrument. I started to pull away.

“I suppose this will do,” he said, releasing my arm, “although the temptation to take more is almost irresistible.”

It stung like a burn. Blood seeped from the exposed capillaries. I covered my oozing wound with my sleeve before he could take anymore and forced myself to tolerate the pain. I wanted to leave, but Hyril had other plans. My eyes rose to find him exiting the room.

“Stay here. I want to show you something,” he said with his back towards us.

“We should go.” Gaelan was more than ready to take off.

“Not yet,” I said. I was curious and wondered where he had gone.

“You gave him what he wanted. Do you want
us
to become his next prisoners?”

“I just—”

Hyril returned before we could argue. He was holding a tiny infant girl. It was Ellison. I immediately knew she was mine. She looked completely human. I pictured taking her in my arms and fleeing.

Hyril brought her closer to me. “She is special. I am planning on raising her with your tradition. I will love her as you love your children,” Hyril stated altruistically.

“What do
you
know of love?” Gaelan scoffed in disgust.

“Samantha shared with me her feelings of love she has for her children. I have been able to replicate those same emotions with Ellison.”

“No, you stole her thoughts when you violated her mind. They were not given to you,” Gaelan snapped back.

I gazed at the infant. She looked back at me with intelligent green eyes. “Are you sure she isn’t all human? What if she is mine and Gaelan’s?” I said without thinking.

Gaelan rubbed his mouth and drew his brows together in a stressed out grimace. He took an abrupt step closer to examine the infant better. His lips parted a little when he noticed how humanly perfect the infant in front of us was. She cooed in a sweet little voice. His curious eyes and stunned expression made me wonder if he deemed my notion to be true.

“She’s beautiful.” I started to reach out to touch the baby, but Hyril defensively rotated his body to pull the child back before I could.

“No, Ellison is ours. She is not yours; she only resembles you because we made her from you and because Gaelan and I share a common bloodline.”

“And
what
bloodline is that?” Gaelan huffed.

“I forgot. You are unaware, as was I until recently.” Hyril swayed back and forth with the infant in a moment of silence. “You and I—we share a father—Colin.”

I gasped and looked at Gaelan. His body stiffened while he gave Hyril a look of death. The tension between the two of them was palpable.

“No—we share
nothing.
You are a monstrosity. A few strands of stolen DNA do
not
make us family.” Gaelan’s eyes widened with rage.

Hyril frowned at him before he looked at me with a saddened expression. If I didn’t know better, it seemed as though Gaelan had hurt his feelings. I wanted to tell Gaelan to be kinder, half-brother or not. I think Hyril was searching for love ever since he’d entered my mind. He seemed to have become obsessed with finding it. He must have always longed for something meaningful to brighten his oppressive existence. There would be nothing worse than living a life without someone to love. The people in my life made my world not only bearable, but worth living.

“To think you would even consider us to be anything alike …” Gaelan said, becoming enraged.

That’s when I thought I heard, and then saw, something scamper across the room, from the corner of my eye. I sensed it coming behind me, and felt it tug on the back of my jacket. I didn’t have a chance to turn around. The figure quickly grasped a clump of hair on each side of my head and yanked the strands upward, pulling on my hair roots with force. It had me. “Gaelan!” I yelled. It snarled: half growl, half snort, and then breathed heavily, panting against me like an animal.
“What’s
behind me?” I said, being too petrified to resist.

Gaelan spun around, his mouth falling open. Hyril looked at me, huffed, and placed Ellison on a nearby table. He rushed towards me, pulling a wandlike tool from his belt. I held my breath as he reached around me holding the device. I heard a crackling sound, followed by a cry. It caused the hair-puller to release its grip and land on the floor with a thump. I sighed in relief and twirled around to see what had had me. A grossly deformed alien with a sunken face, long narrow skull, uneven eyes, and distorted limbs was crumpled at my feet. Despite its bent knees, its legs looked long, with protruding joints, similar to an insect’s. It was a product of their experiments, stuck living in a deformed body. What had they done? The creature was flapping its hands at Hyril, trying to keep him away.

“What
is
it?” I asked, horrified, as I stepped back.

“His name is Bosgee,” Hyril said. “Do not mind him Samantha. His brain and body never reached maturity.”

“Samantha,” Bosgee said in a squeaky voice, pointing at me with excitement. “Samantha here! Samantha, Samantha!”

If it was possible, I swore I saw Hyril’s eyes get even wider as though he feared someone would overhear. He was right. Within seconds, another Dreon came into the room. Gaelan pulled me tightly to his side and we backed away from him. He was taller and wider than Hyril. His facial features were scarily human, although he still would be considered an albino on Earth with his white hair and skin. “You knew she would come.”

“I got what we need,” Hyril said without moving his lips.

“You are keeping her, right?” he asked telepathically.

I had no idea why I could hear their thoughts.

“No.”

“We can use her for future harvest. It will go faster if we have more to work with.”

“It is not necessary.”

I felt panicked and a chill rolled down my spine.
Oh God. They’re not going to let me off this ship.

“Let her go,” said Ellison, forcefully in a childlike voice.

My eyes meet hers and then Hyril’s. I suddenly realized I was hearing them speak through her. The tall Dreon reached out to grab me, and before he could close his hand, Hyril zapped him with his weapon. Hyril didn’t discontinue his wand’s crippling current until the Dreon’s body slumped to the floor, unconscious.

“Go now. The others will be back soon. Sirion is on his way,” Hyril warned with unexpected alarm.

I noticed Urit’s exscrapulator lying on the floor beside his foot, but I didn’t have the guts or time to retrieve it. Hyril rushed us into the corridor and pointed us towards the exit to save us time.

I knew it. Hyril was protecting us from the other Dreons.

Without hesitation, Gaelan took me firmly by the hand and ran me down the corridor and out the exit hatch in record time. I fought to keep pace beside him. He continued to sprint down our previous path and didn’t ease his grip until our ship came into view. I looked back once to check that no one was following. It seemed as though we had gotten away.

“Please, wait, stop,” I huffed. “I can’t run anymore.” I came to an abrupt halt and panted. I leaned my hands on my knees for support while I fought to catch my breath in the hot dry air. I flipped the helmet from my collar up and over my head, lowered my face shield, and took a few deep breaths. I pretended to need the extra oxygen, but really it was to hide my face. Tears filled my eyes.

Gaelan waited for me to move. “Jeez, I’ve never met anyone who needed motivation to run for their life.”

“I just need a minute. My arm really stings.”

Within seconds, Gaelan’s patience grew thin, and he put his hand behind my back to give me a nudge forward. I took some slow steps before he grabbed me by my unhurt arm and rotated my body to face him. It was then he discovered I was crying. Gaelan retracted my face shield and helmet as he gave me a concerned look.

“What’s wrong?” he asked with a sigh. “You didn’t disclose your having an Ineo to him when he was in your mind,
did you?”

“No, definitely not.”

“Then what?” His face became tense.

I lowered my eyes to the ground as depressing thoughts took my strength. I had to confess my overwhelming shame—the real reason why I couldn’t run anymore. I was torn. It felt as though I was going the wrong way. I wanted to go back.

“You saw what they’re capable of. How could I have just
left
her there? Abandoning my own child with those monsters?” I confessed.

“She’s not human. Appearances can be deceiving.”

“I guess so,” I said, unsure.

“Sami, she isn’t ours,” he said forcefully.

“How can you be certain?”

“The Dreons blatantly disregard anything natural. They aim to improve themselves, and one species would never be good enough. Ellison is probably a combination of ten or more beings.”

I exhaled loudly in frustration.

“Sami, I’m so sorry you had to endure that, but you know they would never let us take it,” Gaelan said, sounding regretful.

His voice sounded rattled when he spoke. Even calling her “it” made his face wince. I knew I wasn’t alone in getting emotional after seeing the baby.

“But part of me wants to be with her. If I ever see her again, I know I will be tempted to take her and make a run for it. I could use the Ineo to help us escape. Let them try and catch us,” I challenged.

“Then you will start a war.”

“I know. It would be a mistake.” I paused for a moment. “But I can’t help wondering, did that baby look sick to you?” I asked.

Gaelan exhaled sharply. “No. She looked very healthy.”

“Then what was the sample for?” I rubbed my arm lightly. The fabric of my sleeve had stuck to my arm from the clotted blood.

“Probably to make more,” Gaelan stated blankly.

“Oh no,
they can’t.” My knees buckled from weakness. I tightened my hands on Gaelan’s forearms for support.

“There is nothing we can do to stop them. Consider yourself a full-fledged Katarian. Now you have the unfortunate curse of being burdened with our disastrous treaty we formed with the Dreons,” he said darkly.

I looked at him empathetically. How many children had they created? I couldn’t imagine having to endure this arrangement for my lifetime. Lord only knew how many times Gaelan’s genetic code had been utilized. It was disheartening.

CHAPTER 22

SUSPICION

With Nia safely onboard, our ship had happily set a course for Spaceport Five. We were scheduled to arrive in four days. With plenty of time to kill, Tyden continued to pursue his newest, current quest with fervor— me. I continued to join him for meditation, at his usual time, a painful five o’clock in the morning. Little did he know I headed straight back to bed when we were finished. He seemed desperate to assist me in mastering my thoughts. He told me that nothing in our lives happens without good cause. His words scared me because I secretly hoped I would never find a use for the Ineo. Personally, I still wanted it to go away.

Tyden asked me to visualize my life on Earth to help strengthen my control over the Ineo’s visions. He still believed it was safer to revisit old memories instead of creating something new so I wouldn’t accidentally alter the future. Not only was I successful in summoning the power of Ineo, I was getting better at it. The visions I experienced felt real and came complete with the same emotions I had felt when I lived them.

Tyden and I entered my memory as if we had traveled through time. He was thrilled with my attention to detail, though the visions left me feeling a little rattled by my ability to imagine my old life with such clarity. At times, I felt as though I could stay there and just go on with my life. But knowing it wasn’t my place, I purposely never stuck around the memories for long. Not because I was too weak, it was because of conscious choice.