Brianna (2 page)

Char studied the navigator’s instruments. “Have the beam ready. As soon as you locate our people, get them up here.

Lock in defense sequence 7-Yellow-7, just in case.”

“Have we encountered a problem on this so-called
human
world, Captain Alalakan?” an oily voice asked.

Char stiffened slightly and turned to confront his tormentor.

“We have a problem with a transmitter. Surely even Academy equipment sometimes fails?”

The shorter man laced his fingers together. “At times, Captain Alalakan, at times. But—we’re not under attack when it does happen.”

Char arched a single eyebrow. “Attack? Do you hear sounds of attack, Bakom? I think you have an overactive imagination.”

Acquiescing, the doctor bowed his head. “Possibly, Captain, possibly, but if we’d gone straight to Drakan as I requested, we wouldn’t be having this conversation, would we? However, if it’s needed, my medical training is at your disposal.”

Char turned away. “So noted, but I doubt if it will be necessary. Now, if you will go back to your quarters, I’ll get back to captaining my ship.”

Silence ruled Control as the door slid shut. Dr. Sendenton dem al’ Lorilana walked over to stand beside the captain. “Don’t listen to him, Char. There could be a perfectly reasonable explanation why we lost contact with Miklan and Cindar.”

Concentrating on his instruments, Char said nothing. Two of his officers were missing, and he was responsible. He was the one who’d sent them down to that planet.

After easing into the clearing, Brianna pulled to a halt. A single bird chirped. Then…silence.

She looked over her shoulder and asked, “Is this where you want to be?”

The alien on the left nodded affirmatively.

Sliding out of the SUV, Brianna hurried to the back and lowered the tailgate.

Slipping out, Miklan helped Cindar, who gingerly put weight on her left foot, said something low to her companion, and limped out into the meadow.

A forlorn feeling seeped through her body as Brianna watched her limp away. Even though the summer sun was warm, she rubbed her arms, trying to alleviate the sudden chill that enveloped her. She had never even gotten a chance to get to know them. What was it like, traveling in space? She turned as Miklan took her hand.

“Brianna,” he began then added more in his musical language.

Tears formed in her eyes. “Thank you” in any language was easy to understand.

Pulling her into his arms, Miklan gave her a quick, hard hug.

A single burst of gunfire from an automatic rifle exploded into the air.

“You in the clearing, stand where you are and raise your hands. You’re completely surrounded. Surrender and you won’t be hurt.”

Brianna and Miklan whirled as they heard snapping brush behind them. All around the clearing, soldiers with weapons pointed at them advanced slowly. Miklan shouted something, grabbed Brianna’s wrist, and began to run.

Brianna was jerked forward. “Hey! Wait a minute!”

“Halt or you will be fired upon! This is your last warning!”

Brianna whipped her head around. That was Mark’s voice.

A beam of clear, bright light appeared in the center of the clearing. Cindar stepped into it and promptly disappeared.

“Stop them!” Captain Douglas screamed. “Fire at will!”

Those words caused Brianna to stumble.
Fire at will! What’s
the matter with him!

When bursts of red light began sporadically sweeping the clearing, most of the soldiers dived back into the safety of the forest.

Brianna’s eyes were drawn back to the tall blond leader as he cursed vehemently. Horrified, she watched him pull his sidearm from its holster.

“You won’t get away, bitch!” he hollered after her.

“My God, he’s going to shoot at me!” She stumbled and tried to pull free of Miklan’s grasp.

Miklan ignored both her outburst and her attempt to jerk her wrist free from his grasp.

“I really don’t think this is a good idea.” She glanced back again. Mark was aiming his sidearm at her.

Miklan shouted something over his shoulder and pulled her into the light.

Brianna swallowed and shivered involuntarily. However, she never learned exactly what matter displacement transportation felt like. Just before she stepped into the beam of light, a bullet ripped into her right shoulder. Unconsciousness blocked out the pain.

*

A bright red light began flashing on the screen. “They’re in range of the transport beam, Sir.”

“They may need a diversion. Retrieve them, now! Begin the defense sequence,” Char commanded. “Damn! I wish I could see what was happening!”

His communications officer shook his head. “Every frequency for the view screen is monitored by their satellites.

The minute we activate it, they’ll know we’re here. The radio probes sent our way are becoming more numerous. So far, we’ve been able to deflect them. That’s a highly advanced civilization down there. The sooner we get out of here, the better.”

“We have them,” the chief engineer interrupted.

“Take us out of orbit immediately,” Char snapped. “I want to get away from this planet now. Ademis, take charge. Lori, let’s go. They may need medical attention.”

*

Blood spurting freely from the wound in her shoulder, Brianna collapsed to the floor. Falling to his knees, Miklan pressed his palms on the wound to staunch the bleeding.

“Quick,” he ordered when the door slid open, “we need a doctor!”

As instructed, Kindis dem al’ Eliana had waited near the transport station. When the exploratory party materialized, she entered the room and moved towards Miklan. “I’m a nurse,” she said, nudging him aside.

Doctor Rodak don al’ Bakom entered Transport as Eliana finished speaking.

Miklan tried to rise, but Bakom jabbed a hypodermic needle into his arm. He collapsed instantly. Bakom’s other assistant, Zator don al’ Odam, silenced Cindar the same way.

“This is even better than I’d hoped. Leave them. We’ll take the specimen they brought back. Hurry, wrap it up before that damned Alalakan gets here.”

The ship’s medical team arrived as Bakom and his assistants were leaving transport with a bundle of canvas.

“Hurry,” he ordered, nodding towards Miklan and Cindar.

“They’re unconscious. Get them to Medical as quickly as possible. My assistants and I are taking this specimen that was trapped in the transport beam to the facilities I have here on the ship. Tell your captain I’ll inform him of my findings when the examination is concluded.”

The leader of the medical team did not think to question him.

After all, Dr. Bakom was First President of the Academy of Science. Who better to examine a lifeform from a previously unknown planet? Granted the thing they were dragging out had a human outline, but getting Miklan and Cindar to Medical was more important than some unknown specimen. Miklan’s hands were covered with blood.

*

Char stopped pacing when Cindar and Miklan were carried into Medical. Both were hastily stripped and placed in medibunks.

“All of Cindar’s vital signs are normal,” Lorilana’s assistant called. “I don’t understand why she’s unconscious. That’s never been a side effect of transport before.”

Lorilana frowned. “Miklan’s the same. No wounds on either of them. Where did all this blood come from?”

Char stepped next to Lorilana and stared at his unconscious crew members with a worried frown. “Conjecture?”

The doctor shook her head. “I don’t know. Jaylin, did you notice anything unusual in transport?”

“No, Dr. Bakom had already stabilized them. He and his assistants took the specimen caught in the beam to his lab.”

Char stiffened and turned towards Jaylin. “Bakom was there? What specimen? What did it look like?”

“I don’t know, sir. They’d already wrapped it in lab canvas when we arrived. It did seem to have a human outline, though.”

He whirled towards the door. “Damn Bakom and his sex experiments! Lori, come with me. If the inhabitants of that planet are human, he may well begin a war.”

“Jaylin, draw some blood and see if there is anything in their systems that shouldn’t be there. As long as their vital signs stay normal, let them sleep,” Lorilana ordered as she followed Chardadon out the door.

*

Odam rolled Brianna from the canvas and lifted her onto the examining table. Heedless of the blood that began to seep from her shoulder once again, he raised her arms above her head and clamped her wrists firmly into place. Moving to the bottom of the table, he spread her legs and fastened her ankles to the clasps located on each side of the table. Then he began to methodically cut away her clothing. His thick tail began to jerk as her body was revealed.

“Are you sure this is wise, Doctor?” Eliana asked as they stepped next to the table where the woman lay. “Wouldn’t it be better to wait until we’re back at the Academy? Or at least until we care for her wound?”

A hungry grin settled onto Bakom’s face as he caressed Eliana’s buttocks. “No, my dear, we can’t wait. Alalakan will surely discover our little project and take it for himself. You’ve begun the program sequence on the computer?”

“Yes,” she answered as her superior slipped his hand inside her shirt to pinch her nipple.

Bakom slipped the shirt over Eliana’s head and cupped her left breast. “Wonderful. Now, Odam, what do we have here?”

“I don’t know if it’s human,” Odam said breathing heavily, his thin nostrils flaring as he stared at Brianna’s naked body, “but it’s certainly female.” He stripped off his clothing.

Sliding his hand down the inside of Eliana’s pants, Bakom cupped her buttock, his fingers stroking, seeking. She shifted, spreading her legs.

Bakom continued his exploration as he turned his gaze to the woman. Eyes narrowing, he contemplated what fate had delivered into his hands. “Yes, she certainly is female. Now let’s see how she responds to mithrin.”

Deep in her subconscious, Brianna returned to the previous day in Dr. Gustovson’s laboratory.

Brianna gasped when she saw what lay on the examining
tables. “Aliens! Where did they come from?” Joy blossomed in
her heart. She knew humans weren’t alone. There was
intelligent life out there somewhere.

“Where they came from doesn’t matter to you. You’re only
here to assist me, not to think. Gather your recording
equipment and pay attention!” Dr. Gustovson snapped as he
fitted a headset equipped with an earpiece and a microphone
onto his head. “Now, where was I? Oh, yes. The alien being
designated Specimen A is approximately 6.5 feet in length and
200 pounds in weight. Face—slightly elongated, tapering to a
pointed chin. Two eyes, color brown,” he said as he lifted an
eyelid, “somewhat large with thick lashes, set one on each side
of small nose. One mouth with thin lips. No facial hair. The skin
is very human-like, with a slight, ivory tint. The scalp is covered
with short, fine brown hair—silky texture. One ear on each side
of the head, lobeless and stretching upward to a point. The left
ear seems to have some sort of growth on the inside. Whether
this is characteristic of the species cannot be determined until
an examination is performed on the second specimen.

“The neck is proportional to the body. Torso—slender with
fine, almost invisible body hair, somewhat prominent pectoral
muscles. Two arms, each jointed by an elbow. Arms ending
with hands each containing five digits: four fingers and an
opposable thumb. Two legs, bending at the knees, lower legs
stretching to ankles; two feet with five toes each. Very human-like.

“Genitalia, one relatively small, slender penis. One
scrotum…” Gustovson frowned. “No, it’s too far back, and
there’s no connection to the penis.”

He bent over the body and motioned Brianna closer. “Look!

Vulva behind the penis! A hermaphrodite? Those aren’t
enlarged pectorals on the chest; they’re small breasts! A
species able to repopulate from single individuals. Amazing!”

Brianna shook her head. “But doctor. The penis is located in
front of the vulva. It couldn’t impregnate itself. The scrotum isn’t
connected. That can’t be a penis; it must be the clitoris.”

The scientist snorted. “Bah! Why so elongated?”

Not for the first time was she grateful that her immediate
superior was practically asexual. “There’s an opening. It must
be the urethra.”

Gustovson puckered his lips. “Well, you may have a point,
but evolution is not kind to a species with a complicated sexual
process. Here, help me turn it over. The scrotum is so far back,
examination from behind should shed some light on the
subject.”

Carefully, they rolled the alien’s body over.

“Hmm, the scrotum seems to be attached to the base of the
tail. Interesting, the tail is completely hairless. But then, there
is very little body hair. Even the pubic hair is very fine,”

Gustovson murmured absently as he probed the body. “This is
indeed a puzzle.”

He turned off his microphone.

As the doctor puzzled over the alien’s genitalia, Brianna
lifted the tail. She ran her hand along its length—hairless and
smooth. She bent it—somewhat supple, though it only curved
forward. She smiled. Aliens with tails! When she reached the
end of the tail, her smile became a frown. The tail thickened
about eight inches from the end. Unlike the tails of most
animals on Earth, this tail didn’t end with a tip but rather a knob
—a knob with extra, loose skin over it.