Grounding Gracus (First Wave Book 6) (4 page)

Grai growled. “Get Scaden down here! Now!” He said as he went back out of the command center and headed to the docking bay, sending a call to his mate that he had to leave for a little while. She was shocked when he explained why.

Grai couldn’t imagine what the hell had gone wrong and why the man was in trouble. He didn’t really know Gracus well enough to know what the man was capable of and had gone on Ivint and Scaden’s word that Gracus was well versed in human culture and knew of the dangers. He truly hoped that it hadn’t been a mistake.

Traze told him through the Shengari’ that Scaden was going through the portal on the Adaria now and would meet him in the docking bay. Grai strode into the docking bay in Dillon, TX at the same time that Niklosi and Amun ran up to him and walked beside him.

Without looking at either man, Grai nodded his head. “I know he is your friend and you may go, but if you get in the way or disrupt this mission, you will be removed.”

Amun and Niklosi nodded their heads as they entered the transport craft and secured their gear. Grai nodded to the on-call rescue team and held up one finger to them, letting them know they were only waiting for one more person before takeoff.

Within minutes Scaden was running up the ramp and sat next to Grai, locking himself into the seat. As the craft took off, he turned to Grai. “What the hell is going on? What happened to him?” Scaden asked, his concern for his friend his only thought.

Grai pulled out his comm and replayed the conversations that Risk had heard through the emergency channels in Glenwood Springs, CO, to the snickers and choked laughter of the rescue team in the craft with them.

Scaden looked horrified. “No! There’s no way that is Gracus they are talking about!”

Niklosi didn’t bother to hide his grin when he leaned over to look at Scaden and asked, “Did you explain to him about the marijuana being legal in Colorado?”

Scaden looked like he was thinking about the question, when his eyes got huge. “Fuck! He was going into the woods to be alone and he’s only been there for twenty four hours! It can’t be him, I’m telling you, it can’t be.”

“Sounds to me like he had his hugs and drugs,” one of the team members said with a laugh.

Grai leaned over to look at Amun who was several people over from him. “What are the effects of marijuana on a Valendran?”

Amun pulled out his comm and studied it for a moment before responding. “I don’t see that it would affect us to the point that they are speaking of on the radio. Our metabolisms work too quickly. But, in order to be sure, I would need to know exactly what he had and how much of it. I’ll know more when we see him,” Amun said, looking apologetically at Grai and Scaden.

A few minutes before they were to drop on the cabin that Gracus was given to use, all of the team comm’s beeped with notifications at the same time. Everyone looked at one another curiously as they reached for their devices.

Grai pulled his out and saw the message from Traze about the same time that everyone else burst out laughing and Scaden gasped. It was a meme that Traze had intercepted on the internet and prevented from being posted.

A picture of Gracus laying buck naked on the ground with a mother bear at his back and a baby bear covering the front of his groin area with the caption, “When going native, goes way too far.”

Amun looked up at Grai, trying to stop his own laughter. “I really need to know what he took. If it could do this to him, then we really need a chemical makeup completed to see if there are other affects that we aren’t aware of. It could even be that he ate something that increased the potency. I need more information.”

Scaden put his head in his hands, feeling a little sick to his stomach over this. He turned to Grai. “Maybe he was drugged…,” he began before Grai projected the meme on the wall of the transport and zoomed in on the ground around Gracus and the bears. There on the ground, were the unmistakable candy wrappers that said, ‘Mike’s Mountain Magic Blend’.

Niklosi burst out laughing again as Amun sighed and said, “Gracus always did love candy…”

Grai tried to keep a straight face. Although the situation was very serious, the danger of their discovery always a risk, but Grai was trying damn hard not to laugh his ass off. Even he hadn’t considered warning the Valendran about the legal drug and he really should have. He would certainly make the warnings clear to all off world personnel as soon as Amun knew the specifics of the reactions to their bodies.

Grai turned to Amun. “I want a full work up on what affects this drug would have on us so we can warn others about the potential dangers.”

Niklosi laughed harder before saying, “You mean dangers other than stripping down and frolicking naked in the woods with dangerous wildlife?”

The ship erupted in laughter and this time even Grai couldn’t hold it back.

Scaden looked at Amun with a worried gaze, not the least bit amused at the situation. “Why can’t I reach him on the Shengari’?”

Amun shrugged. “I really can’t tell you until I scan him. If he consumed enough of the drug to do this to him,” Amun said holding up his comm with the meme of Gracus on it. “Then you can safely bet that the energy of his beast must be muted or negated while the drug is in effect. I need samples and testing before I can tell you more.”

Niklosi laughed. “Yeah, I think we all need samples of the stuff!”

Another one of the rescue team members added, “Can I be a part of that test group?” While a few others nodded their heads in agreement.

The laughing pilot turned to Grai. “We’re ready for you to drop.”

Grai and the others stood and waited for the pilot to countdown the de-cloaking so they could drop to the ground near the cabin.

“Three… two… one… drop!”

One by one the men dropped from the now de-cloaked ship and hit the ground running. Grai called out which teams were to stay and secure the cabin while he had Niklosi, Amun and Scaden come with him to go get Gracus.

Traze updated their comms to let them know which hospital Gracus was being routed to and Grai headed to the garage to get the SUV that was still there. He’d just opened the door to the garage when Niklosi whistled and laughed.

“Looks like our pilot had a problem with piloting,” Niklosi said as he looked at the scratches running down the side of the SUV.

Scaden grunted, trying to hide his worry for his friend as he got in the back seat with Amun, while Grai jumped in the driver’s seat and immediately turned off the EAT system.

Grai turned to Niklosi and pointed at the dashboard system. “Go through that and find out where he went while he was here,” Grai said, knowing that it would be important. He wasn’t sure why he thought that, but he’d learned a long time ago to trust his instincts.

Grai headed into the town, already knowing the route to the small medical center where they had taken Gracus. As soon as he heard that the man had needed some peace, he had chosen this place for him to go because he knew of the restorative effect that this area would have on him.

He had brought his mate, Tricia, here before the birth of Tristan. Not only so she could benefit from the positive energy of the area, but so he could try to relax. He’d been so unsure over what kind of offspring that he could create that he’d been panicked throughout the entire pregnancy, more so near the end.
Until he’d held his perfect son in his arms for the first time
, he thought with a smile.

Grai pulled into the small parking lot of the medical center and wasn’t too surprised to see that the place was a lot busier than it should be. He sighed, knowing that word of the naked fool had made the rounds of the town and in such a small place a naked giant who slept with bears was going to be quite an attraction.

They all got out of the vehicle and headed into the crowded medical center, their size and number creating another wave of chatter through the small crowd of people in the emergency room of the hospital.

Grai scanned the crowd for any familiar face and finally seeing someone, he moved through the gawking people, making a beeline for a friendly face.

The sheriff turned just as Grai approached and the man’s face broke out in a big smile as he moved toward Grai with an outstretched hand.

“Grai! What a surprise! What brings you to town? How long are you staying?” Sheriff Joe Scarborough asked, not too surprised to see his fishing buddy.

Grai smiled and shook his hand. “Joe, it’s good to see you. Is there somewhere we can talk in private?” Grai asked, looking around at the now silent crowd who were listening to every word that they were saying.

The wise, older sheriff looked around the room and nodded his head before addressing the crowd and his deputy who was standing beside him, staring at the Valendrans.

“If you don’t have a reason to be here, you need to leave now. If you aren’t gone in five minutes, you’ll be fined for… creating a public nuisance. Now go!” Joe made a shooing motion with his hands and the people began to slowly file outside, grumbling the whole way.

The waiting room was completely empty a few minutes later and the sheriff turned to his deputy. “You go outside and make sure they don’t all wreck trying to get out of the parking lot at the same time.”

When the deputy left, Grai didn’t waste any time. “Joe, your naked tourist is one of my men and I need this buried. Fast,” he said as he showed the sheriff the meme Traze had pulled from the internet already.

Joe snickered and shook his head. “Damn boy, the only reason I didn’t think he was one of yours is because of how he was found or I would have already buried it and called you. What the hell made him go nuts and do something this stupid? Usually your guys are quiet and no one really knows they are there,” Joe said, shaking his head.

Grai sighed. “I have no idea, but I brought our doctor to help find out,” Grai said, hoping the sheriff would take the hint. He was grateful when the sheriff did.

“Let’s go find Dr. Landry. Your guy keeps trying to get away so we have him… well… he’s a big guy…,” Joe said before he just shut up and led the way through the ER doors and into the back, hoping Grai would understand what they would find.

The group could hear the muffled screaming and looked at one another in concern as they picked up their pace towards the sound until they were running down the narrow corridor and into one of the smaller rooms.

They crowded in the doorway, unable to get inside and stared in shock at Gracus, who looked nothing like the man who had left them only twenty eight hours earlier.

Chapter Four

Grai stared into the room and couldn’t believe that the naked, handcuffed, gagged and hogtied man that was flopping around and screaming on the floor was Gracus, but there was no mistaking it. He turned to look at Amun and didn’t need to say anything as the doctor had already pulled out his comm and began running the necessary scans to find out what the hell was wrong with him.

“We need to get this moved out of the way,” Scaden said as he started to move the mobile carts, gurney and other items out of the doorway so they could get in.

Gracus turned wild eyes to the door and stopped trying to get out of his bonds as he screamed into the gag that someone had forced into his mouth.

Grai wasn’t sure if Gracus even knew what was going on. The look in his eyes said that he wasn’t himself and that something, maybe the drug, still had a deep hold of his mind and body.

Amun turned to Grai with a grimace. “His cells are completely saturated with the drug. He’s entirely paralyzed his beast and is in a hallucinogenic state. It’s going to take a little while to flush it from his system and I need him back at MedLab to do it.”

Grai nodded his head at Gracus. “Shouldn’t you sedate him for transport?”

Amun shook his head. “No! We can’t add anything else on top of what is already in his system. We’re going to have to try and take him like he is,” Amun said, wishing that they could do something to help calm Gracus down.

Grai nodded his head and looked at Gracus strangely. The Valendran had calmed down when he had seen them, but had gone wild again when Amun mentioned taking him out of here.

“He’s going to be hard to handle,” Scaden said with a grimace, not looking forward to trying to carry his friend while he was in this kind of erratic state.

Scaden and Niklosi had the doorway clear and Grai stepped through it, before his friends to get inside. He quickly leaned down and whispered, “I’m sorry my friend, but we can’t have you seen like this.”

Then Grai drew back and punched Gracus in the face so hard his head snapped back and his body went completely limp on the floor as the others yelled out “Oh!” and the sheriff muttered, “Damn boy!”

Amun rushed to Gracus and sighed in relief as he said, “He’s just passed out and will be a lot easier to move. The bruise will heal quickly.” Amun would never admit it, but he was glad Grai had knocked out his friend.

The sheriff turned to Grai. “If you’re gonna take him out of here, let’s get him on a gurney and you can pull your vehicle around back to the loading dock.”

Grai nodded his head as Niklosi and Scaden hefted Gracus onto the now upright gurney, before he handed the keys to the SUV to Niklosi so he could bring it around the building.

Joe shook his head at the passed out man. “Follow me and I’ll take you to the loading dock,” Joe said as he turned down the hall and led them to the back of the building.

Ignoring the many stares of the curious hospital staff and patients, they finally got Gracus stuffed into the back of the SUV when Grai turned to Joe.

“I am sorry that I did not come under better circumstances, but I will be returning soon, my friend,” Grai paused and blushed a moment before continuing. “Tricia is blessing me with a daughter soon and I can’t think of a better place for us to bring Tristan’s sister into the world.”

Joe’s smile split his face and he pulled the large man to him and patted his back in happiness. “Oh Grai! I can’t think of better news than that! Personally, I think you waited too long to give that boy a sibling! You get hold of me before you arrive and I’ll see about making sure everything is perfect for Tricia,” Joe said pulling back from Grai, his smile brightening his face.

Grai couldn’t help but smile back. “Thank you Joe, I’ll call you about a week before we plan on arriving. I definitely owe you one,” Grai motioned to the SUV and the unconscious man inside. “For this. Let me know what you need and it’s yours,” Grai said seriously.

Without hesitation, Joe said. “We got a family, six kids, their father just got laid off from his job last month and their mom can’t feed them all with her paycheck from the motel as a part time maid… they’re good people Grai…,” Joe began before Grai cut him off.

“One day, I hope you will think to ask of something for yourself first. But your selflessness is one of the many things I admire about you, Joe. Email me the information on the family and I will take care of it by the end of the day,” Grai said, holding his hand out to his friend.

Joe grinned and shook Grai’s hand. “Thanks Grai, I look forward to seeing you and your family soon,” Joe said.

Grai started to head to the SUV and turned back to Joe. “What happened to the bears?” he asked, knowing damn well when Jax heard of this she’d want to know. He admitted he was curious over their welfare as well. Grai hated to think that the innocent creatures might be harmed because of one of his people.

Joe laughed and shook his head. “By the time the rescue squad got there, the bears were long gone. Rebecca said they woke up and wandered off as if nothing had happened. She said they looked fine so we’re going to keep an ear out for any strange bear activity for a few days. If nothing comes up, we’ll forget about it.”

Grai nodded, happy that the bears would have no lasting effects from their encounter with the Valendran and he headed back to the SUV. If anything did come up though, Grai would send Jax out to get the bears and bring them back to the sanctuary at Dillon.
For detox… or whatever they needed
, he thought, shaking his head.

Joe waved as he watched Grai get into the SUV, knowing damn well that the Nelson family was going to be feeling very blessed soon.

*****

Hours later, Gracus groaned and rolled over, feeling like he’d spent a few hours sparring with Scaden in the training room. His head felt like it was full of clouds and he ached. Everywhere. He tried to think, to remember where he was and what had happened but all he could see were flashes of images that he couldn’t seem to put into a full picture.

What seemed like blinding light, showing through his closed eyelids, made him shield his eyes before he tried to open them. As he did, he heard a familiar voice.

“Hey, take it easy. You’re going to be a little messed up for a bit,” Scaden said when he saw Gracus move his hand. He sighed in relief that Gracus was finally awakening and they could get some answers about what the hell had happened.

Gracus laid back and put his hand over his eyes and sighed.
Yeah, if Scaden was there, he was in good hands
, he thought. He laid their quietly for a moment until he heard Amun’s voice.

“The drug is leaving his system. He should be fine in another day or so,” Amun said, pleased with the progress of his patient.

Gracus sat up suddenly, his eyes going wide.
He was drugged?
he thought as he swayed slightly before Scaden reached out a hand to help him.
What the hell?
he thought as everything around him looked blurry and out of focus. Taking stock of himself, he realized that his beast was completely silent and he began to panic.

“What the fuck happened to me? Why can’t I see correctly? Where are we?” Gracus asked, trying to get out of the bed.

Scaden and Amun rushed to stop him from harming himself. “Stop! You’re going to fall out of the damn bed and hurt yourself!” Scaden said, trying to keep his now agitated friend in the bed.

“Try to calm yourself Gracus, and listen to me,” Amun said, trying to speak calmly to his patient and friend.

“You ate some candy… a lot of candy. But, you didn’t realize that it was a legal drug and it’s affected your senses. You will be fine in a day or so, when the drug has completely left your system. I promise, you will be fine soon,” Amun said reassuringly.

Candy?
Gracus thought, trying hard to understand what Amun was talking about. He didn’t remember any candy. The last shipment they had on the Adaria had been a month ago and it usually went pretty quick because it was a favorite among the crew. He didn’t remember the last time he’d eaten any.

Gracus needed answers. “What candy are you talking about? Is anyone else affected? Is it an outbreak on the ship?” he asked, needing to know if his crewmates were all right.

Scaden turned a worried frown to Amun, not understanding why Gracus did not remember the planet and the candy he had eaten. Amun just shook his head at Scaden before turning his attention back to Gracus.

“Gracus, because the drug is still in your system pretty heavily, you’re having short term memory problems. You were on the planet, taking a vacation when you bought the candy by accident. Try to be patient and give yourself a few hours for it to clear and your memories will return to you,” Amun said, trying to help calm the nervous and confused energy he could feel coming from Gracus.

Gracus couldn’t fathom what Amun was telling him. He didn’t remember going to the planet.
How the hell could he forget such a thing?
What drug could do this to him?
He leaned his head down and held it in his hands, trying to force his mind to clear. But, the fog was too thick and he couldn’t seem to fight it back so he could remember.

Amun knew what he was doing and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. “It’s all right. Don’t try to force it, you will only delay the memories if you do. Give yourself a few more hours to clear more of the drug and you’ll remember,” Amun said, sending his friend some calming energy.

Gracus sighed in frustration, hating the feeling in his head and the fact that he couldn’t remember anything. Especially going to the planet! He’d wanted to do it since they arrived two years ago and he couldn’t believe that he would forget something that he felt would be amazing.

Those thoughts set off a tingling in his mind that almost made him want to scratch his head to try and ease the intensity. Gracus needed to remember something important, he didn’t know how he knew that, but he did.

He opened his eyes again and looked at the fuzzy image of Amun standing beside the bed. “I need to remember now. Can’t you give me something to get this drug out of me?”

Amun shook his head sadly. “I’m sorry. It was the combination of the sugar and the drug that caused it to rapidly saturate your system. Anything that I give you now will also saturate your system and we can’t calculate how it will react with the drug that is already there.”

Amun sighed and looked sadly at his friend. “I’m running tests on it now, but I won’t have any usable results for another few days. I’m sorry Gracus, it’s too risky until I know more about this drug and how and why it created the reaction it did in you,” Amun said, trying to make Gracus understand why he couldn’t do anything more for him right now.

Amun had been working on the problem since they had returned to Dillon a few hours ago and Grai even had a team buying more of the candy so that he could test it. Something in the candy, along with the drug had reacted oddly in the Valendran body and Amun needed to know what it was to determine whether or not it was a risk to all of them.
But, that information wasn’t going to help calm Gracus right now
, Amun thought.

Scaden laid a hand on Gracus’s shoulder to try and comfort him. “We’re going to get you better in a few hours, you just need to remain calm for a little while. Why don’t you try to get some sleep and when you wake, you should be well enough to remember,” Scaden said, looking helplessly at Amun and wishing there was something they could do.

Gracus laid back in the bed, the calming energy that Scaden and Amun had sent him was working. Between the energy and the drug still in his system, it wasn’t long before he had fallen back into sleep.

Scaden looked up at Amun to make sure that Gracus was just sleeping and when Amun shook his head to confirm it, they stepped outside of the room so they wouldn’t wake him up.

Scaden looked worriedly at Amun before he began pacing in front of the door. “Are we sure he’s going to be all right? I expected him to be better by now. What is going wrong? Don’t lie to me Amun,” Scaden said, fear for his friend consuming him.

Amun sighed. He really didn’t need Scaden freaking out on him too. “Scaden, I’m not lying to either one of you. I need to sequence and break down the ingredients in the candy in order to try and replicate what happened in his system and why. By the time I get that completed, it will be out of his system. Our rapid metabolism is already removing it at a remarkable rate,” Amun said, trying to make Scaden understand.

Scaden ran a hand through his hair and continued to pace. “How can it be this difficult with all of our technology?” he asked, frustrated that they had no real answers, just questions that couldn’t be answered until Gracus was better.

Amun chuckled. “Being more advanced does not make us perfect. We are susceptible to many things that we cannot understand fully. Just look at the virus that decimated our population, we still can’t correct it. Right now, with the information I have, I believe there is a unique component in that candy that caused the perfect conditions for the reaction that Gracus is having.”

Amun continued. “It wasn’t just the drug that did this. All of the testing I have done on the plant proves that it’s not powerful enough to impact our systems in such a way. Since the humans are not affected by the candy in the way Gracus was, there has to be another ingredient that created the chemical reaction in him.”