She hated hearing that. Every time she grew hopeful that he’d recover, he relapsed. It was disheartening. “It’s my decision about what risks I’m willing to take.”
“It was…until Moon stated otherwise. You are to be protected from him.”
She hated feeling helpless but she’d have to live with it. Justice had a valid point and he made the rules. She’d either follow them or be escorted off Homeland.
“We’re going to get him back. Moon is a determined male. No one here will give up hope.”
“Are you close to him?”
“Everyone loves Moon.” He shifted his stance enough to get a good view of the sleeping Species. “He’s closest though to Brass and Harley. They are like brothers but then, we’re all family at the NSO.”
“I’m sure you are.”
His gaze jerked back to her. “You’re the head shrink?”
She nodded and turned back toward Moon. The peaceful expression on his handsome face did little to alleviate her worry about what the future would hold for him. “May I ask you a favor, Smiley?”
“I refuse to allow you inside his cell.”
“You said he’d be out for hours. I just…” Emotion choked her voice. “I don’t know when I’ll be allowed near him again. I won’t stay long. I just…need to touch him.”
“I can’t do that.” He reached out and touched her shoulder gently, turning her to face him. He watched her eyes carefully. Whatever he saw there made him wince. The Species lowered his voice to a whisper. “Shit. You care deeply for him.”
“I do.”
“This isn’t only a job to you, is it?” His hand dropped away. “Do you love him?”
She didn’t even consider denying it. “I do.”
Keys jangled. “Don’t tell anyone I did this. They haven’t come to adjust the camera feeds yet. Five minutes and I stay inside with you in case he shakes it off sooner than anticipated. We have been forced to adapt to so many drugs in our lifetimes that some of us work through them faster. Keep your voice low. Though the cameras are still on blackout, the sound is active. They get a live feed into Security.”
“Thank you,” she whispered back. “I appreciate it.”
“I’m a sucker for love but don’t tell anyone.” He unlocked the door and pushed it open. “Sorry,” he stated loudly. “I can’t do that. I’d get into trouble.”
Joy rushed inside and sat on the edge of the cot. Her hand trembled slightly as she brushed back damp strands of Moon’s hair from his cheek and caressed his jawline. She glanced at his chest, noticing his taut nipples and seemingly chilled skin.
“Is there a blanket?” she murmured, remembering to keep her voice low.
“He doesn’t need one.” Smiley crept closer. “This is a comfortable enough environment for him. It’s the calming drug that cools his skin. It slows his heart rate. He needed the rest and a reprieve from the headache. Warming his external temperature too much would only remove the sedative faster through his pores. We actually even lowered the heat to make sure he stays down longer. He’ll warm quickly when he wakes. All that pacing and fighting he does causes him to sweat.”
Joy nodded, touching Moon’s chest. He did feel cooler than normal to her. His skin always seemed hot. Something nagged at her and a crazy thought suddenly popped into her head. She looked up at Smiley. “Species sweat out drugs?”
“Of course. It’s part of the reason we’re all in such great shape. We realized at a young age that rigorous exercise not only kept us from being bored while we were locked in our cells, it helped us rid our systems of their drugs. The cycle became routine to us. I feel restless if I don’t keep an active regiment of working out.”
Her attention returned to Moon. “You keep adjusting the temperature down here?”
“Yes.”
Her head whipped in Smiley’s direction. “Is there a sauna at Homeland?”
“No.” His expression became almost comical. “Those hot rooms? They would be a form of torture to my kind. The heat would be unbearable.”
“It would make you sweat a lot though, right?”
“Buckets.”
Her gaze slid to Moon. “And maybe sweat out any drugs you’d been given?” She glanced back at him.
Smiley’s eyes widened. “We didn’t try that.” He reached for his radio but paused. “He’d dehydrate.”
“Not if he is monitored and it is done correctly.”
Smiley backed out of the cell and walked far enough away that all she could hear were the soft tones of his speech but not the words. She focused on Moon.
“I’m here.” She stroked his cheek. “I know you want to protect me but you wouldn’t hurt me, regardless of your mental state.” She believed that. He’d be more inclined to want sex instead of bloodshed.
Footsteps sounded and Joy turned her head. Smiley waved to her and whispered. “Get out. They are coming down here. You can’t be found on that side of the door.”
Regret was a bitter pill to swallow as she released Moon, her gaze lingering on him as she rose to her feet. Smiley locked the door and pointed.
“Five feet back.”
“What did they say about the sauna?”
“I don’t know what the doctors will say but Justice was interested in the theory.”
Joy stared at Moon’s still form. “I hope it works.”
“We’re desperate. We’ll try anything at this point.”
She glanced at Smiley.
He shrugged. “That’s the truth.”
* * * * *
466 couldn’t move when he woke. He raised his head and snarled. The human standing a few feet in front of him started, paled, and turned to speak to someone.
“I still protest.”
“Do it, Ted.”
The male who replied had a deep, gruff voice for a human and it sounded as if he spoke through a door or wall. It gave 466 time to glance down his body. Restraints held him upright on his feet and tightly bound to a flat wooden surface. Thick straps were wrapped around his wrists, elbows, chest, waist, thighs and ankles.
The strange tubes that were taped to his body were alarming. Were they injecting some fluid directly into his veins? He snarled again, lifted his chin, and gave the human a glare that promised swift death. He struggled but the straps across his body didn’t break.
They should have used chains. That was a mistake
, he decided. Mercile usually didn’t do stupid things that could allow them to escape but their error would cost the life of the white-haired human. It might take time to break free but he would, then he’d snap the human’s neck. He’d worry about the other human after he got through with the first one.
“We should wait until the task force arrives. You can interrogate the man they are bringing in and get answers that way. This could do more harm than good.”
“The prisoner could lie. It could take days to break his spirit enough to trust his words. There’s no guarantee he even knows about this drug Moon was given.” The other voice deepened even more, almost sounding inhuman.
“What if he is so bitter that he purposely gives us an answer that will cause Moon’s death?” A third human had an unusually deep voice too. He also remained out of sight. “Let’s stick to what we know are facts. We can sweat out certain drugs. It might not work in this case but it’s safer to try this than to trust some chemist with a grudge.”
The white-haired human appeared flustered. “We’ll call in more experts and have them double-check anything the asshole does before we try it on Moon. I understand your reservations to trust anyone who worked for that company but that’s why we have good people on call.”
“So far those experts haven’t figured out what was done to Moon. They don’t know much about Species. Unfortunately, only Mercile does. Do it, Ted. Otherwise, move out of the way and I’ll do it myself.”
“Justice.” The white-haired human reached up and gripped the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb, pinching it. “Some days working for the NSO is a pain in my ass. This isn’t professional.” His hand dropped to his side. “At a hospital we would call this hack medicine.”
“Then go work for one.” It was a female who spoke. “Come on, Ted. You knew when you took the job that the rule book would go out the window. They didn’t cover Species in med school.”
“I don’t like it, Trisha.” The white-haired human hesitated. “Fine. I’m stating on the record, though, that I protest.”
“Noted,” the female agreed. “We’ll monitor his vitals closely and we have an emergency team standing by if Moon gets into trouble.”
466 glanced around with worry. The technicians usually didn’t mind inflicting pain on his kind. It had to be a particularly gruesome torture for one of them to balk at doing whatever they planned.
The room was small with wood planks lining walls and very hot. It appeared that planks had also been laid over a tile floor—he could see through some of the wider cracks. A big drain was to his left. He had to twist his head to get a view of the thing he was strapped to. It appeared to be some kind of wooden table that had supports that kept it about an inch off the floor. The thing he stood on wasn’t long enough to keep his toes from dangling over the edge as he wiggled them. He glanced up. Four big round metal things with many holes were attached to the ceiling at one end of the tight space. At least none of them were pointed in his direction. A few feet in front of him there was a strange-looking little burner or stove of some kind with rocks on top. A bucket of water and a ladle sat beside it.
He wondered if this was the end of his existence. Had the technicians decided to kill him? It appeared that way. Gas could come from above. The drain implied easy clean up and the wood-lined walls would be easy to replace if bloodshed was involved. He struggled again.
The white-haired human faced him, his expression grim. 466 snarled a warning.
“You’re about to get very hot,” the human whispered. “Tell me if it’s too much, okay? We’re monitoring your vitals but we need your help too. We don’t want to overheat you.”
They must be testing new chemicals but they weren’t doing it with a hose. 466 glanced at the metal handles just behind the man. Did they control the flow to the metal objects overhead? Fear and rage combined as he struggled harder but couldn’t break free.
“Please,” another female voice reached his ears. “Let me go in there with him.” There was something familiar about her voice.
“No.” The white-haired human backed away to the other side of the cramped room. “It’s crowded and uncomfortable enough in here.”
“I don’t care!” The female voice rose. “Please, Mr. North? He’s struggling and he looks panicky. I don’t think he knows that no one is going to hurt him.”
“Go,” the deep voice responded.
A human female stepped in front of him. He ceased his struggles with the straps when he saw her face. Wide, big blue eyes met his. She froze for a heartbeat. Dark hair fell over her white T-shirt to hang just below her breasts. The sight of her did something funny to 466. The urge to kill left him. It somehow didn’t apply to her.
She approached him cautiously, her small hands lifted and she opened her palms toward him. They held no weapons or medical devices. She shoved her hair out of her face when it stuck to her cheeks. She was beginning to sweat from the heat.
“Hey,” she whispered. “It’s me.”
He looked down at the shirt molded over the swell of her breasts. Through the material of her shirt he clearly saw something black that hid her nipples. The human wore a much smaller shirt under the T-shirt for some strange reason he didn’t understand.
“Nothing will hurt you. I promise,” she crooned. One hand reached out and she almost touched his skin. “See? It’s just really hot to make you sweat.” She glanced at the white-haired human. “You can go a hair hotter. I think I can tell if it’s too much.”
466 pulled back his upper lip and allowed her to see his sharp canines as he growled a warning. It was a reminder that he’d stopped fighting the restraints. He sucked in air, expanding his chest to push against them while flexing his muscles. It might have been wishful thinking but the restraints seemed to give him a little more wiggle room.
“I’m Joy.”
She didn’t flee the way he thought she would. Movement drew his attention and he watched as the white-haired human moved to the bucket, dipped out some water and poured it on the rocks. Steam rose and the room became noticeably hotter. Sweat broke out all over his body.
Gentle fingers brushed his chest and his eyes widened in shock. Though the human wasn’t wearing gloves, she made direct contact with his skin. He threw back his head and howled in rage. Mercile must be attempting to kill him since this hadn’t ever happened before. He struggled again, jerking his body violently in hopes that he’d be able to slip free.
“Look at me!”
The human suddenly did the unexpected. She gripped the top of one of his shoulders and used it as leverage to haul her body higher. Her small feet planted right between his on the platform where he stood. The female’s body was soft and moist as she pressed tightly against him. He looked down at her.
He could slam his head against her forehead to knock her away. It wouldn’t kill her but it would hurt. Her chin lifted and she met his glare. She exposed herself to death now. All it would take was for him to slam his chin into the bridge of her tiny nose with enough force.