Luvian nodded, took the gadget, and exited the ship. He crept quietly toward the Earthlings, using the foliage as cover. He peered through the brush, his dark eyes scanning the campsite. All but one Earthling had gone inside the soft shelters. He could hear a female bustling around in one, and the whispering of a couple in the other. A lone male lounged by the fire pit, humming. Luvian stared in wonder at the size of the Earthling. He was at least two heads taller than Luvian, and more muscular. Luvian was glad he was strong. The Earthling looked heavy. He snuck up behind the large male and pressed the gadget against his neck. The Earthling fell forward to the ground, unconscious. Luvian lifted him and carried him back to the ship. He boarded and saw Megg sitting at a research console, tapping the screen rapidly. She looked up at his entrance.
“Big, aren’t they?” she commented. “It’s probably due to the Earth ape DNA I used.”
“Yes,” Luvian agreed, “but they aren’t as heavy as they look.”
“Well, not for you,” Megg said, “since you’re stronger than the average Stelairian. How many more are in this area?”
“The scan indicated five before we landed, but now there’s only four.”
“Hmmm. The fifth one couldn’t have gone far. We’ll find it after we get these ones on board.”
Luvian nodded in acknowledgement and took the large male into the next room, depositing him on the floor next to a resin cradle. He turned and left the ship to get another Earthling.
When he returned to the campsite, the couple was still in their shelter, but the female had exited hers, and was sitting next to the fire pit. He approached her from behind, but apparently not quietly enough, for she asked him something in a rudimentary language. He quickly melted back into the brush, concealing himself before she turned around. When she turned back he quickly stepped forward and pressed the gadget against her neck. He tried to catch her, but she fell into the fire pit before he could get a grip on her. He lifted her up, slinging her over his shoulder and carrying her back to the ship.
After leaving the female next to the previously captured male, he made his way back through the trees to get the last two Earthlings. They had left their shelter and were embracing in the clearing. Just as Luvian was wondering how to separate them, the male grabbed a couple of cloths off some boulders and walked into the woods. Luvian followed.
This Earthling was more aware of his surroundings. Luvian could tell the male knew something was wrong. The Earthling stopped and looked around suspiciously. Luvian deliberately rustled the bushes to get his attention. The male spun around to face the noise, and Luvian quickly moved in behind him and pressed the gadget against his neck. The Earthling dropped the cloths as he fell to the ground.
Luvian picked him up and carried him to the ship. This male weighed less than the first, even though he was taller. Luvian dropped him off and returned to the campsite for the final female. When he arrived, she was conveniently searching through her bag, her back to him. He stepped forward and injected her with the serum. She slumped down and he picked her up, carrying her through the woods to the ship.
“This is the last one,” he informed Megg as he boarded.
Megg looked up from her work. “Good. Check them for souls while I scan for the missing Earthling. Join me on the bridge when you’re through.” Megg closed the outer door and headed to the bridge.
Luvian got to work, setting the female down in the resin cradle. The other three Earthlings lay nearby. He stared at them. Other than their size and crude form, they looked similar to Stelairians. He frowned, and his brow wrinkled in confusion. Actually, they looked exactly like the Yalsan species. He wondered what other DNA Megg had used in the mix when she created their chromosomes. He probably should have read more of the literature Megg gave him, but there was such a lot and he didn’t like to read. Anyway, his main reason for taking this job was to prevent genocide, not to actually contribute. He turned his attention back to the job at hand. He didn’t want to give Megg any reason to be suspicious of him.
*
*
*
Megg steered the ship over the treetops, scanning the area for the missing Earthling. Or any Earthling, for that matter. She had discovered on earlier trips that there was a higher percentage of souls among those Earthlings who spent time in the wilderness, so she usually preferred to get her subjects there. The proximity alarm sounded, startling Megg. As she quickly took the ship up into space, Luvian rushed onto the bridge.
“What is it?” he asked, breathless.
“Nothing to worry about,” Megg replied calmly. “Their military detected us and sent jets to investigate. We’ll return when they leave.” She slowed the ship and hid it behind the moon. “Go back to your task. I’ll take us back down in a little while.”
“Yes, Megg.” Luvian returned to the lab section to finish preparing the Earthlings for Megg’s test.
Megg busied herself with the evolution projections on her other experiments. So far they were all progressing satisfactorily. She lost track of time, and it wasn’t until Luvian reappeared on the bridge that she realized they had been in space for half the day.
Luvian sat at the helm. “Should I take us back to the same area?” he asked Megg.
“We may as well resume our search there. Go ahead,” Megg agreed.
Luvian took them down to the previous coordinates. Night had fallen, and the wind moaned across the granite domes. Lightning flashed, giving sharp glimpses of ghostly mountains. He scanned for life readings and found one just south of them. He steered the ship toward it, setting down on top of a dome just north of a small lake. As he was getting up to go get the Earthling, lightning hit the top of a tree south of the lake. It burst into flames.
“Wait, Luvian,” Megg said, and he sat back down. They watched as the fire spread to the other trees, coming toward them.
“What do you want me to do, Megg?” he asked.
“Is the Earthling still alive?”
Luvian scanned the area. “Yes, and it’s headed this way.”
“Take us above the trees and toward the fire. We’ll use the system drive to create an artificial gravity well on the surface of the ship and use it to draw in the flames. Don’t spin us too fast, though,” she cautioned, “we don’t want to lift anything off the ground.”
Luvian did as he was told. Once the ship was in place, he began spinning it until the inner walls showed a considerable increase of gravity due to the centripetal force. Then he reversed the polarity of the electrogravity field beyond the anti-gravity limit to increase the gravity on the positively charged outer skin of the ship. The surface sucked in the clouds, followed by the flames. Within minutes the fire was out, and Luvian reversed the process to bring the ship’s gravity back into balance.
“Scan for the Earthling again,” Megg said.
“It’s a female,” Luvian replied. “She’s on the lake.” He moved the ship toward the Earthling, who moved away from them. “She’s escaping,” he informed Megg. The Earthling disappeared into the trees, and Luvian hovered over the bag she had abandoned in the boat below.
“Set the ship down, and get her bag. She’ll come back for it, and when she does, we’ll have her.”
Luvian landed and went out the lab section door. He waded into the water and retrieved the bag from the boat, then returned to the ship. He left the bag by the door and went to the bridge. Megg was at the helm.
“Ready?” she asked.
“Yes,” he replied, sitting at the navigation console.
Megg took the ship straight up into the sky until they were no longer visible from the surface.
“How long do you think it will take for her to return?” Luvian asked.
“Not long,” Megg replied. “Meanwhile, I’d like you to scan for other Earthlings in this general area.” Megg moved from the helm, allowing Luvian to resume his position.
Luvian followed her orders while keeping an eye on the viewscreen. The sun rose over the horizon, lighting first the ship, and then the surface of Earth below them. “There are no other Earthlings in the immediate area,” Luvian reported.
“And the female?”
“She’s on the edge of the lake.”
“Good. Let’s go get her,” Megg said.
Luvian took the ship down, landing it silently. He disembarked and approached the Earthling, who lay unconscious on a flat boulder. Luvian pocketed the gadget, as he had no need for the serum with the Earthling already insensible. He stared at her for several moments. Her breath was slow and even, her eyes tightly shut. Even the female of this species was larger than any Stelairian male. He lifted her up and carried her into the ship.
Megg looked up as Luvian brought the Earthling aboard the ship. “Is it the one that belongs with the bag we picked up last night, Luvian?”
“I believe so.”
Megg wrinkled up her nose. “She stinks, but not as pungently as the others. Test her for a soul, and if she has one, add her to the others on the lab tables.”
Luvian nodded in acknowledgement and carried the female into the next room, setting her down in the resin cradle. She lay there, breathing lightly. Her odd shirt had a low neck and no arms. He attached a sensor to her chest just above her shirt’s neckline. It glowed as he touched a key on the console, initiating the program Megg had designed to detect souls. He watched as the readout scrolled down the screen.
The console chirped, indicating that the sequence had completed. He removed the sensor and picked up the female, taking her into the next room. This one did have a soul, and could be used in the test for an immortal soul.
The room contained five metal tables, lined up and reflecting the low light. A large clear container stood next to them. Thin tubes hung by the head of each table, awaiting insertion into their test subjects. Three of those tables already held occupants with tubes attached. Luvian set the female Earthling on the fourth table.
As the cold metal touched her skin, Karina was startled awake. She sat up and looked around, disoriented by her unusual surroundings. Her eyes landed on her abductor and narrowed with suspicion. She sat up and jumped off the table, landing lightly on the floor with the table between herself and the stranger.
Karina looked around the room, taking in the metal tables and the enormous glass apparatus next to them. Her eyes widened as she recognized Melissa, Sarah, and Matt lying unconscious on the tables. They were secured with metal straps, and there were tubes coming out of their throats. John was slumped in a corner, also unconscious. Karina turned her attention back to the small man in front of her.
“Who are you, and where have you taken me?” She glared at him, trying to hide her fear. She could feel a surge of adrenaline, and the weight of her knife against her knee gave her courage. She could take him if he gave her trouble.
The strange man was lean and diminutive, at least six inches shorter than her, and didn’t appear to be more than twenty. He was exceptionally attractive, with pleasing features and sleek blond hair. He wore a long brown smock with black leggings. He stared back at her without replying. Her skin began to crawl as she noticed his unusually large and dark eyes. The irises were almost as black as the pupils and covered most of his eye, making his eyes appear deer-like. Instead of answering her, he called over his shoulder to someone outside the room. All of Karina’s hair stood on end at the sound of his voice speaking in an unearthly language.
A young woman entered the room, stopping just short of the threshold when she saw Karina standing defensively behind the table. She too was unimaginably beautiful, as well as small in stature, even shorter than the man. She wore a flattering blue gown that hugged her waistline. Her wavy black hair cascaded down her shoulders, framing her porcelain face. Her dark eyes bored into Karina’s.
“Luvian, why is the Earthling not restrained?” There was an edge to Megg’s voice that made Luvian nervous.
“She regained consciousness and jumped off the table before I could activate the restraints.”