Experiment (Hybrid Book 2) (5 page)

“Fucking hell he was right, I think I’d go fucking psycho too if anyone stopped me now.”

Balancing her weight on her bad arm, she reached behind her, and slammed her palm against his thigh activating every pain receptor she could reach.

“Fuck!” he shouted and pulled away from her. Flipping around while he was still trying to understand what she had down, she put both her hands around his throat, and started to constrict the carotid arteries. His eyes shot wide open as he pulled her hands easily away, gasping for breath.

“You tried to kill me, you fucking tried to kill me,” he screamed “see how you fucking like it, bitch.” grabbed her throat and squeezed.

His face twisted in hatred, and her hands instinctively went to his, trying to force them from her neck. When that didn’t work, she clawed for his eyes. He released her briefly to cuff her hard enough to knock her onto her back. Briefly she saw stars, then his hands were on her throat again. Fear shot through her, this wasn’t a rape or a beating anymore, he really intended to kill her.

Moving her hands from his wrists, she smacked both of them onto his chest, and quickly pushed her fading consciousness into his body, and found his heart. Knowing she had only seconds before she passed out, she ripped at his coronary arteries.

An explosion of terror shot through him, it overwhelm his anger as every nerve ending in his body seemed to be firing as he toppled over on top of her. The full skin to skin contact made it impossible not to feel his heart stutter. His bulging eyes stared straight in to hers as his lungs desperately tried to draw in more oxygen that his body could no longer circulate.

Mortified, she started to try and repair the damage, but in her terror she’d created too large a hole to be fixed quickly enough. She felt his body die, but neurons continued to frantically fire in his brain for a more few seconds before it too became quiet. Her mind closed in on itself, as she tried to protect herself from the horror of what she’d done.

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M
elton returned to the campsite after making his rounds, curious to see whether his lusty young companion had actually had the balls to go after Chesara, his measured tread turning into a run as he saw the still, naked bodies in front of the fire.

Rolling Thompson off the prisoner he knew his colleague was dead, his eyes open and staring. Chesara had a pulse, but was unresponsive. He rolled her onto her side, so she didn’t choke on her own tongue and examined both of them more thoroughly. She had finger bruises around her throat, on her hips and a bruised cheek, so some pretty rough sex had occurred, followed by what? Judging from Thompson’s bulging eyes he’d died from lack of oxygen, which meant either strangulation, or heart attack. He didn’t think Chesara in her injured state could have had the strength to strangle a healthy, young man. He shook his head in sad conclusion, she’d used her ability to kill him, but it didn’t explain her unconscious state.

He got to his feet and started packing up the camp. Leaving them alone had been a huge mistake, but it was just one of a catalogue of errors that had occurred since his Lord had become obsesses with this woman. Not that it was her fault. To his way of thinking, the sooner she left Kalzir forever, the better they would be.

After wrapping Thompson’s body securely in the ground sheet and sleeping bags and hauling it up into a tree to keep it from scavengers, he picked up the limp form of the alien woman and headed back into the night.

C
onnor heard movement as he looked for signs of game in the scrub. Leaving Chesara alone was a calculated risk, but she was dead on her feet, injured and in desperate need of food. Her metabolism was far higher than his was, plus she was hurt which meant she needed food even more than usual. If he didn’t find food for her soon, she’d probably lapse into unconsciousness within a day or so.

He was starting to wish he’d paid far more attention in survival skills class at Chesara’s clinic. It had been his least favourite class, no tech and no Chesara, so the point had escaped him entirely at the time. Although it was now abundantly clear as he sat in the dark fiddling with shoelaces.

Spending time out in the silent scrubland had increased the sensitivity of his senses dramatically. A very slight ‘snap’ had him hunkering down further between the two bushes. As he waited, he was sure whoever was moving about out there could hear his heart thumping in his chest. After endless moments, he heard rather than saw a group of figures moving through the scrub to his left.

He’d left Chesara almost out in the open and he bet she was sleeping by now. Along with her higher metabolism, she required longer periods of sleep, particularly when she’d been working hard or been stressed.

These men would certainly find her. A little distraction to send them in another direction was required. After waiting until they’d moved fifty feet past him, he stood up and started jogging in the opposite direction. Making sure he brushed bushes and stepped on twigs as he went, he tried to make it sound as it there were two running instead of one. If he could lead them away, it’d give the Apollo crew more time to find her. They had to be out here looking by now.

Tamas’ men were professionals, and they knew the terrain better than he did. His aim was to keep them occupied for as long as possible, rather than escape. After twenty minutes he stopped, listening carefully. He sorted out only two sets of footfalls. With two to one odds, taking them out, and perhaps getting back to Chesara was a better strategy than running blindly through the countryside all night.

The first group he’d heard had been larger than two, the others were likely near Chesara, if they hadn’t found her already. The thought had his adrenaline levels shooting back up, fear causing sweat to break out on his back.

He started to run again, breaking into the open and making for a group of trees he could clearly see in the moonlight. He grinned at the shout behind him. His pleasure at luring them away, didn’t last long as a crossbow bolt whooshed past his head. Fuck that was close. He redoubled his speed, snaking from side to side as he ran.

Reaching the woods with his lungs burning, he moved as quickly as he could whilst keeping an eye out for a suitable weapon, and ambush site. Seeing a large deadfall branch he grabbed it, and quickly made sure it wasn’t rotten by banging it on the ground. Picking up a second branch, he hid behind a large tree, and tried to calm his breathing as much as possible.

The two guards came jogging into the copse.

“You see him?” said the taller one.

“I don’t hear him anymore either. Keep sharp Baxter, remember he’s trained and a bloody big bugger.” They stopped and examined their surroundings, straining for any signs of him.

Connor was standing directly to their right, behind his tree. Throwing his second lump of wood to distract them, he stepped out and swung the branch at the head of the nearest man. He went down like a sack of potatoes, but the thrill of success only lasted a second as the other man drew a half sword and advanced on him.

Connor snaked out a hand to grab the man’s wrist as the blade thrust towards his gut, but he clutched air as the man ducked and rolled with remarkable agility. His opponent grinned and ducked again as Connor took a swing at his head, and he was rocked as the Kalzirian caught his chin with a fist.

“You might be big, but you’re slow. Ready to give up Federation man or would you rather be skewered?”

Reassessing his opponent, Connor decided he could use the man’s arrogance against him. The fight should have been over already, with Connor having a blade in his guts, but the man wanted to toy with him for a while. Perhaps arrogance was a genetic trait with these people; Tenset certainly had it in spades.

Connor grinned back at him, wiping blood from his mouth.

“Just getting started Kalzirian. I always wondered how you backward, inbreds settle things.”

Baxter rushed him, the half sword sliced through the air in a complex pattern. Connor managed to duck and swerve enough to avoid the first two swings, but the third cut him above the eye. The sting and triumphant smile of his opponent released something in Connor, and his conscious mind took a back seat whilst those endless hours of self-defence training kicked in.

Baxter lunged again, slashing at Connor’s right side, but he didn’t connect. Twisting to avoid a second sword thrust to the left side of his abdomen, Connor hit the man’s wrist hard, forcing him to drop the blade. Now weaponless, Baxter instantly attacked with fists and feet.

Each blow Connor took sent another jolt of rage coursing through his veins, he roared and pressed his attack, hitting Baxter hard twice, head and gut, until the man twisted to the side causing Connor’s next attempted kick to his side to miss. Connor was thrown off balance as he over extended, and he stumbled. The guard planted a boot in his back as Connor went past him and shoved him into a tree trunk. Turning quickly, he caught the boot Baxter aimed at his throat and pushed his opponent backwards, using his height and weight advantage.

Landing in the leaf litter, the guard saw his dropped half sword a few feet away he flipped to his belly and reached for it. Seeing his advantage slipping away, Connor threw himself on top of him and pressed his forearm against the man’s throat. His opponent struggled, twisting and fighting to throw him off. This was the man that had tried to rape Chesara. Connor’s rage at the violation had him hauling his victim backwards until the lack of struggles from the body beneath him brought him back to his senses.

Gradually he lessened his grip, alert to any more fight, but the man continued to lie limply. Breathing hard, he stood up and rolled the guard over with his foot. The man’s eyes were still open.

Staggering away from the body he retched, he’d never killed a man before. After a few moments, when his stomach was behaving again, he went to check on the man he’d hit with a branch. In order to see clearly, he had to wipe the blood dripping into his eye with his sleeve.

The man groaned as Connor turned him over, so he quickly divested him of his weapons and belts. The man’s sword belt secured his hands, and the one that had held his trousers up, now restrained his feet. A handkerchief provided a suitable gag. After propping him up against a tree, he tucked both sets of weapons into the sword belt he’d taken from the dead man.

As soon as he’d started back towards Chesara, he ‘looked’ in on her. The readouts were erratic and high, showing she was frightened and in pain. Automatically, he broke into a run, fear renewing his dwindling energy as he continued pounding through the woods with no thought of who might hear him.

Two large figures stepping out onto the trail he was running down caused him to skid to a halt in the moonlight. He drew one of the swords he’d appropriated as he glanced behind him. Two more men now stood behind him. Two had been difficult to handle, four would be impossible. The only thing he could do was keep them occupied as long as possible.

The strength went out of his legs as he recognised Federation uniforms. The lead figure pulled off the night vision hood to reveal the smiling face of First lieutenant Dagus.

“Mr Temple, you have no idea what fun we’ve been having wandering about on this wonderful mud ball looking for you.”

“Chesara, have you got Chesara?” he blurted out interrupting the officer.

“We hoped she’d be with you. Come on, we’ll fill you in.”

It wasn’t what Connor wanted to here, so he tried to push past Dagus so he could to carry towards where he’d last seen her.

Dagus held onto his upper arm. “Sir, I’ve got orders to bring you in, we have other teams out looking for the Envoy.”

“No, we find her first.”

“Sir, you’re injured. At least come back to base camp, get that cut treated and get rehydrated before you go back out. And perhaps find a uniform that fits. You look ridiculous.”

Dagus took a firm grip on his upper arm, and his three colleagues stepped in around him. The lieutenant was being polite, but Connor knew that if he didn’t come quietly, he’d be going anyway. Besides, he could do with a drink.

From the implant, Chesara certainly wasn’t where he’d left her, but as the technology was classified at the highest level, he couldn’t tell them what he knew. As they walked, Dagus touched the com. device behind his ear and filled in his superiors about his find.

Connor paid no attention to their route, content to let the men with the night vision equipment guide him while he checked up on Chesara’s vitals. She was still in a lot of pain, but the flight or fight response had lessened. He hoped that meant she’d gotten away from whatever had hurt her, but her injuries were still causing significant problems. Her blood pressure was decreasing and her endorphin levels were still sky high.

The sooner they got to her, the better. Even if she’d been completely well and rested, she wasn’t equipped, physically or mentally, to live off the land. Chesara had grown up in secluded luxury, every aspect of her life monitored and checked several times a minute.

After a few minutes, he guiltily remembered Tenset.

“Lieutenant, there’s a mansion about twenty miles from here, owned by...”

Dagus held up a hand. “We know. We got a tip off about your status from an unknown source on the planet. We were already mobilizing due to some discrepancies in the information coming from official channels, but that communication pushed the mission forward by about two days. We landed at that property this afternoon. I’m afraid we still don’t know much about what went on. The building was abandoned. Although I sincerely hope you or Chesara didn’t spend any time in some of the rooms we found underneath it.”

Connor just gave him a look. Discussing what had happened wasn’t important now. Finding Chesara was. Dagus patted his shoulder in sympathy.

“We’ve got medics at the shuttle just ahead of us, and you can make a full report from there if you’re up to it.” Connor didn’t bother replying, as his mind flipped between Chesara, Tenset and who had raised the alarm. He had his fingers crossed that the last two people were one and the same.