ToxicHaven (2 page)

Taking the mug of steaming herbal tea from the dispenser’s tray, she turned to face the men. While sipping her tea, she scrutinized them

She had an urge to reach out and brush Isan’s curls away from his forehead, to run her fingers through both their hair
. What the hell is wrong with me? Have I been without a man for that long? I can’t trust them, dammit
.

She’d just finished the last of her tea and was still fighting the strange connection she felt to the two men when the guard entered, unannounced. “Don’t you believe in knocking?” she snapped. Too late she clamped her lips together. The guard pulled his punishment rod from his belt and pressed it into her abdomen. A sharp bolt of lightning coursed through her, one that always hurt like hell. Why couldn’t she learn to keep her mouth shut?

“One-zero-one-eight-eight, another instance of insubordination and you’ll return to your previous quarters. Move it. You’ll be late for your orientation.”

Fuck orientation. How long are they going to keep up the questioning? Especially now that they’ve planted two spies in my quarters.

Chapter Two

By the time she returned to her new abode, she was starving, her body ached and the taste of blood wouldn’t leave her mouth. They’d received no additional information from her but the truth drugs they’d fed her gave her the munchies.

Her new roommates stared at her as she staggered in. She ignored them in favor of the food dispenser. A hot meal was just what she needed. She selected soup, stew, and four orders of crackers.

Isan was taking up most of her couch so she glared at him until he shifted to one side. He raised one eyebrow. “Orientation?”

She snorted and started on her soup.

“Don’t tell me that they simply drilled the usual orientation stuff into you and didn’t ask you anything else.”

Josias emerged from the shower, wearing only a towel around his hips. It barely fit, exposing most of one hip and thigh. “You look like hell, Haven.”

“Right back at you, Josias. Now excuse me, this food needs my attention.” She waved him off while sneaking peeks at him from beneath her lashes. His abs were impressive. The suit she remembered seeing him in hadn’t done justice to what lay beneath.

Isan eventually grew tired of watching her eat and began prowling the outer edges of their shared quarters. “What did you do to earn quarters this huge? Back in our section, this would be reserved for those colluding with management.”

She nodded and put aside the remains of her meal, her appetite gone. “I’m in charge of incoming traffic security during my shifts.”

Her companions froze. She saw the wheels churning in Isan’s mind.

“You mean you work in the station.”

She decided to be honest. If they wanted to kill her, here in her quarters, it would be a welcome relief. “I mean, I man the gun.”

The horror on their faces was unmistakable. Since her arrival, she’d destroyed three vessels that were either attacking or about to make an escape attempt. She was good at what she did. Her incarceration and subsequent job assignment had created a security the mining station had never known before. But, twenty lives were laid at her door. Twenty souls who wanted to take down a portion of the corporation. She had warned them then she had killed them.

“I understand if you wish to leave these quarters. Bunking with a murderess isn’t something you should be expected to put up with, much less share a bed.” She picked up her tray and slid it into the disposal slot. Turning back, she faced the men, then glanced dubiously at the lone bed in the room.

Josias stood with his fists clenched. Isan kept his gaze fixed on her face.

“If you two want to keep staring, you’re welcome to do so. I have to get some sleep. I have to work in the morning. As it is, I don’t even have time for the bath I longed for. They kept me in there too long.”

There was the distinct possibility the men would kill her in her sleep, but she went to bed anyway. She removed her cap, buckled down her emotions, which allowed her to strip to her skin, folded her clothing carefully and set the pile next to the bed. Without looking up, she scooted between the sheets and pulled them up to her chin.

Pretending she was alone enabled her to forget there were two ex-security officers looking at her as if she had a second head.

Her internal clock was accurate. Less than three minutes after she’d tucked herself into bed, the room’s lights went out.

She heard them moving in the darkness. Their almost soundless movements woke every nerve in her body. She wondered when the attack would come.

She felt one of them climb in on each side of the bed but nothing else happened. She waited, her body taut until her muscles ached, but the strangling hands she’d expected, never wrapped around her neck.

Exhausted, she eventually succumbed to sleep, but her mind stayed alert the whole night through.

When a pounding on the door woke her, she jumped out of bed. A voice came through the speaker. “One-zero-one-six-seven and six-eight. You’re going to be late for your shift.”

Light flooded the room. She was still alive! Maybe they’d told her the truth, after all. Haven covered her eyes and waited for the men to get up.

Her roommates casually stood, stretched, and after each paid the bathroom a visit, pulled on their uniforms.

She watched their nakedness disappear, her shocked sensibilities overloaded as the bodysuits covered their muscles and sinew. She knew the image of muscular backs and buttocks would surface in her mind later in the day when she’d least expect it. For the moment, she pushed any lascivious thoughts away while watching them leave her very plush cell.

She looked down at her body and noticed the faint red marks of an arm banded across her abdomen where one of the men had held her. She inhaled, smelling something that wasn’t her shampoo. Masculine and enticingly warm, the scent faded quickly. She knew one of her new roommates was a cuddler.

She was ready and waiting when the guards hauled her off for her shift. She didn’t talk to them. They didn’t talk to her. She calmly slid into her station and put on her headset. Within moments, she was watching for the first incoming traffic while programming the drones for their trips to contaminate the unsuspecting with toxic fertilizer.

This was the part of her imprisonment that ate at her soul. Defending the mine from armed insurgents was one thing, but the systematic poisoning of untold generations was something else altogether. She was participating in the very situation she wanted to blow the whistle on.

Her name was supposed to mean safety and protection. How ludicrous that she delivered death across a dozen worlds, all with the click of a few keys.

The colonies’ demands for slag were filed in her computer systems and she went through them carefully. She did what she could to ensure the fewest folks possible were affected. The difficulty was, they were convinced of the residue’s superior powers to grow faster and stronger produce. Thus, there was far more demand growing in larger population centers.

While her fingers pressed the correct keys to distribute the day’s allotment of slag, she frantically scrambled to find a way out. She had a dozen plans in place, but as a female alone, she could never act on any of them. She seemed destined to live out her life poisoning people who had no idea that every generation was going to be less intelligent than the one before.

She had no one to tell, no one to whom she could whisper the truth. Haven’s guilt grew with every passing day and so did her desperation. After years of education, working her way up the corporate ladder, this was where she’d ended up. She was trapped in the mines, destroying those who would free the folk held within.

She was in middle management hell.

Mindlessly, she continued to jab at buttons and program new slag dumps, blanking out all thought except the task at hand. It wasn’t until near the end of her day that another craft failed to give security clearance and she had to destroy it. That one counted five aboard. Choking back tears, she added them to the tally weighing so heavily on her soul. Other ships veered sharply away from the debris as the craft exploded.

There were several dozen habitable planets in this galaxy, as the astronauts had discovered many years ago when Earth’s population became unmanageable. Environmental damage was beyond repair. The hungry and homeless numbered in the billions and disease was rampant. When technology had advanced to such a degree that they could send teams out to explore far galaxies, they found this one and called it New Genesis. Soon afterward, migration started, but it was reserved for those who passed medical examinations and tests. The rest of the world’s population could rot in hell.

Haven knew Earth’s history. Her parents, rest their souls, had drummed it into her and told her never to speak of it to anyone. When she was eight years old, she was selected to take part in the special enhancement program. She’d ended up in an exclusive boarding school reserved for those who were lucky enough to be chosen.

Her relief arrived, startling her out of her thoughts. The guard waited just outside the door. She didn’t greet the other prisoner, a male. They weren’t allowed to exchange words. To even say hello could mean a demerit. She’d found out the hard way, and those who had dared to answer her suffered for it as well.

On the way to her quarters, Josias and Isan came to mind. On purpose, she’d not dwelt on the two men during her shift. But now that she was going be with them again, strange feelings surged through her, emotions she couldn’t afford—a longing to be with someone, to find true bonding. Maybe that wasn’t for her. Certainly not there, in prison.

“I’ll be back for you in one hour for your daily orientation.”

Haven nodded, although she was ready to burst into a torrent of curses. The doors slid closed and she was instantly startled when Josias came out of the bathroom, stark naked. He didn’t seem at all perturbed by his nudity.
My God, he’s hung.

“Greetings, Drew,” he said formally and walked toward her while holding up both hands.

She pulled the cap off her hair and shook her head, not only to loosen the long blonde hair but to shake the wild thoughts from her mind. She tucked the cap into her belt and placed her palms against his. She didn’t do it to simply be polite— she ached to touch him. He was so close to her, she could smell his minty breath. As their skin touched, small sparks emanated and their hands glowed.

“It can’t be,” she whispered looking into his eyes. A smile tilted the corners of his lips and he nodded, then mouthed, “Ssh.” He stepped closer, so close his throbbing erection tapped against her belly. It had not been erect when she’d entered, but now it sure as hell was. All she wanted was to reach down and touch that throbbing invitation.

Haven waited. His face was barely inches from hers. She parted her lips anticipating his kiss.

Instead, he whispered so softly it was good she had enhanced hearing or she’d never have picked up the words. “Don’t say a word, Haven. Nothing that will incriminate you. The walls have eyes and ears.”

“But—”

“Ssh. Later. In bed.”

The energy still sparked between them when he dropped his hands and walked away.

Isan stood and headed for the bathroom. “Evening, Haven. I think I’ll have a shower, unless you’d like to bathe first?”

“I think I will. I have to go to orientation again in fifty-five minutes. That leaves me barely time to bathe and eat. When I get back, it’s almost lights out.”

“Okay,” he answered, but held both hands up for the customary greeting as she approached on her way toward the bathroom.

Haven placed her palms against his and experienced the same transference of energy as she had with Josias.
Impossible. Two bonding partners
? Meeting his gaze, she picked up anxiety within him. He seemed more serious than Josias.

Haven lowered her hands and swiveled into the bathroom. Rather than the soak she so longed for, she quickly showered. She wouldn’t mind the orientation so much that evening, knowing when she got back to her quarters, it would be lights out and time to crawl into bed with those two gorgeous hunks. This time, even though she was exhausted, more so mentally than physically, she would force herself to stay awake. That was, if her interrogators didn’t pump her full of drugs or truth serum again.

The shower helped to cool her libido. Feeling refreshed, she dressed and returned to the main room. Happily, she jabbed at the buttons on the food dispenser. One of the choices was hamburger and fries. She’d earned another bonus that day. She chose it, but the burger almost got stuck in her throat while she chewed. It was food she’d earned by killing another five innocent people. Leaving half the burger and most of the fries, she opted for her herbal tea instead. She’d barely finished drinking it when the guard entered to escort her to orientation.

“Prisoner one-zero-one-eight-eight, can you tell us why you are here?”

Over and over they asked the same questions, day after day. They injected her with truth serum, but she was immune to it, thanks to her enhancements. Haven kept glancing at the clock. She endured their cruelty, the blows to her ribs, the rod sending shocks through her body, the occasional fist to her head. All she could think of was Josias’ whispers. She kept that in her mind the whole time they came at her—until their final words. They scared the living hell out of her.

“Prisoner one-zero-one-eight-eight, you may return to your quarters. We have scheduled a transfer for you to our medical facility in three days. Your enhancements are hampering our investigation, so we have consulted with the scientists who enhanced your abilities. They will remove some of those devices. Go. We’re done.”

Oh, my God! Oh, dear Jesus! What am I going to do?

The guard led her from the room and back to her quarters. Her feet felt like lead and her heart hovered somewhere near them.

The two men gazed at her as she sank onto the side of the bed. Tears were close, but she refused to cry. Never, ever, would a man see tears spill from her eyes. She knew from the expression on their faces and in their eyes they realized something was off. But, Josias had warned her,
the walls have eyes and ears
. In other words, there were hidden cameras and the room was bugged. They watched every move the prisoners made and heard each word said.