Page 29 of Argurma Warrior (The Argurma Chronicles #1)
K aylar stared down at the sleeping figure that now possessed a more healthy color of living flesh as far as he could judge. There were other things that demanded his attention more than watching a human female that was not his human female, but he processed that it could not be helped. The scientist would awaken soon, and he would get answers. At least the female’s impending return to wakefulness gave him an excuse to spend every bit of time he could with Meg. Although they worked hard the first part of the day, salvaging in the other labs on the floor, their training in the later part of the day had predictably led to him devouring his female’s sex once more, that time with her lain out over the table as she directed his head with her hands grasping handfuls of his vibrissae.
His mouth quirked. His Meg was a lusty and demanding female once she became comfortable with seeking her pleasure, not only eagerly opening herself for it there in the lobby but also continuing long into the night. His civix ached but no more than his sheath, the seam that sealed it burning with a torment he refused to admit. He enjoyed the pleasures he got from Meg too much to chance her revoking them due to his minor discomfort. He merely needed to work faster on developing the virus to that part of his systems. He calculated that there was a high probability it would permanently damage that programmed access point to the council and his handler so that they would never be able to assert their commands to him again. That was not only acceptable but the ideal conclusion.
After they escaped the island that seemed to unnerve his anastha so much, he wanted to be free as completely as possible from any and all influence from Argurumal. She deserved peace and to build new memories.
Which reminded him—
“What is this book you mentioned: The Island of Doctor Moreau?” he asked, his curiosity regarding all things of his female piqued.
Meg glanced up from the stasis unit, her brows lifting in surprise. She grimaced and shrugged. “It’s silly. The book was one of my grandfather’s favorites so I remember it fondly but at the same time, it gave me nightmares as a kid. It’s all about this person who gets shipwrecked on an island and there is a scientist there who takes him in. But it is no normal island and no normal scientist. He is doing experiments, trying to combine humans and animals into monsters.” She shivered. “I always thought I would wake up and find myself captured by a scientist somehow, but being here on this island is a bit too eerily similar for my peace of mind. We even have a monster,” she added with a dry chuckle.
He cocked his head. “Did the story end well?”
She shrugged. “Everyone was miserable from what I remember and always in a lot of pain. Even the main character, once he got free, was never really free from what he suffered there.” She stared off in nothingness and her lips thinned before she spoke again. “Certain things can haunt you long after they are done, you know?”
He dipped his chin. “I know.”
He would not let this be like her tale. They would take nothing away from the island with him, not even the doctor, if he had his way about it. Certainly, no further than the human city otherwise.
A soft, warm hand slid into his and he glanced down at it, a smile curving his lips as he looked over toward his female and gently squeezed her hand in his. She returned his smile but it disappeared when she looked back toward the stasis unit and was replaced by a fleeting look of worry.
“Do you think that the doctor being here is a bad sign? Like that maybe there is something dangerous and terrible on this island?”
“There is already something dangerous and terrible on this island,” he remarked drily. “E302 and me.”
She chuckled and bumped him with her hip. “You know what I mean… like weird-ass evil experiments like in my grandfather’s book?”
“It is unlikely. My bio-scanners would have picked up on the biosignatures of any large lifeforms,” he gently reminded her only for her to snort in amusement as she rolled her eyes.
“You mean the scanners that have a limited range around wherever you are at? The same scanners that did not even recognize her presence down here?”
He grunted and squinted at the human in stasis. “Fair assessment, though I will remind you that the doctor is in stasis. A lifeform in stasis can confuse scanners due to the lack of biological activity.”
Meg sighed. “Okay, I’ll give you that. But there could still be a village of weird experiments on the other side of the island for all we know.”
“If there were, they are not any longer after E302’s extended period of hunting in those coordinates,” he countered with a quiet chuff of amusement.
His female gave him a disgusted look that made him chuff louder and she rolled her eyes in that peculiar human way that made his scales itch with its oddity. Still, he enjoyed looking at Meg and would have admired her longer as a far more interesting subject of survey but his duty demanded that he observe the human coming out of stasis. Reluctantly, he redirected his attention toward the unit, watching impatiently as the AI’s countdown crackled with static from above. It concluded with a loud hiss of air as the stasis locks snapped open. His vibrissae lifted warily as tension raced through his body. His hand moved to his blaster instinctively and he ignored Meg’s exasperated sigh. She might see no danger in the situation, but he trusted his instincts as much as he did his calculations, and both warned him to be cautious.
With another loud burst of air, the lid lifted just as the female inside slapped her hands along the sides of the unit and dragged in a long, gasping breath. Her face contorted with pain and he clicked sympathetically. There was a reason that his species seldom used stasis if it could be avoided. Revival was painful and disorienting. And in turn it made them sluggish and slow to respond, which was unacceptable. He had little doubt that the female was suffering at that moment while her body remembered how to live, her lungs inflated, and circulation returned. Her eyelids vibrated for several moments before finally flickering open.
Kaylar leaned in closer, taking advantage of the moment to jab the spare translator injector from his belt behind her ear. She would need to understand him, after all, and he was determined to get his answers. She whimpered in pain at the injection and the female’s eyes rolled toward him and then widened in terror. He jerked back, his blaster snapping up from his side, as her scream ripped through the room.
Meg’s shout of surprise briefly warred with the noise the other female was making as she rushed forward to reach up and drag his arm down. He allowed it, dropping his arm under the guiding pressure of her grip, though he was not pleased. One did not abandon caution when dealing with panicky frightened creatures. His weapon would have at least encouraged the female to remain back from them rather than attack in her attempt to get away. He would not sustain any damage, but there was a probability, as small as it was, that his female would and that was unacceptable. His mandibles clicked and Meg hushed him with a glare.
“For fucks’ sake, Kaylar, you’re scaring the shit out of her!” Meg shook her head and gave his arm a pat before pushing forward past him toward the human despite his growl of his objection. “Hi there, it’s okay,” she murmured in a low, soothing voice. “I’m Meg and this is Kaylar. I know he looks scary but he’s all right. He’s with me and won’t hurt you.”
The female’s gaze darted to Meg and held. She shuddered but dragged in a slow breath as if attempting to regain control over herself. That would be beneficial. Meg would not be pleased if he were forced to sedate her. He was prepared with a cartridge loaded in his blaster for exactly that purpose, the weapon set to projectile. He had no intention of killing the female—yet. But he did not wish to upset Meg, so this was working out well.
“Th…that’s an alien,” the woman rasped between stiff, pale lips, her speech slightly slurred still from the affects of stasis. “I…It’s dangerous.”
Meg smiled and gave him a fond look that warmed his processors. “Sure, he can be dangerous but in the best sort of way that makes you feel safe.”
He nearly laughed as the female gave Meg a look of disbelief. “He pointed a weapon at me!”
“Yeah, that’s just how he says hello. But see, he’s not now and everything is fine. Here I brought you a blanket. You’ve got to be cold.” Meg carefully drew the thick blanket around the female’s stiff shoulders.
“Th… thank you,” she mumbled, casting Kaylar a brief, wary look as her shaking hand came to grip the edge of the blanket and draw it closer around her. “You won’t let him hurt me?”
He looked over at his female and raised his brows curiously at her. Meg pressed her lips firmly together in an obvious attempt to quell her own amusement before clearing her throat and turning back to the female eyeing them.
“He won’t,” Meg assured her.
“Not without reason,” he corrected, ignoring his female’s irritation. He would not speak untruthfully about this. The female would possess full knowledge of all repercussions that would be incurred if she tried to harm Meg. He held the inconsequential human’s gaze and maintained a flat expression so that she knew without a doubt that he had no use at all for her and that her welfare was entirely dependent on Meg’s welfare. “If you do not jeopardize Meg’s safety or attempt to cause damage to her, then you are safe.”
“I see,” she croaked, shooting a quick look toward his scowling female. “That works for me. I don’t want to hurt anyone.”
Meg’s expression relaxed as turned back toward the other female but not before giving him another look of warning for which he processed they would be discussing this interaction later. “Of course not,” she murmured. “Here let me help you out. I’m Meg and as you probably gathered, that’s Kaylar. You are Doctor Beverly Ryder, right?”
A startled expression crossed the scientist’s face as she slowly rose with Meg’s assistance and stepped out of the unit. “Why, yes? How did you know? Were you sent to get me? Is that why you are with him? Did he come for…” she faltered and her mouth snapped shut at Meg’s confused look, but his curiosity was piqued, his systems recording the exchange through his optical implant.
Meg shook her head regretfully. “You’ve been asleep for a long time Doctor.”
“Beverly is fine. I think, considering the situation, we can dispense with the formalities,” Doctor Ryder replied through chattering teeth, a tight smile pulling at her lips.
Kaylar scowled. There was zero probability that he would address the female informally as if she were kin or his.
Meg glanced over at him worriedly. “Shouldn’t she be getting warmer.”
He took a brief scan of the female to put Meg at ease. “Her vitals are appropriate for your species and her reaction normal for one coming out of stasis. She is warming.”
Doctor Ryder waved a dismissive hand, drawing Meg’s attention back to her. “I’m fine. I’m cold but this is a normal reaction for my body trying to warm itself. I would be more worried if I wasn’t here freezing my ass off.” The look she turned on him next was thoughtful. “Now let’s get out of this room and go somewhere more comfortable—and warmer—where you can tell me what’s going on and how you know who I am if you weren’t sent by my superiors.”
Kaylar gritted his teeth, his vibrissae coiling around him tightly in frustration. This was not how he calculated things proceeding. He was to get answers from her, not the other way around. He wanted to demand them but the way his female was making sympathetic sounds and hustling the scientist by him conveyed to him that his protocols were being overridden by a female that barely came to his mid-chest due to her sympathy for her fellow human. With a frustrated growl, he turned and followed after them. He certainly wasn’t letting the pair out of his sight. Beverly was not going to be alone with Meg until he had what he wished to know.