Page 3 of Hainn (Sectors New Allies #19)

CHAPTER THREE

H ainn’s day had been frustrating in the extreme. He’d been deployed on a combat mission to take down a small Khagrish lab far to the east and when the Badari had arrived, the experiments being conducted on the humans were underway and utterly abhorrent. Killing the scientists and their small security contingent was fairly simple but then the Badari had had to give mercy to the pitiful human subjects. Hainn had been called upon to evaluate every single one for any possibility of saving a life and the task had been grueling. His job was to help and to preserve life and he’d had to shake his head over each of the seventy humans held there. He and his fellow Badari had been enraged and saddened and had taken extra pleasure in blowing up the lab complex on their way out but the faces of the poor souls he’d seen were parading in his mind and his healing gift was burning in his mind and heart, having been worse than useless today.

The power of the lake called to him and after the debriefing for the Alphas he’d slipped away from his brothers to seek peace in the water. A vigorous swim the length of the lake ought to tire him enough to wipe his mind clear of the ugly sights of the day and then he hoped he could sleep.

If directly asked by his Alpha he wouldn’t deny he’d planned to challenge the whirlpool tonight. His Badari pack required high adrenaline activities periodically as a result of their genetically engineered neurology and endocrine systems and a session battling the power of the water would leave him exhausted in a good way. Hainn had done the whirlpool many times before Aydarr banned it and was the current champion for the length of time he could remain in its grip without drowning and then swim out to calmer waters.

The ancient AI MARL had said he would post a couple of versions of himself as sentries in the lake to prevent access to the dangerous natural wonder but Hainn had never encountered them. He suspected MARL hadn’t done the task. He personally was a bit skeptical of the AI—what did they actually know about it and its programming besides what MARL himself chose to share?

As he got closer to that portion of the lake and the tug of the current increased against his naked body, he kept swimming but took a few extra deep breaths and executed a set of isometric exercises. He was in the middle of this ritual when he heard the first scream. Adrenaline skyrocketing, he swam faster and attempted to contact whoever was caught. No human would venture out here—they stayed on dry land or paddled in the shallows at the far end away from the whirlpool and the waterfall. Oddly, although he caught the mental harmonic of a Badari, he couldn’t make contact.

He saw a white face in the midst of the swirling, frothing water ahead an instant before the person was sucked under the surface. “I’m coming,” he yelled, putting all his Badari strength into the sound.

Hainn held himself back from being swept into the mix until the person in trouble was brought around in the mad circle closer to him and then at the precise moment, he arrowed through the water, grabbing her as he was taken into the malicious dance. Astounded to find himself clutching Jezari of all people, he shouted, “Hang onto me and don’t fight me. I’ll get you out of this.”

She appeared to be too exhausted to speak, much less to fight him and clung to him. Hainn applied all the lessons he’d learned during his many encounters with the whirlpool and eventually managed to swim them out of the current. Heading for the nearest shoreline, he realized Jezari had passed out and he proceeded through the water as fast as he could.

While he was carrying her out of the lake, he noted she was wearing a breather pod and was alarmed and puzzled. She was required to come in for regular checkups and hadn’t said anything about needing help to breathe. Gently he laid her on the soft mossy soil away from the waterline and extended his hands, the green healing power throwing an incandescent glow over her body. A tingling buzz rose within his own body, which only happened when he was working over her, of all the Badari and humans he’d treated.

“Get the seven hells away from me,” Jezari said, sitting up abruptly and pushing his hands away. “I’m fine.”

Hainn sat on his heels, shutting off his power. Other than physical exhaustion, he hadn’t found anything wrong with her. “What were you doing at the whirlpool?”

“Do you always swim in the nude?” she responded, avoiding his question and giving him a lingering once over.

“As a matter of fact, yes,” he said, moving away a few inches. Her swim garment was clinging to her body and she might as well be naked but he knew better than to make any comment. “Now answer my question.”

“I wasn’t planning to come near this part of the lake,” she said and Hainn judged it as truth. “I was on a shell gathering expedition and got distracted. Before I knew what was happening, the current swept me up.”

And now she was lying. There was no evidence of any shells and no one would hunt for them in this deep end of the lake anyway. Her untruth was intriguing but for now he let it pass. “And why are you wearing a breather?”

Hastily she removed the tiny device and stuffed it into the bag at her belt. “I thought it might help. I planned on a long excursion today.”

Lies mixed with truth? Jezari confused him and Hainn was torn whether to keep interrogating her or let the subject drop.

“Don’t report this, all right? It was an accident,” she said as she combed her fingers through her hair and twisted it into a braid. “I won’t come out here again.”

Another lie but why would a Badari Daughter even want to swim all the way out here? Hainn laughed as he went to gather up his clothes, which he’d left on the bank. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to tell anyone. I don’t want to be in trouble with the Alphas for breaking Aydarr’s edict.”

Jezari paused and stared at him. “You were out on combat duty today, weren’t you? Was it bad? We didn’t lose anyone did we?”

“It was bad,” he said as visions of the horrors at the lab flashed in front of his mind’s eye. “All Badari and allies returned to the valley safely but we couldn’t save the humans there.” He clamped his mouth shut, unwilling to discuss with her how the soldiers had to give mercy to the people who’d been alive. There was no quality of life at the end stage of a Khagrish experiment and no undoing the damage done to a subject.

She studied his face and set her hand on his arm, rubbing it gently. “I’m sorry.”

Hainn remembered she’d been the subject of a deadly Khagrish experiment herself. Better change the subject before she has a flashback. “I’m done swimming for the day. Want me to walk you to the residence area?”

Did she? Jezari pushed away her first automatic refusal of his company and considered. The South Seas healer was an exceptionally handsome Badari and her shameless perusal of his assets when she first regained consciousness left her unsettled and aching at the core. Longings she’d never experienced before swept through her mind and body and Jezari became frightened. Hainn was a healer —what was she thinking to contemplate encouraging him? Her reputation had taken enough of a hit with those who knew about her unfortunate obsession with the Senior Healer. She couldn’t possibly allow herself to be interested in another healer.

Was she developing another infatuation? How stupid could a Badari Daughter be?

Now she was in full flight mode and backed away from Hainn, heading toward the nearby forest. “I—I have to be going.” As she spun abruptly she stumbled and barely caught her balance. Jezari was afraid Hainn wouldn’t allow her to go off alone but he stood quietly beside the water and said nothing. She stopped at the edge of the trees and said, “Thank you for getting me out of the damn whirlpool.”

He raised one hand in acknowledgment and Jezari bolted before she gave in to the temptation to say anything else or even worse to linger. She ran for quite a while, heading in the general direction of the residence caves before she finally stopped to give her legs a rest. She was sure Hainn hadn’t followed her, for which she was grateful. Seating herself on a fallen log, she pulled the fragment of a cup from her small bag. It was covered with mud or lichen so she wiped it off carefully with a leaf and then studied it. The colors were bright, luminescent in the sun and she could see the pattern was repeating triangles. The effect was pleasing and she wished the cup had been whole.

With a gasp she dropped the fragment and retreated a step. It shimmered extra brightly for a moment and then dissolved, the ashes floating away in the breeze as she watched with a keen sense of loss. Evidently being immersed in the freezing cold water at the bottom of the lake had preserved it but once exposed to the air, the shard had lost its battle with time.

No souvenirs then , she said to herself as she trudged onward toward her pack’s cave, although wondering if the tough metal of the hull would be more resistant to time’s ravages once brought into fresh air again.

She froze in midstep as the ground shifted beneath her, just a quick sideways shimmy. Arms out for balance, she waited to see if there’d be another quake. To her that was the worst part of this swarm of minor quakes the valley had been experiencing lately—waiting to see if the shaking would get worse or if it was merely a foreshock to an even bigger geological event. Today’s tremblor seemed to be over already and she started walking again. At least I was outside for this one. Being inside the Daughters’ residence cave during an earthquake was much more terrifying. They’d had quakes at the mountain complex where she and her sisters had been created and took them for granted there. Of course unbeknownst to Jezari and the others the mountain had been a dormant volcano, working up to blowing its entire top off.

MARL the alien AI assured the Badari there was no such volcano anywhere in the vicinity of Sanctuary Valley and no major rifts either. “The usual minor settling of the earth from previous geological stresses,” he’d said in one meeting Jezari had attended. “Nothing to be concerned about.”

Of course he floated on a cushion of antigrav so he wasn’t worried.

Jezari said a quick prayer to the Great Mother for there to be no more quakes. She wasn’t a fan at all.

The next day she couldn’t dive as she had an appointment at the hospital for a routine followup with Hainn on the status of her recovery. Jezari was sure she was fine and irritated by this insistence her Alpha placed on periodic exams. She was ready for a fight when she entered the building, prepared to argue for ending these pointless check-ins.

Hainn was waiting in the exam room he’d been assigned for this task, seated on the chair, playing a game on his handheld. As soon as she knocked and entered the room he rose and put away the device. “All dried out from yesterday?” he said with a smile as she swept past him and sat on the end of the exam table. “Breathing okay?”

“I’m fine,” she said, tossing her hair. “We both know I’m perfectly recovered.”

This declaration brought a small frown to Hainn’s face. “Can you telepath yet?”

Annoyed he’d zeroed in on her weakness, she shook her head. “No. I meant physically recuperated.”

Raising his hands, already glowing green, he stepped toward the table. “May I do a quick scan?”

Grumbling, she lay back. “That’s why I’m here, isn’t it?”

The healer didn’t respond to her snark. He slid his hands through the air a few inches above her body and concentrated. Jezari closed her eyes and savored the pops of energy and sizzle which came in the aftermath of his power. Did all Badari experience this kind of reaction to a healer’s power or was it unique to Hainn? She couldn’t remember having the same sensation when working with Timtur but of course she hadn’t been herself during the entire period of her recovery.

“Done,” he said while she was lost in thought. “If you have no objection, I’m going to enter my recommendation we end these periodic check-ins.”

She was happy at the suggestion but surprised to find herself a bit disappointed there’d be no need to interact with Hainn any longer. The realization stirred up her fears of allowing herself to become inappropriately interested in her healer for a second time and she jumped off the table and moved to the door. “Sounds good to me. Thank you.” She escaped into the hall and hastened toward the front entrance of the hospital. He’s going to think I’m a real bitch. I was barely civil to him and I didn’t thank him properly for saving my life the other day at the whirlpool. At least Hainn wouldn’t arrive at the conclusion she had a crush on him.

After a decent interval could she maybe interact with him at one of Aydarr’s social events? Walking briskly outside and heading for her residence, she toyed with the idea. Meet as equals instead of healer and patient? Memories of the recent parties came to her and she shook her head. Hainn and many of the South Seas pack members were always surrounded by human women at these events. There were quite a few females who wanted desperately to become a Badari fated mate, for all kinds of reasons but cynically Jezari supposed it was primarily for the increased status in the valley of being a mate and part of the packs, not merely a human. Those women had no concept of the truth about being mated and she was sure neither Hainn nor his brothers would ever find themselves claiming and being claimed by the social climbers. There were other human women who socialized and were friendly but not in active pursuit of a mate and as far as Jezari could tell from her observations, most of the recently claimed mates had come from the latter pool. Aydarr wanted his men to find mates but she guessed he was hoping for more women like his own indomitable mate Jill, or at least as honorable.

And why am I wasting my time thinking about all of this? I don’t want a mate, that’s for sure .

Reaching the large cave where she and her sisters dwelt, Jezari shrugged away her recent musings and contemplated whether it was already too late in the day to do another dive to the wreck. Her Alpha met her as she crossed the big communal living room.

“Oh there you are, I’ve been looking for you,” the Alpha said. “I wish your telepathy would come back online.” She didn’t seem upset or irritated.

“I’m not going to hold my breath,” Jezari answered, stifling a chuckle as she considered her secret diving exploits. “What can I do for you?”