“That was why you wanted to take charge of them,” Six accused him. “To keep them from outing your Feel-crime.”
“Well, maybe,” Two purred. “Or it could just be that I’m an animal lover.” He laughed.
Yipper was still staring at him, his brown eyes wide.
“But I thought only those with pure Kindred DNA were having problems,” the little Tolleg said. “You are mostly Scorparian and Depax. I oversaw your DNA mixture myself. Yes I did, yes I did.”
“Well you thought wrong, my dear Tolleg. It turns out that it isn’t just the DNA but the way the implant reacts with it,” Two snapped. “At any rate, don’t worry—I’m not angry at you. I don’t get angry, as far as I can tell. And I am not made happy by the things which seem to make other Feel-criminals happy either.”
“I know what makes you happy,” Six said hoarsely. “Killing. I always wondered why you didn’t relinquish your place on the Purge Squad when you rose high enough in the rubric to quit it.”
“I’m afraid you have found me out.” Two smirked. “But then, I have found you out too. You and your plans to abandon glorious Zeaga 4 and blow up your ship to make it appear you’d had a little accident on the way home. Don’t worry though—I’m going to save you some time. I’m going to see that the ‘accident’ happens right here and now.”
His finger tightened on the trigger.
“No!” Six lunged forward, unable to sit passively and watch any longer. But Two dodged nimbly backwards, dragging Mei-Li with him and put the metal rolling cart with the emotion blocker syringe between them.
“Ah-ah-ah, I think not, Six,” he purred, smiling wide enough to show every metal tooth in his head.
“Don’t hurt her,” Six begged. His fingers itched to yank Mei-Li out of harm’s way but he couldn’t reach her before Two pulled the trigger. Oh Gods, I can’t reach her…can’t help her… A feeling of helplessness spread over him—an awful feeling that was somehow familiar.
Two looked at him speculatively.
“You really care for this little Earth female, don’t you? Personally I don’t understand the appeal. She is too small and weak to be useful in any way. But I suppose you have your reasons.”
“Just let her go,” Six growled. “Let her go and we will journey to her planet so that you will never have to see us again.”
“An interesting proposition,” Two said musingly. “But I think I might be coming to pay that little planet a visit rather soon.” He grinned evilly. “And I might bring just a few guests if you don’t mind. Like a battalion of war ships. They do tend to make a conquest so much easier.”
“What?” Mei-Li and Six said at the same time.
“I didn’t know Earth was the planet slated for conquest,” Six growled.
“No, One didn’t tell you because he suspected you were beginning to have feelings for this little female.” Two nodded at Mei-Li. “It turns out he was right. But yes, Earth has been slated for conquest for ages now.”
“But why pick such an out of the way place?” Six demanded. “It’s not even in our galaxy.”
“It never would have come to our attention without your help my dear Six. A Kindred in the leadership of the Mother Ship became aware that you were Dream Sharing with your little female and he struck a bargain with One—help in conquering the Earth in return for all its natural resources and organic inhabitants. Rather a good deal, don’t you think?”
“The Earth doesn’t belong to anyone on the Mother Ship—they can’t make a deal like that!” Mei-Li said indignantly. “Besides, I know some of the people in charge—especially Commander Sylvan. He would never—”
“Well he did—or someone in authority did. I haven’t had time to go through all of One’s memory cache yet but I intend to do that on the way to Earth.” Two grinned. “Tell me, Six, why do you think you were sent to claim your ‘bride’ in the first place?”
“Why?” Six demanded.
“To sow unrest between the people of Earth and the only ones who could possibly protect them—the Kindred of the Mother Ship.” Two laughed delightedly. “Don’t tell me you couldn’t figure that out for yourselves? No?” He looked back and forth between them and then shrugged. “Well, well, I suppose that Earth saying about love being blind must be correct. Such a strange emotion—another one I have never experienced. Frankly, I rather doubt I ever will.”
“I don’t understand,” Mei-Li said. “Why would the Kindred of the Mother Ship want to declare war on Earth?”
“No, no, my dear—they wanted the Earth to declare war on them. If Earth strikes first, the rank and file warriors will be much more inclined to welcome our ‘help’ when we Dark Kindred show up on the scene. Do you see?”
“I see that you’re a complete bastard. You leave my planet alone.” Mei-Li’s voice trembled. “We like our emotions—we want to keep them.”
“Of course you do—haven’t I just said I’m a big fan of feeling myself? Unfortunately the Collective can’t allow it. Just as I can’t allow you and Six to keep feeling for each other.”
Two put down his weapon and picked up the syringe filled with dark blue liquid so quickly his hand was only a blur. He motioned to Six. “You’ve been a very naughty warrior, Six. Letting yourself have all kinds of emotions and feelings for this little female. Maybe it’s time to remedy that right now.”
Six felt a sick churning in the pit of his stomach.
“Very well,” he said in a low voice. “If you want to punish someone, punish me. Use the injection on me—only let Mei-Li go.”
“My, such self-sacrifice.” Two clicked his long, thin tongue against his metal teeth. “It almost makes me feel bad for what I’m about to do. Almost.”
“Just let her go.” Six held out one arm in supplication, ready for the needle. “Go on, do it.”
“Please,” Mei-Li whispered. There were tears running down her pale cheeks that twisted his heart. “Please don’t. Six—I don’t want you to lose your feelings again. I don’t want you to forget that you care!”
“You know what, my dear?” Two said, smiling at her. “Neither do I. Which is why I will not be injecting your paramour with this lovely emotion blocker our good friend Yipper has concocted.”
“You won’t?” Mei-Li sounded hopeful but Six knew better than to hope. “You promise?”
“I promise,” Two purred.
Before Six could reach her, he flipped the long, sharp needle around and stabbed it into her neck.
“NO!” Six roared, rushing forward. But Two had already pushed the dark blue liquid into her blood stream.
Mei-Li gagged and fell to her knees, the hypodermic still protruding from her neck. Her back arched and she clawed at the air—then she collapsed.
Six rushed to her and yanked the needle out but she was limp in his arms. Panic flooded him. “Help me, Yipper!”
The little Tolleg came forward at once and began patting Mei-Li’s cheeks.
“Will she be all right?” Six demanded.
“I don’t know, I don’t know. She’s gotten a dose large enough for a warrior—for someone three times more massive than she is. Help me get her to the exam table, Six—I’ll do what I can for her.”
Six lifted her small body which felt as light as a leaf in his arms. Mei-Li seemed to be barely breathing and her eyes were rolled up in her head, unseeing. He laid her gently on the exam table and then turned to Two.
At the sight of the other male standing there smirking and obviously enjoying the pain and distress he had caused, rage filled Six, white-hot and molten.
“You bastard,” he said thickly, reaching for Two. All he wanted to do was wrap his fingers around that scrawny neck and choke until the other male was dead.
“Ah-ah-ah…” Two waved the vaporizer at him and then pointed it at Mei-Li. “She might still live…or I can blow her to wet, red mist right now if you like.”
“I’ll kill you,” Six promised. “And I’ll do it very…fucking…slowly.”
&nb
sp; Two laughed delightedly. “Excellent! Just look how angry you are. And think how devastated you’ll be if she dies! Oh, yes—this was an excellent choice. Much better than simply purging either one of you.”
“What’s wrong with you?” Six demanded. “What happened to make you this way—feeding off the pain of others?”
“Honestly, I don’t know.” Two looked thoughtful. “Maybe a bad DNA mix. Maybe a bad implant. Maybe a combination of the two.” He grinned at Six. “But for whatever reason, I’m thoroughly enjoying myself. And I’ll enjoy remembering you this way—completely distraught because your little female is in danger.” He began to back out of the room, still waving the vaporizer menacingly. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a planet to conquer.”
“You’ll never take Earth by surprise. I’ll transmit a warning to them as soon as you leave.”
“I think not.” Two grinned. “I’ve taken the liberty of jamming all outgoing transmissions from both the med barges and Z4. And even if you could get a warning to Earth, they’d never believe you—or any Kindred for that matter. As of twelve standard hours ago, they have declared war against our kind. Good luck finding anyone who will listen to a warning from the enemy.” He was almost at the open doorway but he turned back for a moment. “Oh and Six, I do hope your little female survives.”
“Why would you care if she survives or not?” Six snarled. He wanted nothing more than to break every bone in Two’s body but the other male still had the vaporizer trained on Mei-Li.
“Because, my dear Six—if she dies you will be in great pain. But if she wakes up and has absolutely no emotions for you while you are hopelessly in love with her, why, then you’ll be in agony.” Two smirked. “So as I said, I hope she makes it. Farewell and may Fortune favor you. Though I rather doubt it will.”
With a last metallic grin he turned and left.
“Hurry—we must hurry! Yes we must, yes we must!” Yipper’s shrill voice broke through the wall of silence that seemed to have somehow grown around him. Six blinked and realized that he was still staring at the doorway where his enemy had disappeared. For a moment a red curtain of rage had covered all his senses but the little Tolleg’s insistence somehow drew him out of it.
“Mei-Li,” he said, pushing back the murderous impulses with some difficulty. “Is she—?”
“She is stable for now—stable enough to travel. We must go, Six. We must leave this place. Yes we must, yes we must!” Yipper was busying himself, shoving various instruments and medicines into a large expandable pouch which he strapped around his waist.
“What?” Six asked sharply. “No we shouldn’t—we need to stay here until Mei-Li is well.”
“And leave her home planet to be decimated? I don’t think she will thank you for that if she wakes up. No she won’t, no she won’t,” Yipper said, finding more things to stuff into his pouch. “We must go to the Mother Ship and warn them!”
Six shook his head. “You heard Two—the Collective is in league with the Mother Ship. We can’t go there.”
“Yes we must, yes we must! Think about it, Six—we cannot go to Earth, not if they have declared war on the Kindred. And Two mentioned the plot to stir up unrest between the Earthlings and the rank and file warriors. Clearly only one of the leadership is involved in this conspiracy. If there is even one we may trust—perhaps this Commander Sylvan whom Mei-Li mentioned—we might be able to warn them in time to stop a massacre.”
Six shook his head. “I don’t know…”
“Listen,” Yipper said earnestly. “You have not seen the memory caches of those who went through the Last Great War—the one where the Collective finally took over Z4 completely. I have. The organics did not want to give up their emotions—they fought the Purge Squads until the population was decimated. There were dead bodies everywhere—the streets ran red with blood. Yes they did, yes they did.” Yipper shivered, his shaggy fur ruffling with the motion. “I tell you, we have to warn them before the same thing happens on Earth.”
“But what about Mei-Li?” Six asked stubbornly. “I don’t want to put her at risk.”
“She’s at much greater risk here, Six. What do you think Two’s first order of business will be once he gets back from his conquest?” Yipper demanded. “He will kill both of you. Yes he will, yes he will! He only left you alive today because the idea of your pain amused him.”
“You’re right.” Six shook his head. “I am not thinking clearly. The emotions I have for Mei-Li cloud my judgment.”
“That is not uncommon when you are just beginning to feel again,” Yipper said gently. “You will learn to deal with strong emotions in time.”
“But will Mei-Li? If she lives…will she ever feel again?”
A mournful look passed over Yipper’s long face. “I do not know. I made the emotion blocker serum to be foolproof and permanent. But then again, I believed the implants you and the other Kindred have would be the same. Yes I did, yes I did.”
Six’s heart felt like a stone in his chest. “You don’t think there’s any way to restore her emotions, do you?”
“I don’t know,” Yipper said. “I know that I will do everything in my power to restore them. Yes I will, yes I will. And they may have some medicines on the Mother Ship that would help. Yes they might, yes they might.”
“All right.” Tenderly, Six scooped the still figure of Mei-Li into his arms. Gods, she was so light, so beautiful…and so broken. Would they be able to fix her? “Let’s go,” he said to Yipper. “Two talks a good game but assembling the entire battalion will take time. If we can beat him to the Mother Ship and Earth, we may yet prevail.”
“Yes we may, yes we may.” Yipper nodded vigorously and fastened his very-full pouch with magno tabs that bulged at the seams. “Let’s go, Six. Before it’s too late!”
Six didn’t say it aloud but as he looked down at the still, pale face of the female he cared for so desperately, he was horribly afraid that it was already too late.
Chapter Twenty-nine
Mei-Li blinked and looked around. For a moment everything was blurry but then things began to swim into focus. The first thing she saw was a familiar face with gray eyes and high cheekbones hovering anxiously over her. Then another familiar face swam into view—a long furry snout and big brown eyes that seemed somehow sad.
Sad? Anxious? The words seemed to fit their expressions but for some reason they provoked no response in her.
“Six?” she asked blankly after a moment. “Yipper?”
“She’s responding. Yes she is, yes she is!” Yipper said to someone else. Six simply pressed her hand.
“Mei-Li,” he murmured, looking into her eyes. “I am so glad you’re all right. I was…extremely worried about you.”
“Why?” she asked.
“Because you might have died!” Six looked distinctly agitated. “Because that bastard Two almost killed you! And I…I could not bear to lose you.” He looked at her closely, as though watching for some reaction. “Mei-Li,” he murmured. “I care for you so deeply—please tell me you feel the same.”
Feel? How did she feel? Mei-Li closed her eyes for a moment and took stock. She remembered her past experiences with Six. Remembered the nights she’d spent in his arms and the way he had finally admitted to having emotions for her. She knew that these memories ought to have some kind of effect on her—ought to give her feelings of one kind or another. But even when she tried, all she felt was an emotional blank.
“I’m sorry,” she said, shaking her head. “I know I ought to have some reaction to you but I just…don’t.”
“Nothing…not even a tiny spark of feeling? That was how it started for me when I began to feel for you. Please, Mei-Li…Lasai…” The look on his face was so grave that she knew she would have felt sorry for him if she was capable of feeling. But she felt nothing—nothing at all. I feel like a bowl of garn tastes. Completely bland, she thought.
Slowly, she shook her head. “I’m sorry. There’s…nothing.”
>
Six sighed and sat back. “It is as we feared.”
“Don’t give up hope yet—she just woke up.”
A third face appeared hovering above her—one with spiky blond hair and ice blue eyes.
“Commander Sylvan?” Mei-Li frowned. “What are you doing on the Z4 medical barge?”
“We are no longer on the barge. No we’re not, no we’re not,” Yipper explained quickly. “It was no longer safe for us there—any of us.”
“Oh…” Mei-Li looked around. It was true they were no longer in Yipper’s pure white enhancement area. Instead the space around her looked like a hospital room—a comfortable and well decorated one but there was equipment standing against the wall and the bed she was in appeared to be adjustable, like a hospital bed. When she looked down at herself she realized she was wearing a dark blue gown that tied in the back instead of the red wrap dress she’d made on Z4. “How did we get here?” she asked.
“As soon as Yipper stabilized you we took a shuttle and went through a wormhole to make it back to the Mother Ship,” Six explained.
“But Mr. Metal Teeth…I mean, Two…he threatened to come after Earth…” The memories were very foggy but she knew that much. The knowledge should have scared her to death—the idea of a battalion of Dark Kindred war ships coming through the rift to attack and take over Earth should have sent ice down her spine. Instead she felt…nothing. Well, if it happens, it happens, I suppose…
“I managed to jam the mechanism that folds space which should delay Two and his army for a little while since the third med barge has the most power and capacity,” Six said. “But they will be here soon—we must alert the Earth.”
“Which is going to be a problem since they’ve declared war on us,” Commander Sylvan said, frowning. “None of the warriors are happy about it but they are willing to fight in order to retain our right to call brides.”
“But don’t you see—that is what they want,” Six said earnestly. “Two told us that I was asked to take Mei-Li for exactly that reason—to stir up unrest on Earth and cause them to declare war. That way when the Dark Kindred battalion comes hurtling out of the rift, they will be welcomed with open arms by the Kindred of the Mother Ship who will be glad of the reinforcements.”