Zal watched, fascinated. His temperature rose and his heart beat faster as the smell of fear washed over him. He wanted to strike the man, but it was not his place. Brun was in charge. For now.
“Listen to me, human. Do you have any family with you in the fields today?” Zal knew that most humans worked as a family unit and Brun was rewarded with an exaggerated nod.
“Point them out to me.”
Earnest hesitated for the briefest moment before complying with the request. According to the Minith historians, hundreds of years of breeding and teaching made the human incapable of withholding anything from the creatures torturing him. Zal was beginning to believe it.
“My wife, Anit, is there,” he pointed. “And my two daughters, Elly and Talla, are there.”
“Yes, Ernest,” the green alien hissed. “Now point the weapon in your hand at me.”
The human gawked at Brun with wide eyes and mouth agape. It was apparent to Zal that the male considered pointing a weapon at Brun inconsistent with what he believed.
“Do it, fool!” Brun kicked the sheepish human, striking his chest and knocking him to the ground.
“Get up! I have no time for your cowardice!” The whimpering man staggered quickly to his feet. “Now point the weapon!”
Zal watched as the man gripped the weapon with weak, trembling hands. The pale, whitish skin of the human disgusted him and he struggled against the need to strike the worthless animal. He would not be able to stop at a single blow, so held back, gave in to Brun’s dominance over the other.
The man lifted the weapon shakily and pointed it in the general direction of Brun. Zal saw that the human’s finger was not on the firing mechanism but said nothing. He doubted the pitiful being could hit the Master Minith even if he did pull the trigger.
“Look to your wife, sheep.”
Ernest looked to where his wife stood, but kept the weapon pointed at the Minith. It was obvious to Zal that he had no desire for further punishment.
As soon as the human looked toward his mate, Brun lifted his weapon and fired two blasts into the woman called Anit. The pieces of her body dropped as a bloody splash of red gore. The gore landed noisily in a pile between the rows of vegetables.
“Noooo!” The human screamed in agony as his wife’s blood poured out of her torn body. He fell to his knees and lowered his head to the ground in anguish. Zal was unaffected by the woman’s death or her mate’s reaction.
“Point the weapon at me, human!” Brun’s voice offered no compromise and the man looked up, dazed. He closed his tear-washed eyes and lifted the weapon toward the Minith obediently. A sound of grief and anguish began deep in the man’s chest, but not so deep that it went unheard by either Brun or Zal. It quickly spewed forth as a strangled cry of pained torment.
Without waiting for any further action by the human, Brun lifted his weapon and took aim at the two young females who had turned toward the lumps of blood and rags that had been their mother. One of the girls screamed and the workers in the field turned in time to witness her death. The piercing dagger of her scream echoed through Zal’s head as the second daughter ran to her sister. When the heat of Brun’s weapon burned off the top of the second girl’s head, the echo was replaced by the sound of blood and brains sizzling.
Zal was both amazed and excited. The man’s family lay dead but the human had made no move to stop the attack. The gun lay lifeless and dead in his pale hand.
It would have been comical to the Minith except that the sound that had begun as a whimper deep in the human male’s chest was now a screeching cry that brought pain to the Minith successor’s sensitive hears. Having held back as long as his excitement would allow, Zal walked over to the kneeling human, grabbed his smallish head and lifted him from the ground. With a sudden twisting movement, he snapped the man’s neck and dropped him indifferently to the ground.
Zal pulled the weapon from the human’s grip and tucked it into his belt. He then looked out upon the other humans in the field. The smell of fear was still strong in them, but they appeared once again to be hard at work. Not one of them looked in his direction. Zal felt disgust at their weakness but also found delight in what that weakness meant.
“You are correct, Brun,” he remarked to his predecessor. “They are not capable of fighting.”
Ruling such animals for the next four cycles would be a boring exercise. He would have to use his imagination.
CHAPTER THREE
Amazing. That was what Tane Rolan thought as their experiment opened his eyes and looked around at the nature-cage. No one knew what to expect. There had been dozens of conversations about what the man would do when he awoke – if he awoke. Everything from idiotic slobbering to manic rage had been predicted, and the assembled group held their collective breath while the object of their attention decided how he was going to react to his new surroundings.
* * *
He opened his eyes and found himself in a garden of waist-high grass and green foliage. This was a new place, one he had never visited before. There were no trees but the point was a small one, meaningless in the importance of the moment.
He could see! And smell! The scent of wildflowers hit his nose and he felt as if his head would explode with sensory overload.
His eyes, nose and mind drank in the virgin scenery like a drowning man gasping for air. The bright green leaves and brown shoots were cool air blowing across the baked soil of his weary mind. Until that moment, he had not realized how starved for new input he had become.
He stared ahead, not wanting to miss a single detail. He milked the scene for all of its heavenly freshness – its newness. He committed the scene to memory as quickly as possible, fearful that he might be yanked suddenly back into the incessant replay of the memories that he had become. The fear threatened to consume him as it coursed savagely through his body. Was the garden a mirage or, worse, just another long-buried memory suddenly flung to the surface of his being?
* * *
Cryogenics had evolved significantly since its inception in the twentieth century and, together with Senior Scientist Tane Rolan’s recent work on cell regeneration, everyone in the room felt this was their best, if not their only, chance. So far, all was going well, but that could change in an instant. Tane had learned that very hard lesson from previous experiments. Still, he was cautiously optimistic.
Unlike their previous attempts, the man before them now was different. His body, or what was left of it when they found him, had frozen upon his death and had somehow managed to remain frozen for several hundred years. The minimal degree of cell degeneration had given them hope and he, like the others around him, clung to that hope now. They were captured by the sight of their work and they watched, alert for any sign of life or movement.
But he did nothing. Other than open his eyes, the man in the nature-cage did not move.
The man’s body, or what was left of it, had been found still frozen by a group of Urop’n geologists studying the possibility of mining the bottom of remote northern lakes. Fortunately, one of the geologists knew of Tane’s experiments with cryogenics and human tissue research, and he had the man’s remains packed in ice and transferred to the senior scientist’s custody.
Tane’s initial reaction upon receiving the man’s frozen cadaver was so matter of fact that it startled him to think of the incident in retrospect. He had submitted the remains to his lab for study, certain that the remnants of the body were not what they were looking for. Fortunately, he had a good team behind him. One of his more alert subordinates ran tests that indicated that the man had not been dead prior to his being frozen and suggested that the broken body might not be a waste of their efforts.
Tane validated the worker’s results and, reaching the same conclusion, felt a rush of excitement. He cursed himself (mildly of course) for almost allowing the find to casually slip through his finger
s. He applauded the alertness of the junior scientist and totally immersed himself in his new project.
A detailed analysis of the mutilated figure’s body, teeth, eyes and clothes revealed the most amazing characteristic of the discovery. The man appeared to have been a warrior. That long-dead breed of human who fought and killed for Culture, money or sometimes – Peace forbid – because they enjoyed it. He desperately hoped that the man was not of the latter variety. He dreaded the thought of raising the broken man back into life just to have to destroy him later should he turn uncontrollably violent or aggressive.
The scientist spent every waking hour with the man as the experiment progressed. He oversaw all aspects of the project and conducted all of the more complicated procedures personally, often to the chagrin of his co-workers and subordinates. He was a man obsessed with his work and, in a world grown fat with underachievers, he found success. The control of the subject’s body temperature was finely regulated and closely supervised as frozen cells tissues were sampled, replicated and grown. Growth led to new skin and bone, which were manipulated into the growth of new limbs.
These new appendages were similar to the old. They were cloned from the originals and constructed by the scientist and his team to be as good as, or better, than the originals. Three vertebrae, eight ribs and the right clavicle, all broken for centuries, were repaired. Most of the man’s internal organs were re-grown and replaced. Numerous cuts and abrasions to the face and torso were easily repaired.
The man’s skull was unmarred and, for that miracle, the scientist was downright jubilant. The knowledge, training and experiences contained in the man’s brain were priceless, the Holy Grail for which they searched.
The rebuilding process had taken the team more than two years to complete and, when finished, Tane held his handiwork in awe. From a battered shell of a six hundred year old frozen soldier they had shaped a human, whole in structure and better than a real man in many respects. In effect, they had a human head on a man-made body. And the body had several refinements over one provided by nature. The man now possessed enhanced arms and legs, a surgically implanted endoskeleton, and an ability to selectively shut down his body’s pain receptors. In other words, he would be stronger and feel less pain than any natural-born human.
The only regret that Senior Scientist Tane Rolan held for his experiment was not being able to provide the man with the secondary lids with which humans were now born. When the man met his icy fate, that particular human evolutionary trait was still more than a hundred years from occurring in the first child born with the lids. As a result, the man’s eyes, which were not replaced by newer versions, did not possess the necessary muscles to control the secondary lids. Therefore, he had to do without.
Upon completion of the soldier’s new body, Tane and the other scientists were forced to await the Council’s decision on whether to attempt the next phase of the experiment. Six more months passed before the approval was finally received.
Now, it was time to see if all of the efforts had been in vain and the scientists watched eagerly as the man was brought back to life.
It was Tane who suggested using one of the few nature-cages that still operated. He believed the sight of plants and flowers might relieve some of the confusion for the man. In what little amount of free time he had available, Tane studied up on the period from which the soldier lived and knew there were still numerous wild fields that had not been turned into cultivation sub-farms. His studies revealed that, centuries ago, many men and women felt more at Peace when surrounded by vegetation, running water and furry animals. It was a foreign idea to Tane but he felt the man would feel more at ease in a nature-cage, and if he were prone to violence, the cage would help to contain him. It was just another of many details that Tane had attended to during the course of his obsession.
They chose to re-awaken the subject in a standing position so they could better judge his initial motor abilities. But so far, other than the eyes, he had not moved a single muscle. The man's new body was seeded from his own cells and DNA but that, although a credit to their scientific expertise, meant little to the ultimate success or failure of the experiment. This was new ground for all of them. All they could do was wait and hope.
The time dragged as seconds passed into minutes. The minutes turned into two hours. Still the subject showed no change. No movement.
Several of the scientists left, upset that they had failed. Others, including Tane, held out more hope and stubbornly refused to give in to any thought of failure. The man in the nature-cage was their only chance at freedom from the Minith. If they failed, then all of humankind failed with them.
* * *
It’s so beautiful here, he thought. The grass… the plants. What kind of place is this? How did I get here?
He memorized the view in front of him to the finest detail before chancing to find out more about his surroundings. Slowly, amazed that he could move at all, he turned his head to the left just a fraction. He saw more of the same – weeds and flowers. But there, just beyond the flowers, he saw a wall and realized for the first time that he was inside a small garden-filled room.
One by one, he tested his body parts, the ones he knew he still possessed. He knew without thinking that his eyes and nose worked as well as ever. His view of the garden was clear and the smells of the garden were heaven.
He swirled his tongue inside his mouth – it was dry and he realized that he was thirsty, terribly thirsty. It was both the greatest feeling and the worst agony. His body needed liquids badly and he rededicated his attention to surveying the rest of his body so that he could turn his focus to finding water.
He clenched his teeth and was delighted at the sense of freedom that simple movement brought! Excited beyond measure, he quickly verified the existence of four of the five senses – only sound was still untested. Bracing himself mentally, he tried to speak.
“Unnh.” The word ‘hello’ came out as a grunt, but it validated his ability to both make and hear sounds and he was thrilled. He had all five senses…
He was alive!
* * *
The movement was so slow Tane did not notice. Or his eyes refused to acknowledge what they were seeing. However, all of the scientists heard the sudden grunt that came from the nature cage, and Tane watched in stunned silence as the man’s head tilted slowly, undeniably forward.
* * *
Grant blinked and looked again to be sure he had not imagined the arms and legs attached to his body. He quickly verified the truth of his initial inspection.
What’s happened to me?
The sense of completeness, after being held in a shapeless void for so long, made him feel like running around in circles and laughing. Except that he could barely move. It was like waking up in a thick soup of heavy molasses. The desire to move quickly was there, but not the ability.
Still, he tried.
* * *
The scientists cried out as a group as the man toppled headfirst onto the packed soil of the nature-cage. The sound of his face striking the unplowed ground ripped through the crowd like a slap of thunder.
Without pausing to consider his actions, Tane Rolan rushed to the door of the cage, deactivated the locking mechanism and rushed to the fallen man.
CHAPTER FOUR
Someone gripped his arm and rolled him onto his back. Grant found himself looking into a bright light. A face swam into the light and Grant blinked it into focus. A young man, with brown hair and bluish gray eyes looked down. Suddenly, the gray eyes were shrouded by a cloudy shutter of skin as the man blinked. Startled by the apparition, Grant tried to pull away.
“What the fuck?” his tortured throat rasped. The bizarre eyes above him widened. The face and the hand holding his arm retreated.
“Quick, bring the sedative,” the soldier heard the man with the eyes calmly state. So, there was more than one,
he thought. He commanded his muscles to move and they obeyed, but with agonizing slowness. He fought his way to a sitting position before being pushed back to the ground by the man with the strange eyes. Grant felt like a baby. His uncooperative body was unable to resist being forced back down and that pissed him off.
“What the hell is your problem, asshole?” His voice was returning and the words held some of the force and authority he had always commanded.
“Be quiet,” the man shoving him down whispered. His calm voice carried a bit more urgency and Grant thought he heard a hint of fear as well. “They will hear your violence!”
“Violence?” Grant considered the idea. A little violence sounded like just the right thing until he could sort out his surroundings, but his body was in no condition to cooperate. He allowed himself to be pushed back to the prone position. “I don’t get you, buddy. Who are you? And where the hell am I?”
“I am Senior Scientist Tane Rolan,” the man whispered. “And your other questions will be answered soon. But for now, you must lie still and say nothing.”
The language was English, but old English, like how the uppity ups in Britain spoke – usually over tea and crumpets. What the hell is a crumpet, anyway? Grant wondered.
Grant watched the man steal a quick glance over his shoulder and saw worry in the clouded eyes of the senior scientist.
“Do you understand?”
“Yeah, sure… whatever you say, buddy,” Grant nodded. Unable to do otherwise, Grant lay back without further resistance. He closed his eyes and reveled at the coolness of the ground as it seeped through the clothes someone had placed on his body. With as little movement as possible, he began a slow, deliberate check of his body. He started with his toes and worked up. His muscles slowly came alive. He flexed them to help quicken the process.
As he waited for his body to catch up to his brain, Grant opened his eyes to study the man sitting next to him. He seemed smallish, with close-cropped brown hair and a clean, well-proportioned face and body. Grant estimated his height at 5 feet, 2 inches and felt confident his guess of 130 pounds was within 5 pounds of the man’s true weight. The most startling aspects of the young man, though, were his strange, cloud-colored eyes. They immediately became even stranger, though, when the clouds lifted and dropped in a sudden blink of motion. The man had secondary lids that covered his eyes!