Page 25 of Resolution
“I can see the two of you will get along fine,” the guard said. He took off the force binders on Melly’s wrists and waved them in her face as she massaged the sore red lines in her skin. “You’d better behave. Ybidliuz wants you for his research but there are a variety of ways to hold a valuable specimen and right now he’s giving you a chance to demonstrate how co-operative you can be. I don’t think you’d like being immobilized naked in a bed, tended to by the lab techs, so do what Dr. Mercattor says.” Hooking the force cuffs to his belt, he walked out.
Melly berated herself for not trying to grab the blaster at his hip and take him and the other doctor hostage. Her reflexes and her mind were running slow after the treatment she’d had. In the coming week she had to concentrate on regaining her edge if she was to have any chance of escape. “How did you end up here?” she asked
“I was chosen to be the head of the planet’s research facility,” Dr. Mercattor said, leaning back in her chair. She toyed with the pen and pad on her desk as she talked, seeming a bit lost in memories. “It was an incredibly tense time. The epidemic was getting worse despite the government’s best efforts and it became clear there needed to be one place where the attempt to find a cure or a vaccine could be pursued in isolation. Paul—General Quantike—was given authority over all the armed forces and ordered to create a refugee camp and research center. He insisted I had to take the lead since he wasn’t a scientist.” Melly observed the woman was blushing a bit. “The two of us meshed well. We were a terrific team. I’d never…men usually didn’t…Paul appreciates me as a woman and a scientist,” she said a bit defiantly. “I never had that before I met him.”
“Getting back to the research effort, what happened?” Melly had no desire to listen to this woman’s schoolgirl crush on Quantike.
“I gathered as many of the experts as I could find and we made our way to the remote location chosen.”
“I’ve been there,” Melly reminded her. “The place was destroyed—how did that happen?”
“My teams were doing terrific research under high pressure and terrible conditions. We thought we might have a breakthrough but shortly after I reported the news to Paul, things came crashing down on our heads, literally. The Khagrish—these people here—attacked us one night. I didn’t know it but Paul was secretly their ally and of course they didn’t want us coming up with any solution. He had insisted I was to be spared so that awful night the aliens separated me from the others and then released the infected we’d been studying, to attack my remaining colleagues.” She closed her eyes tight, as if the events were occurring in front of her in real time. Opening them to stare at Melly, she said, “He loves me, you see. We’re going to be married.”
Melly hadn’t been in Glastine for a long time but she’d heard the gossip about how General Quantike had women sent to his quarters regularly, even those who were unwilling. She bit her lip, not seeing any point in puncturing the other doctor’s illusions even if she could. She guessed Mercattor wouldn’t be willing to hear the truth about her lover. “So you watched the Khagrish kill your colleagues and destroy your research and then you joined them? Make me understand.”
“At first of course I was in shock and paralyzed with grief. I was brought here and Dr. Ybidliuz convinced me I had what it would take to become his student, to learn their techniques of genetic engineering. These people are so far ahead of us—I’ve done things in the lab here I never would have dreamed of attempting before and I’m merely a beginner compared to him.”
So he appealed to her thirst for knowledge and won her over, Melly thought cynically. Between Quantike love bombing her and Ybidliuz manipulating her she’s become their willing pawn. “Speaking as a woman about to become a lab rat, you’ll excuse me if I don’t share your enthusiasm.”
“Sacrifices have to be made in the name of science and knowledge,” Mercattor replied primly but she wouldn’t meet Melly’s eyes.
Suppressing the urge to leap over the desk and claw the traitor’s eyes out, which shocked her because Melly wasn’t normally a violent person, she also had to deal with the growing nausea in her gut over humans collaborating with the enemy. “Since I’m hardly the elevated scientific genius you claim to be, what exactly am I supposed to help you with during my week reprieve? I warn you, I won’t participate in anything which causes harm to another being. I took my oath as a doctor seriously.”
“Oh having you here to deal with the children will free up a great deal of my time,” Mercattor said enthusiastically.
“Children?” Melly exclaimed in horror. Now she remembered Cody had said he found records of the general’s teams searching for specific people, including children prior to the final breakdown of civilization.
“Yes, we have 37 children here of all ages right now.” Dr. Mercattor rose from her chair and came around the end of the desk. “I’ll show you.”
Swallowing hard so she wouldn’t throw up, Melly left her seat and followed the other woman out of the office. “What do you mean ‘now’?”
“Dr. Ybidliuz told me they gave up using children in their protocol fairly early on because the way a human child grows and changes and matures represented too much of a challenge for repeatable research results. So he’s been keeping these kids in reserve.” Mercattor gave her a look over her shoulder. “You’ll see, the kids are well fed and taken care of. Safer here than they would be out in the world.”
Highly debatable. With growing horror as they moved through the corridors and Melly heard the sound of children’s voices ahead, she realized the Khagrish were in effect growing their next generation of test subjects. And the people at Glastine are no better off. They’re his current pool of lab rats. I’ve got to get this information to Jeff. Or the mayor of Millersville, or someone who can help.
The corridor ended in a set of double glass doors after which Melly stood on a raised platform above a big green field where children were indeed at play. There weren’t many toys or structures but a group of kids were playing a ball game while others sat under one of the spindly trees while a woman read to them. A few individuals sat isolated from the others and Melly saw one rocking back and forth, eyes closed. Obviously being held prisoner here was taking a greater toll on some of the children, but she knew all of them must be in emotional distress, not only being prisoners of these aliens, but presumably having lost their families under terrible circumstances.
“That’s Sandy,” Dr. Mercattor said, pointing to the woman reading. “Paul sent her to me a week or so ago. My previous assistant…well, she killed herself to put it plainly. We had to implement new protocols and Dr. Ybidliuz was quite annoyed. Paul said Sandy was the best of his daycare staff and she’s been outstanding since she arrived. Come on, I’ll introduce you.”
Head whirling, Melly followed Dr. Mercattor down the stairs and out onto the field. Seeing them approaching, Sandy closed the book and rose to her feet, sending the children off to play tag. She was pale, fidgeting with her hair and avoiding eye contact with Dr. Mercattor.
“This is Dr. Jericho,” the doctor in charge announced. “She’ll be helping you with the children this week.”
“Please call me Melly,” she said, extending her hand, hoping Sandy might be an ally. “I think you and I have mutual friends at Glastine—Les and Devora McDaniel?”
Sandy’s smile became less frozen and more genuine as she shook hands. “Oh yes. We came on the bus together from Rosewater. Their daughter Jenny is such a sweetheart. Are they doing okay?”
“As far as I know. Devora was terribly worried about you.”
“I’ll leave you two to work out the details,” Mercattor said, already walking away.
“The children are scared of her,” Sandy confided, leaning close. “I am too actually.”
“This whole place is terrifying,” Melly agreed.
“Did the Khagrish bring you up here to help me with the kids?”
“No. I’ve been given a week to regain my strength after being drugged and stunned, and then Dr. Ybidliuz has plans.” Melly couldn’t control the shudder that ran through her. She wasn’t going to tell Sandy she was sure Jeff and the others were searching for her already. No use in raising anyone else’s hopes.
