Ignoring her yells and struggles, Saret lifted her and carried her out of his office, his arms like iron bands around her body. Walking to the far side of the lab, he placed her on one of the floating planks by the wall. The intelligent surface immediately wrapped itself around her arms and legs, holding her completely immobile while Saret reached into the wall and took out a small white device.
“No!” Mia tried to twist her head as he approached her again. “No! Don’t!”
Saret paused for a second, looking down at her. “I’m sorry, Mia,” he said softly. “I wish it weren’t necessary. If I had only met you first . . . But this won’t hurt, I promise . . .” And pressing the device to her forehead, he gave her a gentle smile.
That smile was the last thing Mia saw before her world faded into darkness.
Part II
Chapter 6
Korum checked the time again.
Mia should’ve been home already. Her message had reached him twenty minutes ago, and he’d immediately cut short the testing session with his designers, unable to resist the urge to see her as soon as possible.
While waiting for her, he’d quickly prepared dinner, making her favorite shari salad and a mushroom-potato dish from a recipe given to him by Mia’s mother. He’d asked Ella Stalis for it before they left Florida, wanting to surprise Mia with it someday. He loved seeing her small face light up with pleasure and excitement when he did things like that. Her happiness meant the world to him these days.
Where was she?
Mildly annoyed, Korum queried his computer to determine her location. The complex device embedded in his palm was completely synced with his neural pathways – so much so that using it was the equivalent of thinking in a certain way. Not all Krinar liked the idea of being so integrated with technology, with many choosing to stick to old-fashioned voice commands and stand-alone devices instead. Korum thought it w
as idiotic to be so mistrustful, but then again, he had designed the computer himself and understood its limits and capabilities. Many of his kind had no idea how even simple human electronics worked, nor did they have a desire to learn – something he would never understand.
As soon as he sent the mental query, her location came to him with crystal clarity: the lab. She was still at the lab. The tracking devices he’d once embedded in her hands were proving to be quite useful, even now that she was no longer involved with the Resistance.
His lips quirking in a smile, Korum thought about her reaction whenever the topic of his shining her came up. She was like an angry kitten then, all tiny claws and ruffled fur. It made him want to cuddle her and fuck her at the same time – a confusing mix of desires she always evoked in him.
He supposed he should feel bad for shining her. And sometimes, he almost did. She resented the fact that he would now always know her location, not understanding that it gave him a tremendous peace of mind. She was so fragile, so human . . . If he had his way, she would never leave his side; he’d always keep her next to him where he could protect her.
But he knew she wouldn’t want that. It was important to her to have her independence, to excel in her chosen field and contribute to society. He understood and respected that, but it still didn’t make it any easier on him. When they’d been in New York – before he’d given her the nanocytes that made her less vulnerable – it had been all he could do to let her venture out on her own, especially in a human city where something as stupid as a car accident could easily claim her life. That’s why he’d always had a guardian following her then, staying no more than a hundred yards away at any given time. She’d never suspected, of course, nor was Korum ever planning to tell her. But it had been for her own protection; even back then, he hadn’t been able to bear the thought of anything happening to her.
Checking the time again, Korum saw that twenty-five minutes had passed. Why was she still at the lab? Had something happened to delay her? If Saret was making her work late again, he’d have a serious talk with him. By now, Mia had proven herself quite useful, and Korum was certain his friend wouldn’t terminate her apprenticeship even if she had to work fewer hours.
Sending another mental query, Korum reached out to the communication device he’d made for her – what she called her wristwatch-bracelet. To his surprise and growing disquiet, he couldn’t connect to it at all; it was as if there was only emptiness where digital signals should’ve been.
Something was wrong.
Korum knew it with sudden certainty. Raising his hand, he stared down at his palm, his eyes following the tiny pulses of light playing underneath his skin. It was a way for him to concentrate, to utilize specific mental pathways that were more complex than those required for basic daily tasks.
This particular path was not something he’d used in recent weeks, not since the Resistance was defeated. Mia didn’t know about this either, and Korum wasn’t planning to tell her. There was no need; he’d stopped using the device to monitor her activities. The only reason why it was still on her is because the process for removing it was fairly complicated – and because he liked the idea of having it there for emergencies.
Keeping his eyes glued to his palm, Korum sent a deep probe, activating the tiny recording device hidden underneath Mia’s left earlobe. It would allow him to hear everything in her vicinity and, more importantly, to check on her vital signs.
As soon as the device came on, some of the tension left his muscles. She was okay, her heartbeat strong and her breathing steady.
And yet . . . Korum frowned, listening carefully. Everything was quiet – too quiet. If she was still working, she should’ve been moving around, talking to whomever had delayed her. Instead, it was as if she was asleep right now.
Asleep . . . or unconscious.
As soon as he thought of the second possibility, he knew he was on the right track. But why would she be unconscious? This didn’t make any sense. And was that . . . ? He listened again. Were those someone else’s movements he was hearing around her?
His unease morphed into full-blown worry.
Getting up, Korum strode swiftly to the wall and exited the house. Pausing for a few seconds, he sent a mental command to have a transport pod created with all possible speed. While the nanomachines did their job, he reached deep into the recording device’s archives. All the recorders he designed worked like that; even when they weren’t activated to broadcast in real time, they were still collecting data and storing it internally.
It took a second, and then he was accessing the recorder’s memories, scanning through them to find the right spot. He started with the exact moment when Mia sent him her message. Instead of listening to the recording at normal speed, he had his computer create an instant transcript, which he then read in a few seconds.
And as Korum understood what he was reading, every cell in his body filled with volcanic fury.