An hour later, the kids slide to the floor. The soldiers remain on guard but the emergency ship was already cutting into the hall. For some reason, the animals hadn’t tried to attack.
“Time?”
“A few more minutes are left before they can establish a secure connection.”
“And still no movement from the creatures?”
“No. They are keeping back. Not sure why.”
“I can’t believe we made it,” Blue says as she kneels next to Blades.
“I can’t believe none of us died.”
“You complaining?” Sparky says with a laugh.
“Not at all. Not at all.” Blade chuckles then wince.
“Your bandages giving your problems?”
“Nah. Regeneration is a pain. That’s all.”
“At least you can repair yourself.”
“True but getting ripped in half is not fun.”
A clank of metal falls to the floor. Men in armored suits and carrying large rifles file out. Immediately they form a defensive live with the entrance at the center.
“Jenna Leese and Micah Stornbor.” The medical man says with a smile, “I am glad that both of you are alive. Please come with us.”
All three teens step forward but the man raises a hand, “No. Not you.” He points towards Sparky, “Only humans are being evacuated. You must remain on board.”
“What? What do you mean I have to stay on board?”
“It is protocol. Specimens can’t leave the research facility in which they were created unless authorization is given. I’m sorry. Jenna. Micah. Let’s go.
“Wait. No no no no.” Micah shakes head, “All three of us or none of us. That was the deal we made. So she comes.”
“No, she doesn’t. Look. She is not a human and we need to go.”
“What?”
“What?”
“What?”
“She isn’t human. This isn’t a discussion. He snaps his fingers and two more medical officers step out, “You’ve been through a lot and we have a lot of questions but we need to go. Now.”
“Not without Sparky?”
“Who?”
“Me!” The girl says, her arms flaring slightly with orange light.
“No. No. She isn’t human so she can’t come. The security units will protect her. She’ll be fine.”
All three teens give him withering stares.
“We’ve seen your security teams.” Blades growls, “They suck.”
“Thank you for your critique. But I must insist that we debate. Emergency docking is not something we can hold for very long.”
“Then you run along.” Blue snaps, “We’re staying.”
“No, you are not. Your parents are worried about you.”
“What about her parents? Aren’t they worried?”
“No!” The man stamps his foot, “Don’t you get it yet? She. Is. Not. Human. We created her to figure out why this world was going through such rapid mutations. Mutations that are stable. We needed a host to test. That’s her. Her own biological donors gave her, it, to us for science advancement. Haven’t you realized it?”
“I’m human!”
“Haven’t you wondered why her memory hasn’t come back yet? Why her records aren’t there with the passenger logs? Go look under the specimen lists. You’ll find her there.”
Sparky steps back, tears in her eyes. “Please no. I don’t want to die.”
“Jenna. Micah. Come with us.”
“Sir.” A guard calls out, “We have movement coming towards us. At least a dozen.”
“Then let’s go.” Blades says as he grabs Sparky’s hand, “All of us.”
“Yes. All the humans.” Blue grans Sparky’s other hand.
“I can’t! She’s not human and only humans can go.”
“She feels pain. Fear. Talks. Has likes and dislikes. Opinions. Hopes. Everything that a human has, she does.”
“And a nice right hook.”
“Now? Really?”
“It doesn’t matter. She isn’t human because we have said so. Now come on!”
“They’re closing in, sir! We need to leave now.”
“No one has to die.”
“Where are your guards?” Blade snarls, “Those robot guards that are supposed to watch her? They aren’t here and even if they are, ten of them can barely handle one of those lizard-things. And there are dozen heading towards us. She won’t survive.”
“Than that is fate.”
“But you can save her!” Blue begs, “Please. Save her. Save us.”
“No! Tranq them!”
At once the two medical personal fire into the trio. All three slump to the ground with a thud. He shakes his head.
“Get them on board. Now. Soldiers. We’re leaving.”
“What about her?”
“Procedure says all experimental specimens must remain on board. Seal her up but she does not come with us.”
“Did the other teams get the data?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
The soldiers carry Blue and Bones onboard. From the storage section, they carry a large capsule back into the research ship. They place Sparky on board and seal it. Tapping into the computer network, they assign the custodial staff to secure the child.
Together, the soldiers reseal the hole and break away form the hull of the ship.
X
“Doctor?”
“Yes.”
“The children have been recovered.”
“Excellent. And the test subject?”
“It remains onboard and secured in a capsule.”
“And the creatures?”
“They are still in full force. Stage three is set to begin now.”
“Excellent. And no one knows?”
“No one. Not even the digital records will reveal the truth.”
“How did you manage that anyway?”
“By deleting critical systems and program cores, it forced the recovery teams to do a full system reset. Which erased all digital evidence.”
“Well done.” He temples his fingers, “And now we shall see if our subject can survive insertion into a hostile environment.”