Page 81 of The Pregnancy Pact

The newcomer whispered something in a language my translating chip didn’t catch. I heard a slithering noise, and then an alien with human legs, no arms, and four tentacles sporting human-like hands on their ends, knelt next to me.

“Hello,” she said. I guessed it was a she, based off the soft, feminine voice. I’d never seen this species before, and couldn’t judge gender by the clothing or physical apparatus.

“I am Doctor Natusha,” she said calmly. Her tentacles were busy, pressing against my chest, running down my sides, over my legs. She was examining me, checking my pulse, gently peeling back an eyelid to shine a tiny pen light in my eyes.

“I’m in a bad way, aren’t I, Doctor?” I moaned.

“The wounds I can see are not deadly,” she replied, setting down the light with a tentacle. She sat back on her heels, regarding me soberly. “My worst fear is internal injuries.”

I wanted to lower my face to the cold concrete and cry. Her words seemed to support my assumption. Sirena wanted me injured so terribly I’d never be able to get pregnant.

“If you were to be taken to a medical clinic and cared for straightway, you might suffer lasting…effects,” she said gently. “As it is…”

Sirena had been communicating with her two goons who’d beaten me so terribly. Now, she must have recalled what was going on, because her focus switched back to us.

“I said no tending to wounds unless they’re life-threatening,” she snapped. “I merely require that you keep her alive. Is she going to live?”

The doctor’s lips quirked in a sad smile at me before she rose, her tentacles wrapping around her torso in a stance that screamed firmness.

“She requires medical attention, Sirena.”

“I know,” Sirena laughed. “I’m responsible for it. I want her to hurt. I want her to suffer. From you, I merely need to know if she’ll live.”

“Sirena, this is not right,” Doctor Natusha protested quietly. “I have a duty to the health of others. I—”

“Oh, spare me the lecture on your sacred oath and your duties and your commitment to the life of any species,” Sirena snapped, waving a hand brusquely to dispel the doctor’s protests. “If you really cared that much about the health of others, you shouldn’t have gotten involved with a married patient.”

Since I couldn’t move anything else without extreme pain, I could only roll my eyes towards the doctor. I could see her jaw tighten, although it was hard to tell in the gloom of the warehouse.

“I made a grievous mistake,” she admitted quietly. “I’ve owned it. You should not blackmail me for it.”

“You should not have made your mistake with one of my acquaintances, then,” Sirena retorted. She was icy. Cold. I shivered, listening to her. Honestly, that Asterion Elder scared me more than anything I’d ever feared in my life. She had zero empathy. For anyone. I don’t think I’d ever met anyone more fully invested in herself, and more determined to get what she wanted, no matter who she had to crush to get there.

“No further arguments.” Sirena ended the discussion, trampling the doctor’s mild protests. “You do this for me, and I’ll have Fabore destroy the evidence. You’ll get a clean slate. Double-cross me, and the evidence goes viral. You’ll never be trusted again as a physician, never be respected, and I personally guarantee you that your reputation will follow you everywhere you go, even if you leave Asterion.”

I was worried sick about myself and the plight I was in. Nevertheless, I felt sorry for this doctor, who seemed like a decent being who’d made an awful mistake. Her head drooped. Her tentacles fell to her sides.

“Yes, Sirena,” she murmured and walked away, seating herself on the floor a dozen paces or so from me.

My final hope withered. She’d been sympathetic. But Sirena had her firmly in her grasp. I couldn’t blame the doctor. She didn’t know me. Helping me escape would basically be risking her life for mine, and she owed me nothing.

This is it, then. A lone tear tracked down my cheek, dripping on the hard floor. I think my body couldn’t spare the energy to create further tears. No hope now. Ellax will cave to her demands. The wild humans will be slaughtered. My boys will never know what happened to me. Or, if they find out, it’ll be from a stranger after I’m gone.

And it’s all my fault.

Chapter 47

Ellax

Admiral Corba and I formed a hasty meeting in an empty room on the Coalition’s vessel. Briefly, I explained what was happening, why, who was behind it all, and for what reasons.

“I am requesting your assistance, Admiral,” I stated bluntly, not bothering with the flowery talk of diplomacy. The Admiral would not have appreciated it anyway. “I would no more have the wild humans wiped out in a single strike than any other species.”

The Admiral shifted his weapon to a more comfortable position. Otherwise, he betrayed none of his thoughts. I gave him space to consider, even though part of me wished to demand an answer. Demand to know his mind. However, the ability to read others was part of my role as an Elder, a Lead Advisor. I knew the Admiral well enough to know that pressuring him for a response would be disastrous. He must make his own decisions.

“As someone who has visited many planets, and led many operations against many species, I tend to agree,” he finally said. I wished he would remove his helmet, or even lift his visor, so I could read his expression. “But,” he went on, and a sinking feeling gripped my guts.

All might be lost.

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