Page 6 of Hainn

Grumbling, she lay back. “That’s why I’m here, isn’t it?”

The healer didn’t respond to her snark. He slid his hands through the air a few inches above her body and concentrated. Jezari closed her eyes and savored the pops of energy and sizzle which came in the aftermath of his power. Did all Badari experience this kind of reaction to a healer’s power or was it unique to Hainn? She couldn’t remember having the samesensation when working with Timtur but of course she hadn’t been herself during the entire period of her recovery.

“Done,” he said while she was lost in thought. “If you have no objection, I’m going to enter my recommendation we end these periodic check-ins.”

She was happy at the suggestion but surprised to find herself a bit disappointed there’d be no need to interact with Hainn any longer. The realization stirred up her fears of allowing herself to become inappropriately interested in her healer for a second time and she jumped off the table and moved to the door. “Sounds good to me. Thank you.” She escaped into the hall and hastened toward the front entrance of the hospital.He’s going to think I’m a real bitch. I was barely civil to him and I didn’t thank him properly for saving my life the other day at the whirlpool.At least Hainn wouldn’t arrive at the conclusion she had a crush on him.

After a decent interval could she maybe interact with him at one of Aydarr’s social events? Walking briskly outside and heading for her residence, she toyed with the idea. Meet as equals instead of healer and patient? Memories of the recent parties came to her and she shook her head. Hainn and many of the South Seas pack members were always surrounded by human women at these events. There were quite a few females who wanted desperately to become a Badari fated mate, for all kinds of reasons but cynically Jezari supposed it was primarily for the increased status in the valley of being a mate and part of the packs, not merely a human. Those women had no concept of the truth about being mated and she was sure neither Hainn nor his brothers would ever find themselves claiming and being claimed by the social climbers. There were other human women who socialized and were friendly but not in active pursuit of a mate and as far as Jezari could tell from her observations, most of the recently claimed mates had come from the latter pool.Aydarr wanted his men to find mates but she guessed he was hoping for more women like his own indomitable mate Jill, or at least as honorable.

And why am I wasting my time thinking about all of this? I don’t want a mate, that’s for sure.

Reaching the large cave where she and her sisters dwelt, Jezari shrugged away her recent musings and contemplated whether it was already too late in the day to do another dive to the wreck. Her Alpha met her as she crossed the big communal living room.

“Oh there you are, I’ve been looking for you,” the Alpha said. “I wish your telepathy would come back online.” She didn’t seem upset or irritated.

“I’m not going to hold my breath,” Jezari answered, stifling a chuckle as she considered her secret diving exploits. “What can I do for you?”

CHAPTER FOUR

This was Jezari’s fourth dive to the wrecked spacecraft. As she descended toward the lakebed, she reflected on her last trip, which had been frustrating. She’d tried the first access point into the wreck, which had seemed promising but ended abruptly a few yards in, with a collapsed bulkhead completely sealing off whatever might have lain ahead. Having plenty of time left, Jezari had backtracked and swum carefully inside the second gaping wound in the hull. She worked her way through the morass of debris and eventually ended up in what she guessed was the flight deck. A strangely shaped chair lay collapsed in the center of a circle of panels and touchpads and around the perimeter of what was left of the room, were more of the same type equipment. As she made a slow circle of the chamber she paused as a cluster of the strange pure white, eyeless creatures which lived at this depth slithered off a surface ahead of her and drifted in the opposite direction. The animals or whatever form of life they were hadn’t menaced her in earlier dives either but she was wary of touching them or getting entangled in their dangling tentacles.

To her shock, the panel on which the depth dwellers had been clustered had a few glowing lights, which made tiny arcsof illumination in the otherwise completely dark space. Jezari had blinked in shock. After 10,000 years something was still functioning on this broken ship? Then she remembered MARL had come to life as soon as Jill found him and cleared off a few solar panels. These aliens, whoever they’d been had built to last.

Gazing at the rest of the room, Jezari didn’t see any other lights or evidence of active systems but she left the chamber with extreme care, not touching anything. She couldn’t imagine what the results would be if she accidentally activated a lingering circuit. Probably catastrophic for her, stuck so far underwater. Best not to explore further. She was so busy watching the panels and installations around her she hadn’t even noticed a clump of dangling vegetation until it was too late. The strands tangled themselves in a web encasing her lower leg and she’d panicked, unfurling her talons and slashing at them. Once she was free she rushed out of the spacecraft and headed to the surface, thoroughly spooked by the events of the dive.

Jezari was usually fatalistic about living or dying, which is why she took these chances, diving alone, no one aware of her plans. After nearly perishing in the Khagrish pod, she figured she was on borrowed time anyway. It was all well and good to be convinced of this reassuring platitude when she was up above, in the air, but quite another to find herself ensnared in slimy, clutching tendrils and potentially trapped until her air ran out.

It had taken her a few days to work up the courage to make this fourth dive. She’d spent the time actually working at her assigned job as Keshara’s admin assistant, attending various meetings, taking note, researching a few questions the humans had about how to proceed and drafting a report on her findings. It was all busywork in her mind, having nothing to do with the war against the Khagrish but her Alpha said it was necessary. The packs had hundreds of rescued humans in the valley now and robust proactive energy was required to keep the placerunning and safe. Aydarr and the other Alphas didn’t have time to worry about restive or ungrateful humans so Keshara and the mates worked hard to keep order and settle any looming issues with the humans.

Against her will Jezari had come to appreciate both Megan and Lily Garrison after watching them in action during several of Keshara’s larger meetings. The doctor and the teacher were both dedicated to the efforts to preserve and enhance Sanctuary Valley. Mated to the top enforcer and the senior healer respectively, both could have shirked a deep involvement in the work but instead genuinely cared about the day-to-day lives of their fellow humans. Although as claimed mates, the twin sisters were now regarded as Badari and pack members, not human. Jezari wasn’t comfortable in Lily Garrison’s presence, fearful the woman might have heard how infatuated she’d been with her mate Timtur, and embarrassed by her lapse in judgment.

Tomorrow was supposed to be full of more meetings but today was free and clear so Jezari had seized the chance to dive and left the residence cave early, before anyone could suggest another activity for her. Her sisters were loving but too full of good ideas for what Jezari could do with her time.

Her descent nearly at an end, excitement rose in Jezari. Today she was going to give in to the inexplicable draw luring her to the wreck. She’d deliberately explored the other two passageways first, saving the third portion of the ship for last, because the latter was where she really wanted to go. Whatever siren song was calling her to this ancient wreck lay inside the third opening in the hull. She only hoped she’d be able to reach deep into the ship and find whatever was luring her to the site. The compulsion had grown each time she dove, like a song becomes stuck in a person’s mind and then won’t go away.

Taking a moment to calm herself after the descent, she touched base with her inner predator, who remained stubbornly opposed to the whole idea of them being nearly two miles under the water. Thinking reassuring thoughts and vowing to proceed cautiously, she swam into the jagged hole in the hull. After only a few feet she found herself entering a huge open area, which she guessed must have been a cargo hold. All kinds of objects were floating in the murky water and as she pushed herself forward, the globes and squares and other shapes bobbed and revealed their contents.

To her horror and disgust, each capsule contained a formerly living creature. There were animals, birds, fish, insects…creatures for which she had no name to fall back upon and all were displayed inside their container beautifully arranged. Nausea rose in her gut but she felt compelled to continue exploring. The siren song was in her head so she hadn’t found the source of the lure. It was obvious to her the specimens came from many different worlds and as she moved among them she speculated for what purpose MARL’s original owner had gathered them. Was he a scientist as the AI always claimed? Or had these beautifully arranged flora and fauna been intended for an exhibit, a zoo, a sale to connoisseurs of such things in his time? The possibilities were endless and all of them disgusted her.

She was quite positive all the specimens were dead, despite their vivid appearances inside the containers. Her Badari senses might be faulty after her ordeal in the Khagrish pod but neither she nor her inner beast got any slightest indication of living beings.

Nearing the far side of the cargo hold, if she was guessing correctly about the purpose of the space, Jezari prepared to swim to the original entrance point. She gave herself an extra push, which forced aside a collection of particularly vividwinged creatures, revealing a large container directly ahead. It was floating by itself and slowly rotating in the currents her movements had created in the enclosed space.

As she watched in horror, the container spun in her direction at a glacial pace and she was face to face with one of the most beautiful females she’d ever seen. If the Great Mother was a stunning, otherworldly beauty, then this victim was a close second. Her face was serene, her three eyes closed, long lashes sweeping her high cheekbones, lush red lips in a peaceful line. Instead of hair tiny filaments surrounded her face and were arranged in an elaborate updo, held in place with a braided band and jeweled clips. She wore a simple gown with no ornamentation.

“No, no, no!” Screaming, Jezari struggled to swim away, caught in a flashback to her own imprisonment in a pod. She got a mouthful of the lake water and choked, barely remembering not to take a breath. Visions of herself fighting the lab techs who were preparing her to go into the deathly pod ran through her mind’s eye and full out panic took hold in Jezari’s body. She slammed into other containers trying to get away from the woman who’d been imprisoned in such a similar manner, to suffer a tragic fate. Disoriented, Jezari kept swimming frantically, barely conscious and with darkness closing in at the edges of her sight. She’d escaped the pod only to die here…

With a groan Jezari rolled over,wondering why her bed was so cold and lumpy. And why were her feet wet? Opening her eyes, she was blinded by the late afternoon sunlight filtering through the trees above. She remembered being in the hold under two miles of water, staring in horror at the woman and then she couldn’t recall anything else. Sitting up, she found herself at the edge of the lake, feet still in the water, toes prunedby the immersion. There were big gouges in the moss and sand where she’d evidently dragged herself out of the lake using her talons.

The inner predator must have taken control again to save both their lives and gotten her out of the ship and successfully to the surface.

Aches and pains were beginning to capture her attention and she noticed bruises on her legs and arms where the containers had hit her when she was wildly out of control in the midst of her flashback. As a Badari, she’d heal soon enough so disregarding the discomfort, she rose to her feet and stared over the lake. Knowing what lay at the bottom was hard to bear. “I’m never going out there again,” she said, clenching her fists. “I wish I hadn’t gone there at all.” She couldn’t erase the vision of the alien woman caught forever in the display container and now tears fell hot from Jezari’s eyes. The only consolation was the captive had looked serene. “I hope you didn’t suffer too much.” Jezari wiped away the tears and pivoted decisively on her heel, not wanting to see the lake right now. She sprinted into the forest, intending to find her way home to the residence caves and to make good on her vow not to swim in the lake under any circumstances.

She begged off from going to dinner with her sisters, stomach unable to tolerate even the idea of food and went to bed. Curled up in a tight ball, rocking herself back and forth, she tried to purge the image of the woman from her mind but the siren stubbornly clung to her. Eventually she dropped off into an exhausted sleep but her dreams were a wild mixture of the lady in the lake and her own experiences being prepared to go into the pod and then being locked in there to die slowly as the Khagrish drained her life essence.

With a strangled scream Jezari sat straight up in bed and swiveled her head wildly, confused by the stone walls and thepretty bioluminescence where she’d been positive she was in the stark white Khagrish lab, helpless to protect herself or to fight. She pushed her sweaty hair off her forehead and waited, fearing her sisters would come to investigate why she’d made so much sound. No one did, however, so she relaxed against the pillows, hands clenched and closed her eyes tentatively.

No good, the dreams were still there.

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