Page 73 of The Alien Reindeer's Bounty
“I do not.”
“A little.”
“None. The amount of envy is none.”
“I’m proud of the way you’ve dealt with your feelings of inadequacy. So brave.”
“Be quiet and drive,” Svallin grumbled.
Odessa
Odessa went limp,forcing Karl to drag her. Not that her lack of compliance proved an obstacle; he proved surprisingly strong. She didn’t want to leave Ruby. She didn’t want her little girl waking up alone, in a freakin’ glass coffin like in a nightmare of a fairy tale.
“I’m not going with you,” she said, twisting and turning to break free of Karl’s grasp. Her efforts were ineffective, like a hobbit trying to throw punches at a giant. The best she could hope for was to irritate him like a mosquito buzzing near an ear. She’d buzz so hard, she’d be a masterpiece in annoyance.
“Female, stay still or I will make you,” he warned.
The floor lurched.
Momentarily distracted, his grip loosened, and she slipped free. She flung the nearest item within reach at him, a tablet stylus.
The stylus bounced off his face and clattered to the floor.
Karl stared at her; surprise visible on his face.
Crud. She should have stuck it in his eye.
Odessa dashed for the fallen stylus. Karl wrapped an arm around her and pulled her toward him, her back pressed against his chest. He gripped her by the throat, applying just enough pressure to cut off her air. “If you think I need you alive to study your brain, you are mistaken,” he said, his voice cool. “Do not make me hurt you. Now, tell me you will behave.”
Her eyes watered and her vision grew black. She nodded.
“Tell me.”
“I’ll behave,” she managed to say. He released his grip and she gasped for breath. Shoving her back against a wall, he bound her hands with a cord.
The material heated and shrank, forming a tight bond against her wrists.
“Stay here. I will return,” he said, leaving her alone.
Odessa immediately went to Ruby. Lights embedded in the bottom illuminated the girl from the feet up, casting a ghoulish light on her. She still wore the hood up on her lumpy brown teddy bear coat. Red curls escaped the hood, surrounding her face like fiery fur trim.
Ruby appeared unharmed, just asleep. Odessa fought the urge to bang on the glass and rouse her daughter. What if she succeeded? Ruby would still be stuck in a glass coffin, only completely aware of her predicament.
No, better to get Ruby out, then wake her.
The chamber was smooth, without an obvious opening or seal. Symbols ran down the side, like a control panel. She had no idea what the symbols meant. If she hit the wrong button…
The horrid sensation of suffocating as Karl vented oxygen from her tube remained fresh in her mind.
No. Best to wait. Could she smash the chamber open?
Grasping a stool with her hands’ limited range of motion proved difficult, but she chucked the item at Ruby’s glass tube.
It bounced off the surface with nary a scratch.
Okay, time to problem solve.Brute force was not an option. She needed her hands free.
Odessa searched for a knife or a sharp object to cut the wrist constraints. While the room was obviously a lab or perhaps a medical facility, the surfaces were free of clutter. There were no drawers or cabinets, either. Where did they store stuff? Everyone had clutter, even aliens.
