Addy was a lost Terran. Her ship was captured on the way to the Alliance training center, and she and the other occupants were held for experimentation.
Months of agony with her fellow humans dying under the test-to-destruction methods of the researchers ended the day that Addy was taken to the edge of her limits. A rescue operation came to save her and the other survivors, and she was sedated for the trip back to the Alliance.
Addy lay in stasis while the world she had set on its path to destruction shattered and the rescue shuttle fought for its own survival.
Thirty years later, Addy is woken to find that the world has changed, she is alone at a base, and she has the power in her cells to break the world under her feet. No pressure. Ha.
More From Tales of the Citadel
Addy huddled in the back of her cage, and she hoped that she wasn’t picked for experimentation that day. She really wasn’t up to it.
“Hey! Addy. I am guessing it is nearly Christmas at home.” The prisoner from next door called out.
Kelly had been next to her on the shuttle that was approaching the jump ship, right before it was swallowed by a hole in space. Out of fifty human Volunteers on that vessel, there were only nine left alive.
Kelly had lost her sight after the third week, so her experience of the world was via other senses. If she said it was nearly Christmas, it was.
Addy sighed. “Happy holidays, Kelly.”
“Merry Christmas, Addy.”
Addy hated to ask, but she did anyway, “Kelly?”
“Yes?”
“How long have we been here?”
“Six months, three days and five hours.”
“Do you think anyone is looking for us?”
Kelly’s voice had a smile in it. “Yes. They are looking. They are also very close.”
Hope flickered in Addy’s chest. “Do you think they have coffee?”
Kelly laughed, and Addy sat with her back against the wall that she shared with Kelly. It was the closest thing to a hug that they could manage.
Their laughter and smiles faded as they heard the footsteps in the hall. They were here for a subject, and Addy and Kelly were the only two in this section.
Addy held her breath as her door was swung open. The stun bolt knocked her to the floor, and she was dragged out of the cell and down the hall with her nerves screaming and her muscles jerking.
The two handlers hauled her about a kilometre, her toes dragging until they bled. She was just getting her limbs under her control again when they strapped her down.
Racks of coloured fluids, equipment that had application pads to electrocute, probes and scanners were all lined up.
She looked at the alien medics and researchers around her. “Gentlemen, shall we tango?”
The first injection hit, and the next six hours were her trying not to scream and focusing on time with family and her memories of home. The holidays were a good focus, and it was only when the decorated tree in her mind started to shimmy and buck that she came back to her body.
She opened her eyes and watched the displays tipping over, the vials and chemicals smashing. One of the men was screaming for someone to shut it down, but the riot of energy wouldn’t stop.
If Addy wasn’t strapped down, she would have fallen over. As it was, the exam table she was on was jittering across the floor.
A thunderous crack started outside, and the lab split down the centre. Three of her persecutors fell into the rift and everyone else ran.
Whatever world they were on was coming apart around them, and Addy was strapped to a fucking table!
Another wedge was carved out of the flooring, and she heard metal uncoupling in the walls as they heaved upward. Gas flew out of the walls, but it wasn’t properly directional. Addy coughed slightly but didn’t feel anything but mildly dizzy.
“Volunteer Hathaway?”
A voice came from behind her. She waved a hand like a flipper. “That’s me.”
“I am part of your rescue party. Kelly sent us to find you.”
Addy smiled and relaxed, while another fissure opened up in the room. The only solid floor was the piece she was resting on. “I am glad she’s safe. I don’t think you can get to me.”
“I can. Do you know the cause of the tremors?”
“No. Maybe they are on a fault line?”
The voice was soft. “No, they have activated a latent talent.”
“What is a talent?”
“You are. I know you have been sorely used, but I need to sedate you to stop the tremors. We need to escape, but the only way we can take off is if the ground is stable.” He paused. “Please.”
She thought about it. “So, Kelly sent you?”
“She did.”
“What colour are her eyes?”
“Black. She also has freckles across her nose.”
Addy sighed and leaned back. “Okay, do what you have to do. I will just take a little nap.”
She heard a weird, leathery sound and the heavy beating of wings. She turned her head as much as she could with her forehead strapped down, and she must have gone bonkers. A man with huge bat-like wings was leaning over her, his uniform would have done credit to any superhero of her imagining, and the slow lashing of his tail added to the image.
He held up a hypo spray and pressed it to her waist. The world grew fuzzy around her, and she faded into restful sleep as the ties were removed.
People Also Bought:
