“…I refute these masters,” said the overlord with a tinge of scorn. “These Cuyrne, you say they engineered the Zikri and Mentera—in vats? that the stronger-engineered Zikri escaped, took over the lab, killing their overseers and claimed the planet but that the so-called Masters were there all the time watching in some underground bunker?”
“It implied as much.”
“What do you mean, ‘it’?”
“The AI simulacrum that spoke for the long dead Cuyrne Masters.”
The overseer gave another chitter of disbelief. “So, you discovered this bunker, fell through the crust while pursued by Mentera troopers. Where is the proof of this claim?”
“The proof, the blue memory module—we destroyed it,” said the locust. “The simulacrum compelled us to initiate the destruct sequence. Thus the information would not fall into the hands of either you or the Mentera. We barely escaped with our lives. Only to plunge into the midst of your secret, allied base.”
“Why would this AI intelligence do that? And why couldn’t it initiate the destruct sequence on its own?”
The locust alien twitched its carapace. Its eyes hardened to a dull coral sheen. Its shoulders, dark plates of green and black, hunched in helpless compliance. “The detonator sequence was designed deliberately so the simulacrum could not initiate it on its own. In case the algorithm went berserk. Or in case it was ever tweaked by outside invaders. Or so it told us. As for keeping this origin of our races secret, that is beyond my knowledge.”
“You are an ignorant, foolish creature!” the overlord rasped and smacked a tentacle down on the torture console. He signaled the attendant with a brisk flicking motion. The attendant zapped the locust with a dose of current. The locust howled, a keening, whining cry, folding its long atrophied wings in weak flutters.
“The Zikri are masters of the universe! Much older than any locusts, humanoids or apes, or the smattering of mutant intelligent species littered throughout the galaxy. Our dominance on this planet proves it. Where is this module you describe with its databank of proof of these Masters and our manufactured origin? I would kill you now for your lies, bug, had the Mentera not recently discovered a similar blue box as you described in the aftermath of the blast. They are busy trying to penetrate its secrets. For that reason you still live. Your motives regarding this fabricated story, or whatever else you’re hiding, I do not know. Possibly to delay your inevitable fate. War is upon us and we are called to duty, to crush the humans once and for all and enslave the populations of their planets. Even now, I am pushing this interrogation beyond my superior’s wishes. But I have other intentions in mind, though they’re on hold for now…” His eyes scrunched into glittering beads.
“So now, do you still tell the same story, bug?”
The locust did not respond. The overlord puckered his mouth in an ugly O. The locust howled again as current surged through its vitals, causing the hard-shelled pincers to clack and its ovoid head to bob up and down on its chest in anguish. Audra watched in detached curiosity.
The overlord loosed a belligerent chitter. “We’re getting nowhere here, Jngken. Up the voltage!”
“As you wish, overlord.” Jngken fiddled with the knobs. Audra braced herself for more punishment in parallel to the locust’s. Then a sudden idea hit her.
Chapter 8
Jngken, the lab trainee, licked his polyp of a mouth. He stood under the shadow of Hrang, his superior, yet no less caught up in scientific fascination of cracking the mystery of this time-traveling Zikri. She exhibited inexplicable attributes that could not be tossed off as mere mutant side anomalies. Classic muscular lines, toned muscle, a fearsome vitality, all radiating an impressive hyper-awareness. A femme fatale, if any there was. Jngken had never seen such a physically magnificent specimen in such fine, but deadly form…
Lust overcame his reason. Admittedly he felt himself smitten with freakish sexual attraction. The trainee was awed and intimidated at the same time that this Zikri had come from nowhere, having no past and no present. Could this time travel story of hers be true? Why Hrang was treating her so cruelly seemed to be counterproductive to what could be gleaned and enjoyed from her. Whether he wanted Jngken to play the sympathetic role to soften her up remained to be seen. He wouldn’t mind that. If the prisoner’d time-traveled, she’d be confused. It stood to reason. Such a queen amongst their race!
As overseer Hrang administered a torture spike to her left lower motilator, Jngken thought he caught her answering stare of burning intensity in response to his gaze of admiration and lust. He quickly looked away. Could she actually be attracted to him? It seemed pure fantasy.
At the height of his youth and having been isolated so long, Jngken could not help but imagine those glistening, ample limbs entwined around his own, squeezing, caressing, all the pleasures of Zikri sin rolled into one. The oily friction, the heightening constriction and the ultimate sultry chittering of the Zikri queen in his ear. Oh, what a thrill! A meeting of minds and bodies, up to and including the release into ecstasy.
Hrang’s sharp chitter snapped him out of his reverie. Ending his sex-sotted delirium.
Such desire would only impair his scientific judgment. It would jeopardize his position. A deadly mistake with one so capably ruthless as overseer Hrang.
* * *
In a sudden surge of motion, Hrang bounded over to Audra. “You, Griekshj! What have you to say of this utter nonsense the bug babbles? Speak! You knew the other one of this locust’s company, this Miko humanoid filth. Did he talk of these Masters to you?”
