I peered into his visor that was buckled in the middle.
The Supervisor sighed as if he were dealing with a child.
“Put her in the chair.”
The guards did as he ordered.
“No!” I screamed, struggling against them and fighting to work myself free.
Just one would have been enough to hold me down and overpower me. Two was overkill.
“Don’t do this!” I said, peering into the bent visor at the spot where his eyes should be. “Let me go! Please!”
“I wouldn’t expect much sympathy,” the Supervisor said, taking the injector device and a small bottle of yellow liquid from his pocket. “They don’t feel a thing.”
“They’re robots?”
The Supervisor chuckled.
“Of course not. Robots are too powerful and have the ability to overthrow the shrale given enough time. Research and development of mechanical beings is prohibited. Instead, we’re allowed to test on living beings like those in this prison.”
He filled the device with liquid.
“What is that?” I said. “What is it?”
“A little pick-me-up to keep you and your child strong. We don’t usually create babies using a surrogate like this but Kren’s species is… unusual. It resists every attempt we made to artificially inseminate hosts or grow one in lab conditions. The neb are a very stubborn species. So, you have no fear. We will never allow any harm to come to you. Or for you to harm yourself for that matter. The cargo you carry is far too important for that.”
“Why are you doing this? Why me?”
“Why you? I have no idea. Hundreds of girls have come and gone through the Prize Pool and not one of them ever got Kren’s interest. I’d given up hope he might actually take any girl. But he took to you. And you successfully mated with him. Many times, I might add! And then you became pregnant. According to the stories, when the neb choose their fated mate, it’s for life. They tend to have children very quickly. It’s like a switch turns on and suddenly every part of their anatomy knows which way due north is. It’s extraordinary, the diversity in the universe.”
He placed the injector device to my arm. I struggled but it was no use. The liquid slammed into my system.
“It’s much less painful if you don’t struggle,” the Supervisor said. “This whole process is. There’s no reason why this has to be difficult.”
I felt the effects of the drug immediately. It spread through my body and I relaxed.
“When Kren wouldn’t inseminate you, I knew I needed to take action and hurry things along a little,” he said. “That’s why I whispered in Dreth’s ear. He’s a stupid creature and very greedy. It’s common in his species.
“Kren was quite a disappointment when I began running tests on him as a boy. After everything I learned about his species, I expected an incredible gift. But no matter what I tried, it wouldn’t present itself. Then one day I noticed something strange. When he went to rescue you from Dreth, he came to his cell door. He couldn’t beat it down with his fists and instead absorbed the electrical power and turned it on the door. He used the door’s strength against itself.
“What were we to make of this? That a door had spontaneously destroyed itself? No. Something else was happening here, something we hadn’t noticed before. We went over Kren’s countless other battles and discovered the same anomaly. We discovered it was Kren using the abilities of others. Do you see? Kren’s ability, and the ability of his people, is turning other species’ strengths on themselves.
“Kren would never share this information willingly and so I devised a plan to harness it. We scientists so rarely get a second chance, especially with an extinct species, so I decided to run the experiment again. This time with a newborn neb.”
“But Kren offered to tell you everything…” I said, my eyelids growing unconscionably heavy. “He’ll show you his ability…”
“And we’ll learn as much as we can from him,” the Supervisor said. “And then we’ll dispose of him. He can only cause problems. Your child will teach us the rest of what we need to know.”
Dispose of him…
He was going to kill him. And probably me, once the baby was born.
Our baby…
The liquid flooded my body. My muscles were really growing lethargic now.
I was tired but not yet asleep. The drug had knocked me out before and I knew what to expect. I played along, letting them think I was more tired than I really was.
The guards released their hold on me and my eyes struggled to stay open.
“Rest,” the Supervisor said. “The future is happening whether you want it to or not.”
He turned to leave along with the guards.
If I could reach Kren, I could tell him about what the Supervisor was planning to do.
He’s going to learn about your ability and then kill you.
Then I would give birth to our baby.
And then he was going to kill me.
I leaped from my chair and ran for the open door.
My legs were heavy and lethargic and barely followed my commands.
On a monitor, I saw the fighting taking place right now.
Kren!
He was fighting!
If I could reach the window, if I could bang on it. Kren would see me and realize something was wrong.
He could stop this. He could stop it all.
I slipped past the Supervisor just as he turned to order the wall to slam back into place.
“Stop her!” the Supervisor bellowed.
The guards leaped into action, scrabbling to grab me.
The observation window was just ahead.
Only a few more yards…
Something caught my foot and I fell, my face slapping the floor.
I rolled onto my back.
By now, the medicine had already claimed my wits. But I didn’t need to be smart to smash the guard in the face with my heel.
I struck his dented visor. Again, again, and again.
He didn’t lose his grip. He was too strong.
I struck his visor once more and it slipped open.
The man
