Chapter 2 Gnnar
I knew the moment the little human female realized I was awake. Her heart sped up, and her posture straightened. I wondered if she was going to call out for help. The guard was right there, his eyes on his device.
But instead of alerting the guard, she continued to stare up at me from where she sat cross-legged on the ground. From her lower vantage point, our eyes met without me having to lift my head. Her eyes were the green of springtime leaves, and I wanted to reach out and touch her.
I almost did too. I barely stopped myself before the cameras aimed at me caught the movement.
She was the most beautiful female I’d ever seen.
She wore her golden brown hair in a knot at the top of her head, held up with a stick. Several wisps of hair fell forward to frame her face. Instead of fear, there was curiosity there. There was no doubt that she knew I was awake now.
“Why are you on the ground?” asked the guard, breaking the silence.
The female yelped, her hand going to her chest. “You scared me.”
“I didn’t mean to. Just surprised that you’re on the ground.”
I kept my eyes half-closed, peering through my lashes.
“I’m trying to feel more grounded,” she lied. “I do that when I’m nervous.” She got back up and sat on the chair.
The guard seemed to believe her. “Right, grounding. My legally bound partner talks about that. She says it helps her feel connected to the planet. Doc said he adjusted the dose remotely, and he should be waking up soon. The dose will go back up in ten minutes.”
Sure enough, I started feeling a little stronger. Would it be enough to break out of these chains? I stopped the thought. Even if I did, there were still three solid doors and several guards with tranquilizer guns between me and the open skies. I was weak too; the weakest I’d ever been. Now was not the time to attempt to break out. It would only give away the fact that my body had developed a tolerance for the drug they’d been using to sedate me.
I lolled my head to the side before lifting it slowly and blinking exaggeratedly as if struggling to wake.
“See, he’s waking now.” The guard’s hand went to his weapon.
I made him nervous. Good. He should be. If I wanted to, I could break out of these chains now and tear him apart. But as satisfying as that would be, it wouldn’t help me escape. I did, however, rattle my chains a little to make him nervous.
My action managed to put the guard on edge as expected, but not the female.
The room seemed to brighten as the female turned her gaze at me and grinned. “Hi, my name is Dana. And I’m here for Omnia Pictures, Nova Vita’s most trusted news source.” The line was clearly rehearsed, and by the slight eye roll, which was well hidden from the camera behind her, I had a feeling she didn’t quite believe it. Interesting.
Her eyes darted quickly to the side where the guard stood leaning against the door to my cell, and she frowned. “Can you guard me from outside in the hallway? There’s no way I’m going to get any decent information out of him with you glaring at him like you’re going to shoot him for replying.”
The guard frowned. “I can’t leave you alone in here with him.”
“The guy’s chained up. And It’s bad enough that I couldn’t have my recording devices inside and have to write everything down by hand. Come on. Work with me here. Do you think I want to be here any longer than I have to?” She stood from her chair and took the guard gently by the arm. “I’ll scream if I need help. You look so strong and capable in that uniform. I can trust you to keep me safe, right?”
“Of course I can keep you safe.” The guard stood a little taller, preening at her compliment.
“Great. Then stand just outside. I only have ten minutes, remember? We already wasted three.”
“Fine. But don’t go past the red line.”
“You don’t need to tell me again. I’m not suicidal.”
The guard stepped outside, and the heavy door slammed shut behind him.
“Now, where were we?” The female pulled out the stick that held her hair in a bun, and her tresses tumbled down in waves around her shoulders, showing lighter golden pieces that looked bleached from the sun. The scent of her shampoo filled my nostrils, reminiscent of summer fruits. Why did human women enjoy putting food scents in their hair?
Was it to distract us? Because it was working. The added scent highlighted her natural perfume, reminding me it was spring and the rut was near. I forced myself to focus.
She placed the tip of the stick on the clipboard, and I realized it was a writing instrument.
“What’s your name?” she asked.
“Why are you here?” I asked back, not answering her question.
The humans never let females near us unless they were the ones they’d sent us for the rut, back when the treaty was still valid, but it was clear the colony thought of them as disposable. Many of them arrived cowering and crying, believing they’d been sent to their doom.
This female was not crying or cowering. She looked directly at me, analyzing me from head to toe. I could feel her gaze like a touch as it skated down my body, and I cursed the fact that I was at my weakest. I wanted her to admire my virility; I did not want her pity.
Our eyes met again when she looked back up at my face, but I saw no pity there, only interest.
Who was she? And why was she here?
Touch her. Free yourself and touch her.
I ignored the ridiculous demand. Now was not the time to test for compatibility. I didn’t even know who she was, only that she was supposed to interview me. Was that a euphemism for an interrogation?
Instead of answering, she looked me straight in the eye, then reached up to fidget with a button on her top. Then she turned to look behind her, and as she did, her posture changed.
“We have only a few minutes before the camera starts recording again,” she whispered.
I looked up at the camera in the corner of the room, and sure enough, the tiny blue light was off.
“Tell me how I can help you get out of here.” She put her hand up in a universal sign of surrender. “I know you don’t trust me, but I need your help to find my friend Julie. They told me she was sent to Utopia, but I believe she joined the last rut two years ago.”
Interesting. This wasn’t at all what I’d expected. I tried to recall if I remembered such a name, but all the female names blur together for me. They all sounded so strange.
“Please,” she said, barely audible.
She stood from the chair and stepped toward me, going right past the red line. If I wanted to, I could pull on my chains, reach for her, and use her as a hostage. But what if they considered her expendable and shoot right through her to get to me?
“Tell me how, and I’ll try my best to free you,” she continued, glancing back worriedly at the door. “We can help each other. Please. We don’t have much time. She disappeared two years ago, right before your rutting season. I know she didn’t go to Utopia.”
Something inside told me to trust her. Maybe it was because I could sense her panic growing by the second. It wasn’t at me but at the possibility of getting caught. Unless she was a consummate actor, she was putting her life on the line to find her friend. That was admirable. Perhaps we could help each other.
“Contact Penelope. She publishes her books through your online shopping service. Shop U? Shop E?” I regret not taking the time to memorize the false name Vostak’s mate published her work under.
“EshopU. Do you mean the books about your ruts that they can’t remove? I know about them. I co-wrote an article on them once.”
“Not about the ruts. The books are about our matings.”
She frowned, clearly not understanding the difference. She would if she’d read the stories.
“Her contact is in every book. Tell her that Gnnar is here and needs extraction.”
“Okay. Is that your name?”
“Affirmative. Gnnar.”
She nodded as she flipped to the back of her clipboard and jotted something down. “What if she doesn’t believe me? I could be anyone contacting her.”
“If they ask for proof, tell them east of the third peak, marked with my family’s crest.”
She wrote it down but did not ask for details, which was for the best. It was the location of the nest I was building here on Vokira. With it, they would be able to confirm that this female was telling the truth.
“And my friend?”
“I will help find her once I am free,” I promised quietly.
“Thank you.”
Then she flipped back to the first page of her notepad, and her hand went to her top button again. A little bit more loudly and in an extremely professional voice, she said, “Now that we’ve got the introduction out of the way, let’s get to the real reason behind the transport crash. We value the truth and report the news from all sides. I have a few questions, so let’s get started.”