CHAPTER 4
Alexa
My eyes closed at the shuffle of the lab technician’s shoes. He knew and was running off to inform the Sanctarian elite.
With a disappointed sigh, I leaned back in the hard plastic chair, watching the group of excited technicians at the end of the hall.
They all knew that I was their golden nugget, their sacrifice for humanity.
Although no threats had been made against their lives, they were still eager to turn me over to an alien race.
Sanctarian technology confirmed my blood type without ever pricking my skin.
I chuckled at the predicament I found myself in while inspecting the Regeneration Pod in my exam room.
Dome-shaped with a clear top, it was a true marvel for humans.
These centers were everywhere and filled with medical equipment I’d never imagined.
The exam room even smelled too clean, matching the sterile white walls.
The Sanctarians were efficient, intellectually superior, physically beautiful, and obviously desperate to continue their race, although they’d never confirmed the suspicion.
Our own scientists invited them without knowing their intentions with their nonstop signals into space. Their insane attempts to prove there was life beyond Earth were right, so this visitation was on them as much as on the alien visitors.
My gaze pivoted to the hallway when a sniffling woman and her small child strolled by on the other side of the glass door.
Gaunt and pale, with dark circles under the child’s eyes, it was obvious he was sick.
The mother’s gaze met mine before pivoting to her child as a nurse assisted him into a Regeneration Pod.
I knew what they were doing. The pods didn’t just identify matches for the Sanctarians, but healed human diseases as well.
I could’ve stalled, I could’ve hidden longer, but my grandfather needed help, and I wanted to know who I was even though humanity was eager to hand me over to an obviously blood-starved race.
The footage of their leader revealed his increasing frustration with human compliance, especially once he announced the Regeneration Pods would be removed soon. How much longer before they took instead of asked? Before violence replaced politeness? Before anyone guessed my other secrets?
Tray’s increasing threats only accelerated my decision and reaffirmed my suspicions. I understood the irony of the situation, recognizing that these healing machines were the aliens’ justification and payment; however, humans also had their own personal intentions, as Tray reminded me.
How could I be upset when the child emerged from the scanner smiling and full of energy? I admired the Sanctarians’ willingness to offer such a miracle and hoped to stuff my grandfather inside one soon.
“Ms. Turner?”
“Should I retrieve my bag from my truck?” I didn’t even bother with pleasantries-my voice flat and without emotion.
The technician crouched beside my chair with a forlorn expression. I knew it wasn’t his fault, but I also knew he wanted to please the newcomers. The silver hair on his temples and the ring on his hand bespoke a family. Kind brown eyes dropped to the white floor in shame.
“It’s okay,” I offered when it wasn’t. I was as afraid as anyone else, even though I suspected I was one of them.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Turner. If my daughters.”
His voice trailed off, but I had no comfort to give other than a touch on the shoulder.
“What can I do to make quarantine more comfortable?”
My quarantine. Every female or male went through it, and I was no exception, although I’d never been sick a day in my life.
“Should we contact anyone, Ms. Turner?”
I thought of my friends and my grandfather. After my parents’ car crash and my grandmother’s death, the family fell apart. If they cared, they didn’t act like it. “No one.”
“Is your blood type common in your family?”
There it was…the question of the hour. If there were more females like me, these people would test them. “Not that I know of, and they wouldn’t meet the requirements. All of them are married or above the age limit.”
“No siblings?”
“None.”
“Your birth certificate date implies your mother was pregnant before she married?”
“So? Unplanned pregnancies happen all the time,” I quickly snapped back.
The lab technician glanced at the tablet in his hand before laying it on the counter closest to him. “Ms. Turner, you have an anomaly in your blood, one we can’t identify as human.”
A smirk was my response because he’d just confirmed what I’d already accepted. “Does it matter now?”
The lab technician rose from his crouched position, paused in front of the door, and faced me with a puzzled expression. “From here on out, the Sanctarians will care for you.”
“They’re already here?” I whispered with a nervous edge in my voice.
His shoulders slumped. “A ship arrived once we confirmed your results.”
“A ship?”
“Sanctarian.”
“What happens when all universal donors are gone?”
“There are still those who don’t meet the requirements, Ms. Turner.”
“How convenient,” I shot back, knowing this was an impossible situation and not the technician’s fault.
My thoughts were conflicted where the Sanctarians were concerned. I knew nothing about them, and they didn’t know I existed until now. It was easier to imagine than to face reality.
“I’m sorry, but I know nothing else other than you’ll be treated well because of your uniqueness. Follow me, please.”
I shuffled behind the technician through the hallway, noticing all the Regenerator Pods and the humans using them. They were addicted to Sanctarian technology, panicked, and sought the pods for everything, especially with the threat of removal.
The turquoise light filtering from them reminded me of my other unique offering. Twice, eye contact was made but quickly broken when their mouths gaped. Did they know what I was? When the lab technician stopped, placed his hand against a scanner, and stepped aside, I backed away.
A door slid open, and blue fog billowed in front of me, hovering at the entrance, a divider between my world and theirs, as if waiting for me. I glanced nervously at the lab technician. “I’m afraid.”
He attempted to smile before moving aside and gesturing to the opening with one hand. “You’ll be okay.”
“How do you know? How does anyone know?”
“They promised.”
I snorted, returning my gaze to the mist in front of me, waiting for me as terror and anger churned in my mind and stomach.
Who should I be more disappointed in? My fellow humans or the Sanctarians?
I admired their leader and had developed a raging infatuation for him, so maybe I should blame myself. “Can I leave?”
“No, Ms. Turner, but would you if you could, knowing what you know?”
My eyes narrowed on the mist as my heart lurched hard, and my breaths became labored.
I remembered the sick child, and the many healed people since the Sanctarians’ arrival.
Even my grandfather could benefit from their technology if I could convince him to seek treatment.
Why would they do that if they meant humans harm?
Tray’s threats flashed through my mind along with the home I loved and the story my grandmother told. “No, I wouldn’t.”
“Thank you for your sacrifice, Ms. Turner,” the lab technician murmured and backed away, gesturing with one hand toward the doorway.
Sacrifice. That’s what they labeled the ones chosen by The Sanctarians. We were sacrifices used to save their species.
After a deep breath, I braced myself for whatever lay beyond and stepped into the mist. Coolness enveloped me, followed by a pinprick sensation on my bare arms, not unpleasant or painful, but steadily slithering over me until my entire body tingled.
My face tilted, remembering the turquoise mine and how similar the energy felt.
“Welcome to the Quarantine Cleanse, Ms. Turner,” a soothing female voice echoed inside the chamber as the door slid shut behind me and multiple locks clicked into place.
*****
Nothing but fog swirled in front of me. Thick with a bluish tint, I couldn’t see anything, although I squinted my eyes and tried. “Hello? Who are you?”
“Please remove your clothing, Ms. Turner.”
“What?” I asked in a panic, turning in a circle with my heart racing in my chest.
“I detect elevated vitals. Please calm yourself, Ms. Turner. No harm will come to you. I am an artificial intelligence assigned to assist in your transition from Earth to Sanctum. You may call me Lara.”
“Why is this necessary, Lara?”
“Human skin carries bacteria and viruses. Already, the mist you’re inhaling is cleansing your internal organs and flesh.”
I grasped my throat in pure fear.
“I do not wish to sedate you, Ms. Turner. Please calm yourself. No harm will come to you.”
But I couldn’t calm myself. There was no pain from what I inhaled, but the idea of something foreign inside my body had me close to a panic attack. Within the next few seconds, I struggled to breathe.
“Please, Ms. Turner.”
“Stop,” I rasped, but it was too late. I gasped for air, reaching blindly into the fog, and stumbling on the smooth floor for no reason other than fear of the unknown.
“I apologize, Ms. Turner,” the female voice spoke.
My eyes drooped with whatever medicinal concoction they added into the mist, and my vision blurred. “No,” I whispered, but there was no answer.
I dropped to my knees, gulping large breaths, knowing I was inhaling more of whatever was in the air to produce the groggy effect.
My body swayed, and I fell onto my left side, staring into the blue mist swirling in front of me in a drug-induced haze.
This was a mistake. I should’ve kept my mouth shut.
“Much better, Ms. Turner. We want you to be aware of what is happening without danger to your life.”
“We?” I whispered.
“Yes, Ms. Turner. Your match is here as well.”
“My match?”
“Yes, Ms. Turner. Your DNA code, blood, and psychological profile matched with a companion.”
“Companion?”
“A Sanctarian male.”
“That will be all, Lara. Thank you.”