Chapter 7 #3
“I would be more confident if I had a decent scanner and a computer capable of running detailed simulations,” Luna stressed. “The theory is sound, but I hate jumping straight to human testing. It’s too big a risk.”
“Shouldn’t that be the volunteers’ decision?” Nate asked, his expression grim. “It’s their lives at risk.”
“That’s what Shannon said,” Luna admitted. “Which is why I agreed to give her the next injection as long as I can find a doctor or nurse to join the team.”
“I’ll see if we can have access to Carlos,” Alex told her. “It would be counterproductive for Soko to refuse.”
Had Alex mentioned the name Carlos before? If he had, Luna didn’t remember who he was. “Is Carlos the Shadow City doctor?”
Alex nodded. “That’s no longer his primary role, but he has the skills.”
Glad that they were still on the same page, Luna asked, “Do you think he’ll do it?”
“None of the exotics like to leave Shadow City, but they have technology that might make a remote partnership possible. I’m pretty sure I can talk them into something like that.”
“Any support is better than what I have now.” She smoothed down her borrowed shirt and looked into Alex’s eyes. “Please, alpha, may I go take a shower? I’ll sleep much better if I’m clean.”
He looked as if he’d refuse then he released a sigh. “Go on. It will take more than a shower to rid your body of our scent. Besides, you submitted like a good girl. You’ve earned your rest.”
* * *
Bright and early the following morning Alex sent a telepathic ping to Soko.
The Shadow City leader responded a few minutes later and Alex asked if he would send Carlos to the underground passageway nearest to the lupine village.
Soko told Alex that he could come to Shadow City if he wished to speak with Carlos, but Carlos had better things to do than running ‘topside’ whenever Alex called.
The occupants of Shadow City were the fastest hybrids on the planet, which was the reason for Alex’s suggestion.
Soko enjoyed being difficult and everyone knew it.
At times Alex was amused by Soko’s contrariness. This was just not one of those times.
Left with no other option, Alex loaded up a datasheet with the pertinent information.
He quickly folded the device and slipped it into his back pocket.
Luna was sound asleep in the arms of his beta, but this was too important to delay.
He slipped from the cabin and hiked down to Shadow City.
Security was notified each time Alex scanned open a security gate, so he wasn’t surprised when Carlos was waiting on the walkway overlooking the city.
“Thanks for seeing me,” Alex greeted. “I have a project I hope will interest you.”
“Does this concern the alliance?” Carlos stared at him with intense silver eyes.
Alex had never seen him in animal form, but the rumor mill put him on team feline.
In human form, Carlos had silky dark hair and angular features, but there was something in his eyes that appeared catlike.
Besides, Alex had disliked him the first time they met, which further indicated his feline nature.
“Exotics and wolves are facing a similar complication,” he began. Only for Luna would Alex play nicely with a cat. “We’re failing to trigger bonding fever naturally.”
“Soko said you have someone working on the problem.” Despite the indifference in Carlos’ tone, intense interest gleamed in his silver eyes.
“Luna is making progress, but she’s a geneticist, not a doctor. We would both feel more comfortable if you would agree to assess her conclusions and supervise patient care.”
“She’s human, I take it.” Disdain made each syllable brittle, and human sounded like a disease.
“She had a front row seat at Nuevo Biotech, so she knows the process like the back of her hand.”
“Then how the fuck can you trust her?” Carlos sneered, his gaze flashing with open hostility.
“We’re in the process of claiming her,” Alex admitted, seeing no benefit to withholding the information.
Carlos studied him silently for a moment, then his features formed an expressionless mask. “I’m not leaving Shadow City,” he insisted. “Are you going to trot all the females down to me?”
Alex inhaled slowly and kept his hands from balling into fists.
Instinct urged him to challenge the cat and establish dominance over the situation.
Carlos clearly disliked him as much as Alex disliked the cat.
But they needed each other. So logic won out and Alex kept his tone civil.
“I was thinking of something more technological.” He pulled the datasheet out of his pocket and unfolded the device.
“This has all the information to date. We’ll upload any progress, so all you have to do is analyze the findings.
When, and if, a physical examination is necessary, we’ll bring the patient to you. ”
Another tense pause followed and then Carlos shrugged.
“Our program will doubtlessly be patterned after yours, so it makes sense to ensure your success.” He looked at the datasheet, but didn’t take it from Alex’s outstretched hand.
“I’ll send a runner up with one of ours.
This sort of collaboration is impossible without interactive communication. ”
“All right.” Alex folded up his datasheet and slipped it back into his pocket. “Have you guys reestablished off-world communications?” He hadn’t realized they had datasheets that could do more than send email.
“Not yet, but we’re close,” Carlos admitted with a grin. “The power of Shadow City is that we’re all different. All the other villages are limited by your similarity.”
Not willing to start a fight over something so irrelevant, Alex just nodded and turned to go.
“Aren’t you going to ask about my fee?”
Alex paused for another deep breath before he turned around. “I presumed I’d be paying you in females.”
“You’re paying Soko in females. I’m talking about my fee.”
Alex imagined pummeling the arrogant cat to a bloody pulp as he struggled for composure. “What’s your fee?”
“You will owe me one favor payable in full whenever I ask.”
“I don’t make open-ended promises.”
“Then find another doctor.” He turned around and started to walk away.
“I won’t murder for you,” Alex insisted.
Carlos looked over his shoulder. “I’m insulted.” He pivoted on the ball of his foot and faced Alex again. “I don’t honestly know what I’ll ask of you, but I’ll offer this compromise. I will only ask you to kill for me if we both agree that the person deserves to die.”
Alex was no stranger to bloodshed, so he released a sigh and said, “Agreed.”
“You agree to the condition, or you agree to the boon?” Carlos persisted.
“I owe you one favor as your fee for supervising a program that is in your best interest anyway,” he grumbled.
Carlos had the audacity to laugh. “I’m glad we understand each other. Expect the runner within the hour.”
Alex shook his head and started up the tunnels toward home. He was about halfway when the runner caught up to him.
“Are you Alex?” the young male asked, panting softly.
“Yes. Did Carlos send you?”
The runner nodded and handed him a folded-up datasheet. It looked identical to the one in Alex’s pocket, but apparently the occupants of Shadow City had made upgrades to this one. “Thanks.”
The runner waved as he turned and headed back down.
Luna was in the lab by the time Alex returned to the lupine village. She looked up as he entered and offered him a distracted smile. She was deep in conversation with Evelyn. Alex hated to interrupt, but this task had already taken more than half of his day.
“You now have a doctor on your team,” he told them as their conversation lagged. He handed Luna the datasheet. “This came from Shadow City, so don’t get it mixed in with ours. That one is capable of interactive communications.”
“I’ll be able to have live conversations with Carlos?” Luna asked, clearly excited by the possibility. “I thought we’d be stuck with email.”
“According to him, you’ll be able to videoconference.”
“That’s wonderful.” She rocked onto her toes and kissed him. “Thank you. This will really help.”
Pleased by her open affection, he smiled. “My pleasure. I’ll leave you to it.”
He left the lab feeling buoyant and satisfied. He’d moved his village one step closer to being able to easily claim mates and made his own mate happy in the process. His thigh muscles might be protesting the vigorous climb, but the effort was well worth it.
Next, Alex went to the stockade to see if Nate had any luck extracting information out of the feline guard. When Alex approached, Nate and Paul stood outside the converted cabin deep in conversation. “Are you two taking a break?”
“That’s not a guard,” Nate grumbled. “He’s a fucking statue.”
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Paul agreed. “He hasn’t said a word, hasn’t made a sound. Shit, his expression hasn’t changed. It’s like he goes into some sort of trance.”
“How did you try to motivate him?” Alex was confused by the development. He frequently left interrogations to Nate because the beta tried a variety of techniques, and his success rate was much higher than Alex’s. Alex only knew one way to extract information—beat it out of the reluctant source.
“We tried everything,” Nate admitted, shaking his head. “And I do mean everything. I don’t know who the hell he is, but he’s no simple guard.”
Alex hated complications. He heaved open the cabin’s door and walked inside.
The three bedrooms had been converted into holding cells, so the cat was visible as soon as Alex entered the cabin.
Even sitting down, the male was huge. His lip was swollen and bruises were forming on his face.
Still, all things considered, he didn’t look that bad.
He had longish mahogany hair and green eyes.
He was too composed to be a guard, but Alex didn’t know him.
“I sent a team of betas out to snatch a guard,” he said without introductions. “You’re clearly no random guard, so who the fuck are you?”