Chapter 172: Phase Two
Au’dtair bit his tongue hard enough to bleed. The tangy taste of his own blood inside his mouth forced him out of his thoughts and back onto the woman on the table. He crouched down beside her, holding her hand while the Sisalik scurried around the table.
She squeezed his hand as if he was the one who needed support and not the other way around. He had no idea what was taking Ye’tab so long to complete his part of the plan, but the longer it took him, the more their mate would be at the mercy of these... beings.
"We now have our baseline reading," said one of the scientists coming over to the commander. Mei Xing let out a snort of laughter, her body shaking like crazy.
"If you think this is my baseline, you are crazy," she said between fits of giggles. "Or maybe that was the issue that the others had, thinking that this was my normal state? Sure. Let’s go with that. Sorry to interrupt, please continue."
Au’dtair shook his head and tried to hold back a chuckle of his own. Whoever said that human females were weak and helpless knew shit about them.
"This is the song that never ends...." A humming sound came from Mei Xing as she started singing. The words themselves didn’t make sense. How could there be a song that never ends? "It keeps going on and on, my friend. Some people started singing it, not knowing what it was, and they’ll continue singing forever just because—"
"Is there no way to get her to be quiet?" shouted the commander as his mate turned her head and smiled at him.
"No need to be such a sour puss. It’ll be in your head in no time. Then you can sing it with me because –" she laughed. However, even though she seemed to be laughing, Au’dtair could feel her hand clamp down even harder on his, the fingers on her hand turning white.
Not knowing what to do to make it better, he started rubbing his thumb over her knuckles, trying to calm her down. "Heart rate has risen to a dangerous level," came the monitor in his helmet. He had programmed it to keep an eye on Mei Xing’s vitals since she was knocked down by the zmaj.
"Heart rate continues to increase; oxygen levels have lowered to 85% absorption rate. Recommend initiating armor to increase oxygen levels to 100%. Heart rate should lower as a result." Au’dtair started to panic, listening to the stats.
Looking down at the female, she looked completely fine. Her color was normal; she didn’t seem to be struggling to breathe, nothing. But inside, it was completely different.
"I can handle pain," she said again out of the blue as if she knew what he was thinking. "Heavy is the crown," she started to sing, her head bobbing to the music. She seemed to need music when she was in stressful situations; maybe this was how her species coped with them.
He would look into it and have music playing on her ship if it would help her.
Her head continued to move to music only she could head; her foot, still tied to the table, seemed to be moving according to a beat, too. "Heart rate is becoming steady," came his helmet, and Au’dtair watched as she seemed to get lost in whatever it was that she was thinking. "Breathing has evened out; oxygen absorption has risen to 92%. Recommendation is to continue with the relaxation until oxygen level increases further."
Mei Xing turned her head to look at the Njeriuujk, still pinned to the wall.
"Heart rate now within acceptable range." Au’dtair was startled when the voice of his program came again. Did looking at the Njeriuujk offer her comfort? He crouched down beside her head again, letting his tusks gently click a second time. She seemed to need reassurance that they were there for her and he would give her whatever she needed.
"Oxygen levels at 99%. Crisis adverted."
Taking in a deep breath of his own, he quickly contacted Ye’tab. "Is phase one done?" he demanded, not giving the other male a chance to speak.
"Didn’t Jun Li notify you?" asked Ye’tab, confused. "I thought that he had access to all of us."
"He does not," growled Au’dtair as he watched one of the scientists approach with a laser pen. His mate must not be aware of what it was because she was continuing to hum and occasionally shoot out insults to the commander and the other scientists.
"Heart rate increasing. Signs of heart attack are present."
"Is phase one done?!?" demanded Au’dtair. Neither he nor Midnight could rescue her until phase one, whatever that was, was done.
"Phase one is done," came the reply from the AI over the medical room speakers. "Commencing phase two in 3...2..."
The Sisalik were looking up, not understanding what was going on. Au’dtair, not willing to take any chances, ripped the metal bracket holding her down and brought her hand up to her neck to activate the armor. He didn’t know if she was aware of what was going on or if the drugs in her system were too much for her to handle. Either way, she lay still as the nanos poured over her body and under the restraints.
"What the—" said one of the guards before his head was ripped off by a very upset Njeriuujk. Au’dtair, unwilling to let him have all the fun, removed his camouflage just in time for the scientist, whose heart he held in his hand, to see who had killed him.
"We are under attack!" screamed the Commander, looking at Au’dtair with a mixture of terror and surprise.
"Are we collecting hearts?" asked Midnight as he came up beside the Saalistaja. Looking at the beating heart in the other male’s hand, he wondered if he, too, should have offered up some appendage or organ for his mate.
"Just him," said Au’dtair, nodding his head to the lizard at his feet, a hole in his chest. "He wanted to dissect her."
Midnight grunted before leaping up and over the table and toward the door where the smaller of the guards was trying to escape. "If that is the case, then this is the one who drugged her on the shuttle," he said as he ripped the head off of the male. The body fell to the floor in an unimpressive lump.
Au’dtair grunted and dropped the heart onto the table before leaping across his mate to the commander. "I’ll take his skull. He was the one that set the trap in the first place."
"I say we start a room, like your kill room," grunted Midnight, walking over to their mate. "Only this one will have the body parts of her enemies."
Au’dtair smiled at the commander. "I agree," he said just as he lunged forward, grabbing the Sisalik’s head in both hands. It took a bit of effort, the Njeriuujk making it look much easier than it was, but he managed to twist the head off.
"As romantic as your gestures are..." came the weak voice of their female. "I would appreciate it if someone could get me off of this table."
Midnight spun around and looked at the armor-clad body of his mate.
"You might want to stay strapped down," suggested Jun Li, once again coming over the speakers.
"Ah, that’s right. You never got to 1," joked Mei Xing. "Fine. But once you are done, I want to go home."
"Done," chuckled Jun Li. "One."
All of a sudden, the lights went out.
Au’dtair and Midnight, two species who could see in the dark, went over to Mei Xing, blocking her table between the two of them.
"Midnight, get that PBD on. If anything happens to you, I am really not going to be happy. I suggest everyone hold on. I didn’t like this the first time it happened, and I don’t think I am going to like it this time any better." Mei Xing let out a sigh as alarms started blaring inside the medical room.
"Jun Li shut those off. There is no point in giving them a warning," she growled, sounding more like a Njeriuujk than a human.
"They are only going off in the medical room and the hanger bay," answered Jun Li, and Midnight quickly understood why. He was giving Mei Xing’s males a chance to prepare themselves for phase two.
"Thanks for that," said Mei Xing.
"All good," replied the AI. "And just to let you know... I am going to trust you completely."
"You didn’t before?" responded Mei Xing, and Midnight could hear the confusion in her voice.
"Not with everything."
"That’s fine," came her immediate response. "Only idiots trust everyone from the beginning. Nice to know you don’t fall under that category."
Jun Li let out a bark of laughter just as banging could be heard outside of the door.
"If you are right, then this might change everything."
"I am always right," laughed Mei Xing, completely ignoring the repeated attempts of someone trying to get into the room. Au’dtair and Midnight refused to leave their mate to see what was going on. Whatever phase two involved, it was clearly happening now.
"So I am learning."
