Kamryn writhed, twisting her wrists behind her back, though she knew there was no point trying to get free. The Ruairi had taken more than enough precautions to assure she wasn't going anywhere. The initial fear and confusion she'd experienced upon waking on the air ship melted into one emotion she'd never felt with such intensity: rage. The anger drove her to continue fighting with the restraints, despite knowing the effort was useless.
The young woman huddled in the corner of a small cabins, with a Ruairi guard stationed right by the open door. The alien took great pains to ignore her, but it didn't stop Kamryn from railing at him.
"I want to see Achaz!" she insisted. "I'm not going to shut up until I do!"
The Ruairi muttered something under his breath, but it didn't seem she was any closer to moving him.
"Go get him! He can't be doing anything important! Achaz has to be tired from scheming over all the betrayal. Doesn't that wear a person out?"
Lajos shook his head. "I do not decide when you see him, human."
"Now I'm just human," she said bitterly. "Only merchandise to use however you see fit. Tell me something, Ruairi, how do you live with yourself? You pretended to be some kind of saviors for the turtles, and you acted like you were allies with the elohim, but you proved to be nothing but wicked."
Lajos looked away from her.
"You don't have any answer? I find that interesting. Surely you've rationalized it somehow, given yourselves excuses so you don't have to feel as bad. I want to hear them. I want to know exactly how Achaz talked you into being back-stabbing, heartless murderers and traitors."
"That will do, Kamryn."
The young woman heard Achaz before she saw him, and mustered all of the courage being fed by her anger. "Have I said something to hurt your feelings?" she asked sarcastically. "I wouldn't want to offend one of the kidnappers who probably means to kill me as soon as he's has what he wants."
Achaz strode into the room, motioning for Lajos to leave. His gold-rimmed eyes peered down at her coldly, but she saw the irritation he wasn't capable of hiding. Kamryn's heart skipped as the Ruairi caught her by the collar to drag her off the floor, and then deposited the young woman onto a small beds.
"Are we going to have a discussion like rational people?" he asked.
"That depends. How does killing your allies and drugging your friends fall into rational behavior?"
"You cannot imagine the weight of the burden I carry for my people," Achaz told her tersely. "Month after month, day after day we are losing more of them. Can you even try to see things from my perspective?"
"Your perspective is screwed up. No well-meaning person would do what you've done in the last twelve hours."
"They might, if it was the only hope for saving their people."
Kamryn shook her head. "I recall a certain turtle who was given the opportunity to kill a captive in order to preserve his own life, and he refused to do it."
"I am not concerned with saving myself, Kamryn. If I could trade my own life for the Ruairi, I would do it at once. It is not that simple."
"But you're willing to trade my life for them, aren't you?"
"We wish you no harm, Kamryn. If we could help you, we would. Our technology is not that advanced. In the meantime, you possess a key that could possibly turn our lives around. I did not want to take it from you forcefully, but your protector would not give us a reasonable chance."
"Are you talking about Donatello? Don't act like this is his fault. You're in the wrong here. You're the traitor, who's willing to sacrifice everyone else for the sake of possibilities. Just what do you think you're going to get from me?"
"Did Yasir tell you anything about the infusions you received, Kamryn?"
"He likes to talk and I was a captive audience," she replied. "Much like I am now."
"I am sorry for that, Kamryn, but you reacted far too violently for me to consider releasing you."
"I wonder how you'd react if someone kidnapped you. But what were you going to say about Yasir?"
"Did he tell you about the autoantibodies?"
She remembered the term, but shrugged as if she didn't. It's not my job to fill in the blanks for him.
"Autoantibodies are nothing more than proteins that are specifically manufactured by our immune system to attack other dangerous proteins in the body," he told her. "The problem is that they cannot always tell the difference between the actual threat and healthy tissue and organs. Sometimes they damage or even destroy the body they were created to protect.
"The reactions you suffer in response to your foreign DNA sound very similar to something we experience on a different scale. But while your autoantibodies can kill you quickly, ours have chosen a slower route, forcing us to fall one by one under the ravages of time. They do not attack the organs or proteins necessary to sustain our lives, but just the same, there is no future hope for us because of them.
"The proteins have decimated the hormones and uteruses of our females. It makes it impossible for the women to conceive. That is the reason our race is dying out, and why we are desperate for the answers that only the Overlords can provide. They created this problem with their meddling of our DNA, but they refused to do anything about it. We were only test subjects to them too.
"You have undergone several infusions of cells they use to temporarily override the autoantibodies. Through our allies, we learned something of the process. The Overlords cannot prevent the autoantibodies from reproducing and causing more problems, but they can stop the existing proteins in their tracks. At this particular moment, your bloodstream is alive with T-cells which could change our own outcome."
Kamryn stared at him silently for a few seconds. "You're out of your mind," she said finally. "How are my lonesome T-cells supposed to save all of you?"
"They will not do the job alone, Kamryn. But if they can be reproduced many times over? It could mean a future for the Ruairi."
"You don't have the elohim's technology, but you think you can replicate their work? How does that seem feasible to you?"
"We are not completely without resources or our own miracle worker, so to speak. We have faith that our Elder may be able to reconnect the gaps left in our DNA by the destruction of proteins."
"Oh, I get it." Kamryn's cat-eyes narrowed. "You needed your Elder. He's your specialist. That's why you were willing to go to the trouble of getting him back. And what were the turtles? Some distraction to divert attention if things went badly in Arcadia?"
"Despite what you may think, I did not want to hurt anyone. It is left to me to make difficult decisions for the survival of my people. The terrapins are strong and determined. They will find a way to take care of themselves."
"You just abandoned them in the wilderness! Where are they supposed to go from there?"
"We did not leave them without resources, and there is plenty of ground water."
"Have you really convinced yourself that you did the right thing?"
"I did what I had to. I am sorry you did not get to say goodbye to the terrapin, but he is in love with another human."
His veiled accusation was so infuriating that Kamryn felt her cheeks flush and she didn't think twice about spitting at him.
The Ruairi drew back from her with a disgusted look. "I do not see why he has this power over you."
"You see nothing," she said sharply. "Everyone else in beneath you, so how can I expect you to realize what amazing people the turtles are? If you did, you never would have left them. You wouldn't let them out of your sight."
"They are loyal and powerful warriors—"
"They're much more than that, but you'll never choose to acknowledge it."
"I did not bring them here! It is not my responsibility to—" The alien cut short when the smooth motion of the craft was interrupted by a very sudden dip in altitude.
Kamryn couldn't keep her balance and hit the floor on her side as the Ruairi stumbled too.
"By El," he grumbled as he steadied himself and turned toward the door. Achaz had hardly entered the hallway before Kamryn heard the sound of pounding feet approaching.
"What is the meaning of this, Rashan? Who gave the authority to land?" Achaz demanded.
"Sir, we are not in control of the ship! We are surrounded by Interceptors, and they are forcing us to land! We are locked out of the controls. We cannot do anything!"
"How could they track us down?" Achaz was in disbelief. "Do you still have the ability to contact the other ships?"
"With the use of the link, we do, Sir."
"Tell them to make haste and flee. We are not letting them get their hands on the Elder again. We must prepare for a fight…" Achaz's voice faded while the hatch suddenly closed behind him.
Kamryn's heart beat furiously in her chest. Overlords, here? Normally that wouldn't be good news, but then, they can keep me alive. As the air ship sank toward the earth her mind continued to race, and she was startled by the direction it was going. I never thought I'd be happy to hear the elohim had discovered us, but given my past experience with them, I think they can be manipulated.
Even as their slave, I could eventually find another opportunity to escape. The anger that had been fueling her senses for hours had another unforeseen side effect – she'd discovered how badly she wanted to live, if only for the dream of being free. I can be convincing. I can be subservient – I've done it my whole life. Ezra did it for over thirty years; surely I can hold out too.
Her breathing quickened when the ship lightly touched down, and she heard raised voices through the walls of the cabin. Kamryn stayed where she was on the floor, biding her time and working up the necessary emotion to pull off her ruse.
The sound of laser fire was interrupted by a miniature explosion, and she felt the floor quake beneath her. The Overlords must be boarding the ship. Please don't kill me on sight. Please don't kill me on sight. She forced her breathing to even out so she could listen. There was only shocked stillness now, signifying one side had quickly overcome the other.
Praying she was doing the right thing, she took a deep breath. "Help! Somebody! Help me!" Three times Kamryn raised her voice, tensing while she waited for a response.
The young woman trembled as the hatch opened once more, this time to reveal a tall shadowy figure who had to be elohim. On cue, she burst into tears. "Help me! Oh, please help me! They took me away and they're going to kill me!"
The alien came forward, dark blue eyes widening. "What have we here?"
"I'm a slave, number 255! The Ruairi kidnapped me! Please get me out – keep them away from me!" Kamryn sobbed, surprised by the amount of emotion she'd managed to conjure.
"255…" he said thoughtfully. "I remember hearing something of you. If you are who I think you are, Yasir will be pleased."
"Is he here?" She tried to sound happy.
"He is quite close by." Swiftly the elohim knelt and examined the restraints binding her wrists. Without a word he drew a small blade and ordered her to be still.
Kamryn bit her lip while the Overlord freed her, and picked her up as if she was a child. The elohim carried her out of the room, and when he entered the main portion of the air ship, the young woman saw the figure of the Doctor.
"No sign of the terrapins?" Yasir asked.
"No, Doctor, at least not on this ship. I did find someone else you may be happy to see," her elohim replied.
Kamryn sniffed but allowed tears to continue falling as Yasir gave her an appraising glance.
"Well, 255, this is a surprise."
"It was the Ruairi." She choked. "They took me from Arcadia. They wanted my T-cells."
Yasir glanced to her right, and Kamryn saw the formidable form of Barak pinning Achaz to the floor. "You worthless scum," he said derisively. "As if taking samples from my work would make any difference for your pathetic race?"
The Doctor turned back to Kamryn. "Tell me, 255, what of the terrapins? Were they on one of the other ships?"
"No," she answered honestly, though the truth ended there. "They're gone. They disappeared the morning after the group left Arcadia. The terrapins didn't trust the elohim or the Ruairi…or even me. I don't know where they might have gone. They left me behind without a second thought, so I can't say I care what happens to them."
"Friends can be fickle, hm?" Yasir smiled, and then looked at Barak. "Do pick the insect up, Barak."
"She speaks truth," Achaz rasped. "The terrapins left us. They did not want our help. We never—"
Barak yanked the Ruairi's head backwards with a mighty jerk. "You will speak only when spoken to, Ruairi filth."
It was only then that Kamryn glimpsed how badly Achaz's forehead was bleeding.
"Well said, Barak. Questions can wait until our guests are more comfortable," Yasir asserted. The Overlord leaned closer to Kamryn. "Are you hurt? Did they do anything to you?"
She shook her head. "Only tested my blood, but they were going to do worse."
"You can be sure of that, little one. You may not enjoy all of our experiences, but it was always my goal to preserve you. You cannot say that for the Ruairi, can you?"
"No- they're monsters," she murmured.
Yasir nodded somberly, and looked at the elohim who was still holding her. "Look after 255, and see that she is transported to Central."
As her new "guardian" took her off the ship, Kamryn's mind was reeling. Achaz played along. He could have told Yasir exactly where the turtles were. I don't know how much the Ruairi can be trusted to keep their mouths shut. I hope they can be as stubborn with this secret as they are to survive.
