Possessing Providence [Warriors Of Kelon Book 6] (2 page)

“It’s not working with the drugs in his system. Every time we extract samples, we can’t separate the drug compound from his blood. We need him awake, alert and drug free. Damn these lights…the back-up battery is failing. Someone find out when the power will be restored. Now!”

Zelron recognized the voice of his regular tormentor. The human called himself Dr. Martin.

“I got word the electrician has arrived and is working on the problem, but you know what happens when the subject is drug free. Remember how he broke the last set of table restraints?” Martin’s partner, Dr. Forrester, said. “We need something to keep him compliant without the use of drugs, some kind of leverage.”

“He has nothing. Even the promise of sending him back home hasn’t swayed him to cooperate. It’s been nine months and still he attacks us every chance he gets. He’s so fucked up, I doubt his own kind would want him back, if they knew we had him, but the compound in his blood is too valuable to ignore. All tests have proved positive but, like I said, we need to get it without drugging him.”

“What about getting him a companion? It’s clear he hates the other subjects. I hear Kelons are rather fond of fat women.”

The pair chuckled. “From the newspaper reports, only tall, fat women can keep up with their advanced libido.”

“Now, there’s an idea—we haven’t taken any semen samples yet. I would like to analyse the genetic proprieties and how they can be applied, as well.”

“Agreed. The more we can take from him the better, but still it comes back to how.”

“I’ll think on the issue. I wonder if the genetic blend of this alien and human would produce a better serum or dilute it?”

“It’s a possibility we shouldn’t ignore. From all the reports, human women are breeding compatibly with this species.”

Zelron’s limbs were still heavy, but he fought the drug in his system, growling low. He never understood the appeal of human women to other Kelon males who took them for mates, although he never met one in person and had no desire to. Females mattered little to him since an incident years ago left him horribly disfigured. There was never any chance of him attracting any kind of female to carry on his line, or would he ever touch a human woman, especially one forced on him.

“He’s waking up, we need to hurry. Call the guards to get him back to his cell before he fully awakens. No doubt, he would break our necks and those of every worker in the laboratory, if he ever got free.”

Dr. Martin spoke the truth. Nothing would stop Zelron from killing them for what they’d done to him, or to the others locked in the cells next to him. He did not care if they were Xersons—the torture the humans put them through in the name of science was unacceptable. They needed quick, clean deaths, not to endure forced experimentation, time after time.

Four guards entered his vision. Unbuckling his straps, they hauled his large bulk from the table, onto the chair with wheels. They took him back through the corridors and into the cell with bars thick enough to prevent any kind of force, other than a large explosion, from breaking him free. They dragged him in and quickly backed out as he struggled to turn over. Zelron heard the locks slide into place and growled. Weakly, he pushed himself up. Soon, the drugs would wear off and he would go back to doing what he did to help control the violent impulses riding him.

When a warrior could not train or fight, his desire turned inward. Only hard workouts helped distract his mind from their natural sexual urges. The system of self-control worked for thousands of years, along with the removal of flesh foods from the Kelon diet. This honed their race into an intelligent, space-faring people.

Zelron was far from space and far from his people, trapped in a never ending nightmare. Escape and revenge were the only things keeping his mind and body from giving in.

Chapter 2

Providence scowled, unable to find anything wrong with the circuit boards she examined, which meant the problem was deeper. Possibly the problem came from an appliance, or another part of the factory which wasn’t on the main board.

This was an old army base, so she doubted she was in the main power room. She would have to look around to find the source of the blackout.

She gripped her flashlight, heading for the door. Outside, the guard was gone. Shrugging, she headed right, down the long corridor, finding herself back in the room with the coloured doors.

“Hmm…eeeny, meeny, miney, mo? Ah, what the heck, we’ll start with red.” Walking up to the door she tried the handle. “Figures.” It was locked.

With no guard in sight, it only took her a few minutes with two pieces of flat metal to pick the lock; a skill she’d learnt from a, disreputable former friend. Things were always easy to open when you had the know-how and the right tools at your disposal.

A self-satisfied smirk curled up the corners of her lips when she pushed open the door and was greeted by a flight of stairs heading down.

Ha!
She knew there was a lower part of these old barracks.

“You’re not here to snoop, Prov, find the loose circuit, then get the hell out.”

Goose bumps rose on her skin and there was a chill in the air—something didn’t sit well with her.
Why the heck would a cosmetics and cream factory need a modern looking basement?
She couldn’t keep the thought from circling her brain.

“Suck it up, woman; get your frickken job done.” Talking to herself was a bad habit she developed after spending way too much time alone.

She sighed and carefully navigated her way down four fights of narrow stairs.

Once reaching what she figured was the main corridor, she easily spotted the electrical conduits running along the ceiling and the row of flickering, dim lights…
Hmm, they must have a back-up generator.

The lights cut out, throwing everything into darkness, apart from the beam of her high-powered flashlight. Needing to find the circuit board, she followed the seemingly endless piping, getting deeper and deeper into the facility. Two steel doors blocked her entry,
Authorized Personnel Only
stamped in bright red letters across them. From the look of the locks, they were electric, too
—not
too hard to open. She pulled out a hand-held, power pack, flipped open the lock’s control panel and attached the battery’s alligator clips to the circuits. There was a small surge of power, the panel sparked, and in the next moment, Prov smiled, hearing the click of the locks unlocking. Honestly, anyone with half a brain could break into these things. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling something wasn’t quite right.

Unhooking the battery and tucking it back into her tool apron, she grunted, pushing open the doors.

I seriously need to lose some weight and get into shape
…
well, I will, after summer
.

Mind you, this was the plan for the last few years
—
she was always more on the plump side, but who was she trying to impress? She never really had a man or even boy in her life, apart from her dad and a few guy friends. Also, work kept her busy.

Sometimes, she didn’t know why she bothered to think about things like eating healthy and doing exercise programs.
Cos you’re never gonna meet a guy looking like a fat frump.

At thirty-two, she was already considering getting a cat or two…maybe she could make it her new ambition when she retired from being a sparky to become the neighbourhood’s crazy cat lady.

Antiseptic, stale sweat and other scents she couldn’t identify hit her nose. The room reminded her more of a hospital than a…
what the heck was this place anyway?
The beam of light from her torch cut across the darkness, revealing an operating table, lights, trays and tables of instruments.

Prov swallowed. “What the heck is going on in here?” She spotted a green covered circuit box tucked in the corner against the wall.

She skirted around the large table.
No, not an operating table, more like an undertaker’s table
. A chill ran down her spine. Tearing her gaze away from the centre of the large room, she focused on the circuit box, running her fingers around the edges to find the little, flip lever which would open the cover. It popped open.

Focusing her light on the circuit board, she saw right away the telltale black smudge of a blown circuit. It took her less than a minute to cut the power, replace the blown fuse and switch it back on.

The whole room illuminated.

Prov sucked in a deep breath, knowing she would have to turn around and face what was in the room.

Slowly, she turned and her jaw dropped at the rows of needles, test tubes and a heap of other things she couldn’t identify. The gleaming silver, stainless steel table in the centre was large enough to fit more than one person.

Why would they have this here?
A growling off to her right, which came through a door she hadn’t previously hadn’t seen, made her pause.

“Prov, you’ve fixed the problem, now get out. You don’t want to go snooping any further than you need too.” But she couldn’t stop her feet from moving towards the door the growling came from.

“What if they’re testing their cosmetics on poor, defenceless animals? Could I live with myself if I never learned the truth?” She shook her head, knowing full well, she would spend endless hours awake, wondering and guessing if she didn’t investigate.

“Damn it!” Drawing in a deep breath, she knew what she had to do. Just like a Band-Aid, get it over with quickly, and then it’s less of a shock.

She marched to the door, pushed it open and went through, stumbling to a stop as her eyes widened.

“Oh, my god.”
What the hell did I find?

The whole place resembled a prison block, only the cells were arranged in a semi-circle. Three of the five cells were occupied.

The people in the cells glanced up; piercing dark eyes stared and growled low. She could see they weren’t human.
What the hell are they?

Two bear-like creatures with ugly snouts stared at her. Moving to the left, to the last cell, she saw there someone in there, a large, half-naked man. His dark tanned, muscular back rippled as he did sit-up after sit-up. A long black braid reached down to his waist.

They were keeping humans and…whatever the other things were, prisoner.
Why would a cream and cosmetics company do this? What the hell were they doing to these poor people… er, things?

Prov hurried forward to the man’s cell, noting the thickness of the bars and a double lock.
Was he dangerous or just a prisoner of the company?

“Hey.” The man paused in his repetitious workout and turned slightly. “Hey, mate, are you okay? Do you want to get out of there?”

The man rolled to his side and climbed to his feet. Prov’s gaze rose up along with him
. Crikey—he was frikken tall!
She guessed him to be almost seven feet and massively ripped. He turned fully; her gaze went from his eight-pack abs up over a god-inspired chest to his large broad shoulders. A scar ran from his right shoulder up his neck and looked old and nasty. The poor guy, what had they done to him?

Finally, she dragged her gaze up to stare at his face. Most of his face was clean-cut and chiseled, his lips full and almost feminine, but for his pure, rugged masculinity. The ugly scar across his left chin and cheek did not detract from his good looks, only enhancing them in her eyes.

His dark eyes gazed back at her, pinning her in place. She’d never seen eyes as dark as his
—even
in the dimmed lighting of this place. There was a thick kind of plating on his forehead and he looked like those she’d seen on the news reports…like one of those Kelon aliens.

Ignoring her hammering heart, she stepped closer, finding her voice. “Ah…are you a Kelon?”

She watched his chest heave as he sighed before nodding. Providence frowned. “Are you a prisoner?”

In one step, he pressed against the bars and nodded again. “This is not right, you shouldn’t be here. I heard on the news we have a peace treaty with Kelons. Why would they…oh, those fucking bastards!”

Experiments.
She realized the room behind her, with the operating table, had been set up for this purpose; it was the reason they were being kept hidden down here.

The Kelon arched a thick eyebrow, but his gaze lifted, and he growled low. A sudden prickling of her skin made her spin around. Her stomach dropped and a cold chill suddenly swamped her body.

“Oh, shit.”

“Well, well, well. It seems you are in very deep trouble, young lady. Just how did you get past security?” A man in a white lab coat stared at her, his arms folded.

She licked her dry lips. “Oh, c’mon, a toddler could get past your security. I’m the electrician you hired.”

She took a step back, her eyes darting past the man in the lab coat to the exit. Could she make it in time; would she be fast enough?

“Ah, yes. Welcome to M.A.R.C. Cosmetics, Miss Velour, and thank you for fixing the power, but I’m afraid you’ve seen a little bit too much.”

She frowned, anger sparking in her gut. “This…” She waved at the cells behind her. “Is frikken against every law I know exists. You can’t keep Kelons; we have a peace treaty with them. They saved our arse from god knows what was trying to invade our planet. You have to let him go, now.”