The Clone’s Mate by Susan Trombley

Twenty-One

The giant scorpion fighting Subject 34 took up most of his attention, which meant I had to leapt to the next cage to avoid the second one that crawled towards us.

I didn’t want to disturb 34 during a deadly battle that I felt almost certain he would win easily, yet a bit of doubt was enough to scare me. I skirted the edge of the clear cage, now empty, though smears on it showed that it had been recently occupied. The second monster scorpion tested the sides of the outer cage walls to see if it could scale them, and at first, I figured I might be safe because its legs didn’t seem to gain any purchase on the slippery surface, but then it managed to pull itself upwards, tail lifting towards me.

“Oh shit,” I cried out, wishing I had something like a ginormous tennis shoe to smash it with. Although that shoe would have to be the size of an SUV to do much damage to the thing.

Subject 34 had to catch the thing’s stinger in one of his pincers while fighting off the pincers of the other scorpion, both his stingers slamming home in its cluster of eyes.

Don’t think I didn’t note the resemblance between that eye cluster and the little eyes on 34’s head. I’d already made the connection weeks ago. I could guess that Subject 34 was fighting his own kind at this moment. Maybe even his own clones. Sadly, these more insectoid versions of him were not so inclined to like me as he was. Fortunately, they weren’t nearly as agile as he was.

Unfortunately, they were a hell of a lot more agile and faster than I was.

Subject 34 found himself hard pressed, even with four arms and two stingers to hold off both of them, and one of them seemed to decide I was a much better—as in easier—target. It managed to break away from 34, losing the tip of its stinger in the process, and come after me again.

Tail splattering venom from the hole where its stinger had been, it skittered towards me so fast that I could barely get away from it even with a head start. I hopped up on the stack of cages like Q*bert, screaming the whole way.

A pincer caught my foot, causing me to cry out in pain. Then the creature shrieked as a blast from some kind of weapon struck it in the eye cluster. It released my ankle and shied away as another blast came from behind me. I spared a glance over my shoulder, spotted a naked and flaccid green penis at eye level to me, and quickly turned back to face the scorpion as Ilyan blasted it a few more times with a weapon that looked like it had been yanked right off the body of one of the security mechs.

“I owe you one,” I said breathlessly as the scorpion shrieked in a final death knell, its body curling inwards as it toppled off the cage stack.

Apparently, the mechs did have lethal ammunition. They just hadn’t been using it on Thirty-four. Thank god they were idiots!

“Consider this my repayment for opening my cage,” he said in cultured voice that was at odds with his nudity and ragged appearance.

“Gotcha,” I replied, holding up a hand to block my eyes as I nodded, not wanting to gawk at the man’s junk when he stepped up to the edge of the cage we were on and looked over it at the fallen scorpion below.

Then Subject 34 leapt onto the cage, his pincers catching Ilyan up and jerking him off his feet.

“No!” I cried, jumping up to insinuate myself between Ilyan and 34. “He just saved my ass!”

Ilyan already sagged in 34’s grip, the weapon slipping from his hands, and I realized that 34 had stung him. I shook Ilyan’s arm, yelling in panic at Subject 34. “Don’t kill him, damnit! He saved me!”

Subject 34 stung Ilyan a second time, and the Iriduan jerked in his grip, his green eyes suddenly popping open as he sucked in a gasp. His faced twisted with agony, his body arching in Subject 34’s hold. His voice came out choked, his lungs rasping as he drew in desperate breaths.

“Thirty-four, what did you do to him?” I demanded, shooting a glare at my lover.

“Kill,” he said. “Revive.”

I returned my attention to Ilyan, sighing in relief as his body seemed to relax somewhat, though his face still crumpled in pain. “Is he gonna be okay now?”

“Alive now.”

Thirty-four still hadn’t mastered the nonchalant tone, but I got the gist of his mood as he tossed Ilyan’s unresisting form over his shoulder, holding him around the waist with his upper arm as he caught me with the lower arm on the other side of his body.

The Iriduan seemed to be unconscious, which I think he’d be grateful for at this point. His wings curled against his narrow back, shriveled up until they barely resembled wings at all. I hoped there was a way we could heal them, then shook my head mentally at my concern for him.

The guy was seriously sick in the head, and neither me nor Subject 34 were qualified to help him. We were in the process of helping a very dangerous alien escape this prison. Yet, I couldn’t accept telling 34 to dump Ilyan back in one of the cells and leave him behind as we made our way of the cage stacks and down to the paths below.

Maybe it was better that we kept an eye on him. Subject 34 could kill him quickly if he switched from scientist to murderer while around us. After all, he’d apparently already killed him once. The ability my monstrous lover possessed to produce lethal venom—and an antidote—at will was something else. Perhaps, in helping Subject 34 escape, I’d already released something even more dangerous than poor, broken Ilyan.

Still, I felt not an ounce of guilt about it. Subject 34 was mine, and I would never leave him behind. Not even if I’d been granted the chance to stroll out of here without him by the Iriduans themselves. I would always fight to have him with me.

I felt bizarrely protective of Ilyan too, despite never having actually spoken to him. He’d kept me company in our odd charades fashion during the weeks of time I’d spent in the clear cages. His story made me sad for him, and I’d always been a sucker for a sob story. He was like a little stray kitten mewing at my feet for somewhere warm and safe to stay—a cute, murder-y stray kitten… who could wield a blaster-type weapon to kill a giant scorpion to save my ass.

A stray tiger, maybe.

The crowd of escapees had broken through the barricaded doors leading out of the warehouse on both sides of the building. We could have followed many of them that escaped into what appeared to be warm sunlight. In fact, Subject 34 started heading in that direction. He paused when I asked him to, as if it didn’t even occur to him to ignore me and keep going, since there wasn’t anything I could physically do to stop him.

I loved this monster so much! The fact that he actually paid attention to me and what I wanted was so refreshing after twenty years of kowtowing to Michael’s wishes!

He stared down at me, his eyes hidden behind his outer eye lenses, his body language patient, despite the deadly chaos flowing around us. I jerked my chin towards the other door—the one leading back into the rest of the facility, where mechs poured through only to find themselves beleaguered by the creatures and captives that appeared hellbent on getting vengeance on some researchers, rather than escaping into the great outdoors.

“I want to see if we can find Nirgal,” I said, glancing at Ilyan’s unconscious form slung over Subject 34’s shoulder.

I worried that I was asking too much. Maybe I was overburdening 34 when we should be focused on escaping this place. The worst thing I could do was get him recaptured again because I was slowing him down rescuing people who probably didn’t even deserve to be rescued.

Still, I’d managed to get through to Nirgal, if Tilhur was to be believed, which meant there was still hope for him.

Subject 34 nodded, to my relief. Then he sucked all that relief out of me with his words. “Yes. Find Nirgal. Kill.”

“Uh… honey, I was thinking more along the lines of um, saving him.”

His wings buzzing was the only sign of his confusion and agitation.

I stroked his chest chitin, a hesitant smile on my lips. “I know he’s been mean to us, but he tried to do something good in the end, and I think that effort earns him a second chance. Don’t you?”

“No,” he said simply, but then he turned and headed towards the battle taking place between freed captives and outmatched mechs.

Fortunately, the captives had pushed the mechs back into the corridor beyond the warehouse entrance, so when Subject 34 charged bodily through the mass of writhing combatants, scattering both mechs and captives like bowling pins, we were able to pass through with minimal fighting on our part. Not that Subject 34 didn’t snap a mech head off and slam an overeager captive against the wall to help clear our path, but neither I nor Ilyan took any damage in the crowd before we broke through.

We weren’t the only freed captives to take advantage of the open corridor beyond the struggle. A dozen other captives raced past us, some of them flying, some spitting venom, many shrieking or growling, some yelling obscenities that translated—so much for that beeping bullshit. I guess the Iriduans had no problem translating their curses into English, they just didn’t care to do it the other way around.

Automated gun turrets fired on some of the escapees, but the winged ones managed to get ahold of them and tear them apart, allowing the rest of the ragtag rebellion to pass with only minimal casualties.

Other than those automated defenses, the corridors stood mostly empty, save for the occasional mech that the captives quickly swarmed and dispatched. More creatures raced up behind us, catching up to us as we made our way through the facility. The flashing lights and blaring klaxon of alarm added to the chaos that spilled from the warehouse into the once calm hallways of this scientific hell.

Some of the researchers tried to bar themselves behind laboratory doors locked down tight. Apparently, they didn’t take into account the strength and determination of their captives, because the mass of powerful—even if weakened by their ordeal—creatures and Iriduan test subjects broke through those doors. I flinched and turned my head away as squishy scientists screamed in a blood-curdling fashion not long after their labs were breached.

I swallowed my gorge, my eyes tearing up when I saw some of the creatures dragging out pieces of the scientists, leaving behind a smeared trail of blood as they gobbled up the gory flesh.

Subject 34 carried me along without pausing to take part in any of the door breaking. In fact, he didn’t hesitate in his rush through the corridors until Ilyan regained consciousness and started struggling on his shoulder, apparently tired of being bounced around like a sack of grain. A quick sting from Subject 34 sent him back under, and we were on our way again.

I shook my head in commiseration with the unconscious Iriduan. I’d so been there! I loved Subject 34, but he really had to learn not to sting everyone without so much as a “how do you do?”

Still, Ilyan’s struggle probably would have been a hindrance at this time, and I wasn’t confident that he would accept remaining in our company without a little time to persuade him that he was better off with us than dead. We didn’t have that time, so 34’s more expedient method had to suffice for now.

“All of these rooms look like labs,” I said to 34 as he carried me on past one door after another. “They’re probably keeping Nirgal in one of them.”

“I find,” 34 growled, passing another door without pausing, as if he knew exactly where he was going.

Maybe he did. Now wasn’t the time for explanations. Especially since he treated talking like I treated eating my vegetables. It was a necessity, but I did it as little as possible.

Finally, he paused at a door that had yet to be broken down by the mob of freed subjects now starting to crowd the corridor. Subject 34 set me on my feet and then unceremoniously dumped Ilyan onto the tiled floor with a thud that had me wincing. I rushed to prop the unconscious Iriduan up against the wall, wincing at the smell coming off him. The poor guy hadn’t been bathed properly in who knew how long, and it was obvious in the odor coming from him as well as the matted hair and dull green skin. His slender body had barely any muscle tone, and his cheeks were gaunt, though he still possessed the strong, perfect jaw of a Hollywood actor in his prime. The alien would be very attractive if he wasn’t an absolute mess.

I pushed that idle thought away. Okay, it wasn’t entirely idle. I reminded myself that I wasn’t attracted to the insane alien who was in dire straits, even if he did save my ass recently. I already had an alien I was in love with, and this girl didn’t get greedy when she’d already been so blessed.

Subject 34 used all four of his limbs to smash at the door, and the power behind his blows would be terrifying if he weren’t on my side. The door panel shuddered beneath the strength of his strikes, vibrating in its track. Still, it held after a half dozen hits, and I began to fear we wouldn’t get it open, despite the deep dents Subject 34 left in it. Then several Iriduan males joined us at the door. Not all of them were emaciated, and they added their own kicks and punches to the metal panel. Finally, with a great squealing sound of tormented metal, the door buckled in its frame, breaking the seal and leaving a hole where Subject 34 could grip it and yank it out of its track with a mighty heave.

“That was so hot!” I said aloud, then blushed when some of the naked Iriduans glanced in my direction.

I turned my burning face away from them, watching 34 toss the door panel aside like it weighed nothing. Then he shoved them out of the way as they crowded the now open doorway like they hesitated to charge inside. It seemed strange that they would pause here, when so many of them had rushed into the other rooms in search of scientists to kill.

I could tell they feared this room just by their body language. I didn’t need to hear their soft whimpers as they shied away from entering it, their wings tucked and their bodies curling in on themselves as if regretting even opening that gateway to what was probably their version of hell.

“Ronda not look,” Subject 34 said from just inside the room, his body blocking my view. “34 get Nirgal.”

I gulped, keeping my eyes turned away from the interior. It had to be bad if 34 was warning me not to peek. It had to be really awful. The kind of thing he’d know I hated, just like I hated the gory chunks of meat he’d once offered me.

I waited with my heart pounding, wondering if Nirgal was even still alive. I also kind of feared that 34 would kill him but pushed that worry aside. He knew I wanted to save Nirgal, and he’d always been on my side before, so there wasn’t a reason to assume he’d go against what I wanted in this one thing.

Except that he hated Nirgal as much as I once had. Maybe even more so. Nirgal had been his creator and his tormentor for even longer than he’d had me as his captive.

Some of the Iriduans clustering around the open doorway finally entered it, their chins lifted with determination. The others watched from the hall as the Iriduans within began destroying things. I didn’t hear the screams of any scientists, and given the expressions on the faces of these freed captives, there would definitely be screams if they’d found any of them hiding in there.

Then Subject 34 appeared at the door again, carrying something that I glanced at only once before turning away to vomit what little remained in my stomach from the last time 34 had “fed” me.

I hated blood and gore, but it was so much worse when it was all that remained of someone you kind of knew, even if you didn’t like them. I wasn’t the kind of person to want to get back at someone by doing worse to them than what they’d done to me. Nirgal had held me captive, scared the hell out of me on numerous occasions, treated me like an animal, and made me miserable.

But he hadn’t left me in the state he was now in.

“Is he alive?” I asked, keeping my head turned as my gorge remained in my throat.

“Is. Barely. Kill Nirgal more merciful.”

Tears filled my eyes as I nodded slowly. Subject 34 was right. Given what little I’d seen of the blood-soaked naked body of my captor, a quick death would be the kindest fate for him.

“So 34 let live.”

I blinked in surprise, glancing at 34 again, then quickly away as my stomach threatened to rebel again. “You want to let him live now?”

“He suffers.”

Okay, my lover had a vindictive streak. I supposed that shouldn’t entirely surprise me. I wondered guiltily if he’d actually gotten it from me. He’d seemed far more pragmatic and unemotional when he’d first encountered me than he did now.

Just in case, I made it clear where I stood. “I don’t want to make anyone suffer, 34. I don’t hate Nirgal anymore.”

“Ronda want Nirgal. 34 keep him alive.”

“I don’t want him!” I crossed my arms over my chest, eyeing the Iriduans now coming back out of the horror room, some of them also burdened by other, tormented Iriduans, most unconscious, though one of them moaned in agony as the Iriduan carrying him passed us. “I just didn’t want him to have to stay here and be tortured!” I held up a hand, still avoiding looking directly at Subject 34’s burden. “Don’t get my interest in him wrong, 34. I love you, not him. He still pisses me off.”

“We should get out of here,” a weak voice said, causing me to glance over at Ilyan, who had apparently regained consciousness as he lay propped against the wall. His eyelids hung low over his eyes, which looked lucid and not ice cold, much to my relief. He was still out of it, based on the way his voice slurred, but he seemed to be aware enough of what was going on around him to understand the danger we were still in.

“They will purge the facility,” he mumbled, his head falling forward when he tried to move it.

“Purge?” That didn’t sound good. That sounded like dropping a nuke on a zombie outbreak kind of bad. “With bombs?”

Ilyan made a muffled sound that I think was supposed to be a yes, then slumped down until his body lay in a heap against the smooth wall.

I glanced at Subject 34, my gaze skimming over Nirgal’s unconscious and bloody body. “They’re gonna blow this place! We gotta get out of here!”