The Duty of Pain Read online

  He waved his hand in the air. “That doesn’t matter though, the Raiders need to be able to keep their experiments pain free without chemical interference. They want you to help torture and continue their experiments.”

  Alda was confused. “Why do you think I would want to do this?”

  Quad quirked a smile. “We don’t think you would want to, but we know they want you for this reason. They can and will seek you out and try to kidnap you. Once they bring you in, we can track you to their research facility and rescue not only you, but the other experimental talents.”

  She frowned. “How are they going to kidnap me from an armed Guard base?”

  “They won’t, but they might be able to snag you from the surrounding area.” Guardian looked at her with speculation in his eyes. “Now, how much do you like to run?”

  “Who will be chasing me?” Alda asked, completely serious.

  Quad snorted. “I will if I have to. Do you have an objection to running?”

  “As an occupation for someone with a lot of free time or who wants to increase their cardiovascular health its fine, but I am in relatively good shape considering my recent confinement. How can I run out doors when we are in an un-breathable environment?” She crossed her arms in defiance.

  Guardian nodded. “We have equipment for that. You will be assigned a standard uniform and the robes of a Citadel Novitiate. Once you return from this kidnapping, you will be given full access to the base and all of its equipment.”

  She got the idea that he knew what the timeline was. “When am I going to be kidnapped?”

  Guardian smiled, “Sometime in the next five days. Don’t worry, if you agree to this, you won’t remember a thing.”

  “So you will take my memories as well?”

  Quad shook his head. “No, we will simply lock them away. You will know that you are here to take part in the Lowel base but nothing else. Your only assignment will be to wait for the Citadel outpost to be built. Your time will be spent physically recovering from your confinement. Do you agree?”

  Alda thought about it and finally nodded. “Fine. I will do it. When does the mental blocking begin?”

  Quad reached out and took her hand. “It has already begun.”

  Wearing the experimental breather in the forests of Udell was a little nerve wracking, but by Alda’s third day running down the paths and leaping over brooks, she finally relaxed enough to put on the speed.

  It felt good to use her body again. Her arms had missed stretching, her legs had missed running. Each day, she walked to the airlock, keyed out and entered the wilderness that surrounded the base. Her earpieces blasted Olsted music while the filter over her mouth and nose provided her with breathable air.

  She grabbed a branch and swung up and over a log before continuing her run.

  Being on Udell was boring. Her life on Olsted before the duke’s court had been active, and it was a relief to be able to run free of the base. Until the Citadel outpost on Lowel was built, she didn’t have any duties, so getting back in shape was just what she needed to occupy her time.

  Alda saw a wavering in the light in front of her, so she paused.

  “She saw you Donth.”

  The voice behind her caused her to change direction and run for the thick clump of woods. Her instincts told her that there was something in front of her, so she took the option left to her, she went up.

  She heard shouts beneath her. Tree running wasn’t popular on Olsted, but then, Alda had never bothered joining in with the popular crowd. She swung, flipped and twisted through the branches, jumping, spinning and kicking off the sturdy trunks on her way back to the base.

  Alda kicked herself for not taking a transponder with her when she left the base. She was making excellent time when a harsh rumbling ran through the tree she was aiming at. The tree shattered the moment that she touched it, and her scream ripped through her ears. She fell twenty feet and landed hard on her side.

  “Well, it seems she is susceptible to illusions. Carry her, Donth, we need to go before they spot the hold we burrowed in their systems.”

  The voice was familiar, but the pain in her body was too distracting. She used her own talent to gather the pain and subdue it, but by the time her body was under control, she was strapped tightly to a medical bed in a shuttle. A mask was pressed over her face and the last thing she saw was the face of the Guardsman Quad with burning orange eyes instead of blue ones.

  The bed she was strapped to lurched, twisted and lurched again. Alda was queasy from the shifting of the ship and being unable to brace herself. She couldn’t see where she was and the battered ceiling above her was not a good indicator of things to come. It was splotched with blood.

  She heard footsteps next to her and cautiously looked up at the male staring down at her. He was eerily familiar.

  “Alda-Xeri. Congratulations, you have just been recruited as an anaesthesiologist for the Raiders. I am sure you will do well, though you are very gullible.” He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. “Pretty though.”

  She stared at him, “Quad?”

  He chuckled. “Is that what they are calling him? How peculiar. To think that you can be wrenched in two and your personality split.”

  She frowned. “Why are you telling me this?”

  He shrugged. “You aren’t going anywhere. We are landing within the hour. Once we are down, you are not going to be given the opportunity to race through the trees.”

  Alda asked, “Are there any trees?”

  His orange eyes crinkled in cruel amusement. “There is nothing. No windows, no water, no trees, just you and a lab.”

  She had to know. “Who are you?”

  “Keelor. The split of Markenow. You may know him from Udell base.” He stroked her hair back from her face with strange concern.

  “I don’t know any Markenow.” She scowled.

  He traced her lips and the shape of her brow. “Your face is fascinating to me. Why is that?”

  She turned her head, but he gripped her jaw and turned her to face him.

  “Do not turn away from me again, Alda-Xeri. You will not like what happens next.”

  Alda looked into those orange eyes and read cruelty, madness and a strange attraction that confused him as much as her. She calmed her inward confusion and closed her eyes. He read her surrender and chuckled as he stroked her face again.

  It was going to be one very long hour.

  Chapter Six

  The screams of agony sent waves of nausea down Alda’s spine.

  Keelor chuckled and kept his grip on her arm when she tried to avoid passing through the huge and formidable gates. “Keep walking. You are late for work after all.”

  Alda stumbled forward when he shoved her into the lab area. The scents she was catching were horrific. She could smell pain and that was the least offensive odour she was dealing with.

  There were four beings with scrubs on, working in differing parts of the lab, when Keelor shoved her forward and introduced her, “Here is the Pain Taker. Put her to work.”

  The first physician smiled at her, and it was not a good smile. “Excellent. I was about to bring Vek in for his morning session.”

  Two other physicians prepped a station, and the third walked out a rear door.

  “Have you checked her for transmitters?” The doctor walked up to her and seemed to be giving her a visual exam.

  Keelor chuckled. “Yes. She is clear of any transmitter. We caught her in a bureaucratic limbo. She had not yet been assigned to a mission, nor has she been installed in the Citadel. There is no record of her other than the first medical visit.”

  “I want to scan her first. You have overlooked things before.” The doctor scowled.

  Keelor asked in the softest voice. “Are you doubting me, Juhl?”

  The doctor shook his head. “No, of course not. You are the finest thing to come out of this lab. We never doubt you.”

  Keelor nodded. “Where do you want her?”<
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  Juhl pointed to a scanner that was vaguely similar to the one at Udell base.

  Alda plodded over to the scanner and slipped her feet and hands into position. Juhl turned it on, and there was no other option, Alda screamed.

  The scan setting burned her nerves as it passed over her. Her eyes tingled, her skin felt too tight and tears tried to work out from under her lids but couldn’t manage it. Her body shook as she tried to store the pain.

  Keelor spoke harshly to Juhl, and she gasped as the pain stopped.

  Her captor helped her away from the scanner and pressed a glass of water into her hand.

  As she sipped at the water, her vision cleared in time to see Keelor strike Juhl with a strong, open palm to the face. The doctor staggered to the side and went down on one knee.

  He whimpered and shielded his eyes from whatever Keelor was showing him.

  Keelor knelt and Alda could hear him whisper. “She is here to take pain, not receive it. If you don’t remember that, I can show you things that will remind you.”

  Juhl swallowed. “Not necessary, Keelor. The scan is complete.”

  Alda finished her water and noticed the lone medical person had returned, and two huge guards and an equally large male in shackles accompanied them.

  The confined male gave her a wary look as he was hauled to the station prepared by the other two medical men. He struggled as the five men held him down and strapped him in place.

  Juhl got to his feet and straightened his clothing. He looked at her. “You. Pain Taker. Get over there and set him to neutral.”

  Alda got to her feet and crossed over to the man’s head. He tensed when he felt her hands, but he relaxed when she eased her hands over his temples.

  “Do you have to touch him like that?” Keelor crossed his arms and scowled.

  Alda spoke absently. “I have to ease him. That is most easily done with a light caress.”

  Her talent took his pain and wove it into a ball, tucking it far away in her mind.

  Alda felt a surge of pain against her mind and quickly dealt with it. She heard a saw and kept the patient calm and pain free.

  She stood at the man’s head and kept him in a pain-free state for hours. Her body ached by the time the physician dismissed her. “Well, done, Pain Taker. The installation is complete.”

  Alda didn’t want to look, but she had to. Where smooth skin had been, an armoured panel was now in place. “What did you do?”

  Juhl looked at her with consideration before he walked over to her and slapped her across the face.

  Alda stumbled to the side and went down on one knee. She pressed a hand to her face and stared up at him as he lifted his hand again. Keelor grabbed him and bent his arm backward until a snap was heard.

  Keelor looked at the shocked expression on Juhl’s face. “You are not to cause her pain, Juhl. I thought you understood that.”

  Juhl’s hand was hanging at a peculiar angle, and the other three physicians were struggling with what to do.

  Alda got to her feet and walked over to Juhl, gripping his arm above the break and stilling the pain. “You have an hour to get it fixed before the pain returns.”

  Juhl looked at her. “It figures that you would be weak. How you got Keelor to your side is a mystery, but you will face our minders, and they will tell us what we need to know about other powers that have been hiding in your thoughts.”

  Alda stared calmly into Juhl’s eyes. She had met arrogant physicians before. The high chancellor had been one that wanted her subservient. He had hated it when she met him comment for comment.

  Juhl began to blink rapidly as she simply stared at him with no emotion in her eyes at all. He shivered and backed up a step.

  “Keelor, take her to the minders. They will have a field day with her mind, but I want her back here tomorrow, and I want her able to work. I have an upgrade in mind, and it is going to be unpleasant.” His expression was grim, and he handed himself into the care of the three other physicians while the two guards escorted the patient back to wherever they got him.

  Keelor took Alda by the arm. “Come with me.”

  Alda nodded. “Apparently, that is my only option.”

  “I love a girl who knows when to give up.” Keelor chuckled.

  As they walked through the huge doorway, she noted the guards on either side. “Where will I be kept when I am not working?”

  “Juhl suggested that you be housed with the experiments, but I believe that their pain may be too distracting for you. You will remain with me at all times, day or night.” He lifted the arm that he held and stroked along the scars on her wrist. “It seems you don’t always know when to give up.”

  “That comes and goes. I generally wait until I know what my options are before I fight.” The words came out of her in a rush. His delicate touch on her wrist was surprisingly tender considering the brutality of his temper.

  “I am guessing my other half was rather interested in you. You didn’t speak with him?”

  Alda thought, “No. He greeted me warmly enough as he passed in the halls but no conversation went between us after he took me from Olsted. I was just a courier parcel to him.”

  “He always was timid.”

  They passed between guard posts, and Keelor gave a steady nod to the guards lining the halls. Alda could not tell if they were above or below ground, or even on a ship. “They would not let me walk here on my own?”

  Keelor chuckled. “No, pet. They would not. This is a high-security facility. Bio scans are monitoring every archway, only those keyed for those entries are allowed to pass through.”

  She walked with him, and when she found herself cuddling closer to his side, she made herself put distance between their bodies. He was the only familiar thing that she had seen, and she wanted to hold tight to him, but looking in those eyes, she knew that the familiarity was literally only skin deep.

  Chapter Seven

  The six beings shackled to benches were filthy, and their minds screamed out to her in pain.

  Keelor led her to a seat that was within reach of the six different species, and he backed away. “Do not hurt her, but find out how much she knows.”

  Alda sat still as the beings shuffled toward her. She glanced down and winced when she saw the piercing in their ankles that kept them from running free. It ran above their foot, behind their heel and it was connected to a fine chain in the wall.

  The first touch on her hand made her jump, but her talent surged out and soothed the pain as best as it could. The minder jerked back for a moment and then touched her again.

  She repeated the same connection on the others. She took their pain and soothed their aches. The touches on her mind were not insistent. They were delicate and careful. A screen flared to life in Alda’s field of vision, and they showed her family, the court of Olsted, the shuttle ride to Udell and her interview with Guardian explaining that she was between places but would be welcome to work on her physical fitness until there was something for her to do.

  The other images were her running through the wilds of Udell, and the minders smiled at her as they felt her pleasure.

  Keelor nodded. “As I suspected. Come, Alda-Xeri. You need food and rest so that you can help Juhl play with the new imports in the morning.”

  She shivered and hoped that she had soothed the minders enough. A female with ratty golden hair winked at her and smiled slightly before backing away to return to her bench. That the pain relief was temporary had been blazing in her thoughts and none of the minders had cared. A few hours without agony were well worth the return.

  “Well, you are clear. Nothing untoward in the images.” Keelor’s voice was gruff.

  She reached out and touched his arm. “You are in pain.”

  He removed her hand gently but firmly. “It is nothing.”

  Alda shook her head. “It is not nothing. Seeing your other hurt you.”

  He took her by the arm again and walked down the hall, back to a lab. “My
quarters are here. You will stay with me.”

  Keelor marched her past rows of medical beds with manacles attached by adjustable clamps. The sight of them made her shiver in dread, and he was filled with a dark tension all his own.

  When they passed through the lab and into a quiet corridor, he opened a door and gently shoved her into it. The moment that the door closed behind him, silence fell. The sound of screams and moans ceased the instant that the seal was in place.

  Keelor walked to a small station on one wall, and with a whirring burp, the machine produced two ration packs.

  Alda looked around and sat in the one chair in the room.

  He sighed. “Sit on the bed, Alda-Xeri. I am not going to pounce on you. I am far too tired for anything tonight.”

  She got to her feet and stumbled as she walked to the bed.

  Keelor grabbed her by one arm. “What is wrong?”

  “The injuries from my fall. My talent is worn, and I can’t hold the pain back much longer.” She sat carefully on the bed with his help.

  “Show me.”

  She frowned. “No.”

  He looked at her, and as he stared, the bright orange of his eyes warmed. “No? You are trapped in my rooms and at my mercy. You can’t deny me.”

  She grimaced and sat upright. “And yet, I just did. It’s a miracle.”

  He stared at her in shock for a moment before laughter cracked his features. “A miracle indeed. Now, open your suit or I will tear it off you and you will be running around in front of Juhl naked for the rest of tomorrow.”

  She grunted. “Fine.”

  It took some effort to peel the suit down to her hips, and she was incredibly self-conscious as he stared at her skin. The brown of her skin was shades darker and swollen in places. He looked into her eyes. “Can you read the medical report and tell me what you need?”