Cries of the Children(117)

LaBerge wasn’t exaggerating at all, he thought. But he did hope there was nothing wrong with Marty. He’d never seen anything like that in his life, and he respected Samantha’s belief that Marty deserved respect. He also deserved the same rights as any other living being—mainly, the right to his freedom.

No one protested as they were escorted from the room under armed guard. LaBerge should have wondered about their sudden silence, but he was too caught up in what would happen when they all saw Marty to think about it.

In truth, only their voices were silent.

Samantha, tell us about Marty, Rachel requested.

He is . . . not like us, Samantha began, wondering how best to approach the subject. Now that they were actually going to see him, the shock of meeting Marty would be softened if Samantha prepared them. At least, he is not the way we are now,

What do you mean “now,” Samantha?

It was Steven asking the question.

Steven, does the name Ixtaura mean anything to you?

Steven thought a moment, staring at his sneakers as they were hustled down the hallway. The others were also lost in thought. Only Wil, Barbara, and Eric kept their eyes on LaBerge.

It’s a little familiar. Like a place I went to once, long ago,

I think so, too, said Lorraine.

Sorry, Rachel put in. Nothing here.

Me neither,

You’ll remember in time, Julie, Don’t worry. Listen, everyone. You have to prepare yourselves for a real shock. It was so sudden to me that I could not control my emotions, That’s how I was caught, I think your only hope of escape is to make them think you are normal human beings, just caught up in all this by accident,

Aren’t we “normal human beings”? Julie asked.

Samantha swallowed. They were entering the elevator that would take them to the lowest level. It was her last chance to reveal the truth before they all found out in the cruel way that she had.

No, Julie, I’m sorry I don’t have time to say this more gently. But we are not humans at all. We’re from a planet called Ixtaura,

That’s crazy! Steven cried in his mind.

Rachel put an arm around him. Wil noted the gesture, and wondered if they were somehow “communicating.”

Maybe not so crazy, Steven, Rachel said. We already know we’re different from others. The way we can talk with our minds, for instance.

The elevator door opened. They were led to the same supply closet where Wil and Samantha had found cleanroom suits.

“We don’t have any that will fit the children,” a guard said.

LaBerge looked from the white suit in his hands to his group of captives.

“I don’t think it matters now,” he said. “There’s no need to use the suits.”

“But, sir!” the guard protested. “The danger of contamination—”

“I’m well aware of that!” LaBerge answered. “The subject has already been contaminated! He had contact with this little one . . .”

He indicated Lorraine. She moved closer to Wil, whom she had unofficially adopted as her new guardian.

“. . . and these others know something about him,” LaBerge went on. “They have answers, and I mean to get them!”

He reached for Julie, who just happened to be the closest person to him. Holding her upper arms tightly, he shook her and shouted:

“Or I will kill the whole lot of them!”

Julie screamed.

“Let her go!” Samantha cried, stepping forward.

Wil and Eric both moved in to save the little girl, but three guns suddenly rose to the level of their heads.

“What’s the point of hurting her?” Eric asked.

But LaBerge wasn’t listening. He dragged Julie, screaming, into the back room. A half-dozen white figures turned to them in surprise. LaBerge pulled Julie along. The others hurried after them, stopping when they reached the curtain. With a curt gesture, he ordered everyone else out of the room. The guards hesitated, but LaBerge’s silent order was clear. When they were alone, LaBerge began to speak.

“Look now!” LaBerge said. “Look now and give me the answers I’ve been wanting these past ten years!”

With that, LaBerge jerked back the curtain that had kept Marty hidden. His eyes were wild as he scanned the group, ready to gloat at their reactions. Wil and Samantha, who had already seen Marty, only stared. Barbara uttered a loud curse. Eric instinctively jerked Rachel away, and in turn she pulled Steven into her arms.

“Lorraine, are you doing that?” Steven cried, forgetting to use his mind in his excitement.

“No!” Lorraine protested.

“Doing?” LaBerge echoed. “Doing what?”

He turned around, and when he saw what was lying on the table, he let out a scream that rattled all the glass in the room. There was no sickly alien boy there at all, but a hideous beast with bright red eyes and a tooth-lined mouth that ran vertically from the middle of its “face” to the bottom of its belly. It was covered with hair, shaped something like a fat snake that had been split open. It reared up on multiple hind legs, letting out a high-pitched keening sound.