Deep Penetration; Alien Breeders I Read Online Free PDF Page B

coolly. “She
found her way to the observation deck—undeterred by the fact that
she had no clothing. So much for your certainty that she wasn’t
likely to attempt anything when she felt vulnerable and exposed!
She’d already seen the dig site by the time I located
her.”
    “ She wasn’t under
guard?”
    Tariq studied Koryn in stony silence
for a long moment. “You presume too much on our friendship, Koryn,”
he said coldly instead of reminding Koryn that the majority of the
ship’s personnel was at the dig.
    Koryn reddened. “My apologies, my
lord! But the mission ….”
    “ If we fail, it’s my ass,
not yours.”
    Koryn wrestled with himself. “It isn’t
just the mission, Tariq! You know we’ve found damned little to go
on at all and half of that is useless! I thought we’d agreed that
she was far too … special to take unnecessary risks with
her!”
    “ I do agree,” Tariq
responded grimly. “Completely. I would’ve prevented the situation
if I could have, but she was asleep the last I checked on her—She
should’ve slept a full cycle. She didn’t and she decided to test
her boundaries. Beyond that, as … keen as my interest in her is, I
have responsibilities that take precedence over my personal
desires. If she hadn’t forced my hand, I would’ve put this off as
long as possible, but she did. Now we have to deal with
it.”
    Koryn swallowed his anger with an
effort and nodded. “How is she doing?”
    “ Surprisingly well,
frightened, but that’s to be expected.”
    Koryn relaxed fractionally. “How much
have you told her?”
    Tariq shrugged. “Enough for her to
begin to understand.”
    “ I’d like to assess her
mental state myself.”
    Tariq nodded. “I thought you would.
Where did you locate the remains? I’m assuming from the way you
announced it that you feel like there’s a good chance of extracting
sufficient DNA for our needs?”
    Koryn shifted uncomfortably. “I won’t
know until I get them back to the lab. I think so, though. They’re
remarkably well preserved.”
    “ Male or
female?”
    “ One of each,” Koryn said,
grinning abruptly.
    “ Two females and three
males,” Tariq said dryly. “We make progress.”
    Koryn sobered. “This couldn’t have
happened more than a hundred years ago … if that much.”
    “ If you managed to narrow
the time line, we have made progress. Any idea of the race?”
    Koryn shook his head. “I won’t be able
to determine that without tests. There wasn’t enough. Any word from
the others?”
    “ Nothing and more
nothing.” Tariq frowned, narrowing his eyes against the sunlight as
he surveyed the dig. “Humans—and their forbearers—survived several
extinctions that we know of. Considering the condition of the
planet, it seems damned unlikely this was the results of any kind
of natural disaster.”
    “ We don’t know, for
certain, that there aren’t any survivors,” Koryn pointed out. “The
search parties have barely scratched the surface.”
    Tariq grunted noncommittally. “This
area seems fertile enough to support them. There’s plenty of
everything else.”
    “ We don’t know what it was
like then, however.”
    “ True.” He turned to study
Emerald. “Maybe she’ll remember something.”
    Koryn turned his head to study her, as
well. “Maybe.”
    * * * *
    Strain though she might, Emerald was
only able to catch a few snatches of the conversation between Koryn
and Tariq. It was enough to fire her curiosity, but not enough to
appease it, particularly when they switched to their own language
shortly after they’d begun talking.
    The only thing that she had managed to
grasp—she thought—was that they were arguing about her. Koryn was
angry that Tariq had brought her and Tariq was both defensive about
his actions and angry because he felt defensive and resented Koryn
questioning his decision.
    It seemed to indicate that
she was of some importance to them, but that was as unnerving as it
was comforting. If she