He looks around the room, blanching at the cold, sterile area. “Okay, get her on one of those beds. Let me check their supplies.” Link points at the bed, which looks more like a torture table than a birthing bed, but beggars can’t be choosers.
Zeydan carries his sister over there and lays her down, and Link starts searching through cabinets.
“Matthew,” I call, getting the scientist’s attention. “We need your help. Can you assist Link and show him where your birthing supplies are? I assume these labs are equipped for births, considering that was the whole purpose of this section of the facility.”
He quickly agrees and hurries over to show Link the supplies.
“Melissa is a midwife. Can someone go get her? She has helped most of the females birth their young,” he tells me, and I assure him we will do that.
I watch as Link squirts gel on Sanshia’s stomach and prepares to give her an ultrasound. Zeydan holds her hand and pushes her hair back from her sweaty face. He’s such a good male.
“Brannock,” I call him over, gesturing for Xavier and Saxon to join us as well. “Right, the third room is going to have to wait. We need to get to the child soldiers. Link needs the midwife’s help.”
Brannock perks up, and his spikes bristle with what I’m assuming is anticipation. “Finally,” he murmurs, his eyes shining with unshed tears.
“Xavier, go in first and check out what we are dealing with. There are supposed to be a couple more caregivers in there, but I’m not sure about guards. Once we know what we are dealing with, we can formulate a plan. Not one of those children will be hurt, even if they start something.”
Tirrian approaches us and hands out guns.
“What are these for?” I ask him, horrified at the idea that he wants us to shoot the young ones.
“They contain tranq darts just in case. Child dosages. There are two areas—one for children under five, and the other for those older than five. The children under five should be easy to subdue, but the ones over five won’t necessarily be as easy. Remember, we don’t know what species these kids are, and even though they say they are all under ten, remember a lot of them age quicker and could appear older. Don’t hesitate to sedate them, and we can sort it all out when we get them to the ship.”
I guess the guys had been busy. Not only have they been moving captives, but they also grilled them for info too.
“Let’s go.” I can feel Xavier’s impatience to get to the children. It’s as great as Brannock’s. Even though he has a fearsome reputation as the mighty warlock, he also has the biggest, softest heart and is a sucker for kids.
We let Brannock lead the way, bypassing the other breeding block and heading straight for the soldiers’ ward. This door is reinforced and has handprint access as well.
“Are the staff locked in with the kids?” I growl as Tirrian returns for Phil’s hand. When he gets back to us, it looks a bit worse for wear. It’s been discarded on the floor a number of times now. There’s no way to reattach it no matter how good my healing powers are. Someone must have stomped on it, because a couple of the fingers look broken.
Now that the power is back on, the rooms are no longer sealed shut, so Xavier turns to mist and creeps under the door.I expect him to return within seconds, but he doesn’t. Brannock starts to pace back and forth, and his form flickers.
“Uh-uh.” I clamp my hand on his arm and give it a shake. “No berserking out on us. We don’t have time or another body for you to mutilate. Take a deep breath in then breathe it out,” I order as I push feelings of calmness and serenity on him. It works, and his body relaxes slightly, his form no longer flickering.
“Not long now,” Saxon tells him, patting him on the shoulder.
Brannock breathes in and out again as Xavier’s mist floats back under the door, and he reforms with a frown on his face.
“Is everything okay?” I ask him, and he cocks his head to the side.
“I’m not sure,” he replies.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, and he waves a hand at the door.
“It’s weird. It looks like they don’t even know the facility is under attack. The children are all in their beds. It’s dorm style, with two different areas separated by age like you told us. There are five staff members in there— three women and two guards. The women are all asleep in their beds. Two of them are with the younger children, and only one is with the older ones. The guards are playing cards. All of them look none the wiser. Could they be on another generator?” he asks Brannock.
“What if they are on a different system because Smith didn’t want to lose his prized soldiers if he had to hit the kill switch?” Saxon suggests.
“That makes sense,” Tirrian agrees. “Do we think the women are hostiles? Are we going to take care of them?”
“No!” I shout. “We need the midwife, and I say we incapacitate them and scan their minds before we kill anyone. We may need their help. If they are the only contact the childrenhave had since they were removed from their parents, then we’re going to need them.”
“Lila’s right. The women didn’t have any weapons that I could see, and I took care of the guards already, so let’s move, shall we?” Xavier waves at the handprint scanner, and Tirrian puts Phil’s hand against it with a sickening thump.
The door opens, and he tosses it to the side once more.
“Hey, we’re going to need that one more time,” I remind him, and he grimaces but picks it up and tucks it into one of the pockets on his armor.
