21. Ivy

The Supervisor placed me in the chair he'd used to run his experiments on Kren earlier. It faced the large observation window that looked out on the pit below. A wide console ran across it with various buttons, switches, and levers that looked dizzyingly complicated.

The other scientists milled about the lab, keeping to themselves and their work. How they could just stand there and do what they were doing while someone like me, an innocent victim in all of this, was strapped to a chair and forced to watch as the alien she loved was about to fight for his life… I had no idea.

The guards towered over me. Their hands weren't gripping their shock rifles as the Supervisor had instructed them not to use them on me.

It wasn't through caring about my health and wellbeing that he said that. It was because of the cargo I was carrying. He didn't want the baby harmed.

The Supervisor crouched beside my ear.

"You know. You've still got me stumped on how you managed to short circuit the security wall earlier."

The crowd watching the fight roared with excitement.

I found it difficult not to glance at the window or monitors displaying the fight below.

Please God, tell me it was caused by Kren taking action rather than him being the receiver of it.

"It's quite an unusual gift you have," the Supervisor said. "Do all humans have it? I can't say I've heard of humans having unique powers before."

I wanted to kick him in the shins. But I didn't. My instincts were telling me to play it cool. How would losing my temper help me now?

Well, they would make me feel a lot better… but what would the ramifications be? He could make Kren's situation a whole lot worse. Or he could inject me with more of that stuff in his pocket.

"I don't know," I said honestly. "How is Kren doing? Is he okay?"

"Look out the window and you'll see. He's quite a fighter. The inmates are very excited. They don't get to see a Survivor Challenge often."

I screwed up my face and glanced at the window. Kren delivered a hammer blow to his opponent and knocked him into the dirt. The alien was up in an instant and smashed Kren in the face.

"Don't worry about him right now," the Supervisor said. "Let's focus on you and me. Where did you learn what you did earlier?"

"I didn't learn it. I just… did it."

"Did you hear a little voice? Instinct? There's no such thing as instinct. It's experience and training that gives you that. Or something else, something tangible and real."

"Like what?"

"When females are pregnant, they're known to develop a kind of link with their unborn child. Sometimes they know when something's wrong even when there's no evidence of it. Other times, they sense things, things their baby actually recalls after its birth. Tangible, real things. I think you managed to do what you did earlier because the baby told you how to do it. And I think the baby knows how to do it because of the genes it shares with its father."

I pressed a hand to my stomach. The baby spoke to me? But it's not even really alive yet… is it?

"How long is the gestation period for the neb?" I said.

"Twelve months. Humans' are nine months. So, it's likely to be around there."

"Will you let Kren go? If you end this Challenge, I'll do whatever you want, I swear. Just let him go and there won't be any problems."

"There won't be any problems anyway. And if I leave him alive, there will be plenty more problems later."

The crowd outside hissed as if something very painful had happened to one of the fighters in the pit.

Please, please, please, don't let it be Kren.

"Please," I said. "Let Kren go. He doesn't deserve this."

"None of us deserve this. But this is life. And life is a struggle for us all."

I doubted any truer word had ever been said. And I doubted it was any truer than for Kren right now.