assigned units. If you are in a public building, remain where you are until notified otherwise. The colony is on lockdown. Unauthorized personnel will be contained and fined. I repeat, for your safety, stay indoors.”
Charlie frowned at the comm. For our safety? If they were bringing in a specimen, it hardly seemed like an occasion that warranted colony lockdown. Never had the colony been locked down for delivery. Why now?
A shiver ran up her spine. There was so much about Turongal—even the most basic of information—that the residential non-gratas workers weren’t allowed to know. Despite working in the lab, Charlie was aware of just how little she was privy to. Whatever they were bringing in, it had to be significant.
Erik had called the new specimen a big one—a career maker. Whatever that meant, it was something that they didn’t want anyone in the colony getting the slightest wind of.
Her steps hastened, uneasiness pooling in her belly as she made her way to the lab. Pressing her hand against the identification panel, she let out a breath as it beeped and flashed green. The metal door slid away, permitting access. Her soft-soled shoes—unusual attire for non-gratas, who more often wore boots to do manual labor—barely made a sound on the tile floor as she entered.
The click of dress shoes approached from the right, drawing Charlie’s attention to Dr. Santo as he rounded a corner. He looked at her blankly as if trying to place her, but the scientist at his side sighed with relief.
“Charlene, good. You arrived just in time. Erik is already at the docking bay. I want you to go and prepare habitat thirteen for our newest acquisition,” Dr. Shelby ordered.
Dr. Santo’s eyes lit with recognition. “Ah, yes. Good thinking, Jenel. Your insistence on hiring one of them as a caretaker, despite my better judgment, seemed to have been remarkably intuitive. Brilliant,” he said.
There was no missing the small annoyed downturn of Dr. Shelby’s lips.
“Hardly intuitive,” Dr. Shelby objected with a brittle laugh that lacked any sort of amusement. One would have to be deaf not to catch on to it. “It was only logical given that in other colonies, they found that they had to hire one often too abruptly for adequate training in situations where…”
“Yes, I am quite certain that was thought out,” he replied as he flicked his finger casually over the data sheet.
Charlie was familiar with that dismissive gesture. Dr. Shelby seemed to be as well, because an angry red stained her cheekbones as she turned toward Charlie.
“Put some speed behind it,” she barked. “We don’t have any idea how long we have until the sedative wears off. I want the habitat ready within twenty minutes.”
“Yes, Doctor,” Charlie murmured, but the scientists were no longer listening.
Dr. Shelby quickened her pace to catch up with Dr, Santo, their heads bent close together as they talked in low voices and left her. Charlie watched as they split off in another direction, heading for the docking bay. Despite her unease, she wished she could be there to be among the first to see what they brought in. Was it monstrous like Nightshade, or a thing of magnificence and beauty never before found on any colony? It could be anything on these classified planets.
Charlie raced to the vivarium. Pushing through the doors, she made her way down the long corridor, her eyes flicking over the containment habitats. Finally arriving at habitat thirteen, she whistled as she gazed at the enormous glass wall of the cage. It was easily five or six times the size of her own room.
This thing had to be huge.
Charlie ducked into a storage room and removed the wild straw that most creatures found to be pleasant enough for bedding down. Throwing a large bundle of it over her shoulder, she huffed with exertion as she left the room and went back to the assigned cell. Even as short of walk as it was, the weight of the straw put considerable strain on her unconditioned body.
Bracing her legs apart to center her weight, she set her hand against the access panel and waited patiently as her biometric scan was taken. The beep and click of the locking mechanism were loud in the silence around her. A steel door to the side slid open, providing access to the habitat. Adjusting her grip on her load, Charlie walked through, climbing over the rocks that hid the access door from the inside. Sliding down the face of the stones,