the strange creature’s presence, not even when it paced on four legs, its eyes scanning the glass panel of its cage as if gauging the best method of escape. A crackling sound rumbled from its throat as it examined everything thoroughly. Whatever it was, it was highly intelligent and technologically advanced, judging by its peculiar eye.
“Sir, if I may,” she whispered, “this isn’t an animal.”
Dr. Santo lifted an eyebrow at her. “It is a specimen of study. That’s all that you need to concern yourself with. Now I wanted to discuss with you the schedule we are putting together. You’re going to have to be very careful administrating tranquilizers daily as you enter the habitat…”
Led away from the enclosure as Dr. Santo droned on with detailed instructions that she knew full well would appear on her comm in the morning, Charlie glanced back at the habitat only to find the alien’s menacing stare pinned on her as the distance increased between them.
That looked promised nothing less than death.
Chapter 10
He had miscalculated. Rhyst had assumed that he would have been taken prisoner and placed in a heavily guarded cell. Up close to the offworlders, his implants would have worked to decipher the language. In that scenario, he might even have had individuals who carried authority within the settlement approach in attempt to communicate.
Rhyst had imagined himself being held as a dangerous but respected warrior. Not this.
Grass cushioned his paws, and familiar gray stones would have provided comfortable places to rest if he were a wild an’dangal. A pack of the animals were visible in an enclosure facing his cell. A variation of the carnivore had been domesticated by his people many generations ago. Their large, round ears and long nasal cavities made them superior hunters that rivaled even the Tak’sinii. The pack paced and eyed him—one predator sizing up another.
He turned a contemptuous eye toward the bedding tucked in a rocky enclosure. While it was something akin to what he might make for an emergency shelter when scouting the outer edge of his san’mordan’s territory, this was not an appropriate holding area. Not even an at’sahl offworlder would have been treated in such a way. An actual bed and basic amenities would have been provided by his san’mordan for any captive.
Rhyst placed his hand on the glass, testing it. One claw traced the faint line from where the numerous spines blended among the fur of his tail had made contact. Despite the force behind the strike, the scratches were shallow. It was solid and thick, obviously made to contain large creatures of considerable strength. He withdrew his hand in his disgust.
He, Rhyst Emat’teln, was caged like a common beast.
Anger rippled through him, making his fur rise with aggression. He could hear the nervous warbling of the an’dangal pack as they shifted among each other, watching him warily. They were inconsequential. In the eyes of the offworlders, he was not distinguished from the an’dangal, or any of the other beasts he could hear the faint calls from, muffled by the glass and walls of his cage.
He had sacrificed his freedom for nothing!
In a surge of frustration, he threw his head back and let a loud roar rip from his throat, giving voice to his anger.
A hesitant movement appeared at the edge of his vision, and he swung around to face his audience. Ever since he had awoken, there had been far too many offworlders staring at him, studying him, clustered in small groups as they talked with each other. Some of them had the flat tech devices he had seen among those he watched outside the colony. Sometimes those watching him would tap on the devices and send a change in the atmosphere through his cage to judge his reaction.
Though it had startled him initially, after a while he stopped reacting all together as a hatred began to brew deep within him. He had been allowed no rest and treated as a spectacle. His upper lip curled back from his teeth, but he relaxed marginally when he noted that it was the one that he had seen when he had first awoken. He cocked his head as the small figure shuffled closer.
The one benefit from his captivity was that he was able to discern more things about the species without his observations being hampered by the gear that concealed much of them when they were outside. He snorted mirthlessly. They had to be truly fragile creatures if they were afraid to set