clench with horror as she saw the skeleton in the corner. She was in the laboratory where they'd taken Micah.
Her head fell back on the pillow and she closed her eyes. Why had Red Hair brought her here? Was she bait? Or part of some bizarre new experiment?
The answer came in a flash of intuition. It was the baby. Red Hair was interested in the baby, the first to be conceived by the joining of an Earth woman and an alien man.
Fear for her own safety was suddenly unimportant. She had to get away from here!
But she was so groggy. It was hard to think coherently, hard to think of what she should do. And then Red Hair was there, an evil grin on his face as he gave her another injection.
"I'm almost ready for him," Red said. "The two of you are going to make me rich beyond my wildest dreams. Books, movies, endorsements - why, I'll be famous." He laughed softly. "Rich and famous. Who knows, I might even cut you in for a share."
"Micah..."
"I know all about your alien," Red said, gesturing at the skeleton in the other room. "We've studied his kind for years, wondering if it was possible for our races to interbreed." He patted her stomach lightly, then grinned. "Now we know it can be done."
"You can't do this," Lainey exclaimed, her horror growing by the minute. "It isn't right."
"Right! What has right got to do with it? Do you realize what an opportunity this is? All we have to do is wait and see if you've conceived a child or a monster. Either way, you'll go down in the medical journals, my dear. Why, your life story will probably be a movie of the week. I might even write it myself."
"No..."
"Yes." Opening one of the dresser drawers, he withdrew a camera and snapped several pictures. "I've spent twenty years researching alien phenomena. I have photos and medical data on two alien males and one female. Unfortunately, they all died before we could do any extended research. But the one you call Micah promises to be a most interesting specimen. He's young and healthy..."
Red walked around the bed and took another picture. "And he has a lot to live for."
Withdrawing the needle from her arm, Red left the room, whistling softly as he closed the door.
By tonight, he'd be ready. He checked the cage one last time, made sure there was a new videotape in the camcorder.
History was about to be made.
Lainey stared at Red suspiciously as he ushered her into the laboratory and instructed her to lie down on the examining table.
"What are you going to do?"
"Just relax, Miss St. John. I'm only going to take your blood pressure."
Her gaze darted to the gun snugged in the waistband of his pants.
"Don't even think about it," Red warned in a congenial voice. "Lie back now. This will only take a minute."
Reluctantly, she did as she was told. To avoid looking at him, she closed her eyes as he wrapped the cuff around her arm.
She was thinking of Micah when Red grabbed her wrist.
Lainey's eyes flew open as he fastened a thick strap around her left wrist, anchoring her arm to the table.
"What are you doing?"
"Baiting the trap, my dear."
"I don't understand," she lied, hoping he would tell her what he intended to do, hoping that, somehow, she could warn Micah.
"You will." Whistling an upbeat tune, he unlocked the front door. "My partner. Gene, believed that Xanthians were telepathic. We never had a chance to prove it, until now."
"What do you mean? What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to perform a C-section."
"What?"
"You heard me."
"No!" Adrenalin surged through Lainey at the thought of harm coming to her child. Struggling to sit up, she slapped Red across the face, hard. "Let me go, damn you!"
Red grinned impudently as he massaged his cheek, and then he slapped her back.
"Don't do that again," he warned as he pinned her right hand to the table and strapped it down.
Horrified, she watched as he filled two syringes, slipped on a pair of rubber gloves, and placed several small vials on a table.
Micah! Micah, help me!
She was sobbing when Red swabbed her arm with alcohol. Trembling with fear and impotent rage, she hardly felt the prick of the needle...
The sound of her voice echoed in his mind as he ran down the dark streets. Her rage, her fear, was like a beacon, leading him down a narrow lane. The building was