Supernova Read Free

neck, and she shrieked.
    He let
out a howl at her reaction. Lily tore her eyes away from him to look at the
doctors. Zadbac was holding another gigantic syringe, irritation registering on
his bulbous features. Pitro licked his lips, made another face, and coolly
regarded the trembling Claybourne on the floor.
    “Help
me,” he garbled.
    “ Minsa Stewart,” said Zadbac, her name coming out in a low growl. He held out the
syringe, his finger over the depressor.
    Lily
stared at the scene before her in horror for what felt like hours. She looked
at the syringe sticking out of Claybourne, saw the one in Zadbac’s gnarled
hand, and felt her stomach lurch.
    “What
the hell?” she choked out.
    “ Minsa Stewart, you should not have entered here,” he said quietly. “We have told you
many times never to enter the lab.” He stepped over Claybourne, now moaning and
clutching his face. “Come here,” he said.
    Lily
could see herself reflected in his big black eyes. She stole another look at
Pitro, who looked bored by the situation.
    She took
a step back into the hallway. “What did you do?” she wailed.
    “He
fought back,” said Pitro lazily. “This should not have happened.”
    Zadbac
barked an order at him in his language, and Pitro sulkily replied in kind. Lily
saw her chance. She whipped around and tore through the hallway and into
reception. She heard the doctors yelling after her and Claybourne’s pleas for
help. She ran down the stairs and burst through the front door of the
industrial park. The nearly empty industrial park, still waiting for more
tenants. Not another soul was around.
    She took
off in the direction of the lunch cart and coffee shop. Someone there could
help. She cursed her medium-heeled sandals as she ran, too terrified to look
over her shoulder.
    Her toe
hit a crack in the sidewalk and she went flying to the pavement. She
immediately saw a shadow fall over the sidewalk and tears sprang to her eyes.
She dared herself to look over her shoulder.
    Zadbac
loomed over her, holding a thin black rectangle that looked like a cellphone.
She screamed again and looked desperately at the few cars whizzing past them in
the street. Why didn’t they stop?
    “Don’t
bother,” Zadbac said, his face twisted in fury. He didn’t seem winded from
running after her. “I have a force field activated. No one can hear or see us,
and you cannot escape.”
    What was
he talking about? Lily got up and charged forward. Zadbac didn’t make a move to
stop her. She took a step and something slammed into her chest, knocking the
wind from her.
    “I told
you,” Zadbac said smugly.
    Lily
looked around her, faint orange stripes coming into focus through the bright
afternoon sunlight. She threw her fist at them and yelled as pain shot up her
arm from the contact. It was like punching a cement wall.
    Zadbac
gripped her shoulder. “You cannot escape,” he repeated. He whipped her around
and she stumbled, the strange orange bars breaking her fall. He held out what
looked like the asthma inhaler she had as a kid, and twisted her head to the
side. Lily struggled, but he had an iron grip.
    She
would not end up like Claybourne.
    Zadbac
held the inhaler over her pulse and she felt something icy cold penetrate her
skin. Almost immediately she felt her body’s temperature drop and her muscles
loosen and become heavy. She slid against the orange stripes to the pavement
and unsuccessfully tried to hold up her head.
    As her
eyes closed, the last thing she heard was Zadbac quietly scolding her.
    “You
should not have entered the lab.”

 
    Chapter 2
    Ensign
Taz Shraft was being punished. That was the only way to describe being assigned
to cleanup duty with an hour to go until he was off shift, sorting through
museum crap that had come unstrapped from their containers in the Defiant ’s
cargo hold. He would be here until midnight to get all of this done.
    Of
course, he did have a little too much to drink during the twenty-eight