The Catalyst: (Book One) Page 9

  “My mother,” she said by way of explanation.

  The attractive dark-skinned woman in dozens of pictures with Robin’s ex-boyfriend. If he remembered correctly Kenneth Vines had been in the news recently. He was the new director of Renon Corporation’s science department. Addar cocked his head to the side, as he stared at Robin.

  “Him?” he questioned, sure he was correct.

  Robin cleared her throat. She fiddled with the phone in her hands, before finally slipping it into her pocket.

  “A work colleague.”

  “From the university?”

  She could tell him the truth or try to lie. As he watched her, he was unsure which she would choose. Robin wiped her palms on her jeans and turned to face him fully.

  “No. From a corporation I work for.”

  The truth, then. How interesting.

  “But you already knew that, didn’t you?” she questioned.

  Her dark eyes studied him as closely as he studied her. She was a quick one. He found himself giving her a small smile.

  “Yes.”

  “And you were testing me. To see if I would tell you the truth.”

  He did not deny it.

  Instead of getting angry, she sighed.

  “How much do you know about me?”

  His smile vanished.

  “A great deal.”

  “Then, why will you not tell me about yourself?”

  Because he would then have to kill her. Surely, she must know that. No matter how interesting and attractive he found her, the mission would always come first.

  She gave him a wry smile.

  “Right. Well, I’m going to bed. If you need anything…”

  “I know the location of everything in the house.”

  She looked at him sharply, but did not comment.

  “Goodnight,” she said.

  He watched her walk down the hall and waited until he heard the soft thud of the door, before he returned to the computer. He opened the tab he had hidden at Robin’s approach and began reading. The picture at the top of the screen was of a small group of scientists. All of them in jeans or khakis and dusty shirts. The scientist in the middle, a well-built athletic man, held a small rock out for the camera to see.

  As he read it became obvious that it was not a rock. It was another fossil. Found only a short distance from where Robin’s team had been. It explained the feelings he had been receiving lately. His mission had been relegated to another after he had fallen. Not surprising. The commander was not a patient man.

  Addar scanned the article until he found the information he was looking for. There, in the last paragraph was the location of the fossil. Renon Corporation.

  Chapter Twelve

  The two of them had just walked into her lab, Addar trailing behind her in a brooding silence, when her cell phone rang. She reached into her pocket, as Amber bounced across the room to meet her. Her smile became a little less bright upon seeing Addar. Robin gave her a small smile and held up a hand to ward off conversation.

  “Dr. Kay,” she answered her phone.

  She saw Amber give Addar a shrewd look from the corner of her eye.

  “Good morning, Dr. Kay,” Ken said smoothly.

  Robin frowned and walked across the room to her desk, not bothering to hang up her jacket.

  “What can I do for you, Dr. Vine?”

  Addar glanced in her direction, but she ignored him.

  “I hope you are excited to start work,” he said with a note of glee.

  Robin shrugged out of her jacket and hung it on the back of her chair.

  “As eager as you, I’m sure,” she murmured.

  “Good. We start work bright and early tomorrow.”

  She paused in the act of sitting.

  “So soon?” She chewed on her bottom lip, scanning her desk calendar. “I expected it to take longer to get things ready.”

  “You and me both, Birdy.”

  Robin ground her teeth at his casual use of the nickname her father used for her.

  “What time would you like me there, Dr. Vine?”

  He paused at the pointed use of his title. He recovered quickly.

  “Five. Don’t be late.”

  He hung up before she could say goodbye. As he always had. She sighed and set her phone down on the desk.

  “Dr. Kay?”

  Robin looked up to see Amber standing on the other side of her desk. A quick glance around did not reveal Addar. She sent Amber a questioning look.

  “He’s, um…” Amber coughed awkwardly. “Collecting the sample.”

  Robin nodded.

  “And did you need something?”

  Amber nodded, stifling a yawn.

  “Which weight room do you want me to use for the strength testing?”

  Robin leaned back in her chair.

  “The one down the hall.”

  “Right.”

  Amber glanced over her shoulder at Addar. Robin followed her gaze. Addar stood with his hands behind his back, a curious tilt to his head. He watched her as she stood from her chair.

  “I’ll go with you,” Robin said

  She opened the lab door and waited for Amber and Addar. After the lab door slid closed behind them, she led the way down the hall. The small gym was empty so early in the morning. Robin entered first, propping open the door, and let the other two walk past her. She watched Addar scan the room.

  The weight room, the idea of the university administration, was sparse but functional. Just a weight bench, collection of free weights, a treadmill, and a punching bag. In the minds of the administration, the gym was the solution to scientists who would work themselves to exhaustion and death if left to their own devices. The staff, especially those who worked in the intensive labs in the basement of the science building, were encouraged to use the facility. Strongly encouraged.

  Robin had started using the treadmill on her infrequent breaks. Even using the punching bag on occasion. Usually after a phone call or meeting with Ken. The thought of him snapped her out of her thoughts. Robin straightened her spine and gave Amber a nod.

  “Go ahead with what we discussed.”

  Amber sent her a quick look before she walked toward Addar. The two of them watched each other, Addar clearly sizing up her assistant. Robin shifted closer.

  “We’re supposed to start with weights,” Amber muttered. “Is that-is that okay?”

  Addar stared at Amber, before cutting his gaze toward Robin. He raised an eyebrow.

  “Fine.”

  Robin crossed her arms and watched the two of them move toward the weight bench. As Amber struggled to slide fifty pounds worth of weights onto the bar, Addar tugged his shirt over his head. He draped it over the rail of the treadmill. Robin looked him over, telling herself she was observing his musculature. She jerked her gaze away when he looked over at her.

  “Okay. Just lay down and, uh, grab the bar, okay?” Amber said.

  Addar did as she asked, grasping the bar and lifting it from its resting place.

  “Do three repetitions, now.”

  He did.

  “Great. Uh…”

  Amber glanced at Robin.

  “Sixty?”

  Robin nodded.

  As Addar returned the bar to its original position, Robin took a seat in the only chair in the room. An old, plastic bucket seat. It made a clicking noise when she sat. Across the room, Addar easily lifted sixty, seventy, eighty, then one hundred pounds.

  “Any sign of fatigue?” Robin asked Amber.

  Her assistant shook her head.

  Addar was still on his back, so she could not see his face.

  “Are you able to continue, Addar?”

  He raised his head enough to give her a curt nod, before he lay down again.

  “Go on, Amber.”

  Once the weight reached one hundred and seventy pounds, Addar’s body weight, Robin called for a pause. She stood from her chair and walked over to look down at him. His face was stoic, b
ut not flushed. His body was not shaking or showing any signs of fatigue. The sheen of sweat she had expected was completely absent. She met his gaze.

  “Are you able to continue?”

  Something close to amusement flashed in his eyes, before he gave her a silent nod. She watched him for another moment and took a step back.

  “Alright, Amber.”

  She did not retake her seat. Robin watched Addar lift twice his body weight without any hesitation. By the time Amber had used every weight in the room, the bar was bending under the strain. At three times his body weight, four hundred and eighty pounds, Addar showed no strain as he lifted the bar three times and gently set it back down.

  “There’s no more weights, Dr. Kay…?”

  Robin glanced at Amber’s wide-eyed face and nodded.

  “Please check the weight room in the university gym to see if it is occupied. I believe the lifting team is off today.”

  Amber nodded quickly, ponytail bobbing, and hurried out of the room.

  Robin turned back to Addar to see him sitting up and watching her.

  “You lifted three times your own body weight.”

  “I know.”

  The two of them stared at each other. As she looked at him, Robin quickly calculated. Based on the amount he could bench press and the average ration of upper body strength to lower body strength, it was likely he could easy leg press over one thousand pounds. Or more. She opened her mouth to ask about it when Amber returned.

  “Empty.”

  “Good.”

  Robin gestured for Amber to lead the way to the gym in the building next door. The three of them filed out of the sparse weight room and took the back stairs up to ground level. Amber pushed open the door at the top of the stairs and bright sunlight flooded the stairwell. Robin squinted, following Addar’s shadow into the courtyard.

  The courtyard was mostly green space, rolling lawn with a few mature trees. The walkways that crisscrossed the grass were made of dove gray tiles. Something that looked far more suited to the back garden of a middle class home than a university. Amber stepped onto the path and led the way across a small expanse of grass to the next building.

  Three stories of white stone, the health building looked much the same as all of the others on campus. Amber and Addar entered through the side door, but Robin paused. Off across the courtyard a single form moved. She squinted into the morning sun. It was too early to be a student. The first class was not until seven.

  After a moment, she made out the green of a groundskeeper’s uniform. She let out a breath and turned to follow Amber and Addar. They had already moved on by the time she pulled the outside door closed behind her. Robin walked the hall at a sedate pace. It was not unusual for a professor to be on campus at five on a weekday. Unlikely, but not impossible.

  She could not be seen hurrying. That was something that would stick in an observer’s memory. She had to be vigilant. Always aware of appearances. Especially given the nature of her recent activities. Robin found Amber and Addar in the gym already working. The Olympic grade lifting bar was able to carry far more weight without any flexing. She settled on a chair near the weight bench and watched Addar lift six hundred pounds without any trouble.

  “Wait,” Robin said, holding up a hand to stop Amber from adding more weight.

  She rubbed her hands on her pant legs and stood to stand at Addar’s side.

  “How much?”

  He rolled his head to the side to look up at her. In one smooth movement, he rose to his feet. His eyes never left her face.

  “Why not ask before?” He gestured toward the bench. “Why test me when you could just ask?”

  Robin blinked.

  His lips curved into a humorless smile.

  “It never once occurred to you, did it?”

  …

  So this was the Dr. Robin Kay he read about. The cold, clinical scientist. If he were not nearly shaking with rage, he would find her surprised expression amusing. Her dark eyes were wide, her full lips parted as if she wanted to say something. After a moment, the expression passed to be replaced with cool indifference.

  “I had no reason to believe you would be cooperative.”

  She had no idea how cooperative he had been. From the moment he left that tank of hers, he had been nothing but compliant to her will. Allowing blood to be taken, learning her language, behaving as one of the humans. He bared his teeth in a mockery of a smile. He had been plenty accommodating. She appreciated none of it.

  “Have I given you any reason to believe I would not be?”

  Robin stared at him.

  “Leave us!” he barked at the blonde to his right.

  Robin’s assistant scuttled a few feet away, but paused at the door. He watched her fight with the urge to flee.

  “Go ahead. I will finish the testing,” Robin said.

  If he did not see the small tremor in her hands, he would believe her to be as calm as she sounded. He did not bother watching the small female, Amber, leave. He kept his eyes on Robin.

  “What is the issue, Addar? If your needs are not being met—”

  “My needs?” he cut her off. “Do not pretend to be concerned about my well-being.”

  Robin’s eyes widened in what appeared to be genuine surprise.

  “I am concerned. It is my job to be sure you have proper nutrition, a safe living space—”

  “I am an experiment to you. Correct?”

  She frowned, but did not answer.

  “An animal that you created. Thus, you own me. Correct?”

  The scowl deepened.

  “I never said that. I do not own you.”

  “But I am not a person, am I? Not someone with rights equal to yours.”

  She broke eye contact and began to chew on her bottom lip.

  Addar tried very hard to ignore the bloom of heat he felt at her unconscious behavior. He focused on his point, on his fury.

  “If you want answers to your questions ask.”

  She looked at him.

  “And you will answer? Why? I have asked several times—”

  “Perhaps I am tired of being treated like a lab rat.”

  Robin visibly flinched.

  “You don’t understand. When a new species is discovered—”

  “I am a person!”

  She clamped her mouth shut.

  “You cannot study me without my permission.”

  Robin started to speak and paused. She looked at him for a long minute before she nodded.

  “And you will answer my questions? All of them?”

  The things she needed to know. The things that would not get her into trouble.

  “Yes.”

  “If I give you the same regard I would give a human, you will answer my questions honestly?”

  He felt a burst of pride at her suspicion. Addar schooled his face into a placid expression and nodded.

  “To the best of my ability.”

  “And when I need to run a test?” she pressed.

  “If I consider it necessary, I will submit.”

  Robin frowned, but finally gave him a quick nod.

  “Fine. How much can you lift?”

  “From what I understand of your weight system, just over one thousand pounds. One thousand and sixty, give or take ten pounds.”

  “And beyond that?” she asked, picking up a notepad from where her assistant had left it.

  He watched her enter the information, his gaze moving from her hands to the tendril of hair that had fallen free from her braid. It was a single dark curl, gently swaying against the soft skin of her throat. He pulled his gaze away from the sight when she looked at him.

  “And leg press?”

  He considered.

  “Two thousand five hundred. Give or take twenty pounds.”

  She paused for only a second before she went back to the notepad.

  He found his gaze straying to the loose strand of hair. The only softness she could not hide. Robin covered he
r curves with a pair of trousers and a boxy jacket and she applied cosmetics to downplay her lush mouth. Her hair had been in a harsh braid almost every waking moment. The way the single strand escaped from her rigid braid to flutter against her bronze flesh made him trap a growl in his throat.

  “Will you submit to an agility test?”

  He watched Robin lick her lips, before she looked up to meet his gaze. As he gazed into her dark eyes, he felt the irritation draining away.

  “What would it include?”

  She smiled.

  “It’s very simple. Just running between cones to test your speed and reaction time.”

  She already knew his strength, but every new piece of information carried her closer to her own destruction. When she knew all there was to know of him, he would have to kill her. There was no other choice. Her assistant would have to be removed, also. Robin’s lab destroyed. Even as he ran through the necessary steps in his mind, he watched Robin study him.

  She had no idea what she was asking of him. What she was bringing down on her own head. He allowed his eyes to wander over her. Beneath the smooth skin and curves was a mind far too sharp to be dulled by the coming events. So, he would kill her. When the time came, he would snuff out her life to spare her a far worse fate.

  “Addar?”

  He raised his eyes to her face to see a faint blush on her cheeks. She truly was lovely.

  “I will do the test.”

  She smiled.

  “Thank you,” Robin said, as she turned toward the door. “We can go.”

  He proceeded her. The walk down the hall to the exit was silent. He could hear her tapping on the notepad in her hands. When they stepped into the courtyard there were far more people than when they entered the building. Students walked past them, most carrying books or bags slung over their shoulders. None of them paid him any attention.

  “Dr. Kay!” one of the students called, waving at Robin.

  Addar ducked into the science building before the human took notice of him. Robin would no doubt think his actions were to her benefit and he would do nothing to make her think otherwise. If he had other reasons that was only his concern. He took the familiar trip down the stairs to the basement door, where he waited for Robin.

  The door opened and a tall man stepped into the stairwell. Addar watched him closely, but the man seemed more concerned with his own thoughts. He did not look up until the upstairs door opened and Robin stepped into the stairwell. She gave Addar a smile that froze the moment she caught sight of the other man.