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Springing off the chair where I've been sitting, dressed, and waiting for my summons since long before dawn, anticipation courses through me. I’ve already prepared a speech. I’ve got three different apologies ready, and an offer to erase all doubt that I will take full responsibility for what happened last night. It doesn’t matter how they punish me. I learned how to tolerate abuse and torture as a child. I’ll do anything to spare Olivia.
Minutes later, five soldiers lead me from the males’ dorm and until I’m standing outside the Colonel’s door. One thing is certain, they don’t knock on his door with the vehemence they rapped on mine.
“Come!”
When I’m escorted in, he uses his chin to indicate he wants me in the chair directly in front of his desk. I’m surprised they let me so close to him without cuffing me, but I guess cuffs aren’t necessary when there are five armed guards watching my every move.
“You men are excused,” he says to his soldiers.
A bolt of fear darts through me. There’s only one reason he wants them to leave. He’s going to do something illegal and wants no witnesses.
Breathing deeply, I shrug. I knew it might come to this.
“I watched the footage from all available cameras last night,” he says after the door clicks closed. “Tell me what the hell you were thinking kissing that woman, Ty.”
Sitting up straighter, my head snapping back in surprise, I’m at a loss for words. Though I had several speeches prepared, I didn’t expect him to ask my side of the story.
He’s being courteous to me. The least I can do is give him honesty in return.
“Olivia is a kind, honorable person. We’ve spent a lot of time together and I’ve grown attracted. She asked me to kiss her and all the reasons to refuse her flew out of my head, Sir.”
If I were back at the facility where I was created, this level of candor would have earned me a backhand at best, perhaps a taser burst, but probably something worse. That’s why it comes as a complete surprise when Slater barks out a laugh.
“Flew out of your head, huh? She’s a pretty one, I’ll give you that.”
He stands and paces behind his desk from one side of the room to the other. He’s deep in thought, occasionally stroking his chin as if he’s fondling a beard he shaved off long ago.
“I would be stupid if I hadn’t considered this possibility. I’ve been alive long enough to know that when you put males and females together, attraction happens. Even when the males and females are of different species.”
He slides back into his chair.
“I just didn’t think it would happen so soon. Sadly, I think there are another one or two couples who are edging in the same direction.”
Slater has been in charge of the splicer project since before he accomplished our rescue. He’s smart, decisive. That’s why it surprises me when he randomly shuffles stacks of paper on his desk as he appears deep in thought.
“The optics are bad. Very bad. There are certain factions out there…”
He vaguely gestures, but I assume he’s referring to the world beyond the razor wire at the edges of the property.
“People don’t like different, Ty, and boy, you guys are different. The best minds in the military dreamed up this idea of Splicer Town, though we’ve got to get a less demeaning, more appealing name. The idea was to portray you as unassuming citizens wearing fun Hawaiian prints and eagerly waiting on customers. How could anyone push back against a bunch of poor guys who were treated badly and are now eager to assimilate into society?”
He cups the back of his neck and massages it for a moment.
“If they find out you guys are species-mixing, all bets are off. I fear for your safety. The malesandthe women.”
Species-mixing. It sounds immoral, unclean.
Slater’s a hardass, but he’s never been unfair and has always treated us with respect. If this worries him, it should worry me.
“I understand the punishment for Olivia is to throw her in the brig, Sir. I’ll happily go to the barracks in the south and never speak to her again if you just let her do her time here without discipline. It would be cruel to lock her up. I take full responsibility—”
“I figured you’d make that offer. That’s why I hate being put in this bind. Somehow, despite the abuses you suffered, all you splicers turned out to be good people.”
Slater is a military, by-the-book male. That he would give us a compliment like that feels better than it has a right to.
He picks up a pen and twirls it between his fingers in an intricate dance. It requires more dexterity than I possess with my fur and claws. I imagine he’s performed it hundreds of times when he’s deep in thought.
“I want your promise that you’ll keep your distance from her, Ty. Let me speak with my superiors. Though we didn’t want this to happen, here it is. The brass and a few senators are coming to observe your dance. I thought it was good PR. Might get us additional funding so we can do more work to socialize the males in the southern barracks.”
