Read Perfect Specimen: Brietta for Free Online

to myself.”
    “Apparently he didn’t get the harassment memo,” Brietta said with a laugh. “Luckily, I think he was kidding. Right, Hannan?”
    “Absolutely. I was making a joke.”
    Taggart slapped him on the back. “Walk with me, buddy. I want to be sure I get that saddle on right.”
    Brietta watched in amusement as the two men walked away together. Taggert was clearly giving Hannan a piece of his mind—she recognized the expression from when he had chewed Vince out. And she was grateful for it. Not that she was worried about Hannan. Nor had she consciously been flirting with him. But she had let her guard down a little, probably because of the Vicodin, forgetting the first rule of sexual politics, dig-style. Don’t send out a signal unless you really, really mean it.
    Ten weeks was a long time for a small party in such close quarters and such a remote location, but it would feel even longer if social issues started popping up.
    And so she watched in relief as the two men shook hands, then Taggert swung himself up onto the golden brown horse and galloped westward, while Hannan strode back to Brietta.
    “I apologize,” he told her immediately.
    “Me too. I knew you were joking, but still—Taggert’s right.”
    Hannan shrugged. “He wants you for himself. Who can blame him? Anyway, the subject is closed. Yes?”
    “No! I mean, yes, it’s closed, but not because Taggert—oh, never mind. Let’s just dig.”
    “Digging in the hot sun for nothing,” Hannan agreed with a chuckle. “What more could a man want?”
    “Well, at least it keeps my headache away,” she quipped, lifting her shovel and stabbing it into semi-arid soil. The impact jolted through her, first as a nasty vibration, then waves of hot pain that sent her staggering backward, confused and alarmed as her spine began to spasm.
    “Brietta?”
    Falling to her knees, she struggled for a breath, but the wrenching stabs came too quickly. Then to her horror, her sinuses exploded again, just as they had that awful night earlier that week. “Oh, God, Hannan, not again!”
    He knelt and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Tell me what this is.”
    “I don’t know, I don’t know. Don’t tell Taggert, please ?”
    “You need a doctor—”
    “No, I’m fine.” She grabbed his shirt in her fist, struggling to maintain consciousness. “Promise me you won’t tell him. Promise me . . . Oh . . .”
    A curtain of darkness descended over her, isolating her in a world of pain and confusion, and then there was nothing at all.

Chapter Four
     
    Orbit: Earth
    Specimen: Brietta Ryerson
    Day: 5 of 12
     
    Emerging from his quarters aboard his clone-son’s science vessel, the Axa’gag overlord stepped noiselessly into the laboratory. Immediately he recoiled in disgust from the image generated by the specimen monitor: the Ryerson female, grabbing her head with both hands, writhing in pain and collapsing in a heap.
    “Ga'rag!”
    “Father?”
    “Do not dare address me as such. I am ashamed to be your donor. Ashamed to have anything to do with a wretch like you.”
    Dislodging a whip from his belt, the overlord rained brutal lashes across Ga’rag’s face and shoulders, forcing him to his knees.
    “Forgive me, Overlord,” Ga’rag gasped, keeping his eyes and head lowered in submissive apology. “Tell me what I’ve done to disappoint you this way.”
    “You are killing the specimen,” he hissed. “I’ve warned you to keep your emotions in check, but you seem incapable of rational thought where she is concerned.”
    When Ga’rag looked up, the overlord saw a hint of defiance still shining in his eyes, and he considered lashing him again, then shrugged and said, “Explain yourself.”
    “I need to document her pain threshold. It is a valid parameter of the experiment.”
    “And it has been thoroughly documented. You need to move on to something more productive. Low-level but chronic pain, perhaps. The kind that will be used on her in our world.