Chapter 38: Conditioning
The room smelled wrong.
Sasha noticed it every time she woke. It didn’t smell of flowers or the rain or the warm mineral scent of the springs beneath her homeworld.
Only metal, antiseptic and recycled air.
White walls surrounded her on all sides. White ceiling. White floor. Even the light was white. It buzzed softly overhead without ever changing, as if this place had no morning or night.
She sat on the narrow platform they called a bed and looked toward the sealed door.
No footsteps.
No familiar laugh...no Edith.
Her rings drifted slowly around her chained wrists and shoulders, their glow dull and tired. She pressed a hand against her stomach. Beneath her palm, life stirred faintly.
"Little one," she whispered in Vashki, "forgive me. Your mother does not know how to leave this place."
Silence answered her.
She closed her eyes and imagined the ship. Aon standing at the viewport, waiting for her return. He always waited. He would ask why she had stayed away so long. He would complain that the food tasted terrible without her. He would pretend not to miss her while clinging to her arm the moment she stepped through the hatch.
A soft ache spread through her chest.
"Aon..."
The door hissed open.
Sasha looked up immediately. Hope flared before she could stop it.
Not Edith.
It was never Edith. Just these horrible men.
A young human entered carrying a tray. He couldn’t have been much older than a hatchling by Vashki standards. His hands trembled slightly as he set the food down on the table.
"Good morning," he said carefully.
Sasha studied him. The words were familiar. Edith had taught her those words.
"...Good morning."
Relief crossed his face. "Yeah...morning."
She remembered everything Edith had given her. That was the problem.
The technician hesitated near the door. "My name is Daniel."
Sasha tilted her head. "...Daniel."
He smiled, startled by the sound of his own name in her voice. "Yeah. That’s me."
She pointed to herself. "Tuk’Ina...Sasha."
Daniel repeated it awkwardly. "Took... Ee-na?"
Her rings brightened a fraction. Not quite right, but he was trying.
"Tuk’Ina," she corrected gently.
"Took Hena," he said again, closer this time.
For the first time in days, she felt something loosen inside her.
Daniel glanced toward the camera in the corner and lowered his voice. "I know this place is frightening."
Sasha looked at the white walls. Frightening was not the right word. Frightening things could be fought. This place was emptiness.
"Sha’var," she murmured.
"What does that mean?"
She searched for the English word Edith had used. Her tongue stumbled over it. "...place you go to."
Daniel’s smile faded. "Oh."
The intercom crackled. "Technician Hale, report to Laboratory Three immediately."
He straightened. "I...uh...I have to go."
Sasha watched him reach the door. "Daniel."
He paused.
"...Hello," she said, because she did not know how to say please come back.
"Hello, Hena."
The door closed behind him.
Hours later, another door opened. This time the footsteps were measured, confident.
Merit Smith entered with a tablet tucked beneath his arm.
"Well, hello there."
Sasha turned away, a snarl brewing at the tip of her tongue.
"Still refusing to speak to me?"
He circled the room slowly. "Interesting. You spoke to the technician."
No response.
"Do you know why you’re here?"
Sasha looked toward the ceiling.
"Because I can protect you better than Edith can."
At the name, her rings flickered.
Merit’s eyes sharpened. "Ah. There she is."
He tapped the tablet. A hologram bloomed into the air. Edith appeared, smiling. Sasha rose so quickly the platform scraped against the floor.
"Edith."
The hologram smiled warmly. "Good morning."
Sasha took a step forward. Her hand lifted instinctively. "Good morning."
Then the image changed.
Edith sighed. "She’s too attached."
Roger’s voice answered, "We’ll transfer her eventually."
"Once the research is complete," Edith continued, "there’s no reason to keep pretending."
Sasha froze.
"Imagine the recognition this will bring," Roger laughed.
The projection ended.
Sasha stared at the empty air. Her rings dimmed abruptly.
"No," she said.
Merit watched carefully. "You understand English which is very good."
"No Edith."
"You think you know her but trust me, I’ve spent more years with her than you ever would."
Sasha shook her head harder. Memories surged through her: Edith kneeling beside flowers, Edith teaching her "Good morning," Edith holding her hand when she was frightened.
"No."
Merit studied her for a long moment before deactivating the tablet. "Interesting," he murmured, and left.
The door sealed.
Sasha sank back onto the platform and pressed both hands against her stomach. "No," she whispered again, this time to herself.
That night she tore through her restraints.
She waited until the corridor fell silent. Her rings brightened one by one, humming softly. The lock groaned. Metal bent. The door slid open just enough for her to slip through.
Cold air rushed over her skin. Freedom smelled like dust and electricity.
She ran barefoot through the corridor, following instinct rather than maps. Upward. Toward the sky. Toward her ship.
Alarms erupted behind her.
She reached an emergency stairwell and climbed. Floor after floor blurred past. By the time she burst onto the roof, her lungs burned.
The night sky spread above her.
Stars.
Her rings flared with sudden joy. Far above, hidden among the clouds, she could feel the faint pull of her vessel. They were there. Waiting.
Sasha stepped toward the edge and leapt.
Blue restraints snapped around her ankles, pulling her back to the edge. She cried out and fell hard against the concrete. More restraints wrapped around her wrists before she could summon the strength of her rings.
Soldiers surrounded her, weapons raised.
One approached cautiously. "Please don’t make this difficult."
Sasha looked past him, toward the stars. "My child."
The soldier’s expression faltered. He did not understand what she meant.
They carried her back inside.
Two days later, she escaped again.
This time she did not head for the roof. She headed for REACH.
The moment she crossed the laboratory threshold, Katie dropped the mug in her hand. Ceramic shattered across the floor.
"Sasha!"
Edith looked up from her workstation. For one heartbeat neither moved. Then Edith ran to her.
Warm arms wrapped around Sasha. The familiar scent of flowers and coffee surrounded her.
"You came back," Edith breathed.
Sasha pressed her forehead against Edith’s shoulder. "..."
Edith laughed shakily through tears. "Home? Is that what this place is to you?"
Sasha nodded.
It wasn’t real.
The silver man was lying.
It had to be.
Roger hurried over, eyes wide. "How did she get out this time?"
"I don’t care," Edith said fiercely. "Look at her."
Sasha clung to her sleeve like a frightened child. The rings around her wrists were scorched where the restraints had bitten into them.
Edith’s face hardened. "What did they do to you?"
Sasha only whispered, "Edith."
The laboratory lights flashed red.
Katie swore. "No. No, no, no."
Outside, military vehicles screeched to a halt.
Heavy boots thundered through the corridor.
The lead officer stopped at the doorway. "Dr. Burkman, we’re taking her back."
Edith stepped in front of Sasha. "No."
"She escaped federal custody, we’re doing our part taking her back."
"Just what are you doing to her over there?"
"Our orders stand."
Sasha looked between them, confused. Edith had promised to come for her. Why were these humans here again? Why did Edith keep letting them take her?
"Stay," Sasha pleaded softly.
Edith’s eyes filled with tears. "I know."
The soldiers approached. Sasha did not fight. Fighting only made them hold her tighter. Fighting only made her hurt more.
As they led her away, she kept looking back at Edith until the doors closed between them.
Was the silver man right?
The next morning, the corner beside Edith’s office was empty once more.
Edith placed a fresh flower there anyway.
Somewhere beyond the city, behind white walls and locked doors, Sasha sat alone with one hand over her throbbing stomach and listened for the footsteps that never came.
"Na’Khel." she whispered into the silence.
Merit watched from the hidden observation glass.
"She keeps touching her abdomen...write that down." He waved at his assistant. "And prepare Lab one...let’s run an MRI on her, I doubt she’d stay still for an ultrasound."
"Yes sir."
"Also call Hale, she seems comfortable talking to him."
"Yes Sir."
The silver-head stepped out with a gas mask and headed towards Sasha ’detainment zone’.
The reinforced door slid open once again.
Sasha didn’t bother looking up. She already knew who it was.
"My apologies," Merit said pleasantly. "I had hoped we could continue communicating without resorting to... unpleasant methods."
No response.
Her fingers remained protectively curled over her abdomen.
Merit sighed before placing the gas mask and fitting it over his nose and mouth. He gave a small nod toward the hidden glass.
"I assure you," he continued, "this sedative won’t harm you... or your child...I’m assuming you’re pregnant."
Sasha’s rings brightened instinctively.
The first pale stream of gas hissed into the room.
She backed away immediately, pressing herself against the far wall as the sweet, unfamiliar scent spread through the chamber.
"No..."
Her voice trembled.
The haze thickened, swallowing the room inch by inch. Sasha held her breath, but her lungs soon burned with desperate need.
She inhaled.
Almost instantly, her knees buckled.
The glowing rings around her body flickered erratically before dimming one after another.
Her vision blurred.
The last thing she saw was Merit calmly watching, standing above her and jotting something onto his data pad.
"...Prepare Lab One," he said. "Begin the scans as soon as she’s unconscious."
Darkness claimed her before she could whisper another word.