Page 12 of Anna's Bounty
“Seriously,” I say to Igid. “What is the other 0.7%?” I’ll admit I’m not the best at math, but according to my calculations, 99.3% isn’t exactlypure human.
Setting the device on the table, Igid turns her attention back to me. “Do you realize what this means?”
Ah—no. I don’t, and the look on her face has me stiffening for more bad news.
“It means, little human, that if anyone finds out about you, or your planet, that you would be in very grave danger.”
My heart drops.
And there it is. The worst news of all: knowing everyone I know and love back on Earth could be in danger. All because of me.
“Oh, shit,” I whisper as I realize Igid and Rovos aren’t the only ones who know about me. The mantis-aliens know about me too; I heard them talking about the pleasure houses that wanted me. There was going to be an epic bidding war. Because they knew! Theyfucking knewwhat I was! And they know where to get more.
My hands start to shake.
* * *
The panic attack hits me hard and fast, giving me little warning before slamming into me. It tightens around me like a vise until I’m gasping for air because my throat is closing up. My eyes peel wide open, and I claw at my neck, as if that might let more oxygen into my lungs, while my heart frantically pounds in my chest.
I’m vaguely aware of arms wrapping around me. Of being lifted.
I can hear voices, loud and shouting, but the words don’t register in my ears. Then I’m being laid on something firm and cold. It molds to the shape of my body, like memory foam, but it has a plastic feel to it.
When something comes down on top of me, closing me inside, I freeze.
I’m inside a tube. A solid tube, except for a glass panel directly above me. The curved walls are too close. The space is too tight. My hands slap at the glass as a new wave of hysteria lights up inside of me.
“No! No! Let me out,” I scream as I bang on the glass. “LET ME OUT!”
“The female patient’s heart rate is dangerously high,” an automated voice announces.
“Please.Please, let me out!” Tears stream down my temples as I sob, trying to press and kick my way out of the tube.
“Heart rate is nearing critical levels,” the voice announces.
The nurse in me realizes I need to calm down. But I’m too worked up to listen.
“Recommend sedation,” the voice chimes.
“No! No, let me out! Let me out!” I scream.
A face appears over me through the glass, and I recognize Rovos, except he looks haggard. His expression is pinched with… regret?
“Help me!” I sob, lifting my hands, pressing my palms to the glass. “Help me, Rovos! Please. Get me out!”
But he doesn’t. He looks at me for several heartbeats before turning his head toward a screen beside him. He pushes a button and then returns his attention to me.
“No!” I scream, slapping my hands against the tube surrounding me again.
His eyes are glossy as he looks at me through the glass. He presses his lips tightly together just before his hand appears in the window above me. His fingertips press against the glass, and I watch his mouth move, but the tube must be soundproof because I can’t hear him. Neither can I read his lips.
The sharp sound of something hissing makes me jump, and the tube fills with thick white vapor.
“No! No, Rovos! Don’t do this,” I sob, pounding my fists against the glass while he watches me with a pained look on his face. “Help! Help! Somebody, help me! Help… help… please.”
My heart stutters in my chest, and my eyelids grow heavy. Above me, Rovos clenches his jaw hard enough that I can see the muscles in his jaw tick. His hand clenches into a fist, and he pounds it on the glass above me before flattening it out.
“Please…” I whimper. I’m losing strength in my arms, but I manage enough strength to press my palm against the glass under his.
