The Wolf Experiments

It had taken Alex just one visit to decide that the historians and various writers had it all wrong. Madrid was not the romantic city it was made out to be. Suddenly, her zeal to visit Italy also died a sudden death. She was not sure if she wanted another ideal she had carefully constructed to be shattered by the truth.

As they approached the hanger, Alex was pleased. It would be good to get the city and all its atrocities behind them. Taking a last look at Madrid, it made her sad. Perhaps the books were correct in the description a hundred years ago but not now.

Inside the ship, Amandas climbed up next to her on the seat, waiting to be strapped in and pushed his head under her arm. With nothing else to do, Alex decided to sleep for a little while.

She lost all sense of time, dozing and half listening to pieces of conversation. Sometimes, between sentences, Adrian smoothed the hair from her forehead, perhaps noticing that the furrowed creases had eased. Other times, Andy moved through the ship like a steward, distributing beverages and snacks. No one attempted to wake her.

Alex still thought about Andy’s hidden talents, the fact that he had swept into action so quickly. Where he learnt to fight so well?

The familiar shape of the complex was visible in the distance. From her port side window, she could see elk bounding down the side of the valley. There seemed to be a lot more of them now. Clearly the wolf population was not doing such a good job or the reproductive system of the elk could just not be contained. Whatever it was, Alex sure was happy to be back home.

Her spirits lifted, and her mind was soaring when, with a gasp of surprise, she saw Sultan on horseback. He was racing across the valley floor towards the landing pad. When the ship touched down, she threw open the doors and ran down the ramp.

Sultan stood at the edge of the pad, a burst of sunlight covering his body like a blanket. Alex waited for him to approach her and he did, giving her a careful hug before climbing back on his stallion and galloping away. With bitter disappointment, she realized that things between them hadn’t gotten any better. She wasn’t sure what to do about it but needed to do something.

“Don’t,” Adrian said.

Nick waited at the entrance of the complex, his arms outstretched to embrace her tightly. Alex wished she could tell him the truth, to let him know he already had the one thing he wanted most. She buried her face in his chest and sighed.

“What’s the matter, sweetheart,” Nick whispered.

He planted a kiss on her forehead. Alex held firmly to her father’s hand. He chuckled softly as she pulled him along.

Now that she was home again, she thought about her future and relationships. Part of her wished things would stay the same forever, but she knew there was no progress in that. For one thing, she wanted Nick to know the truth.

In Madrid, she had not made friends. She hated it there. Deep inside, Alex longed for independence. Would she wind up living apart from the others as Nick did? Would she be just a recluse? And what about Amandas?

In the days that followed, she put more effort in her clothes. She dressed in jeans and cowboy boots, like always, but focused on shirts that fit her form better and brought out the color of her eyes. Everyone noticed. Maybe being around the girls at the university had at least given her a sense of fashion.

Alex gazed at her special tree. The moonlit sky bought the leaves and surroundings into startling clarity. One of the massive limbs had died during the winter and looked exposed. It had fingers like a giant claw. While part of her waited for Sultan, the other part was afraid to face him—to find out that love truly had torn him away from her. She waited a long time. If he knew she was there, if he knew what she was thinking, he gave no sign of it. Tonight that bridge remained in disrepair. But why had he waited for her to come down from the ship in the first place?

The following days were unseasonably hot and oppressive, and Alex spent her time spreading manure in the garden. The warm winds seemed to sweep the gloom away, placing her troubles and concerns far back in her mind. They would rest there until her dreams unearthed them again. As the humidity increased, the muggy weather plastered the skyline with low hanging clouds that hinted of rain.

Finally, a crack of thunder echoed in the valley, booming across the canyon and rattling the cliff walls. She climbed to her feet, sweaty and tired, and opened the pasture gate. Each horse went obediently to his or her stall. The first raindrops splashed on her clothes as she jogged to the complex. A blast of cool, comforting air washed over her body as she found her way to the infirmary.

“You need any help with the horses?” Andy asked, squeezing her shoulders. “You get everything finished?”

She cocked her head to the side, wondering which question to answer first. Andy chuckled, realizing what he had done.

“You’re our resident cowgirl,” Andy said.

She liked it that he called her a cowgirl, and he ruffled her hair in a rare moment of affection. Teasingly, he gave her boots a nudge with his foot, picking a piece of straw from her hair.

“Now that you’re done, I need your help with something,” he said.

She followed Andy and gently restrained a wolf as he drew a sample of blood. If any of the men tried to do it, the animals generally fought. Andy placed it in the cylinder to spin down. She wrestled with the wolf a little before putting it back in the cage, worried that the animals did not get enough exercise or time out of their cages. Absently, she wondered why the mad scientist had kept her caged. Sometimes he had even thrown her in the same enclosure as the wolves. She had called for someone named Seth, the man who was still a mystery to her. Obviously, he had been someone close to Pretorius. Where was he now?

Andy motioned for her to follow him to the back of the laboratory.

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about a couple of things,” he said.

He reached over her shoulder to shut his computer down.

“I want you to give this idea some thought, and you don’t have to let me know today. Adrian and I were talking about it this morning. How would you like to have your own house here in the valley? It wouldn’t be difficult to build. I think you’d enjoy the independence and privacy.”

He continued to speak, but her mind was already whirling into motion. She could find a place near Sultan’s valley. Perhaps even use it to hide the entrance. Alex didn’t need to think about it, her answering grin told Andy all he needed to know.

“I’ll work up some blueprints and we can start from there.” A sound at the door made them both turn. Hawk was standing there. “Yes?” Andy said. “What is it?”

“Nick is on his way to the barn. We saw the horses getting restless on the monitor and the sensors indicate there is some kind of heat signature nearby. We think it’s a fire.”

Alex grabbed her jacket and both she and Andy followed Hawk. A fire could easily get out of hand with so few people to control it. She thought about her premonition but it was too late to warn Andy. He was already getting into one of the airships with a load of fire retardant. Sprinklers protected the complex and the barn, but the fields surrounding the buildings were vulnerable.

When she reached the barn, Nick was waiting for her. “I don’t want you to take Rebel. He spooks too easily.” He threw a saddle onto another mount, letting her know the other horses would be safer in the barn. “You’re coming with me,” he said. “Eric and Hawk will be taking the small motor cart. It carries two hundred gallons of water.”

She looked out across the valley. A small plume of smoke curled out of the western end. Nick tossed her a small two-way radio. They mounted up, checked their gear one more time, and galloped towards the smoke.

She wondered if Sultan would fight or flee. As they drew closer, she could see a dozen or more trees blazing deep in the forest. The flames seemed alive, vital and powerful as they spread quickly, fireballs arching out of the inferno. Even at this distance, she could feel the heat on her face.

“Stay here!” Nick shouted. “I need a closer look. I’ll give you instructions on the radio once I see what’s going on.”

She nervously watched him disappear into the smoke and strained to hear the voices coming over the radio through the static.

“I don’t want that stuff dropped on me,” Nick said. “It’ll eat your skin off.”

“Don’t stay in there too long,” Andy replied. “Hawk, I want you and Eric over on the western edge dampening the ground.”

“Copy,” several voices said in unison.

She listened to the banter of voices back and forth and hated feeling so helpless. Nick had been gone too long. Apparently, Andy thought so too.

His voice crackled over the radio, “What’s your location, Nick?” There was no answer. “Nick?”

Suddenly Nick’s black horse came charging out of the woods alone, eyes white rimmed with fear.

“I am making the drop,” Andy said. “I just saw him come out of the woods.”

Alex clicked the radio in vain, hoping that Andy would hear the signal. She waved her arm wildly at the ship that hovered nearby. No one realized she was trying to send a message. She punched the call button repeatedly, watching in horror as the cargo doors opened to disgorge the caustic chemicals.

“Wait!” She did not even recognize her voice when she heard it, the strange crackle of an old woman. She nearly dropped the radio in shock. Had she...had she just spoken?

In the seconds that followed, she was unsure if she really had spoken, but then Andy answered.

“Alex?”

“Nick is still in the woods. Something has happened!” Her voice broke and for a moment, she thought it was gone again. She struggled to reclaim what was hers, her eyes burning with angry tears. “I’m going in to find him!”

She could talk! The revelation shocked her as much as it did the people on the other end of the radio.

She kicked her horse forward, but he reared and fought. The radio fell from her hand and shattered under the gelding’s hoof. Alex jumped to the ground, pulling a pack of water with her and started into the flames, her eyes watering and burning from the smoke.

“Nick!”

Farther in, she dropped to the ground beneath of ceiling of crawling flames. Ash billowed down around her like snow and hot embers seared her clothes. Then, as if in a dream, Sultan burst through the trees.

“My father is here somewhere!” she cried.

He looked at her incredulously, raising his voice above the roar. “He isn’t back that way. I was searching for you in that direction.” She appreciated the fact that he did not stop to wonder at the fact that she had found her voice. He just swung straight into action.

The rising heat forced them to retreat. Alex wet a piece of her shirt to hold over her nose and mouth. As they stumbled along, she tripped over something and looking down, saw Nick lying pinned under a burning limb. He was conscious, but barely. His shirt was smouldering in parts where large bits of flaming ash had landed on it.

“Can you carry my father?”

Nick eyes seemed to focus on her for a split second obviously trying to comprehend her words, but then his eyes rolled back and he passed out. Sultan lifted him easily and then they ran back out through the inferno to find Hawk and Eric waiting for them, eyes wide amazement.

“Tell Andy we’re out!” Alex snapped.

Hawk radioed the ship, which passed overhead. Alex pointed at the water cart, “How fast can that go? Nick needs medical attention.”

“Fast enough,” Hawk said.

They loaded Nick into the cart, but Alex held back because there wasn’t a lot of room and it might go faster with less people.

“What about you?” Eric asked.

“I’ll take her,” Sultan said.

The men gunned the engine of their hover cart. Nick could be dying. There would be time later for answers. Beneath the drop of red dust, the fire sputtered away quickly.

Sultan said, “It’s good to hear your voice.”

“I hope it doesn’t go away again.”

Alex felt like a spell had been cast over her, or maybe one had finally lifted. Sultan took her pack so she could stretch her aching muscles.

“I’m sorry about how I’ve behaved,” he said. “You must think terrible things of me.”

“No, my feelings were hurt, but having you here now makes up for that. Thank you for saving my father.”

“I didn’t mean to chase you away,” Sultan said.

Alex shrugged, “That’s over now.”

“Maybe you’ll tell me more about your time in Madrid after Nick is out of danger.”

He whistled and the stallion came racing to them. Sultan climbed aboard before reaching down to hook his arm around her waist and drag her up behind him. Like always, Alex fought the urge to pull away. She still wasn’t accustomed to people touching her.

The ship streaked through the air. She turned to the sky as it wavered unsteadily before streaking atop the tree line.

“My God,” said Sultan. “He’s coming in hot.”

Seconds later, there came the sound of a crash and fire erupted from the landing pad.

“Andy!” Alex exclaimed.

Alex and Sultan were immediately off again. She could only be thankful that Sultan’s energy and strength never waned. They arrived at the hanger to find the ship was on fire.

Using an extinguisher from her pack, Alex was able to get to Andy who sat, unmoving, in the control chair, his head tilted at an odd angle and his eyes open and staring. A large gash across his throat indicated a kill stroke. A piece of metal, the culprit, had fallen into his lap.

“No!” she screamed before choking on the smoke.

She quickly felt for a pulse, but there was nothing, and she fell shaking against the sparking consul. Sultan touched her shoulder. She was angry that whatever had given her the gift to see the future, had not given her the means to understand the message. Her bittersweet day crumbled further, and her emotions spiraled down.

“It’s dangerous in here. Let us take him back. We don’t have to leave him here.”

“He’s gone,” she cried.

“It’s going to be okay,” he said gently.

She sniffed and said, “No it isn’t.”

Sultan lifted Andy clear of the wreckage and they walked slowly to the complex. Alex said nothing as the tears cut a path down her face, smearing the ash and grime. When they pushed through the medical doors, Nick was sitting up. All eyes were on the still form in Sultan’s arms.

“There was an accident. The ship crashed,” she croaked. “He’s dead.”

Nick held out his arms to her. “It’s all right. I thought you knew.”

“You thought I knew he was dead?” she asked, confused.

Nick pulled her close. “I thought you knew he was an android. We can repair him.”

Images and conversations flooded her mind, those strange eccentric behaviors that belonged only to Andy. Sultan set him down on an empty bed.

Andy is not a human being? She wondered incredulously. But he felt so, so...real.

“I built Andy to find my wife and unborn child,” Nick said. “Months of searching left me broken and exhausted, but he was able to continue no matter what. For all those years, he carried on and it enraged me the day he came home with a girl who wasn’t mine.” He fell silent and then carefully reached out to touch her. “I should have known that he hadn’t failed me.”

“He was afraid to tell you. You were already so volatile. He wanted the timing to be perfect, and he’s been waiting ever since,” Alex whispered.

“How long have you known?” Nick asked. The look in his eyes was of pure hurt. He was trying to be strong and not show his emotions but was failing woefully at it.

“I found out just before we left for Madrid. He didn’t tell me, but I found out anyway.”

“How? Why?”

Her voice faltered and she quickly shook her head. What could she tell him now?

Nick held her an arm’s length apart, studying her face for answers. “The scientist—the one the wolves killed—what did he do to you?”

His grip tightened, and Alex closed her eyes. It was too much too fast and she felt exposed. Trembling, she sat on his medical bed as his arms fell away.

Sultan said, “Perhaps it will be easier if he reads the journals.”

At that, Alex nodded. Partly, she was afraid he wouldn’t want her after that and another small portion was afraid he would. Sultan left to collect all of them. Her gaze traveled to Andy. “Knowing he was an android, now—makes him absolutely amazing. He’s more human than most the people that crossed my path in Madrid. Why did you only make one?”

“My mentally and efforts at that time perhaps was a little insane and not healthy. I didn’t sleep. Barely ate. Had a lab at the university cloning organs. That’s where much of him comes from—that lab. Not sure it would be possible now.”

Her voice grew smaller. “But Andy will be alright?”

“As good as new,” Nick said gently. “Why are we talking about Andy? I’ve found my daughter and you’ve just found your voice again. Surely you have other things you want to say?”

Her throat swelled up tight again and she frowned. “For so long, it’s felt like everyone was hiding something from me.”

“Funny,” he said, “I felt like that, too. You know what’s terrible?”

“What?” she asked.

“It was true.”

“Andy is still searching for my brother.”

At that, Nick’s expression suddenly darkened and his blue eyes danced with anger. “She wasn’t pregnant with twins.”

Sultan returned and set the journals on the small table at the hospital bedside. “But she was. From my understanding, it was all those fertility drugs. In the in the beginning, he developed slowly and initial sonograms didn’t pick up his heart.”

Nick shook his head in disbelief.

Alex fingered the last journal that Andy had given her. “I couldn’t read it. The nightmares have been so awful and I feared that any more news would be more than my coping level.”

“Nightmares,” Nick said. “I’m sorry.”

“This whole time—not knowing who I was—not knowing what to do or who to go to—it’s all been impossible.”

“If we had known,” Nick said, “if I had known—I would have been a better man—a better father. I hope you’ll give me that chance.”

He picked up one of the journals.

“Nick,” Alex said. “You’re not going to like what you read in that.”

Hawk, Adrian, and Eric had remained in the doorway or just in the corridor, giving them privacy. But Adrian moved forward, dropping his hand on her shoulder. “He won’t hate you Alex. He’ll never hate you. What happened to you wasn’t your fault.”

Sighing, her jaw hardened and she looked at Adrian. She hesitated to tell Nick that Amandas might be her brother. It sounded too crazy and she really didn’t have any proof. She needed to discuss it further with Andy and Adrian. Nick sighed heavily. She could smell the charred skin on his legs.

Nick cleared his throat. “If you are second guessing having me read this, Alex, I won’t. But nothing will ever make me love you less,” he said. “You’re my daughter and you’re finally home.”

When Nick gathered her into his arms, she embraced her father in truth. Alex knew, for the first time, that together they had a future.

“It really will be okay?” Alex whispered.

“I told you there was nothing to fear,” Adrian said. “I said your voice would be there when you needed it most.”

“Maybe we can have some volunteers to help me fix Andy,” Eric said.

Adrian chuckled softly. “If we don’t have him functioning immediately, Alex won’t be able to sleep.”

“We couldn’t do without him very long, could we?”

“I didn’t know,” Alex said. “I thought he died.”

Adrian suddenly laughed. “Did you never wonder why he was so freakishly strong? Haven’t you noticed that he doesn’t eat or sleep?”

“I guess I took it for granted that he was a man. I didn’t even realize that an android could be so fully functional and look completely human, too. The ones I’ve seen look mechanical.”

“That’s because people prefer them that way,” said Nick.

“Why don’t you go get some fluids into you take a shower,” Nick suggested. “I bet Andy will be his usual self by the time you get back.”

It felt good to be rid of the blood and soot—good to be alive beneath the shower’s hot spray. Her euphoria faltered some when she remembered that Andy needed rebuilding.

Alex dried her hair and put on fresh clothes. Bursting through the doors of the medical suite, she was in no way prepared for Andy standing just inside and crashed into his chest. For some sudden strange reason, she felt like kissing him.

“I’m sorry I frightened you,” he said.

“I thought you were dead.”

“I should have told you, but it seemed important, at the time, that you believed I was human.”

She checked on Nick who was now sleeping and then joined Adrian who was repairing the smaller injuries Nick had suffered. Eric followed Andy around while trying to finish some scans on him.

“I think everything has turned out very well,” Andy said. “Don’t you agree?”

“Yes,” Alex said. “All we need now is my brother.”

She had hoped that would quick start a line of conversation but it didn’t. Adrian had that look again—the one that he couldn’t believe what she was thinking. But having already pushed the snowball down the hill, it was getting bigger and gaining speed. She wanted all the answers now and had little patience left.

There,” Adrian said, putting his laser instruments away. “That should do it.”

“Same,” said Eric, putting down his sonic device.

Andy moved his elbow, testing the mobility. Alex wished it had been that easy to repair her injuries. Looking for another angle, Alex said, “Nick came across Eric and Sultan and the way he brought them here was a little like saving them, I think. What about Hawk?”

Andy said, “Hawk is complicated and discussing him requires a bit of a history lesson in the American old West.”

Hawk cleared his throat. It was difficult to say how long he had been there but obviously had gone unnoticed by them all. Glaring at Andy, he shook his finger a little. It was clear that Hawk held his secrets so privately he wouldn’t risk having them exposed. He turned on his heel and left abruptly. Alex stared after him, hurt by his hasty manner and departure.

Adrian said, “Hawk’s pain must be too great to share. For now, he fears your knowledge of it in the same manner that you hesitate in Nick sharing your past. It will pass.”

She tried not to look at Adrian, to see the man for whom she was beginning to have feelings no matter how hard she tried to stop herself. Nevertheless, she did let herself breathe in his cologne, and wondered how that simple act could make her feel so happy. But then, the same apprehension emerged—something she couldn’t explain as if part of her knew something about her feelings, however new, was incorrect.