Deviant Control Read online

  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Blank Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Glossary

  About the Author

  Taking Control: An Alpha and Omega dark science fiction romance (The Controllers...

  Complete Control: An Alpha and Omega dark science fiction romance (The Controllers...

  Deviant Control: An Alpha and Omega dark science fiction romance (The Controllers...

  DEVIANT CONTROL

  L.V. Lane

  Copyright © 2019 L.V. Lane

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 978-0-6485333-3-7

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the author.

  This book is intended for an adult audience. It contains dark romance and explicit sexual situations.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Extensive trials followed the development of the Copper virus, and these yielded what was now categorized as the Delta through Mu dynamics.

  These early trials led to the first mass release on the tiny outer-reaches planet, Adora3, a mining planet with a high military presence.

  The Copper virus does not work as if given a blank slate. It takes what is offered in the individuals DNA and encourages it to flourish. The first Alpha dynamics manifested within days. Untrained and unchecked, the results were devastating. They were revealed among the strongest, mentally and physically, and many occupied positions of power within the government, business, military, and the police.

  Knowing the observers from the Empire’s governing council would destroy them, and the whole planet if necessary, they took action.

  All too easily, the virally altered inhabitants of Adora3 infected the next world.

  Doctor Lillian Brach

  Lilly

  IT WAS FAIR to say I loved my job—the opportunity to test my skills against the virus that had transformed our Empire. Even with the changes that inevitably came when I revealed as an Omega, I was fortunate and had retained a position, albeit at a reduced level of influence.

  What I did not like was the necessary socializing ‘encouraged’ to facilitate cooperation with the program.

  The grand ballroom for tonight's charity auction was suffused with soft, sparkling lights that reflected off the dark polished floors and the high-domed ceilings. Dark suits and brilliant ballgowns clashed in pockets, while the smooth musical blends of a string quartet provided a backdrop for the drone of conversation. Tolis was far from the heart of the Empire, but the people here liked to embrace any opportunity to be seen and to mingle with that other world.

  I represented that other world.

  My red dress floated in silken folds all the way to the floor. It was a gift from a local fashion designer who had found the fine line between demure and allure. My long blonde hair fell in soft waves over my shoulder, while my makeup completed the presentation of the perfect little Omega doll.

  I hated it—all of it.

  The way eyes crawled over me. The way the crowd of wealthy patrons followed in subtle, or not so subtle, attempts to draw near. The way hands touched too readily, even if that touch was light. And the way they retained the hold a little longer than was polite.

  I was an anomaly. Omegas were not supposed to wander freely. We should be using our gifts in deployment, or be bonded with an Alpha who could protect us from this unbridled interest.

  My former research partner, now the Program Director of the Copper virus program, Doctor Erison Tsing, knew my presence drew a crowd and went a long way to facilitating the necessary cooperation.

  On nights like tonight, I missed my old home on Chimera. Tolis was a small, almost fringe colony that liked to play at being more than it was in light of the program basing itself here.

  There was little doubt the program had put Tolis on the galactic map.

  We had come here for one reason alone—Tolis had a low dynamic presence, and the governing council wanted to change that.

  The program had been based here for three years. During this time we had increased Beta, Delta, and Gamma dynamics threefold, but yields of other dynamics had been poor. Betas were the natural follower dynamic. Deltas were aggressive and territorial, like Alphas, but differed in certain physical and physiological characteristics. While Gammas shared many psychological characteristics with an Omega, they did not experience heat and were unaffected by pheromones.

  What they wanted was more Omegas. Tolis had yielded few, hence the interest my presence was attracting.

  My father’s position on the governing council had allowed me the small privilege of independence to continue working on the program—I had made some rather extreme threats that my father took my word on.

  I also had an unusual singularity, which wasn’t useful to the war, at least not in the conventional sense. I was an anomaly in more ways than my pseudo-freedom, and my one use to the war was as a subject to be experimented on.

  I had no psychic awareness, could not even heal or comfort in the way Healer Omegas did. No, my gift was inside me, and my body did not like to give it up.

  I extracted my hand from an elderly Alpha who had been patting it gently for several minutes. I smiled, smoothing my dress that did not need smoothing, thwarting his attempt to reclaim it.

  I caught sight of Erison’s approach out the corner of my eye. His slender frame encased in a dark suit, his blond hair swept back from his forehead, and his dark, almond-shaped eyes alight with the extraordinary intelligence that was typical of a Theta dynamic.

  We had met during our undergraduate training, nearly ten years ago, and we had worked together ever since. Erison was the most driven man I knew, but he was a Theta, and he had always been this way. We had not been so close of late. The last three years, since I revealed as Omega, had changed things between us. None of the changes were for the better.

  He smiled as he neared, and it brought back a poignancy for how it once had been. Giving a polite excuse to the Alpha who had been hogging my hand, he drew me away from the crowd.

  “The dinner will be starting soon. Will you join me?”

  It wasn’t much of a question. Erison liked to parade me around. I had once been the Program Director, back before I revealed as an Omega. Doctor Tsing had once reported to me—now I reported to him.

  Of all the wounds that accompanied revealing as an Omega, that wound cut the deepest. The program was my life, and it was hard to watch someone else set a direction that did not always align with my views.

  I smiled brightly and nodded, allowing him to escort me to our table.

  “I know you don’t enjoy these events,” Tsing said with a wry smile.

  “It’s important to the program,” I replied as we took our place at a grand table with a fancy floral centerpiece and gold embossed place markers. Soon, dinner would be served. And later, the auction would begin, and people with too much money would bid frivolously for things they did not need. “I like to do my part.” My part might be smaller now, and I might hate these events, but I was determined to cling to whatever I had.

  He sipped his wine before placing it on the linen tablecloth. “I dare say, you won’t need to be involved with the program for much longer. This isn’t the life for one such as yourself. You are part of the ruling elite, and you can’t play at ordinary forever.”

  My anger bristled, and I arched a brow. “I’ve lived an ordinary life since I joined the program eight years ago. I can see no reason why I should stop now.”

  “You’re an Omega.” He shrugged. “I’m sure your father has a wealth of suitable Alpha candidates. Although I believe your unique singularity would be better suited to a military situation. A Controller or Controllers would benefit.”

  I didn’t answer. I didn’t have an answer. I could see how I might be useful, but this was unverified as yet.

  Daddy had said I would never have a Controller. I meant to ensure he kept that promise.

  I sounded like a spoiled brat.

  And I didn’t care.

  The thought of an Alpha, like my father, was bad enough. I had nothing against soldiers whatever their dynamic, but Alpha Controllers were particularly arrogant, and I couldn’t tolerate that in my life. I shuddered. Maybe Tsing’s barb was not so far from the mark.

  Coarse demands, rough hands…and probably no concept of body hygiene.

  I couldn’t imagine anything worse.

  Tsing’s lips twitched in the beginnings of a smile.

  “That wasn’t funny,” I said, reaching for my wine while shooting him a withering look.

  He grin
ned openly. “Your face was quite a picture.”

  Tsing’s humor could be hard to judge at times.

  I suffered the dinner and the auction, but when the dancing began, I slipped quietly out.

  I had left a test running in the lab that I wanted to check on, and the research center was located above the hospital in the adjacent building. My apartment was in the same complex, so it wasn’t unusual for me to pop by out of hours.

  As I stepped out of the elevator, the Beta on security detail in the reception winked at me. “You’re in the wrong place for a party, Doctor Brach.”

  Smiling, I sent a rueful glance at my dress. “If you’d been at the party, you wouldn’t be questioning my decision to escape early.”

  Chuckling, he wished me a good night.

  If only Betas ruled the Empire, it would be a much simpler place.

  My heels clicked softly against the floor as I made my way to my lab. Caught up in my internal musing, I pushed open my lab door and collected my samples from the giant medical cooler.

  The sudden blare of an alarm shook me, and the tray of samples crashed against the floor.

  Plastic, glass, and clear serum splattered far and wide.

  My eyes shot from the mess scattered across the floor to the red lights flashing in the ceiling

  My communicator beeped—a message from Erison: An attack. Uncorrupted ships. Get to the drop door ASAP. I’ll meet you there.

  The alarm blared; a near deafening evacuation demand and the unfortunate patient I was readying lay directly under a speaker. The emergency ward presented a picture of abandonment. Stations empty of beds and restoration pods, and other medical equipment scattered in haphazard disarray. All but three patients were gone, and only minimal staff remained.

  A porter waited, holding the control ready to guide the patient out the moment I was done. I hooked the last cable up, slotted the monitoring tablet into the holder at the head of the bed and with a final check of her vitals, pronounced her cleared for evacuation.

  “How are you doing?” I called over to Peter, who was preparing another patient. He was a doctor at the hospital and had been on duty when the attack began. Neither of us worked with trauma patients, but this was an emergency, and everyone with medical skills was helping however they could.

  I tugged the hem of my dress out from where it had caught under a bed wheel—ballgowns were undoubtedly the worst possible attire to find oneself in during an emergency.

  “Almost done,” he called back.

  Erison had messaged me a dozen times—I had finally turned my communicator off. Patients needed to be prepared before they could be transferred behind the drop door. I was here, and I could help. I would get myself to safety once this was done.

  “Doctor Brach?”

  My head snapped around to find a soldier standing on my heels. I looked up, a long way up because he wasn’t a small man, and fought the urge to roll my eyes. I had wondered how long it would take my darling Daddy, Erison, or one of their many minions, to send a lapdog to haul me out.

  “I’m busy,” I replied with a dismissive frown, turning away.

  He caught my arm and turned me back. “My orders are to escort you out immediately.”

  I removed his hand in less than a second.

  He yelped.

  Daddy had insisted I take self-defense training, and although I had complained bitterly about it taking me away from my research, I appreciated it today. “I’ve got patients to prepare. If you help, you can escort me sooner.”

  He bent and flexed his fingers and nodded with a wry smile. “Tell me what you need me to do.”

  I indicated the next patient. “Start hooking them up.” I pointed at the IV and waited long enough to see he was working competently.

  He was young, and a Beta, but on the broad side for such a dynamic. But he wasn’t a Controller because he was following my orders. Controllers did not follow Omega orders, whatever the circumstance, and nor would they have fallen for my little trick, more likely it would have provoked his wrath. I’d told my father on more than one occasion that if he even thought about allocating me a Controller, I would find a way to disappear.

  Daddy knew I was a woman of my word and had never set to test me on the matter. My work never required front line exposure, so the issue had never come up.

  Today might test us both.

  I was still reeling from the knowledge that we were under attack. The internal defense system protecting our sector had failed, and it was a mad scramble to evacuate. This hospital and the accompanying research center were cutting edge, and had direct tunnel access to a secure underground network. A place we could hide, for months if need be, while support could be deployed.

  I knew they would send someone to escort me out. I had no intention of leaving until the last person in this facility was secure.

  “They told me you were going to be trouble,” the soldier muttered in mock complaint, but he got on with assisting me.

  “I would be a strange Omega if I could walk away from this,” I replied, my fingers busy unraveling tubes and shifting the equipment to the portable connection on the bed. At times I didn’t feel like I was different, and yet unquestionably, I was. Erison was already behind the drop door. I thought many people would have similarly sought safety at the first signs of threat, not dashed in the other direction. “I mean to help get everyone out.”

  He grinned openly. “Yeah, I believe you do.”

  I felt sorry for him—he drew the short straw with me.

  “These are the last of them,” Peter called over as a porter took his readied patient away. His gray hair was sticking up, and his usually neat clothing sat askew. “I’ve received a call through to say the other floors are complete.”

  “Once I finish this last one, I’ll be right behind you,” I said.

  “I’ll make sure they arrive safely, and wait at the elevator for you,” he called back, following the porter.

  My hands worked in a rush of nerves as another porter arrived for this final patient—nearly there.

  A mighty boom penetrated the blaring alarm.

  “There’s been a breach,” the soldier said. “We need to leave. Now!”

  With the patient readied, we raced for safety. By the time we reached the big drop door that would seal off the secure underground network, I was breathing hard, and cursing my heavy dress and high-heels.

  I slowed to a walk. The last patient was loaded into a full elevator, and the doors closed, taking it down. My assistant, Merry, and Peter stood waiting beside it.

  “Your father has been on the communicator. I assured him you were on the way.” Merry said, her frizzy lilac hair distracting me from the soldier who was muttering under his breath while staring at the control panel located inside the drop door. I hadn’t seen her today—yesterday her hair had been pink. “I’ve just sent him a message to say you're safely inside, and that we are about to seal the door.”

  “Thanks, Merry.” He would have been chewing her ear off when I switched my communicator off. Merry had been my assistant for years, even before I revealed as an Omega, and was no stranger to my altercations with my father.

  I turned back, wondering what my escort was doing. Surely the door should be sealed by now?

  He was on his communicator, his eyes darting to me and back to the panel.

  “Was that weapons fire?” Merry asked.

  I frowned. “The elevator?” I asked while staring at the soldier’s back.

  “Almost here,” Peter said. “Shouldn’t we close the door?”

  My feet were moving. Something was wrong, very wrong. So many Omega singularities offered impressive psychic awareness, but mine could tell me nothing beyond the obvious of the soldier’s mood or problem.

  I caught little of his conversation other than, “No can do, it’s fucked.”

  The elevator dinged. I waved Peter and Merry to hold it.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  The soldiers head snapped up. “Doctor Brach, I need you to get in the elevator!”

  I shook my head, eyes narrowing. The distant sounds of gunfire were becoming distinctive. He had mentioned a breach, civilians trying to find a place to hide or our enemy or both.