The Siren, the General's Daughter Book One Read online

  “I know. I’m sorry I push you to it.”

  “I also think you are sorry that you get caught. I’m onto you, little one. Your sweet, innocent big-eyed look has never worked on me, either. Save it to use on Dad and Mike. Just remember, you never know when one of us is around.”

  “Am I grounded again?”

  “No, I think you’ve paid your dues. Of course, you would like to be grounded, wouldn’t you? Recovery time? Nope, not gonna happen.”

  “You can’t blame me for trying,” she nestled safely in his arms.

  He glanced at the clock on the wall. “It’s 0915. You are to be back in the lab by 10. I’ll see you there,” he said with final kiss before standing. “There’s some drinkable coffee if you want some.”

  Sam watched him leave, her legs still wobbling from pain. She carefully picked up her strewn panties and cammie bottoms and made her way into the shower to try to cool down. The water felt good, rehydrating her as she allowed her skin to breath.

  Stepping out and gently patting herself dry, she turned to look at the damage to her delicate bottom. Biting her lip, she touched the ugly purple bruises than lined her sit spots. He really got her good this time. Reluctantly, she admitted deserving every bit. She had been warned and chose to ignore it. Sam slowly redressed, painfully easing the garments over her swollen flesh. After braiding her long hair, she forced her chin high and left the room.

  She was greeted by several men on the way back to the labs. She could tell that word had already circulated by their concerned questions. Although her eyes were still a little red, she summoned her dignity and feigned normality. Michael was waiting for her at her desk and stood when she entered. He wrapped his long arms protectively around her, not caring who saw.

  “Oh, Honey, I heard. Are you ok?” he asked, lifting her chin to look up at him. He could see the pain in her eyes as she nodded.

  “He ripped me a new one. Worse ever,” she whispered, hugging his waist. “I don’t know how I’m going to work today.”

  “Let me see if he’ll give the ok to go out and practice the band. Stay here.”

  Her hero. Sam smiled. She knew Mike would always take care of her. He returned a couple of minutes later, nodding. “He said we could go for two hours. He wants to see you first.”

  Sighing, the girl ventured to her uncle’s office, tapping on the door. She entered, closing it behind her. Scott looked at her with concern. “Are you sure you are up to going out? I laid it on you pretty hard.”

  “I can’t sit at my desk or climb the tanks. I swear, Uncle Scott, you’ll never hear another curse word out of me. I’m so sorry,” she pleaded, looking like she was going to cry again.

  Scott smiled. “It’s done and you’re forgiven. Go on out. Tell Mike that it’s ok to stay for the rest of the shift if you’re up to it. Will I see you for chow?”

  “I don’t think I’ll be up to it,” she admitted.

  “Ok, I’ll have someone bring you something tonight. Be careful out there. Samantha?”

  “Yes, Sir?” she paused before turning to leave.

  Scott stood up to hug her. “I love you. You know that, right?”

  “I love you too. I never had a doubt. Especially,” she touched her aching bottom, “now.”

  ***

  Michael met his sister in her quarters as she tried to get into her tight-fitting wetsuit. He chuckled before going over to assist. “Let’s see the damage. Holy shit…” he exclaimed, gently touching her multi-colored flesh.

  She shuddered, looking at it in the mirror. “That’s an understatement, and one you will never hear coming from my mouth. I need help, it hurts to bend.”

  Her brother carefully helped dress her in bikini thong suit bottoms before easing the material over her legs and hips. She gasped as he adjusted the suit to fit her waist. “Sorry. I’m being as easy as I can. I can’t remember Uncle Scott being this hard before. I think he’s still bothered by the ‘incident’.”

  “Me, too. He’s so afraid of me killing myself. He’s also having a lot of memories of mama coming to surface lately.”

  “You look so much like her now, plus you have been a little brattier that usual lately. I hear she acted the same. It must be so hard for them. I barely remember her,” Michael stated, zipping the wetsuit across her chest.

  “Hey, watch the boobs,” his sister snickered, smacking her brother’s hand.

  He laughed. “Sorry, they’re in the way, and getting bigger. You might think about a new suit soon. For such a little thing, you know how to fill out a wet suit. You are making it harder for us to protect you,” he said. “You have no idea how hard it is not to slug one of the men when they ogle you.”

  She posed for him. “Hey, the bigger they get, the smaller my waist looks... and the more I can scam with the guys.”

  “I hate the break it to you, little sister,” he easily placed his large hands all the way around her tiny waist, “but your best feature isn’t your boobs. It’s that perfect bottom. Yeah, we should see getting a refit and work on your modesty. Maybe we could also change to a dark blue instead of red and get a material that is thicker than spandex. Are you sure you want to go?”

  “The tightness of the suit isn’t helping, but yes. I can simply float. Regarding a refit, we need this color to discourage being eaten and we can’t change the density because it allows freedom of movement. As for modesty, I have no idea what that means. That comes from being raised by three men who forget I’m a girl. Do you have the band?”

  Michael bit his lip as he eased his sister down the ladder and onto the platform. She struggled to mask her pain, but he knew her too well. He watched as she sunk into the water, exhaling the air from her lungs and allowing her skin to take over. It was still an adjustment for her, learning how to alter her breathing state. She had to resist inhaling while under water but frequently exhaled the CO2 as it transferred to her lungs. The expelled air also allowed her to speak clearly.

  Michael dove in and followed her slow descent to the bottom. “That took a little more time than normal,” he observed.

  “Even the slightest bit of pressure hurts so much right now. I found myself holding my breath. Let me call Ton over, he can haul me.”

  Michael watched as she concentrated on the convergence. In no time, the orca arrived and greeted her with nuzzling his snout in her hand. Michael sensed she was sharing her pain with the animal and felt his heart pound when the whale turned towards him in a rigid attack mode. Sam quickly intervened, putting herself in front of her brother and explaining in more detail the reason for her ‘injury’ and who had given it to her. Calmed, the animal permitted the two to hold his dorsal fin as he slowly went to surface.

  “I really need to practice more,” the girl said, her cheek against the whale’s rubbery skin. “I shouldn’t have to close my eyes to concentrate and I need to get their images clearer so they don’t try to protect me against the wrong person.”

  “I’m almost done with the second band, so we can do that together. I’m curious. Have you tried without the band?”

  “No, should I?” Sam asked, watching Michael’s expression.

  “Yeah, with Ton. He’s got a connection with you. Let him know what you are going to try to do.”

  The three paused in the open ocean as the girl communicated the experiment. She received a flat response, indicating the animal really didn’t care. Laughing, she removed the band and watched Ton depart. “If I may use a cetacean expression,” she giggled, handing her brother the band, “he doesn’t give a squid’s squirt what we are doing.”

  “Really? Is that the image for him not caring?”

  “I think it was meant that it wasn’t worth his time or interest. We were dismissed. Stupid land walkers.”

  They laughed and went to work. Michael practiced imaging with local dolphins while Sam tried means of summoning Ton. She bumped a rock which sent flashes of agonizing pain through her body. Ton arrived in less than three seconds with his pector
al flippers rigid to hunt. Shocked, she held his snout, stroking him.

  Michael removed the band from his neck. “You need this. It’s too much for me,” he said, rubbing his head. Hooking it on, Sam locked in with the whale. He expressed hunt, kill, a calf (hmmm, he viewed her like a child), territory, a great white shark, and a leopard seal. Interesting. She communicated her discovery to her brother.

  She then turned to Ton and sent images to him regarding the difference between land walkers and how they raise their calves. He was confused and sent a return image of a penguin. He considered her stupid. She learned long ago not to be insulted by how the cetaceans viewed life. They didn’t live with human emotion and misunderstandings. They were family oriented, protecting their young from anything harmful, gently instructing them and in constant interaction. To harm one’s young because of squeals was unheard of.

  Michael patiently waited an hour of silence as his sister worked on communicating with the orca. Ton finally agreed that he would honor the protocol of land walkers, ‘penguin’ as it was. He did flash an image of hunting if any other than her pod harmed her. Even just to her flukes. She agreed.

  “Talk about culturally set,” Michael exclaimed as his sister gave him details of the ‘conversation.’ This was yet another discovery. Of course, the older brother had to comment on that the information might not have been discovered had she not had a sore bottom.

  His sister scowled. “Jerk. If it’s ok, I really don’t want to work with the I-band right now. My pain might be interpreted as injured prey.”

  “Smart. Are you ready to head back? It’s almost time for chow.”

  “Yeah, let’s go. Thanks for taking me out, by the way.”

  “Tomorrow isn’t going to be any easier in the lab, but I think Scott will let us go out again with these findings.”

  “I’m sleeping in my wetsuit tonight. It hurts too much to take on and off,” the girl groaned.

  Michael laughed. “They dry fast, but it might be a problem if you have to go to the bathroom.”

  “Oh, bite me.”

  Michael called in their return on his transmitter and was greeted on the diving platform by his father and Scott. The two were easily hauled out of the water and handed towels. “How did it go?” Scott asked, drying Michael’s hair.

  Michael grabbed the towel, popping his uncle with it while sharing the discovery, then reprimanded the man for treating him like a little kid.

  Dr. Quimby quietly held his daughter to his chest, unconcerned about getting damp. “I hear you had a pretty tough go with your uncle today. Was it worth it?”

  “No Sir, I promise, I will not ever swear again. Or throw things,” she said, feeling him squeeze her.

  “I hope not. So tell us details about your dive. I want to get notes.”

  “I also want a hook up with the EEG,” Michael said, tugging Sam’s ponytail, “especially when she sits down. The response was significant. We also discovered some cultural issues,” he went into detail, not leaving out anything. His sister blushed, standing uncomfortably and watching notes being taken on her physical condition and the orca’s response.

  After removing the neuroband, Dr. Quimby placed electrodes around her temple and neck base, plugging her into the electroencephalogram designed to monitor her brain patterns and register unusual variables. Once the machine began the process, Scott ordered her to sit quickly. Biting her lip, she plopped in the chair, sending searing pain over her body. The machine registered high frequency waves countering with her vital signs. The pain brought her close to tears and she begged to be allowed to stand.

  “Go on, get up,” Scott said unsympathetically, looking over the tape, “Stop whining, you’re a Marine.”

  “No I’m not. I’m a kid with a really sore bottom,” she began to cry, reaching for her brother. Michael held her, saying nothing.

  Dr. Quimby raised his eyebrow towards Scott. “I think she’s had enough for today, don’t you? “

  “It seems. Go to your quarters and get cleaned up. I’ll send chow to you.”

  Without a word, the girl left escorted by her brother. Dr. Quimby turned to look at his friend. “Normally, I wouldn’t say anything about being hard on them, but do you think you might have gone overboard?” he asked, sitting down.

  Scott flipped his pen. “If you heard what I did, no. Joe, she’s gonna kill herself or someone else if she doesn’t get her act together. We agreed to this.”

  “I know I’m too soft. I guess I still look at her as being a little girl.”

  “No, you’re her father. And she is still a little girl. Don’t think for a minute I like any of this. I’m just not afraid of damaging her, you still are. She’s not that fragile.”

  “I’m sorry, you are right. Since I was a kid, I’ve always viewed you as my older, wiser brother. You always knew what was best for us, especially for Alyson. I trusted you then and I need to trust you now. You do realize you scared the living hell out of Mike, too.”

  “Yup. I think I got close to scaring you a bit as well,“ Scott chuckled. “We are in for wild ride with this new assignment and can’t take the risk of being anything but on the same page. The kids will be in charge of their own units, plus Mike will be overseeing Sammi’s as well. She needs to learn responsibility if she’s going to do this. And they need to be in sync to grow as a team. This is Special Forces, buddy, not kindergarten. If I have to be the bad guy to keep this family strong and together, I’ll do it.”

  “You’re never the bad guy and I do appreciate it. Regarding scaring me, I got a flashback of that fist fight we got into when I was 12. Do you remember?”

  “Fist fight? Is that what you called it? I remember you swinging your arms at me and getting knocked flat on your butt. I also promised you a good thrashing if you ever raised a hand to me again,” Scott laughed, joined by his friend.

  “You are 8 years older than me and were a lot bigger back then. You know, I think it’s time we replay that incident. Go get your sweats on and meet me in the gym,” Dr. Quimby said, standing.

  Scott joined him and gave a rough hug. “I can still kick your butt. Want to put a wager on it?”

  After a good hour of wrestling, both men were happily spent and caught their breath while lying on the mats. Several crew members had gathered to watch, passing money back and forth. Scott lifted his head to look at them. “I don’t want to know who bet against me, but if I find out, you’re next.”

  “You’re getting old,” Dr. Quimby panted, sitting up and helping Scott to his feet, “But still strong as I can remember. My poor girl. Sorry I questioned you.”

  “You’re no wimp yourself. I just cheat a little better. We good?” Scott asked.

  “Never a doubt, of anything. I do want to check on her, though. Maybe do a little bruise pushing.”

  “And you think I’m mean?” Scott laughed, mopping himself off. “Let’s go have chow and we’ll both go in. I’m worried too.”

  When they entered the girl’s room, they found her on her stomach across the low bed. She had donned an extra- large t-shirt permanently borrowed from her brother and had her hip long hair in two high ponytails. Her dinner was on the table, untouched.

  “Hey baby, just checking in.” Dr. Quimby said, sitting next to her on the bed. Scott joined on the other side. “How are you doing? You didn’t eat anything.”

  “Not hungry. I’m just thinking. I can’t believe I lost control like I did. I know better,” she admitted, chin in her bent arms.

  Scott stroked her back gently. “You need to stop beating yourself up. You got busted, punished and it’s over. Slate clean. Are you mad at me?”

  “Oh God, no! It’s my fault. And Daddy’s,” she added with a little smile, glancing at her father.

  “Mine? What did I do?”

  “You’ve been letting me get away with too much. Uncle Scott is right. I’m spoiled and stubborn. As much as I will regret saying this, I have to be honest and tell you that I need for you to put your
foot down. Hard. I need Mike to do the same. It really scared me today when Ton went to hunt him. It would have been my fault if he got hurt because I had no self-control. When I had to explain the cultural differences to Ton, I also was required to defend them. That meant I also had to understand and agree to them. You can’t deceive with the band. Daddy? Uncle Scott? I really screwed up bad.”

  “Wow, that’s unexpected. Let’s see the damage,” Dr. Quimby said, whistling as he unceremoniously raised the shirt.

  Scott traced the outline of the ruler. “Very effective. I should get you one.”

  “I think I’ll get the shop to make me a paddle,” Dr. Quimby said, ignoring his daughter’s glare. He gently rubbed the bruised skin, his warm hand comforting.

  Scott stroked her hair. “How about if you take the day off tomorrow and work up your findings? You might be able to think better here than in the lab where it’s so busy.”

  “Thanks, Uncle Scott. I’ll do that. May I also have an ice pack?”

  “I’ll get you one before I hit the rack. I love you,” Scott said softly, leaning over to kiss her forehead.

  “I love you too. And, well, thank you for, well, understanding”

  “You are most welcome, princess. I’ll be back with the ice. Joe?”

  “Be there in a few. I want to talk with Sam.” Dr. Quimby watched the door close before turning back to his daughter and her still exposed backside. He had to reluctantly admit that Scott was very thorough and seemed to get his point across. “You do understand that the bar has been raised with your discipline, right?” he asked, lying next to her on the bed.

  She rested her face on the palm of his hand. “I don’t want to go through this again anytime soon. I thought the belting you gave me was bad. That was nothing compared to this, and I don’t want to push it. Daddy, I don’t mean to be this way, it just happens.”

  “We all know you’re a good kid inside. The problem is you are too smart, fearless and trained beyond any of your years. Neither of us expected that you two would become what you are when we started teaching you this stuff so early. Add to that your intelligence levels. They were way beyond what we anticipated. You do realize you could write a thesis of what you discovered today and be awarded your doctorates. No one could challenge your findings.”