by Juno Wells
Scarn catches my eye. His face looks strange with the bubble shield all around. It is a relatively new invention for our people, and I’m not sure I like it. “Something is wrong. This is too easy.”
“We fight, they lose. It is the will of the goddess.” I think it’s too easy as well, but I have no more explanation than Scarn. I can feel something huge, dark and menacing. My senses tell me it’s mechanical and very near. There are three triple doors leading from the rest of the ship to the cargo bay and one gigantic bay door opening on the far side leading to space. The bay is dark with red blinking lights running around the middle of the way. There isn’t a person in sight.
Scarn moves close to me as we step thorough one of the doors. We make our way towards the gigantic bay door to the center console. There is shielding between us and the bay door. Once the fighters land, we’ll close the doors, depressurize the bay, and lower the shields. Our forty warriors will turn into nearly seventy, which will be enough to take the rest of the ship. It’s a good plan.
Virgil screams over the com. “Look to the ceilings.”
Our laser rifles all jerk up, and that’s when we see them. Huge mechanical robots begin unfolding from the ceiling. It makes sense. Where we have been focusing on improving our armor and skills, they have been working on building a better soldier. We light the room up with laser fire and the humans go a little wild. Nothing we shoot at them seems to slow them down.
I see one of Virgil’s sons climbing up a bot, while the rest of his family keeps it busy. He blasts open the back of the bot’s helmet and tosses in a plasma grenade. That seems to be the magical combination. I begin shouting orders to my crew, as more of the bots drop. The bots are five times our size and have revolving lasers around each wrist. I can practically see my personal shield being drained before my very eyes. We all step our game up and work in small groups to take down each bot.
At some point I realize that they have more than we can successfully defeat. As my crew continues the battle, I try to discover where they’re coming from. That’s when I see the feeding lines running across the ceiling, pulling in more and more of them, dropping them into the fray. I shoulder my laser rifle, flap my wings, and take flight in the gigantic bay. I know that I’m taking a chance of my wings getting damaged with all the laser fire flying around, but we need a miracle right now, and this might be it.
The bots must have sensors because the moment I get close they begin grabbing for me. I artfully dodge their grasp. After searching for what seems like forever as the battle rages on below me, I finally see what appears to be a gearbox and take aim. A huge metal hand closes around my arm. Another grabs my leg, and I realize they are attempting to immobilize me. My one chance is to make the gear box inoperable. Another bot’s gigantic hand closes around my wing base. Though my personal shield is still operable, the pressure is causing it short out. With my one free hand, I grab for the laser pistol on my hip. I aim and fire, leaving a gaping hole. I drop the pistol, snag a plasma grenade, and toss it into the hole.
One micron later, the box explodes, peppering my energy shield with shards of metal. The cables stop pulling more drones out, and I’m left trying to free myself from the bots, which are still very active. Suddenly, Virgil leaps off the catwalk and land on the bot’s back. He blows open the back of its skull casing and drops in a plasma grenade. When the bot lets go I’m at an awkward position. If not for my wings, I would have fallen onto the metal floor below with only my now-failing shield to break my fall.
Once I touch down on the floor, my crew is taking down the last of the bots. I rush over and open the gigantic bay doors and the fighters swarm in, landing in neat little rows. Each fighter holds one warrior, so many can fit on the cleared side of the bay.
Once we are all ready, we begin clearing the rest of the Strovians out of the ship. There are fewer of them than I would have thought. I suppose that is because this is a rebel ship, and they rely upon the bots to do most of their fighting.
We make it to the bridge, and I’m finally face-to-face with Captain Artor. “Where is my bride, Dracon?” His smooth blue skin is blotched with purple marks. And he seems off balance. The rage I expected is nowhere to be found. His only interest is the female.
Lowering my rifle slightly, I stare at him. “You have no female, Artor. No human queen has chosen you.”
He’s sweating, and I notice his hair is stringy. “We shared the bonding elixir. I put some in her drink and in my own. If she but sees me, she will claim me.” He cranes his head and trembles slightly. Anyone could tell he’s ill.
“I will have my bride.” He roars so loudly he almost topples over. If he weren’t holding onto a console with one hand, he would have fallen. I jerk my chin to Scarn, and my longtime friend lifts his laser rifle. His finger flips it to stun and he shoots. They put the confused villain in stasis and cart him off to his own medical bay. His remaining crew members are taken to the brig. I breathe a sigh of relief that this is over, but the uneasy feeling in my stomach will not go away.
I reach to my ear and open a private line to Phan.
He answers immediately. “Yes, commander.”
“I need a medic.”
“I’m dropping off the women aboard our ship now. We were going to take them to the Raspian, but they are leaving on a clandestine mission and cannot risk having extra queens on board.”
“Drop them off at our ship and bring the female that Queen Kearney locked away for her own safety. Captain Artor is sick. We will use the medical bay aboard the Darnovo to examine them.”
My queen’s voice sounds in my ear. “I’m coming as well.”
“All will be as you wish, my queen. I will meet you at docking ring nine myself.”
“Are you well, my takadon?” I can hear her concern for me in the tone of her voice.
“I am well, and the Darnovo has been secured, my queen.”
“Good, because I’ve decided that I’m trading up.”
“You have chosen wisely, my queen. I must point out that we will not be permitted to keep the device that folds space time.”
“I rather thought that might be too good to be true.”
“It is considered proprietary alien technology. We do not know how to use such advanced equipment, in any event. It can be dangerous in the wrong hands.”
“Send word to the Strovians that they need to come and remove it from my new ship. Let them know that we are turning the rebels over to the Intergalactic Council.” My queen didn’t sound all that disappointed to be losing out on such coveted tech.
“Yes, my queen. I look forward to seeing you shortly.”
We turn our attention to familiarizing ourselves with basic Strovian technology. Ships’ systems all have some similarities, and Draconian warriors are good at figuring out puzzles. We trace the relays, used our translation programs to help us access the ship’s database and slowly transition full control of the ship over to our control. Carefully locking out all the Strovian frequencies was tedious, but necessary so they couldn’t take control of the ship back.
24 EVIL SCIENTIST
KEARNEY
STANDING in the medical bay aboard the Darnovo, we watch Phan run scans of both Captain Artor and the woman from the Grayson clan he’s identified as his intended bride. Phan has a human woman I recognize working at his side. I rush over to the console she’s using to run diagnostic. “Stacy, it’s nice to have another doctor on board.”
She glances up with a welcoming smile. “I was on the Raspian with Meric and after hearing the symptomology I had to come and have a look for myself.” She’s wearing a set of white scrubs. Alien scrubs are styled after uniforms, only white with green piping.
“Do you think she’s contracted something nasty on Earth that’s been slowly making her sick?” I only ask that because I’m fairly certain it’s the only explanation that makes sense.
“I don’t want to alarm you, but the initial readings suggest she might be infected by a Draconian q
ueen symbiont.”
A chill creeps up my spine. “That’s not possible. We killed the queen and burned her ash on the metal floor.”
“I remember when Meric, Tabor, and our crew ended her life. Even though it might not seem possible, the woman is infected.”
“How?”
“Not many know, but the Moltan vented a sample from the queen’s body into space.”
I stand gaping at her. What kind of sample? How large was it?
Phan looked up from his scanner. “The Strovian captain is infected as well.”
We both gasp at the same time. Stacy steps over to look at the scanner. “It looks like the symbiont is attacking his organs rather than trying to gain a foothold in his body like it does with women.”
Phan frowns. “I might need the female DNA marker to propagate.” Suddenly, he freezes and Stacy’s mouth drops open.
“You might have just discovered the key to ensuring no one else ever becomes infected by the symbionts.” Stacy begins scrolling through his information. “It’s possible we can program micro bots to clear out the symbiont.”
The two healers begin to brainstorm ways to eliminate the symbiont, and I take a moment to slip over and have a quiet work with my takadon. “You’re looking a little rough around the edges, handsome. Are you sure you’re okay?”
Opening his arms, he draws me close. “My body armor and shield held up. The odds were not in our favor, but the goddess smiled on us today.”
“Humans have a saying for situations like that. We call it pulling victory from the jaws of defeat.”
His eyes turn warm, and his hands begin to move over my arms. “It is a good saying.”
“I’m really proud of our crew, and you most of all. You worked together and saved a lot of women today.”
“We live to serve, my gracious queen. Did I understand you to say you were intent upon claiming the Darnovo as a battle prize?”
“Why not? It’s well within my rights.”
“What does one small queen need with two ships?”
“Being out in the black has taught me the ‘verse is a very unpredictable place. I believe a small armada would make transporting goods safer. We’ll move onto the Darnovo and the Graysons can borrow our ship until they earn enough to buy their own vessel. We’ll make runs side by side.”
“This ship is huge, modern and well-maintained. It’s also populated with large robots that can be repurposed to handle cargo. Making this the flagship of your armada is a wise decision, my ambitious queen.”
Jumping up onto my toes, I give him a kiss on his chin. “Yep, I’m smart that way.”
Before he can reply, the door slides open. Scarn and my mother walk in. She walks over to me, and we hug briefly. Before I ask how she’s doing, she begins speaking. “I heard about the Strovian Captain being sick, and I’ve been thinking that it’s pretty much of a coincidence that he’s sick and the woman he’s obsessed with is sick as well. I began talking to all the womenfolk in the Grayson clan. One of them saw the Strovian put something into her drink at the restaurant.”
My anger flares hot as a supernova. “Why in the hell didn’t she say something before now?”
My mother’s lips firm into a thin line. “She thought it was some kind of alcohol or drink enhancer. She said he looked respectable, he smiled at her, and she caught his eye.”
Stacy spoke up from near the scanner. “That sounds like the point of origin for the illness.”
Tabor frowns, “Captain Artor said something about putting the elixir of life in their drinks. He said it was supposed to make her chose him for her mate. He said all she has to do is see him.”
Stacy rubs her temple with one hand. I’m beginning to get a migraine from the stress of this situation as well, so I understand how she feels. “It sounds like someone has been filling his head full of nonsense. They probably figured out what he wanted most, and then sold the elixir to him as the way of obtaining it.”
Tabor murmurs out loud, “All we have to do now is figure out who they are.”
Everyone turns to look at him, but he stands firm. The commander clearly believes this is the most important element to understand. After thinking it over for a minute, I decide he’s not wrong. “Someone is targeting our females. Finding out who did this will lead us to the way to best stop them from future biological attacks.” Looking from one to another of them, I can see understanding dawn on their faces. It makes my takadon’s next request easier to accept. “Our best course of action is to bring Captain Artor out of stasis long enough for him to answer questions about where he obtained the elixir.”
“It appears that fragments of the symbiont have been absorbed into his bloodstream. We can’t take a chance on him spreading it by getting into a fight which might lead to open wounds.” Stacy’s warning is reflected in Phan’s concerned expression.
I glance from Stacy to the blue-hued alien lying on the hovering healing platform. “If we want to discover who the evil scientists are, we need to do this. Maybe we can adjust the intensity of the stasis field or pull it back to a bubble around his unit.”
Tabor walks over to one of the consoles and begins keying in commands. The moment the stasis field shimmers to life and pulls back, Captain Artor bolts forward into a sitting position. One leg comes up with his foot resting on the platform, and it looks for all the world like he’s getting ready to push off the mat and attack us. Before I can speak, my takadon’s voice rings out, deep and stern.
“Do not get off the healing platform, Captain Artor. If you do, we will be forced to stun you again. If you wish to remain alert and protect your queen, you must cooperate.”
The alien’s head snaps up, and he looks around the room, catching a glimpse of the woman he’s been asking for lying on a nearby healing platform. He sucks in a horrified breath before screaming. “What have you done to my bride? Your quarrel is with me.” His eyes are wild with shock and worry. Thinking better of making demands, he lowers his voice. I can tell he’s trying to get his aggression under control. “Do not harm an innocent.”
I speak up, trying to calm him. “We’re not going to hurt either of you. You’re both sick. The elixir you shared is poisoning you and allowing a vicious symbiont to take over your bride’s mind.”
His eyes flick back and forth between us and the woman he hopes to make his bride. “You lie. The priestesses of Kalafor would not deceive me.”
“Who are these females you trust so much?”
Something akin to confusion and self-doubt crosses his expression. “They are one from each species, living in harmony. I paid them tribute, and they gifted me with the elixir. I was instructed to drink in front of them, and then go in search of my bride. Sharing with her will allow her to see past my rough exterior to my soul. I am a male of worth, and she will be gifted with the ability to see me as I truly am. The priestesses live in peace, because they have been gifted with the ability to see in other beings what they hide from themselves.” As he talks, his voice rises. I suspect he realizes that he sounds thoroughly unhinged.
His voice slows, and he stammers “They said I was rare and worthy of…” He’s sweating again and slowly begins to tremble. I don’t realize there is a problem until Stacy and Phan move forward, quickly keying commands into the medical unit computer. “Lock the stasis field back down, there has been a huge jump in activity by the contaminant.
Tabor moves to do that, and the last thing I hear is Artor scream. “Save my queen. Do not let her die.” The tone of his voice is strangled and rough, like he’s losing his ability to talk. I’m certainly not an Artor fan but seeing him like that is horrifying. A hand lands on my shoulder, and my mother drapes her arm around me. It reminds me that she’s probably stronger than I will ever be.
We stand there for a stunned moment, then Tabor walks over to me and takes me under his wing. I wrap my arms around his waist, as Scarn draws my mother back under his wing.
The always-silent Meric speaks. “We are on a
clandestine mission to join with other species belonging to the Intergalactic Council of Planets. We have shared the limited information we have on the symbionts. Unfortunately, disturbing evidence has surfaced indicating that the symbionts might be attempting to breach our sector of space. This latest bit of intelligence from Artor might prove to be critical to helping us understand enough to eradicate the symbionts from our sector of space.”
Stacy walked over to stand beside him. “We’re putting together a team of the best medical professionals in the ICP. If there are no objections, I’m going to take these two patients with me. They are the first early-stage hosts we’ve encountered. They are unusual because the symbionts breached their bodies after being suspended in a liquid form. It’s very much like how the Draconian queens are being infected in the Cave of Ascension in their sector of space.”
I chimed in my two cents’ worth. “It would be great if we could figure out how they’re getting here from Exion space.”
Phan held his data pad close. “If we knew the entry point, we could close it off.”
Scarn drew my mother tighter into his embrace. His wings were drawn tight behind his back. “Though it pains me to say this, we owe the millions of our brethren in the Exion sector better than closing off their only avenue of escape. We should look for ways to liberate them.”
My mother nodded her agreement. “It’s really scary to know that any of us could be infected, but allowing an entire civilization of people to continue being enslaved by the symbionts is wrong. If we can offer any assistance at all, we should.”
Kendra’s voice calls from the doorway. “I agree. Phan and I should go with Stacy. He’s a healer, and I can make myself useful.”
Meric cuts her off at the pass. “Only a select few are invited to attend this convention. We are each to share knowledge and return home with a firm plan in place for battling the symbionts. You should return to our new home world and safely offload the multitude of queens you have acquired.”