by Berinn Rae
Roden belted out a laugh.
“You are the traitor here,” Nalea replied sharply. “Roden is my consort, and anything he does is with my approval. Ignoring his commands is disobeying the Grand Lord’s commands.”
Otas bowed lavishly. “My most sincere apologies, majesty. I was not fully aware of the arrangement.”
“Well, you are now,” Nalea said.
“If I may make amends,” Otas added quickly. “Ever since learning of the Omega toxin, I’ve had my scientists working on an antitoxin.”
“It should have been easy since you designed the toxin,” Roden said, with a sneer.
Otas ignored Roden. “It was auspicious for us all that Omega started on the other side of the planet, far away from posing any risk to Draeken life.”
“Until last week,” Nalea said.
Otas smiled smugly. “Yes, you must have been quite distraught watching humans outside die.”
Nalea didn’t respond, only glared.
“Fortunately,” Otas continued. “I now have the antitoxin in sufficient quantities for immediate mass distribution. We can begin with everyone on this ship.”
Nalea and Roden glanced at each other. Nalea spoke first. “Billions have perished from Omega already. Why do you offer the antitoxin now? What is your payment?”
He held out his hands with open palms. “I merely wish to free humans from the threat of obliteration. Perhaps they’ve suffered enough to gain a new perspective. All I ask is that the Grax can also land on Earth and be reintegrated with the Striga, Artox, and Evo. The Draeken people must stand united if we are to survive.”
“And you?” Roden asked. “What are you asking for?”
Otas glared at Roden. “I wish to serve the Grand Lord as she sees fit.”
“That is quite altruistic of you, Otas. And quite unlike you, as well,” Nalea said, not looking convinced. “And if we should reject your generous offer?”
Otas smiled. It was cold and cruel and knowing. “Then the humans will die.”
Chapter Twenty
The Grax landed with the Artox and Evo touching down on either side. The Earth shook with tremors from the force of three massive core ships landing as one. These ships landed with no argument from Jax’s government this time. Those still breathing were too busy standing in line for the antitoxin.
Jax himself was stuck in line right now, a rock lodged in his gut. He didn’t trust Otas, and he could tell few others did, too. He waited until after the Draeken departed for the Grax before heading to Med for the antitoxin. Roden’s people had had the antitoxin tested. The results showed that, while the formula seemed overly complicated, it got the job done.
Jax was glad. He’d been going stir-crazy, stuck on the core ship, safe from Omega, while his countrymen died all around him. The line moved quickly since there were fewer than a thousand humans on board the Striga.
When Otas advised all Draeken and Sephians to also take the antitoxin, Nalea had laughed out loud, instead saying they would be prepared to create more batches “just in case.” She clearly placed no trust in Otas. She’d proved herself a good judge of character time and again, which gave Jax a bit more faith in Roden. He still didn’t like the guy. Too smug and cold-blooded for Jax’s tastes.
After Otas returned to the Grax, Roden’s mood was grave. When Jax asked him about it later, the Draeken had simply said that Otas was up to something but, with Jax being a human, the risk of not taking the antitoxin was greater than any new risk taking the pill could present. In other words, Roden said that Jax was fucked either way.
Jax wasn’t happy about the circumstances, but Roden had a point. Omega was still a very active virus across the planet. It would only take contact with one infected person or contaminated item, and he’d be dead if he couldn’t get the antitoxin in time. He’d asked about carrying a pill on him and taking it if needed, but it seemed the shelf life of the antitoxin was only eleven days. Just one more convenient argument for Otas to press for all humans to take the antitoxin right away.
Every transporter on all four core ships had been sent out already, with an ample supply of antitoxin on board, to every government across the world. Even the countries of the U.N. welcomed the antitoxin with open arms. It was amazing how one’s scruples could make a one-eighty under the right circumstances.
Jax took a step forward. Only six people in front of him now. The antitoxin was a simple pill. He figured they’d have enough on hand to pass out to every human on the ship, but these med-tecs took their jobs seriously. There were two stations every recipient of the antitoxin had to go through. A med-tec dispensed pills and water at the first station, and people moved quickly through. At the second station, a med-tec scanned each recipient to make sure the pill “bonded” with their DNA, whatever the hell that meant. Plenty of Draeken technology seemed strange to Jax, but he was no medical expert.
Near the second station stood the Draeken guardsman who’d accompanied Otas to the Striga. Jax didn’t trust the guy, and didn’t like that he was overseeing the antitoxin distribution. He’d looked at Talla in a way that seemed way too familiar. The guy was tall and strong and looked like he knew his way around a weapon. He’d be a good match for Talla. And the thought of them together turned that rock rotting in his gut into a full-out boulder of heart-breaking justice.
The guy turned and caught Jax watching him. He stared, making no move to turn away. Jax’s lip curled into a sneer.
“Captain Jerrick?”
Jax snapped around to see a Sephian med-tec holding out a pill and glass of water.
“Thanks, Valyn,” he muttered, taking the pill. He glanced back at the Draeken who was now looking in another direction.
Grease and Jeannie Edmonds were in front of him at the second station. Jax’s brows tightened as he watched the med-tec run a scanner over Jeannie’s face, then Grease’s. Why the face? Why not the arm or chest? His suspicions hackled, he stepped between the med-tec and the Edmonds.
“Pardon me,” the med-tec said, as though a question.
Jax held out his wrist. “No. Scanning ours wrists should be enough.”
The med-tec shook his head. “But I must scan your face.”
Jax took a step closer. “Tell me why you need to scan our faces for DNA.”
The med-tec stammered. “Because it’s my directive.”
“Hm,” Jax replied and then turned away to find the Draeken guardsman in front of him.
“Is there a problem here?” he asked.
“He refuses to be scanned,” the med-tec said.
“No,” Jax said, his features hard. “I said — ”
The guardsman had turned away, and Jax strained around the guy’s wing to see Talla heading their way.
She glanced over the faces and frowned. “What’s going on?”
Jax thumbed the first station. “I took my antitoxin.”
He heard a slight whir, turned to find his profile getting scanned. “There. That should work,” the med-tec said, seeming satisfied with himself.
Jax pushed him and the scanner away. “Get that out of my face.”
She looked at Jax with a question in her eyes, and he gave a slight shake of his head. “Scanning is just a precaution anyway. There’s no danger, Jax,” she said coming between Jax and the other two.
“If you need to scan DNA,” Jax said. “Why must it be the face?”
“What?” she asked, sounding genuinely confused, looking from the med-tec to the guardsman, and back to Jax. “You don’t. Faces are only scanned for confirming identities. DNA can be scanned from any part of the body.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Jax said, in a glaring battle with the guardsman. “I’m no expert, but why would Otas want records of everyone who’s been administered the antitoxin?”
“It’s the directive,” the guardsman replied simply.
Talla didn’t speak for awhile. “It’s more than for recordkeeping. Facial scanning can couple an exact DNA-specific dosage — in this ca
se, a pill — to an identity. But it doesn’t make any sense. The toxin was not DNA-specific, therefore, the antitoxin shouldn’t be. What’s going on, Meyt?”
Meyt opened his mouth, shut it, and thought for a moment before speaking. “I cannot say.”
“Can’t or won’t?” Jax threw out.
The guardsman’s mouth tightened.
Jax chuckled drily. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” He typed in a quick email to the only Ranger he still trusted who wasn’t on the Striga. “I think the more folks who skip the scan, the better off they are.” He turned to the remaining humans in line. “You hear that? Don’t allow facial scans.”
The med-tec sputtered. “But … ”
“I’ll see that additional Striga guardsmen are posted here immediately to ensure things proceed without issue,” Talla said, eying Meyt suspiciously, who responded by lifting his chin. Her lips were a thin line when she faced Jax again. She motioned toward the door with her chin. “Let’s go, Jax.”
Once they were out of Med, Talla asked, “What the fyet is going on?”
“I don’t know,” Jax said honestly.
“I don’t like that they were able to get your facial scan,” she said, her voice strung with tension. “We need to share this with Roden and Nalea immediately.”
“Ditto. I don’t get a good vibe about this whole deal. Otas’s guardsman definitely knew more than he was letting on.”
Jax noticed her quick glance back at Med, and his muscles tightened. “You were coming here to see Meyt.”
“He’s an old friend.”
Neither old nor friend seemed to fit when it came to the guy Talla was on her way to see. “Somehow I doubt that,” he blurted out.
She turned on him. “Remember how I said I wouldn’t wait forever for you to get your head out of your ass? Ticktock, Jax.” She stopped in the middle of the hallway. “I have something to take care of. I trust you to get this information to Roden and Nalea right away?”
He nearly growled. “Yeah.”
With that, she turned and fuck if she didn’t head straight back toward Med. Jax’s blood boiled. He wanted to grab her and put as much distance as possible between her and that dick in Med, but he’d all but pushed her to find another man. Sure, Jax was getting exactly what he’d asked for. Hoo-fucking-rah.
His wrist-com chimed, and he glanced at the screen. He hit a button. “I’ll call you in five,” he said and headed toward his room. As he walked through the halls, he plugged in the message to Roden and Nalea, being sure to send it as an emergency priority.
Four and a half minutes later, Jax was in his room, safe from prying ears. He dialed the number to his CO.
“Jerrick,” Colonel Sommers said when his face appeared on the small screen.
The wrist-coms were handy in how they tied to smart phones. “Colonel,” Jax said. “Tell me you skipped the facial scans.”
“Check, as well as everyone left in my battalion who hadn’t been scanned already. Thanks for the intel. But we nearly had a war on our hands in doing so.”
“I can imagine,” Jax replied drily. “Something’s up, Six. They’re scanning our faces to tie each of us to the antitoxin pill we took. I don’t get it yet, but I plan to find out.”
“Keep me posted. And, Jax?”
“Yeah?”
“Sorry about your father. We’d hoped he’d hang on in time for the antitoxin.”
“That’s what I figured,” Jax said quietly.
There was a brief silence before Sommers spoke. “I have to go. The General of the Army has a videoconference with Otas Olnek right now, and I need to be there.”
His suspicion went on full alert. “Why is Otas meeting with him?” Jax asked.
“Don’t know,” Sommers replied. “I’ll be in touch.”
“Wilco, Six.” Jax sat down on the low-back sofa. What the hell was Otas up to? There was no way Roden and Nalea knew what that Draeken was doing. First the scanning, now the meetings.
Jumping to his feet, Jax headed out of his room. He typed in Roden’s name and placed the call.
“What do you need, Captain?” Roden asked.
“Did you get my message?”
“Yes. I’ve already sent the word out. Come to my room. I’ll give Nalea a call to let her know you’re on your way.”
Jax hit the disconnect button and headed through the hallways and elevators. Roden was several floors away, and it took him nearly ten minutes to reach his quadrant. Before he turned the corner to Roden’s hallway, his wrist-com buzzed. He glanced down. Frowning, he answered. “What’s up? I wasn’t expecting to hear from you so soon.”
Sommers’s features were as hard and stoic as a statue. “The General of the Army has just dropped dead.”
The air in Jax’s lungs hardened. “Had he been scanned?”
“Yes.”
Chapter Twenty-One
By the time Talla reached the command room for the unscheduled briefing, the room was already at maximum capacity. Jax was standing up front with Fayel, the senior Sephian doctor on Earthside. She took the seat next to Laze, relieved to find him healing … at least physically. His faraway look said something completely different about his emotional health.
“Is this about the scanning?” she asked her brother in a whispered hush.
He shrugged. “No idea.”
She leaned back, letting her wings relax out to the sides of the chair. Talking with Meyt had brought her little new information, aside from the fact that he was still interested in being more than friends. While they had a long history and remained on good terms, Talla just didn’t have the interest in Meyt that she once had, and she placed the blame squarely on one particular human male. Her body still craved Jax, and until she got him out of her system, no one man could satiate her desires the way Jax could.
As for information she could use, she’d learned that Meyt wasn’t happy with his current predicament. Even though he refused to share any details about how he’d come to serve Otas or why he continued to serve him still, it was clear that there was something forcing his hand.
A human officer entered, and she nodded in his direction, not trying to hide her surprise at his presence. Colonel Sommers had been one of the commanding officers at the Etzee, but he’d always been fair with the residents. Still, she’d never expected to see him on the Striga. Despite his fairness, he’d always made it clear that he’d side with the humans each and every time.
Roden stood. “Now that everyone’s here, we have some disturbing news.” He motioned to the golden-skinned man to his left. “Fayel, if you would, please … ”
The older Sephian man cleared his throat. “Yes, well, it seems that Otas Olnek hasn’t been entirely forthright about the antitoxin.”
“It doesn’t work?” someone asked from across the room.
Fayel shook his head. “Oh, it works fine. It prevents infection and can reverse infection if taken within the first twenty hours of exposure. The issue is that it seems there is a secondary programming underneath the antitoxin. We missed it in our analysis. We’d thought the antitoxin was more complex than it needed to be, but we didn’t think much of it at the time. It wasn’t until Captain Jerrick and Colonel Sommers brought to light recent events.”
Sommers came to his feet. “Otas Olnek has been meeting with leaders across the world. He met with the General of the Army this morning to discuss an alliance with the United States.”
Talla’s mouth opened in shock. The nerve! First, Otas took over the Grax. Now, he was going after Earth. “He does not represent the Draeken people,” she stated boldly.
Sommers held up a hand. “I know that, and the General knew that. He rejected Otas’s offer, and one instant later he was lying dead on the floor.”
“Evidently Otas doesn’t take rejection very well,” Jax said.
Talla tensed, her heart pounding in her chest. The scanning was beginning to make sense, and she dreaded where this was headed.
“The secondary pro
gramming works much like a pika tablet,” Fayel explained. “Only instead of running immediately, it waits for a signal to begin.”
“Pika?” one of the humans asked.
“Oh, yes,” Fayel replied. “Pika roughly translates to ‘mercy’. The tablets bring instant, pain-free euthanasia to patients with no hope. I’ve never seen them used as a form of biological warfare before, since each recipient would have to be connected to a detonation system. Linking a pika tablet’s programming to an individual using a simple facial and DNA scan for a targeted release is really quite brilliant.”
“You make it sound easy,” Jax replied. “Then why you didn’t catch it before?”
Fayel lowered his eyes, as though ashamed.
Jax was right. They should have analyzed the antitoxin further before release. They’d been so desperate to stop Omega’s spread that they’d bypassed protocols they would never have done otherwise. Talla had pressed Meyt about the facial scanning, but he’d refused to say. Now, anyone who’d been scanned … Talla’s eyes widened. Jax! A gasp escaped her, and her hand flew to her mouth. Jax glanced in her direction with a questioning look, but then turned back to the discussion.
Jax was scanned.
There’s nothing to stop Otas …
Goose bumps rose across her skin as she stared at the stoic man sitting across the room, wondering what was going on in that mind of his. Was he scared? Worried? Angry? Talla sucked in a deep breath and looked at her brother. He was watching her, frowning. She nodded and stared straight ahead, formulating a plan to protect Jax. I won’t allow you to be ‘unplugged’.
“We were in a hurry and got sloppy,” Roden said, slamming her fist onto the table. “We thought Omega was bad. It was just Otas’s way of setting up the rest of the population to live at his disposal. We tapped into human computers before we neared Earth to learn the languages and customs. It would be nearly instantaneous to link a scan to an identity stored on human networks.” He looked at the doctor. “How many humans had facial scans?”