As safe as she could be surrounded by murdering pirates. It was ironic just how quickly the situation changed with this new development.
On their way through the medical bay, he set her down to activate a storage area that had bandages. Tearing a segment off, he wrapped it around her hand before pressing the torn end down against the surface beneath his thumb to hold it in place while he searched for a binding.
Terri shifted her hand beneath his. “Uh, Veral, I think the end is sticking down.”
Glancing at her hand, he removed his thumb and noted that the torn end had completely sealed against the wrapped bandaging. He gave it a light tug to make sure that it would not loosen and nodded in satisfaction. That was practical. Without comment, he handed her what was left of the bandaging and swung her back up into his arms.
Focusing on keeping his footsteps light, he moved silently among the crew. Due to the safety of the enclosed wreckage, those who were awake and on guard were fewer, and were focused solely on the forest.
No one noticed that he carried his mate back to Azan’s side.
As he set her down. Terri’s hand tangled in his vibrissae, drawing his head down to press her lips against his. It was a silent communication of feeling, and Veral embraced it as he deepened the kiss, drawing his tongues along hers until they were both nearly breathless. He ignored the pang of regret and longing as he pulled away.
Not surprisingly, at that moment, Azan stirred, her yellow eyes opening. Her hand went immediately to her blaster her as her body tensed with hostility. Veral stilled, prepared to defend his mate, but the tension fled her as her eyes met his. Her gaze slid to Terri for a moment before returning to him, a smirk curving her lips as her nostrils flared. He knew exactly what she was scenting for, and he bared his teeth at her intrusion.
Although Blaithari night vision was not as good as many species, and nowhere near the cybernetic-enhanced vision of the Argurma, it was far better than that of humans. There was still enough glow from the embers that she had no trouble seeing his expression. She sketched him a small salute and turned away to give him his last moment of privacy with Terri as he prepared to leave.
He snorted in exasperation at the pirate before turning his attention back to his mate, his hand stroking her cheek. She leaned into his touch. It was only a moment, gone when he stepped away, but that moment was everything. This night would have to sustain them over the lonely nights ahead.
Be strong, be safe, he wanted to tell her. Instead, he turned away and left her.
He did not turn and look back to watch her settle once more at Azan’s side. He was not strong enough. It was too tempting to pick his mate up and run back for their ship, even knowing that the pirate ship orbiting the planet would shoot them down.
His efforts were better spent returning to that room to look for more clues about the thing that attacked Terri. How many more bio-techs had the Elshavan devised, and was there possibly worse awaiting for them on theEvandra?
The thought chilled his blood and sent alarms through his systems.
Returning to the room, Veral righted the table and searched among the debris until he found what appeared to be a private data recorder. He touched his hand to the back but was less disconcerted this time at the uplink that burrowed into his systems as he held the recorder.
There was always a probability that the device would be code locked. Fortunately, that was not the case. The screen flared on and he tilted his head curiously as an image of a strange male stared back at him on the screen.
Like Terri, he had soft skin, though there was a subtle scaling on it, nothing that would significantly protect him from outside damage. Long, fine, oily hair coiled in braids as it hung around his face, heavy with ornaments clamped in several places. There was possibly a meaning to the ornaments that would have intrigued Terri, but Veral was more curious about the firm, anxious look to the male’s expression.
His finger slid over the image. It flickered out to reveal an empty workstation lit up with numerous wired parts of bio-tech like the one he had crushed, and others that appeared to be different types in varying stages of completion.
The male dropped down in front of the screen and swept his hands over his face, rubbing at his eyes in a show of exhaustion. Leaning forward, he began to speak in a low, sibilant voice. Thanks to the existing records that he had been poring over, Veral’s translator picked up the language quickly.
“For once, I am thankful that this room is soundproof and no one else on my staff is able to hear what I am about to say. I have been suspicious for a while as to what exactly our purpose is on theEvandra. The prince tells us little and keeps the vast number of scientists separated and out of communication with one another. But something is not right. There are things loose in this ship. Tech of the like that is not cataloged, seemingly entirely experimental in design. A whole wing of scientists died, and then another. I have been delaying my own assignments on the melgadinal to focus on something that will be useful to protect us from our creations. The melgadinal is a mistake, an aberration. We have successfully grown a fetus of a monster that is born with tech that advances and restructures itself as it grows larger at an accelerated rate, as I have been instructed by command. They are one of what I suspect may be many ongoing experiments that we are told will wipe the Diralthax out of existence so they never threaten our people again. But they have turned on us.”
The male swiped a hand over his face again as the screen showed schematics demonstrating how the symbiont would join with its host.
“I do not know if my creations will be successful, but I am uploading all my data in case we fail. The gymotakin symbiotic armor… I do not have time to accurately test it. These things cannot be brought down by blasters. The creatures metabolize energy blasts. I think I have calculated correctly. At least I hope so… I—What is that?”
He turned, his eyes scanning the room behind him. Solemnly, he turned back to the recorder.
“If we do not resolve this situation, I fear it will be the end of theEvandra, and anyone who finds her. I pray to the gods that, if we fail, no one ever discovers our location.”
The scientist gasped as the room shook around him, and the recording cut out. Though there was nothing to suggest what had happened, Veral systems pricked with alarm. Whatever had been loose on the Evandra had brought the ship down and killed the crew.
Staring at the black screen, a sense of apprehension filled him as he downloaded the content from the recorder. The files were badly fragmented in places, but the bits that he was able to recover provided a glimpse into the research that had been underway, as well as information on the gymotakin symbionts.
The symbiotic armor was fascinating, but the plans for the bio-tech experiment that the scientist had been working on made him still in horror at the unnatural utilization of the tech. It wasn’t augmentations, like the Argurma focused on. No, it was an entirely bio-engineered creature made of bio-metal, with a heightened predatory AI designed to search and destroy its targets like an unnatural creation of night terrors.
It was a monstrosity that never should have existed.
That the AI likely malfunctioned and sent the creatures on a killing spree through the ship made any salvage of theEvandrauntenable. Suddenly, finding the resting place of the ship was the last thing Veral wanted to do, but there was only so long he could delay the captain. Egbor was vain, but he was not a fool. He would notice if they were not drawing any closer to the wreckage on the schematic.
He hissed angrily. If he could not convince the captain, he had no choice but to take his mate to theEvandraand hope that Kaylar arrived before anything else noticed their arrival.