A Blade in the Hand, page 15
“How often do you mate?” Dinara clarified helpfully, brushing a lock of dark brown curls over her shoulder as she waited expectantly for the answer.
"You mean sex?" Val set her cup back on the table and dabbed her lips with a linen napkin to buy time. "Well, it depends on the person, of course. It is considered a personal detail – one most people don't share with strangers."
A tinge of pink touched Dinara's cheeks. "Have I been rude? I apologize."
Val shook her head. "No need. Elder Margrave said his team was working on a book about the human experience. Sex is certainly part of that. At least, for adults. But now I'm curious. Don't vampires view physical intimacy as a private thing?"
"Not particularly. I mean, no one is going to commit the act in public, but it isn't a secret. At least, no more so than any other normal bodily function. Now, if you asked one of us how old we are..." She grinned, displaying the tips of her canines. "That could be considered rude."
"Many humans feel the same," Val admitted, glad she hadn't asked Vincent his age. She eyed Dinara curiously. "What about procreation? Is that a taboo subject?"
Dinara raised her fingers to her lips. "No, why?" Sudden understanding dawned. "Oh, you are probably referring to that old fable humans used to tell about us. That we ‘turn’ humans into vampires by biting them?"
"Not true, then?"
Dinara giggled. "There would probably be a lot more of us if it were. As it is, each clutch of eggs brings only a few younglings. Two, three at most, for every set laid. Our population remains stable, but it does not grow as human populations tended to prior to the evacuation. It's one of the reasons we were never the dominant species on Earth, despite being faster, stronger, and more disciplined than humans."
Irritation bubbled under Val's skin, but she nodded politely. There had been no smugness or superiority in Dinara's matter-of-fact statement.
"So, your species never preyed on humans as a food source?"
"Occasionally, some did. Hence the legends. But it was usually an act of derangement or desperation. One does not kill and eat advanced life forms. It is irresponsible."
Not immoral, Val noted. But irresponsible. "Your women lay eggs?"
"Those who can breed, yes. But not everyone is fertile. And it isn't restricted to females. Males can be breeders, too. But only one in three of us can present eggs for the collective. And of those who can, most only do so once during their lifetime."
"So that's why a group of vampires living together is called a nest?"
Dinara glanced up. "Why, yes. What other reason would there be?"
"I have no idea. This is as much a learning experience for me as it is for you."
"Speaking of learning, what impact do you think the evacuation had on gender relations among humans?"
Val answered as best she could, sparing a glance at Alex, who was laughing at something his dinner companion had just said.
Some twenty guests sat around the table, with Vincent Margrave at the head, looking both wise and youthful. As Val watched, a white-faced server hurried up to Vincent and whispered in his ear. The elder frowned, then stood to follow the younger vampire from the room.
She caught Alex's eye, then stood, setting her napkin on her seat. "Excuse me for a moment," she said to Dinara.
She heard the other woman object, but didn't turn. A few steps later, she felt Alex join her as they left the dining room for the hallway.
"What's up?" he asked.
"I don't know, but by the look on that kid's face, something is wrong. I'm going to find out what."
"Are you sure about that? Vincent might not like us getting nosy."
"Given the recent incident on Elara, and the fact that a container which was chock full of an intact nourichef is now empty except for a few spare parts, what are you willing to bet that whatever it is has something to do with us?"
Alex's mouth flattened into a grim line. "Nothing. I don't like to lose."
"Me neither. Now where..." she trailed off as voices drifted from behind a door down the corridor.
"...the victim? How did he die?"
"He had injuries to his throat and thigh," another voice said. "Both cut major arteries. He bled to death."
"And there is no sign of the perpetrator?"
"None. The fae have sent out search parties, but they notified us so that we can be on the lookout, just in case..."
Val pushed the door open. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I thought we should–"
A high, wailing scream echoed through the mansion. Vincent's already pale features lost every shred of color as he ran past Val into the hall. "Marianna!"
Val and Alex ran after him. Val reached for the blaster she habitually wore on her hip and came away empty-handed. Cursing, she picked up speed, chasing the flash of Vincent's blurred figure up a set of stairs and down a darkened hall.
Door on either side, all shut tight, suggested this might be the mansion's residential space. Another scream ripped the air, and they picked up their pace.
"I am never going anywhere without a weapon again," she puffed, keeping pace with Alex.
He tossed her a mini-blaster. "Good thing I planned ahead."
"And that you have pockets," she shot back, catching the pistol one-handed.
"You could have pockets." He slid a glance her way, taking in the black sequined sheath dress she wore.
"Where would they go?" she asked.
Before he could answer, they rounded a corner and pulled up short.
A door stood open, the corner of a neatly made bed just visible past the leading edge. Vincent knelt in the middle of a blood-stained rug, holding the limp form of a woman in his arms. Pinkish purple blood streamed from a gash in her throat, threads of purple staining her emerald gown with gore.
Night air drifted in through the open window, the breeze lifting trails of billowing organza sheers into the room like ghostly arms.
Val rushed to the window. Leaning out, she caught a flash of silver leaping from one steep roof to the next, and then it was gone.
"Reaper," she said, closing the window.
Deprived of the breeze, the curtains flattened, dropping vertical without a sound, and the room suddenly felt stifling.
Vincent lifted Marianna's body and laid it gently on the bed. "She is gone," he whispered, his voice breaking. He faced them, raw grief ravaging his features. "I don't understand this."
Running feet pounded down the hall and a moment later, Dinara and several others were at the door.
"What happened? Is Marianna all right?" Dinara asked.
Vincent walked toward them, tears streaming down his cheeks. "No. She is gone, taken from us by a murderer."
Gasps sighed through the small crowd, and every eye turned toward Val and Alex.
"I didn't..." Val trailed off. She'd been about to deny responsibility, but could she? If her suspicions were accurate, a reaper killed Marianna Margrave.
And she had brought it here.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Lura4, Quoros Spaceport
We do not like that one, Dr. Tessa. Pan sniffed as he projected the thought through the receiver behind Tessa's ear.
The Oracle, now fully repaired and restocked, was making preparations for launch. Yolanda had taken over the weapons console, and Magnus occupied his customary place in the captain's chair. Tessa was working the comms station, but at this point there wasn't much to do but listen to the twins complain.
No, we do not, Dora went on. She is sneaky...
And she wears a mindshield. Very rude.
A quick look confirmed the twin's complaint. A thin, rose-gold circlet, easily mistaken for a hair ornament, banded Yolanda's forehead. Considering the Syfe habit of eavesdropping on everyone's private thoughts, the Syfe’s irritation made Tessa laugh.
"What's funny?" Yolanda's eyes narrowed dangerously.
The laugh died in Tessa's throat. Privately, she wasn't overly fond of the new crewmember either, but she couldn't put her finger on why.
Magnus trusted the woman, and he'd known her for years. Tessa couldn't very well ask him to dump her on a hunch. Still...
"The Syfe say you wear a mindshield. Why is that?" Tessa asked.
The woman's green gaze narrowed further before she leaned back with a bland expression. "My thoughts are my thoughts, and Syfe are notorious for not respecting boundaries. The mindshield guards my privacy."
Tessa couldn't argue with that. If the transmitter behind her ear had worked both ways, she wouldn't be wearing it. She nodded and turned back to her console.
"You didn't answer my question," Yolanda said.
"My thoughts are my thoughts, and I don't need a shield to protect them." Tessa didn't bother turning around.
Magnus gave a bark of laughter. "She has you there, Yo. Did you finish testing the weapons systems? Might need them sooner rather than later."
"Affirmative. Report came back clean. We're all set," Yolanda replied. She threw Tessa a simmering look, which the other woman pretended not to notice.
"I'm going to sickbay. Need to inventory the supplies that came in." Tessa headed for the OPT.
"Launching in ten," Magnus said. "Make sure you get strapped in before we do."
"Don't worry, I will." The OPT swished closed and Tessa relaxed, only then realizing how tense she'd been on the bridge.
She doesn't like you, either, Dr. Tessa, Pan said.
Tessa fondled the cat-like ears. "I know, Pan. But that's OK, isn't it?" she murmured. "As long as she keeps her hands to herself, we'll be fine."
Do not worry, Dr. Tessa. We will watch her closely, just in case, Dora assured her.
"That isn't necess..." On second thought, a little backup couldn't hurt. "Thanks, guys. I appreciate it."
Her mindlink chirped with an incoming call from Gaia. Stepping out of the lift, she opened the comm line, causing her airscreen to bloom into a transparent square in front of Tessa. Gaia's anxious face stared back at her from the airscreen. "Hello Gaia. What's–"
"Thank the universe, Tessa, I need your help." Tension radiated from the queen's expression. "There are reapers on Earth."
The Oracle, Interstellar
Tessa faced Magnus across the dining table in their shared quarters. She put both hands on the table and leaned in.
"I can't leave those things running loose, Magnus. You heard the message from the HDL. Murdering fae and vampires is only the beginning. They won't stop until they destroy the entire planet and Gaia with it."
"I don't doubt it. I'm just saying you can't rush into this. For Latarna's sake, if they've figured out how to self-replicate, and that box of parts is an indicator that they have, you don't even know how many of them there are, Tessa."
"That never stopped me before," she said evenly. They'd been discussing this for over an hour, with neither giving in.
"And look what it cost you. You've done your part. This isn't your fight anymore."
"HiveZ was my enemy, and they created the reapers. It damn well is my fight."
"And the HDL reprogrammed them. You destroy these reapers and they'll just send others. Or worse, find something more effective. Terrorists organizations run on faith. On belief, Tessa. And you can't kill belief."
She dropped into the chair and leaned back, her face a mask of despair. "What other choice do I have? It isn't like I can go back in time and give them the truth. If I could do that, the HDL would never exist in the first place."
Why– Dora's question cut off as Magnus pressed his advantage.
"So, let's do a little research. Find out where the HDL is headquartered. The best way to kill a snake is to cut off its head."
"You aren't wrong. But we need to get Sirius' new weapon to Earth first. And, since Val hasn't found a pilot for it yet, picking up the stock of the specialized blasters I left aboard the Arrow is a good idea, too."
"You abandoned a stock of weapons on the Arrow?" Magnus asked.
Her jaw tightened. "Yeah. I did. Seems like a mistake now, but at the time, I thought the threat was over. Besides which, I had no ship to carry them. They'll make a nice back up, but I'm hoping we won't need them."
"How's that?"
"According to Sirius, the new device is even more effective." She watched his face and when he didn't react, she continued. "Earth is no longer a tech planet. Their deadliest weapons are knives and... swords."
"And that isn't going to cut it?"
"Not without a hell of a lot of collateral damage. The reapers are incredibly fast and resilient. Nothing short of decapitation is certain to stop one."
"But you think this 'device' can?" He made air quotes with his fingers.
"The ones he made before worked on Josan. And without hurting any organics in the process." Tessa sighed. "If there is one thing Sirius can do, it's build weapons. He's been working on nanotechnology for decades. We should at least look at what he's offering. It might mean the difference between Earth surviving or being destroyed."
"And we can pick up the blasters while we're there. Let me ask you this, though. What's to stop the device from being turned on you?"
"My nanocyte load is different enough from HiveZ's that Sirius was able to program in safeguards."
Magnus grimaced. "So he says."
"Sirius doesn't want me dead. If he says this thing won't hurt me, then it won't. What it will do is leave us with something to examine for clues as to who sent the reapers."
Someone stands in the corridor, Dr. Tessa. They are listening. Dora must have broadcast the thought, because Magnus' gaze jerked to the door before he responded.
"No one can listen in. These quarters are soundproofed." Magnus moved to the entry and stabbed at the control. The doors swished open, revealing an empty hall. They closed again before Tessa could switch to infrared and check for a heat signature.
Magnus faced her. "All right. We'll go to Earth. But I am sticking with you like Garillion adhesive. No arguments."
She stood and put her arms around him. "Since I like having you around, I have no objections." It also meant she could keep watch over him. Protection ran both ways.
Elara, Palace of the Two Thrones
Tessa and Magnus stood next to a worktable in Sirius's lab. The NTU, or nanocyte termination unit, lay before them. The silver box, banded in black and white strips placed diagonally corner to corner, appeared innocuous, but Tessa had learned not to take Sirius' creations at face value.
"I've tested it on three reapers. Worked perfectly every time." Sirius wore the bioform Tessa was most familiar with – a young, blond man with Nordic features and a rigid, military bearing. He'd changed clothes, though. Today he wore a lab coat over a set of loose fitting, pale green pants and a matching tunic. Tessa mulled it over and came up with the term "scrubs," an outfit similar to what medical professionals had worn on Earth pre-evacuation.
He'd barely looked at her since they arrived, and she wondered if that was for her comfort, or his.
"How does this NTU work?" Magnus asked.
Sirius handed him a palm-sized silver disk with black and white buttons. "Since I believe you may be short on time when the moment comes, I've kept the controls as simple as possible. Push the black button to deploy the stunner, and the white one to activate it. The black and white button at the bottom will shut it down."
Accepting the remote, Magnus looked up at Sirius. "Sure. But how does it work? Tessa's made of the same nanocytes that run these Reapers. How do we know it won't target her as well as them?"
"Magnus, I told you–" Tessa began.
Sirius held up a hand. "No, it's a good question. One chief difference between Tessa and the Reapers is that she has a soul, and they do not. HiveZ used her soul to target Tessa from the beginning, so I knew there must be a way to read it."
"And you figured out the way?" Magnus asked.
"Spectral analysis. Come over here." Sirius led the way to a cabinet next to a white walled vertical rectangle. "This will work anywhere, but the cubicle makes things easier to see."
"What is it?" Tessa asked.
"A soul reader. Magnus, would you like to try it out?" Sirius asked.
"You're going to show me my soul?" Magnus said incredulously.
Sirius smiled. "Not exactly. The soul itself is colorless, odorless and all but undetectable. But it emits an energy that can be seen as a frame of colors surrounding the body."
"An aura," Tessa said.
Sirius nodded. "An old term, but accurate. My research shows that most auras are a combination of colors, generally with one or two dominating. Stand there," he said, pointing to the cubicle.
With a dubious glance at Tessa, Magnus entered the rectangular box. Sirius tapped a few keys on the control pad and the white walls faded to clear. Except for a bit of light refraction at the box's vertices and edges, Magnus appeared to be standing unenclosed on a white square.
Sirius tapped a few more keys and color sprayed out around Magnus. Predominantly yellow, the halo around him also carried a lot of blue as well as some green streaks. Other colors drifted sparsely in spots around him.
Magnus held up his arms and looked at the sunny yellow floating around them. The aura didn't quite touch his skin or clothes, but surrounded him from head to toe. "Why is it yellow?"
Tessa snorted. "The theory goes that different aura colors reflect a set of personality traits. Believe me, yours fits like a tailored suit."
Scowling, Magnus stepped out of the box, and the color disappeared instantly. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Don't worry, Captain Carravaggio. Yellow is the color most associated with a sunny, charismatic personality. Someone bold and confident."
Somewhat mollified, Magnus relaxed. Then he turned to Tessa. "Your turn," he said, grinning at her.
Tessa rolled her eyes, but stepped obligingly into the box. Sirius tapped out the startup sequence and, again, the box disappeared except for the white square at the bottom. Another few taps and orange light surrounded her, threaded through with streaks of indigo and dots of red.
Magnus let out a low whistle. "Never would have pegged you for orange," he said. "What's it mean?"
