Colliding Worlds Trilogy 03 - Explosion (20 page)

He looked down his nose at the attendees in the room, frowning slightly when no one acknowledged his authority, not that he had any royal blood in his plebian heritage. One chair remained open at the large round table, yet Otas continued to stand, even when Nalea and her consort Roden — arriving last per Draeken custom — entered the room.

All the Draeken in the room rose and bowed their heads. Otas smiled at Nalea, the
real
Grand Lord of Draeka. She eyed him but make no further acknowledgement, and Otas visibly bristled.

The guardsman at Otas’s side bowed to Nalea. Talla knew that man well. She and Meyt had dated briefly when she was a teenager and knew him to be one of the best and most noble of the late Grand Lord’s personal guardsmen. They’d remained friends and occasional lovers throughout the years. Their bed play had helped pass the long trip to Earth. It didn’t make sense that he served Otas now, but knowing Meyt, there had to be a good reason for it. He spotted Talla and smiled.

A slight movement at her right brought her gaze to Jax, who was now scrutinizing Meyt like a bird of prey honing in for a kill. Despite his words and actions, Jax clearly cared, and it somewhat lifted the pressure on Talla’s heart. There was still hope.
Hope!

She turned to the guardsman and winked, her lips curved upward. If another man’s interest was what it took for Jax to come to terms with his buried feelings, she had no problem spurring things along. In fact, she would enjoy making a little payback. Intentionally avoiding Jax’s gaze, Talla kept her focus on the traitor and his guardsman.

“Otas Olnek,” Nalea Zyll said from Roden’s side. “Over a year ago, you took control of the
Grax
and refused to acknowledge the Grand Lord. Have you come to make amends?”

The older Draeken smiled then. It was wide and false. “On the contrary, your majesty. I’ve always acknowledged you as the Grand Lord. Rather, I’ve come to offer my assistance in your time of need.”

Nalea raised her brows. “You’ve done a poor job at showing your allegiance.”

“I heard of the unfortunate accident with the antitoxin. My condolences for your losses. One of the deceased had family on the
Grax
.”

Talla clenched her teeth to keep from speaking. There was nothing sympathetic in Otas’s statement. His words were as close to an admission of guilt there was. He knew it and didn’t care that everyone knew he destroyed the lab. He’d even inferred that he’d gotten to the scientist by using his relations against him. It was one of the oldest and most trustworthy methods to get results.
Blackmail
.

“How
timely
of you,” Nalea said. “Considering the
accident
happened less than an hour ago.”

“I like to keep up to date on Draeken events,” he replied.

“Yet you’ve missed out on so much,” Nalea said. “How it is that you knew of the accident immediately while you’ve refused all hailing attempts for over a year? Taking control of a core ship without authority is piracy.”

Meyt made no movement, but Talla noticed his face was hard, holding back strong emotion. Talking with him afterward would not only pique Jax’s emotions, but she might also learn more about how an unranked Draeken managed to take over a core ship.
Two-for-one.

“We had communication issues,” Otas replied.

“And those communication errors prevented you from sending transporters to other ships or accepting my envoy onto your own?” Nalea asked.

“I did not know if Roden Zyll was in charge or the Grand Lord. I am a patriot and do not follow traitors,” Otas said, glaring at the man to Nalea’s right.

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.”

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 case, 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.