The Star Thief (35 page)

There was a traitor within the organization.

Navang smiled as he watched her come to her conclusion. “Don’t look so surprised, my dear. An organization as large and decentralized as MYTH has to have its share of bad apples. I don’t care who I work for, as long as I get paid. You and I are alike in that way, I think.”

“Never!” she spit. “I’d never murder thousands of people or torture innocent children.”

“No. You’d just steal a priceless cultural artifact and let its people die in a pointless war.”

She blinked at the doctor, going perfectly still.

“That’s right. I know who you are. And I think you may be even more useful to us than Myka.”

White-hot anger scorched through her, momentarily burning away the fog. “At least I can assure you you’ll never get Myka back.”

“We may not need him. We have enough of his genetic material to work with for now. And the new subjects are coming along very well. Most of them are on a steady dose of the drug and hooked into our neural network. They are completely under my control.” He shrugged, looking smug and haughty. “And the few that we are unable to control are destroyed once we know they are no longer viable.”

Navang pulled a pair of rubber gloves on and smiled over at the nurse. “Rebekka, please remove the IV from Miss Carrizal’s arm. I think she’s had enough. I’ll be curious to see the effects of the drug at this dosage.”

Renna’s gaze flew to the needle in her arm, and then to the orange liquid that had been dripping into her vein. “What have you done to me?” she demanded.

“We’ve simply made you better, my dear.” Navang’s smile turned his face into a hideous mask. “I haven’t been able to try our new dosing on the current subjects yet, and with the addition of Myka’s DNA, I think the implant integration process will go even more smoothly than before. By using the antibodies and genetic material in Myka’s blood, we’ve developed a way to allow the implants to fuse with your nervous system seamlessly, until you’re able to control your implant like you would another limb. Or so we hope. Plus it’s always interesting to deal with someone who already has one.”

“How did you know about my implant?”

“You don’t exactly keep it a secret, my dear. Now take a few deep breaths and calm down. I’d hate to have to knock you out again.”

She stared at him, her heart racing beyond her control. The fog in her brain was swirling back in. What would the drug do to her? Would she become a machine like one of those…things?

“What’s going to happen?” she asked, trying to keep her voice from shaking.

“I’m not entirely sure. Regular implants and transplants are superficial; their limitations well-documented. Even the most well-designed technology fails after a few years as your body attacks and rejects it. What I hope will happen is that this new drug will allow your nervous system to gradually integrate with your implant until it becomes a part of you. Something that physically ties you into the technological world.”

He rubbed his hands down the front of his lab coat, tugging at the lapels as if he was giving a lecture to a university class. “Some of our subjects have almost been able to control the flow of information on the network. Others had brief integration with electrical systems, like power centers or computers, allowing them to turn entire power grids on and off with a simple thought. We haven’t been able to make it work long-term yet, but you’re strong enough. And now that we’ve integrated Myka’s genetic material, I think it might finally take.”

Okay. That wasn’t too bad. When she thought about it rationally, it could actually be pretty useful. Especially if it helped her break through safes or into buildings. “What’s the catch?”

“I don’t know what you mean, Miss Carrizal.” His smile was slimy and full of lies.

Fuck this. She flexed her muscles beneath the sheets. Luckily, they’d left most of her clothes on, only removing her shirt so they could stick her with the needle. She was grateful for the army bra keeping her girls firmly in place.

Before she could let herself think about what she was about to do, she jumped from the bed and snatched the scalpel from the tray nearby.

THIRTY-ONE

Dr. Navang’s face paled, and he backed away.

The nurse held her hands out and approached Renna. “Just get back into bed, dear. It’s the drugs making you do this,” she said soothingly.

Renna shook her head. “Nope. This is all me.” She stalked toward the doctor. He stumbled backward as she approached, his long legs looking oddly like a spider’s as he tripped and scuttled away from her. When his back hit the wall, Renna pressed the blade of the scalpel to his neck.

“Tell me what’s going to happen.”

“I don’t know.” Navang’s voice wavered, and he glanced at the nurse.

“No. Look at me.” She yanked his chin so he was forced to meet her furious gaze. “What is going to happen?”

A trickle of sweat ran down Navang’s cheek. “The drug we gave you has destroyed your antibodies and replaced them with Myka’s. It’s also begun to break down the neural connections between your implant and your nervous system. Once the process is complete, the technology will begin to fuse with you. It will grow and connect in ways we can’t even imagine.”

“Right. I got that. Then what?” The scalpel trembled in her hand, and she gripped it tighter, trying to steady it.

Navang shook his head. “I don’t think you understand. The drug we injected you with is destroying your immune system. If the process isn’t kept in check, your implant will take over your entire body. Or it will fail completely. Either way, you’ll die.”

Renna lowered her hand and blinked at him. Each breath she took felt like it was on fire. “How do I stop it? Reverse it?” she demanded. “There has to be a way to fix this!”

“We can keep your immune system working and the implant from being rejected, but you’ll need a steady dose of the drug I developed. Once you’ve stabilized, any disruption in the protocol could cause the implant to fail or your organs to shut down.”

Renna’s voice trembled as she brought the edge back up to his neck. “You mean I have to take those drugs for the rest of my life now?”

He swallowed, the scalpel nicking his Adam’s apple as it bobbed. A small bead of blood welled to the surface of his pasty skin. “Possibly. Or the implant could stabilize. It’s hard to say since it was already installed in you when we started the process. Your body may already have accepted it. We had a sixty-five percent acceptance rate in most of our subjects.”

“How would I know if my implant is failing?”

His eyes lit up. “You’d know. There would be tremors and headaches. You might feel like you’re coming down with the flu or catching a cold. And then your muscles would go stiff. Eventually you’d lose your sight before your brain shut down. It depends on your body. It’s a fascinating process.”

“Fuck you.”

She drew her arm back and punched him, throwing her entire weight into the swing. His head crashed back into the wall with a
thunk
. Blood streamed from his nose and splashed down the front of his white jacket. With one last whimper, he slid to the floor.

The nurse gasped and turned to flee the room.

“Not so fast.” Renna gestured with the scalpel. “You’re going to help me or this man is dead.”

The nurse stopped just feet from the door.

“Pick up the restraints,” Renna ordered.

The nurse glared at her, but moved to the bed and removed the restraints.

“Now bind his hands. Hurry up.” Renna brandished her weapon again when the woman looked like she was going to protest. Her muscles were turning to rubber, and the headache Navang had warned her about already throbbed behind her eyes. She needed to get out of here.

The nurse obeyed, but Navang didn’t put up a struggle. He whimpered as the tears mixed with the blood on his face.

“Hook the restraints to the metal bar,” Renna said. “Then get the other ones from the foot of the bed.” She leaned against the counter and tried to look bored while she inspected the rest of the machines.

Where was Viktis? Had they captured him, too?

When the nurse had tied herself to another bar across the room, Renna crouched in front of Navang. “I need answers, Doc. Or you’re not going to like what happens.”

He shook his head, blood splattering onto the white front of his lab coat. “You wouldn’t. You don’t have it in you.”

“You should know enough about me to know I’m telling the truth. You’ve hurt my friends, and you’ve fucked up my life. I don’t have much left to lose.” A quiet life on Paradisio Prime was certainly out of the picture now. Her stomach churned as she thought about Finn.

Her hand shook, and she let the scalpel slide down his cheek, just deep enough to scratch. “Did you know I grew up in the Izan Tenements on Old-Earth?”

His eyes widened, and he shook his head.

“I see you’ve heard of them. Then you’ll realize I have no problem gutting you like a frakking fish. Now tell me where my partner is. The Ileth who was with me?”

“He—he was being prepped for implantation down the hall. We haven’t tested on aliens before. MYTH wanted to stick with humans until the process was perfected.” The man’s gaze darted toward the door as if help were just beyond.

Renna’s heart constricted, but she forced herself to stay calm. To not shove the scalpel through his damn eye. “Tell me who’s behind all of this. The people in MYTH that I know would never agree to this kind of thing.”

The doctor shook his head. “I never saw more than a holovid. The person called himself Pallas, but I know that wasn’t his real name.”

“How high up does this go? Tell me.” She bent down to get in his face, making sure the scalpel never left his field of vision.

“I…I don’t know. I got the impression he was fairly important, but he didn’t have unlimited resources for this project and he was adamant we keep it secret from the other MYTH agencies. He didn’t want them to know what was going on.”

“A splinter cell?”

The doctor nodded. “That was my guess. I usually worked through one of his men—a Major Larson.”

Her chest tightened. Larson was part of this? Who else was involved? If what Navang said was true, she couldn’t trust anyone at MYTH with Myka. He was still at risk. Even if Navang was out of the way, Larson and his boss could start up the experiments again if they had the boy.

There was only one thing left she could think to do. The old part of her twinged with regret. If she sold this information on the black market, she’d be set for the rest of her life—for three lives probably—but she couldn’t unleash something like this on the galaxy. A human-robot hybrid army, completely at some traitor’s beck and call?

If the wrong people got a hold of this…

She swallowed. “I’m sorry, Doctor. What you’ve created here must end. It’s nothing personal.” A sharp pain shot through her head, and she gritted her teeth. “Well, maybe it is.”

“Please,” Navang begged. “We can work something out. I have money. I know…”

“You know nothing.” Her eyes drifted down his tear-streaked face to the crimson-stained white lab coat. He looked like he was about to piss himself. So much for the brave doctor.

The scalpel felt cool and heavy in her hand as she shifted her weight. Usually she only killed when it was necessary for self-protection, but she might enjoy this one more than a little.

In one fluid motion, she drew her arm back and slammed the scalpel into Navang’s neck, just below the ear. It slid through the skin like it was butter, blood spurting from the wound as it pierced his jugular vein. Her push carried the blade almost halfway to the handle.

“How about
you
just take a few deep breaths and try to relax?” she taunted as his body slumped against the wall. Blood gushed down his neck and dripped on the floor, leaving a spreading pool of crimson against the white tiles.

The nurse whimpered in the corner.

Renna whirled on her heels and glared at the trembling woman. She marched toward her, stopping at the tray of surgical tools to pick up one of the gauze pads. Renna wiped Navang’s blood from her fingers, then dropped the stained scrap of fabric back on the tray. Her hands still felt sticky, but she needed to get the hell out of there. She’d wash them back on the ship.

“You’re lucky I don’t have time to deal with you, too,” Renna said as she grabbed the bag of orange pills from the counter.

“Please, let me go. I won’t bother you. I’ll disappear.”

Renna stepped into the hall, slamming the door behind her. She ignored the woman’s pleas as she headed toward the hall to where Navang said Viktis was being held.

A scream exploded from the next room and she raced for the door. Only to stop short just inside.

Viktis had gotten free and was making sure the orderlies would never touch him again. Even half-drugged, the Ileth grabbed each of the men, snapping their necks in a smooth, practiced move.

The men crumpled to the floor. Viktis spun toward her, his eyes rolling wildly as he braced for another attack. He stopped when she made no move toward him, then relaxed as if realizing who she was. He let out a shaky breath as he took in her battered form. “Like the new look. Who needs armor when you look like that?”