Page 26 of Bred By Zyros (The Solar Breeding Agency #2)

twenty-three

Melody

Truth is, I’m not sure if hyperdrive is good for a pregnancy, but we only need to go high enough up to get a signal.

The catch is, we have anywhere from an hour to three to do it before reentering Nyssara could get us caught in a storm.

With the planet's heavy protective ozone layer casting the entire thing in a shield of green haze, it’s impossible to know until we’re in it.

On our trip to the station, he’d ensured I watched every second of it, despite there not being much to see, knowing how upset I was the first time.

My mate's tail swishes and thrashes, betraying his unease as I wait for my upload to begin.

My hand snaps out, triggering the ship’s AI. “Connect to my contact Alexander Arnold. Keep the projection off.”

“Connecting, audio only.”

My heart kicks up in my chest as I chew my bottom lip raw. The moment his voice fills the bridge, all the confidence I’d had until this moment evades me, my hands falling to my swollen stomach. “Melody, is everything alright? I don’t recognize this call tag.”

I swallow hard; it’s only Zyros’ cool scales as the tip of his tail wraps around my ankle that my words have substance again. “Hi, Dad. Did you get my upload?”

“Melody, are you alright? It’s too early for your assignment to be—”

“No. I’m not alright. Well, no, yes, I’m good. My baby is good, I just need—”

“ Your baby?” he questions, and irritation flares in my chest.

“Did you get my upload?” I snap.

The silence on the other end of the line is deafening, and for a few quick breaths, I worry he’ll disconnect, that I’ve ruined things. When his voice comes again, it’s with the voice of the shrewd scientist instead of the man. “Yes. I am looking at it now. What do you need?”

“There’s a mutation occurring on this planet.

I think it could be causing miscarriages with the females on Nyssara, as well as declines in their food source.

The Intergalactic Alliance installed drillers here, we’re guessing around thirty-eight orbits ago.

That’s when the birth decline started. It would be the most recent scans, the flora, fauna, and the soil around the machines. ”

My anxiety spikes as I shake Zyros’ tail free, making a soft hiss leave him as I stand and pace, the sound of my father clicking and analyzing through the line, adding more and more pressure to my chest. It’s home sounds.

The sounds you grew up with, the ones that used to signal comfort and safety.

It makes emotion clog my throat and discomfort well in my belly.

I blame the nameless egg baby and steel myself, clearing my throat seconds before he speaks.

“The radius seems to agree with your theory, but you know I can say nothing for certain without testing an affected individual.”

“It’s a primitive planet; we can’t just take them to you. Also…I’m due soon, I think, so maybe you could contact the rest of the board—”

“And tell them what you’ve done? That you’re currently interfering with the evolution of a primitive planet? Have you spared a thought for the potential consequences?”

I huff at that. “That ship sailed long ago. They need to be reclassified. The Alliance has been here for years—”

“No, Melody, if this is the way of things—”

My chest swells; no amount of gnawing on my lip keeps my words inside as I whirl toward the com.

“Stop interrupting me!” More silence, but this time it’s not quite so wounding.

I glance at my mate, his eyes steady as he gives me an encouraging nod.

I know what I’m about to say won’t come easy for him, but he understands the importance of it.

“I have evidence of intergalactic crimes being committed on the planet by its inhabitants.”

My dad waits a moment, ensuring I’m finished. The act makes tears fill my eyes. “You know the law, Melody. We can’t interfere in their affairs.”

“That law was broken when they were contracted for the drilling. They have already been altered, and now they're dying out because of the Alliance. It’s not just the Vrirciks. I was attacked.”

“How?” his voice is deeper, steady, but my god, my heart flutters at the concern there.

For a moment, I’m that little girl who broke a beaker, slicing my hand in his lab.

He’d pulled me into his lap, wrapping and cleaning the wound.

Dad never held me, so I kept having accidents…

kept taking risks. Yeah, I might get hurt, but he might care too.

I’d grown out of the phase quickly, but—

Zyros nudges me gently, shaking me from my thoughts. “I’ll send the file now. If I remember Intergalactic Law correctly, and I do , this disqualifies them from receiving benefits or compensation from the Alliance. They harmed an off-worlder, which means—”

“Which means the drilling operation would be shut down immediately, the machines pulled… if this were to come to light.”

“Publicly.”

I can hear the roughness in his voice when he speaks next, the sound of my own sobs from the recording haunting as they fill the speakers.

That fear still a wound in my mind, and my mates, judging by the way he shifts, growing agitated behind me.

“Melody, if I make this public, they’ll know what you’ve done. Everyone will see this. Which means—”

“I can’t come home, I’m aware. It’s the right thing to do.”

“Sssaryth, explain.” Zyros cuts in.

I sigh, glancing at him, having kept this part to myself. “Technically, I would be a fugitive. We’d need to hide…for a while.”

A deep hiss fills the bridge. “You will not sacrifice a thing for them, they deserve—”

“They deserve whatever is coming to them. I won’t argue that, but this isn’t for them. It’s got nothing to do with saving them .”

He leans back in his seat, swallowing hard.

His teal hair hangs in his eyes as he takes a deep breath, getting my meaning.

They aren’t going to stop just because Zyros is no longer an option.

It’ll be the next male they deem worthy enough.

More babies will be lost, more pain. Needless pain.

They need to understand the gravity of their situation.

The machines need to be turned off, removed properly with aftercare for the environment, things the Vrirciks aren’t capable of on their own.

My dad clears his throat, dragging our attention from each other. “Hypothetically speaking, you have everything you need to ensure you don’t have to hide for long.”

My eyes narrow at that. “What do you mean?”

“According to the oath of ethics we all took when signing to be on the board, someone, somewhere down the line, broke that oath. There is no way a slip-up like this was accidental. It’s willful negligence, at best. I cannot imagine the Alliance would like a thing like that getting out—a rogue team of scientists orchestrating an untaxed, lucrative drilling operation that ended in the possible extinction of civilization with no means to advocate for themselves, let alone grasp the technology and agreements they were being plied with. It would be a monumental scandal.”

I gawk, surely someone has possessed my father and taken over his body.

I don’t know what to say when he fills the silence next. “Are you well and safe now?”

“Y-yes, I-I am mated, Dad. His name is Zyros. He recognized me, and I’m staying with him. I…uh, hoped you’d tell Mom.”

A deep sigh fills the hull, mine and his, as a weight that had been dragging down my shoulders lifted. He says nothing about me being mated or talking to mom, but I’m not surprised by that, likely dreading the impending chaos both at home and at work.

“I’ll see to it all the information is…distributed accordingly.”

“If they trace it back to you, you’ll lose your spot on the board,” I whisper, guilt and anticipation nagging deep in my gut. I knew he’d be the one who had to. I don’t have the contacts to make sure none of this is quietly swept away. We both knew. I just…I supposed…I don’t know what I expected.

“You did good, kid. Check in soon.”

The com ends, and Zyros pulls me into his arms as the lump in my throat bursts free.

I’m still sobbing like a lunatic, my poor mate looking frazzled when a file comes through on my pager a few moments later—an action plan for the Vrirciks in the meantime, including a way to contact him should they desire testing.

Of course, he’d think of everything. For all his faults, he’s a brilliant man.

My hands are shaky and maybe a little dirty from wiping my nose on the backs of them when I pass it to Zyros. “It’s your choice.” I hiccup.

He glares at the device, setting it to the side like it's meaningless, like in a matter of moments, a catalyst of the years of his abuse wasn’t solved, like all those horrible things he’s only just beginning to come to terms with were as simple as a few scans and the removal of the machines.

Truth be told, there’s no way of knowing if the damage can be reversed, not unless they opt for testing.

Even then, chances are not much of a difference may be made.

It’s up to him, and once he does the right thing, whatever that ends up being for him, it’ll be up to them what they do next.

As Zyros presses his lips to my nose, we start our descent, and all I can think of is how ready I am to get the fuck off this planet, regardless of what that means, how long we have to hide, or how testy things will be—how much I’ll miss the pretty glowvines, and our spring.

I’d never had to worry about the babies before, not really.

It wasn’t my place. I brought them here, birthed them, and left.

Yes, I was missing tiny pieces of my heart, but I never had to be responsible for anyone but me—never thought I ever would.

As it turns out, there are few things I won’t do to make sure this little egg baby is safe.

It’s almost funny how quickly I’m about to go from the disappointing daughter of the first human to sit on the scientific board of the Intergalactic Alliance to a fugitive of the very individuals who gave him that position. Funny how I don’t feel all that upset about it at all.