Page 16

Zephyr

V arnok folded his arms across his massive chest, a perfect mirror image of the child a few feet away from him.

They hadn’t spoken a word to one another, but from his body language and hers, I could tell that she was his child somehow.

She was likely the reason he was here at all, and why he refused whatever Lady Seraph’s man had told him.

“Why should I help you?” he asked. “What are you offering?”

“What do you need?”

“Safe passage to Epsilon, credits to start out there and no questions.”

I nodded.

“Done.”

He scoffed.

“Just like that? I don’t think so.”

“Here,” Sherrod tossed Varnok a metal disc the size of my palm. “There’s fifty thousand credits on there. Good enough for a fresh start I would think.”

Varnok’s frown deepened and the Boethelian child’s hands flashed Trade Speak signs. Varnok signed back that if a gift was more than expected, there were more strings attached too.

“No strings,” I said, signing as I spoke.

The child’s face became an impassible mask that I recognized well. It was how I used to act when I felt threatened but didn’t want to show it. Blank and tense, revealing nothing.

“We aren’t here to hurt you, either of you,” Sherrod reassured them, also using Trade Speak and his voice. “But we need answers, and you need to disappear. Seems like we could help each other, if you’ll let us.”

“Fifty is too much,” Varnok tossed the disc back. “It raises too many questions. But thank you.”

“There’s a transport—”

“It’s not safe anymore,” he said.

“A moment please,” Sherrod said, guiding me to the door, our backs to Varnok.

It wasn’t really all that far away from the K’Tavi and I suspected that he’d likely be able to hear us, but this did give me a chance to try and get rid of Sherrod.

I opened my mouth to tell him that I had this, he didn’t need to stick around, when he said something that left me speechless.

“You have a shuttle,” Sherrod said. “And they need a way out of here.”

I glared at him in utter disbelief.

“And so do you,” I hissed.

“Yours is untraceable, scrubbed clean and not too fancy, whereas mine…well, let’s just say if they took that one, they would definitely need at least fifty thousand to justify it and I don’t think he can pull off convincing anyone that he’s that well off.”

“How do you know…Never mind,” I held up my hand.

I would find out how he knew all of this, and I would absolutely drag the truth out of him about why in the hell he was tracking me.

I didn’t believe for a second it had anything to do with the data stick anymore.

There was something else to his stubborn pursuit.

But right now, time was a luxury we didn’t have, and I’d be damned if I let this chance to find out what Cypher could be up to slip through my fingers.

I scrubbed a hand over my face, forgetting about my nose and jumped as the flash of pain hit me and then faded as my internal systems soothed my pain receptors.

“Look, you’re not shaking me off,” Sherrod continued, “so you can either travel with me, or constantly be looking over your shoulder as I follow you wherever you go.”

“Why?” The word fell out of my mouth on a furious hiss and I bit back the rest of my questions. “Forget I asked. Look, I don’t need you, so if you think you’re getting any kind of payday out of me or that data stick—”

“I’m not. This is personal, and I don’t feel like divulging any details at the moment. Especially not when we should be showing a unified front so we can get the information we need and get the fuck out of here before the station is flooded by Lady Seraph’s soldiers.”

“Fuck,” I breathed.

Usually, I wouldn’t trust anyone like him, but that strange knowing in my stomach that I’d felt before was stirring. The more I looked at his eyes the more I was sure I’d seen him before; whether it had been good or bad, I had no idea. But my gut was telling me to trust him, to see where this led.

“You fuck me over,” I said, poking him in his firm chest, “and I’ll make your life a fucking misery before I end it. Am I clear?”

“Crystal,” he said with a smirk.

This might be the worst decision I’ve ever made…

I sent a signal to my ship’s AI that I was handing control over to Varnok and that I would be there soon to pick up a few things. Then I turned back around to face Varnok with a long, growly breath and gave Sherrod one last warning look before speaking.

“I have a ship, it’s yours, along with ten thousand credits, untraceable and unmarked. Will that do?” I asked.

Varnok gave me a short nod.

“What do you want to know?”

“You were part of the bio weapons and medical experimentation unit before fleeing the Empire. I need to know if there’s any reason why a highly dangerous operative like Cypher would be after you.”

“I oversaw dozens of experiments—”

“This would be something even we don’t know about, something worth killing GIB agents for, worth killing anyone for. It would also have something to do with a person named Norris.”

Varnok’s mouth twisted and the child looked over at him, starting to sign something when he put his hand up and shook his head.

“Please,” I begged, “this person is more dangerous than you realize. And I have reason to believe he was recently in contact with the Empire. Help me stop him.”

He let out a long breath, closed his eyes and a look of pain crossed his features briefly before that sour mask was back on his face.

“There’s only one project that fits what you’re describing,” he admitted. “If I help you, will you promise to destroy it?”

“I—”

“You have to swear it. What we created…it shouldn’t exist. I thought the weapon was gone when the scientist escaped but…

,” he licked his lips nervously, “I’ll tell you what you need to know, but you have to destroy any files related to it, any prototypes.

You have to swear to me that you’re not turning it over to anyone. ”

“I swear it,” I said.

In the past, I’d promised a lot of things that I had no intention of doing in my line of work. But this was one of the few times I meant it. If this weapon was terrifying enough to a male like Varnok scared, then destroying it seemed like the only thing to do.

“This Cypher you’re after,” Varnok began, “he’s probably looking for Norris Makers, the scientist who created the weapon we called Vershna Vox.

Before I ran from the Empire, I helped Norris escape.

The GUP was interested in extracting Norris, which I was going to do until one of your agents let it slip that they wanted him for his research.

There was only one project Norris did, and I couldn’t let anyone get their hands on it so I told the agent that Norris had died. ”

“But I’m guessing he didn’t,” Sherrod said.

“The last I heard, Norris had bounced around the border planets and stations before getting picked up by the Krynn syndicate for gambling debts,” Varnok continued. “I lost track of him after that but I doubt he’s dead. A man like Norris learns to trade what he knows to survive.”

“I’m afraid to ask but…what does Vershna Vox do?” I asked.

“It’s a bioweapon that can be tailored to target any DNA marker the attacker wants. From as large as an entire species, to as small as a single family. It’s delivered via a live host instead of a missile or any other kind of weapon.”

“So someone could sneak into an area and deploy it without anyone knowing,” Sherrod’s voice was shocked.

“Yes. It spreads like any other kind of virus,” Varnok took a deep breath and ran a hand down his face.

“I tried to make a failsafe, but I was taken off the project before I could. There’s no known anti-viral for this virus, no known vaccine because the virus is an amalgamation of several different strains.

The nanites inside the virus are programed with the genetic information of the targets, the live host, who is immune to the effects, then goes into the populace targeted and, just by breathing, delivers the weapon. ”

“How…” I swallowed, trying to work moisture into my mouth. “How long between delivery and death?”

“Depending on the age and health of the targets, it’s anywhere from a few hours to a few days.”

My gut sank to the floor, my fingers suddenly cold as I swallowed.

There had been people throughout history that had attempted such a thing, and every time they’d been stopped.

Such experimentation and creation was banned by the Galactic Union, but the K’Tavi weren’t part of the GUP.

And now, the person with the knowledge on how to do this was out there, being hunted by one of the most dangerous people in the galaxy.

“If the K’Tavi have this weapon, why haven’t they deployed it?” Sherrod asked.

“Because there was one prototype and no one knows where she is.”

My eyes bugged out of my head.

“They actually…”

Varnok nodded, not meeting my eye.

“A human woman, taken as a slave from one of the GUP colonies. She was…well, there were reasons the former King picked her.”

“Such as?”

“She was his son’s mistress and rumor had it that Sylthor was planning on making her his mate.

The king couldn’t have that, so he put her into the program.

I was reassigned right before then so I have no idea where she went or who they tested the weapon on.

Only that she was the prototype for the host. But then Norris escaped, and the program was scraped.

I heard that Norris took the research with him. ”

“Holy shit, this is bad,” Sherrod mumbled.

“Is that what Lady Seraph wanted with you then? To help Norris?” I asked.

“No, she wanted me to come participate in a special fight competition. There’s some party happening with the other families, a big multi week thing at Quarn space station. I want nothing to do with the Syndicate so I turned her down. Apparently she didn’t like that.”