Page 31

D avis stretched out on the bunk, savoring the rare quiet moment.

His muscles ached from the day's revelations, each shift a reminder of whatever was happening to his body.

Each heartbeat sent fresh waves of that strange new energy through his system, his skin running hot enough that he'd stripped down to just pants.

In the corner, Spot had powered down for the evening, optical sensors dimmed to a soft blue glow as the little drakeen core 'slept' on the blanket Mira had fashioned for it. The robot had barely left her side since K ell had come aboard.

Smart little bastard. He'd have done the same if he could.

He checked the time. Mira had been gone for fifteen minutes, grabbing snacks from the galley. The thought of her return sent heat through his system, different from the burn of his transformation. More focused. Hungry.

The film he'd queued up was just a pretense.

Five minutes in, maybe ten if he felt patient, he'd start tracing patterns on her skin.

Neck first, then shoulders. Down her spine until she shivered against him.

She'd pretend to be annoyed at missing the plot, but he knew the signs of her desire now the quickening breath, the flush across her cheeks, the way her pupils dilated when he touched her just right.

His cock hardened at the memory of their night together. Making love to Mira for hours might not fix whatever was happening to his body, but it would make him forget about it for a while.

His comm unit chirped, cutting through his thoughts.

"Davis." Jex's synthetic voice carried unusual urgency. "I need to speak with you. Immediately."

Davis dropped his head back against the pillow and groaned. "Can it wait an hour?" He glanced toward the door, willing Mira to appear.

"No." Jex paused, the silence loaded. "It's about your DNA."

Something cold twisted in his gut. All thoughts of a relaxing evening evaporated.

"I'll be right there," he said, swinging his legs off the bunk.

He grabbed a shirt, pulling it over his head with a grimace. His skin felt too tight, the fabric too constricting. Leaning over the console, he typed a quick message to Mira: Jex needs me for a few. Back soon. Don't start the film without me.

His thumb hesitated over the screen. The old Davis Tell wouldn't add anything sentimental. But the old Davis Tell wasn't becoming... whatever the hell this was.

He cast a final glance at Spot. The little robot remained in low-power mode. No need to wake it-he'd be back soon enough.

It didn t take him long to work his way through the ship. The engineering bay greeted him with clanking pipes and hissing valves, the ship's mechanical heartbeat pulsing around him.

Jex turned as Davis walked in.

"Thank you for coming quickly," Jex said. "This couldn't wait."

Davis stopped short. Against the far wall was something that looked suspiciously like a bed. Not a normal bunk this was a massive affair made from floor matting, topped with a tarpaulin stretched tight and secured.

"What the hell is that?"

"Ah. That." Jex tilted his helmet. "Not having a biological body doesn't eliminate all human drives. The need to lie down occasionally... persists."

"You have a bed?" He couldn't hide his surprise. "Do you sleep like that? Do you actually sleep?"

"No," Jex replied, adjusting something on a nearby console. A hint of what might have been embarrassment colored his voice. "Usually, I just stare at the ceiling and run research calculations or view archives."

Something about this admission hit him unexpectedly. Despite everything losing his body, becoming consciousness in metal Jex had retained something of his humanity. The thought sent hope rolling through him.

"Makes sense. So what's urgent about my DNA?"

Jex turned toward him. "Do you remember I mentioned your transformation mirrors Ophiuchian secondary puberty?"

"Hard to forget."

"It goes deeper." A holographic display materialized, showing genetic code twisting in blue and gold. "There are markers that shouldn't exist. Sequences from no known species in this universe."

Davis stared at the display. "Alien DNA beyond Latharian genes?"

"Not just any alien DNA." Jex magnified a segment. "The M'Suun program must have used Ophiuchian DNA."

The revelation hit like a punch to the gut. He dropped onto a nearby crate.

"That's impossible." But he knew it wasn't. His senses, strength, and reflexes were all well beyond Latharian capability.

"It's certain." Jex's voice softened. "Someone from my universe crossed over before us."

"How the fuck? When?"

"Unknown. But it explains your rapid transformation and why your body accepts rather than fights these changes." Jex gestured at the display. "The M'Suun created something entirely new."

Davis rubbed his hand over his face, tracing the unfamiliar angles. Had his grandmother known what they'd done to her? That scientists had altered her DNA, twisted humans into raw materials?

"Who else knows?"

"Only me. K ell isn't aware of this. Ophiuchian DNA is almost identical to human DNA. Only someone familiar with both would recognize the difference."

"Keep it that way. Especially from Mira."

Jex tilted his helmet. "She should know. The entire crew should. This affects everyone."

"No." Heat pulsed beneath Davis's skin. "Not until we understand what's happening."

"Protection or deception?" Jex asked. "Secrets nearly killed us when Rann hid his M'Suun connections."

"This is different." Davis recognized his hypocrisy even as he argued. "I'm not hiding connections to people targeting us."

"Then what?"

"I don't want her to worry," he said, not meeting the blank faceplate. "Not when we don't even know what this means yet."

The truth was more selfish. He didn't want Mira to look at him differently.

To see him as a monster, something not human.

She had accepted his Latharian heritage with surprising ease, but this him being part something from another universe entirely.

That might be too much. He couldn't bear seeing disgust in her eyes when she looked at him.

"She cares for you," Jex said. "That won't change because of your DNA."

"You don't know that."

Jex shrugged. "I'll keep your secret for now. But remember, secrets have consequences."

Guilt mingled with relief as he nodded. "Keep working with K ell. The faster we understand this, the sooner we control it."

"And if we can't control it?"

He had no answer for that. The possibility that nothing of himself might remain haunted him.

"We'll cross that bridge when necessary."

At the doorway, Jex spoke again. "Expect more changes physical and psychological. Territorial behaviors. Protective urges."

He paused. "I'm still me."

"For now. But monitor your psychological changes, especially around Mira."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know. I've watched how you position yourself between her and threats. Your possessiveness when others approach."

"I care about her." The words were almost a growl.

"There's protection, then there's possession. Choose carefully."

Jex wasn't wrong. Davis felt the shift inside himself the need to keep Mira safe had darkened into something primitive. The urge to claim her, mark her as his grew stronger each day.

How could he face her with this secret between them? Yet watching her pull away in horror seemed unbearable.

"I'll be careful."

The weight of secrecy pressed against his chest as he returned to their quarters. They'd never been just a man and woman enjoying quiet evenings together. With each passing day, they moved further from that simple truth into something unknown, something dangerous.

The most terrifying part? Some dark, primal piece of him craved what he was becoming.

* * *

Mira balanced the food tray against her hip, navigating the narrow corridors of the Lady's Dream .

Protein bars tumbled against dried fruit packets.

Two mugs of something pretending to be hot chocolate sloshed dangerously close to the rim.

Her mind wandered to Davis, waiting in their quarters, the film just an excuse.

Her comm unit vibrated against her wrist.

Jex needs me for a few. Back soon. Don't start the film without me.

A smile tugged at her lips. She knew what would happen when he returned. The film would play in the background while his hands found her skin, tracing patterns down her neck and shoulders until nothing existed but his touch. The thought sent warmth spreading through her, settling low in her belly.

As she approached engineering, voices filtered through the partially open door. Davis and Jex, their tones serious. She slowed, not wanting to interrupt.

"Keep it that way," Davis growled, his voice deeper than usual. "Especially from Mira."

Cold washed through her veins, freezing her midstep.

Keep what from her?

"Is this protection or deception?" Jex's synthesized voice carried clearly. "Secrets nearly got us killed when Rann hid his M'Suun connections."

"This is different. I'm not hiding a connection to people trying to kill us. I'm just..." Silence stretched between words.

"Just what?" Jex pressed.

"I don't want her to worry. Not when we don't even know what all this means yet."

Her pulse thundered in her throat. She pressed against the wall, guilt twisting through her stomach eavesdropping yet unable to move away.

"She cares for you," Jex said, his mechanical tone softening. "That won't change because of your DNA."

Her breath caught. DNA. The transformation that began with the M'Suun weapon. But why hide it? She'd already accepted his Latharian heritage without a problem.

"You don't know that," Davis snapped.

"Very well. I'll keep this between us for now." Metal shifted as Jex moved. "But secrets have consequences, Davis. Remember that."

"Thanks. Keep working with K ell. The faster we understand what's happening, the sooner we can control it."

"And if we can't control it?" Jex asked.

The silence stretched. Her fingers tightened on the tray's edge.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Davis finally said, hollow and distant.

Footsteps approached the door. She tensed, ready to flee, but they stopped as Jex spoke again.

"If the transformation mirrors Ophiuchian puberty as I suspect, there will be more changes. Physical, yes, but psychological too. Instinctual drives may intensify. Territorial behaviors. Protective urges."

Ophiuchian. The word punched the air from her lungs. Not just Latharian genes something from another universe entirely. Something from Jex's reality. Davis wasn't just experiencing activation of dormant genes. There was something more alien changing him from the core.

And he'd decided she shouldn't know.

"I'm still me," Davis insisted.

"For now," Jex said. "But monitoring the psychological changes will be as important as the physical ones. Especially around Mira."

The corridor tilted beneath her feet. She steadied herself against cold metal, blood rushing in her ears.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Davis's voice sharpened.

"You know what it means. I've seen how you react when she's near, how you put yourself between her and anything you consider a threat. The possessiveness when others approach her."

"I care about her. I want to protect her." Defensiveness edged each word.

"There's protection, and then there's possession. Be careful which path you follow."

Her stomach twisted into knots, making her feel sick.

She'd noticed the changes... the way he inserted himself between her and others, how he watched anyone who approached her, his hands lingering on her skin like marking territory.

It had excited her at first, made her feel wanted after years of Rettnor's indifference, but Jex's words cast things in a different light.

Footsteps approached the door again, and this time they didn't stop.

Ducking around the corner, she pressed herself against the bulkhead. Davis's footsteps grew louder, then paused. Had he sensed her somehow? With whatever new abilities were developing in him?

After an agonizing moment, his footsteps resumed, fading toward their quarters. Toward where he expected her to be waiting.

She stared at the cooled mugs, the silly snacks The small gesture had been rendered meaningless in seconds.

Her appetite had vanished, replaced by hollowness no food could fill.

After everything they'd shared, the nights tangled together, the vulnerability she'd shown him.

.. he still didn't trust her enough to tell her the truth.

The disposal slot swallowed everything with a mechanical hiss.

Her comm unit vibrated. Where are you? Starting to get worried.

Was it genuine concern or the possessive instinct Jex warned about? How much of Davis remained beneath the changes?

She didn't respond. Instead, she walked back to her own quarters, away from Davis and from words never meant for her ears.

The betrayal burned, but beneath it lay something deeper not fear of what Davis was becoming, but of losing herself. Of becoming possession rather than a partner. Of surrendering hard-won freedom to another man who thought he knew what was best.

She'd escaped that once with Rettnor.

She wouldn't go back.