Page 37 of Tyton: The Spider and the Dragonfly (Tyton #1)

Sparx mashed the front brake and dumped the clutch, flinging Talia’s torso like a rag doll.

Her magclamps held fast. The tiniest sliver of a window appeared, allowing her to drop her second pistol and fling her knives at the side of Trevor’s tyres as he sped past, braking to recover the corner. Both stuck.

The fork collapsed, launching Trevor into the side of a building. Talia demagged her boots, tumbling off the bike before Sparx could stop her.

Talia ran toward Trevor, catching him before he could get off the ground. She kicked the heel of her magboot into his chest, knocking him back. Talia knelt on his throat and lifted his cracked visor.

“Why are you after me?” she spat.

“Because you’re Mr. Black’s property.” Trevor’s nose bled profusely and his right eye socket darkened. “Your boss is in there right now making a deal to sell you out.”

“I know about the deal.” Talia took the ballistic knife from her side holster. She inspected the edge.

“We were told we would be retrieving you tonight.” Trevor’s voice cracked under the pressure of Talia’s kneecap.

“You were told wrong, though I can respect that you aren’t begging for your life.”

Talia emphasised her point and wiped the man’s blood off on her pantleg.

“Did you have to stab him in the face?” Sparx removed his helmet.

“What would you suggest?”

“I don’t know? Maybe slit his throat?”

“I’m not Sesi.”

Sparx rolled his eyes, but stopped once he caught Talia’s glare. “How did you learn so much about motorcycle tyres?”

“I didn’t.”

“Then why did you ask what kind they were?”

“Physics.”

Sparx tilted his head in annoyance.

Talia sighed. “If they were winter tyres, they’d have to be soft.”

“So, you guessed?” Sparx’s mouth hung open. “That was our lives on the line!”

Talia narrowed her eyes. “I don’t guess. I do math.”

Sesi spun from side to side in her torn leather chair. “Apologies for my delay. In my defence, your method of scheduling an appointment was rather unconventional.”

“As was your method of requesting one.” Black glared.

Sesi didn’t react. “You’ve had time to read the dossier?”

“I have. I can’t say I believe it.”

Sesi cocked an eyebrow and stared for several moments before she leaned forward. “You didn’t know, did you?”

Callum’s lips formed a thin white line.

Sesi returned to her relaxed position. “That would explain why you were working with the Natalists,” Sesi mused. “What did they promise you for delivering Talia?”

Callum tapped into anger to mask his annoyance.

Sesi waved it away, her face contorted in disgust. She was a lot less willing to play neutral than Siku. “Never mind, I don’t want to know.’

“This entire dossier is a joke.” Callum spat. “You want me to believe that human cells suddenly gained a novel organelle and no-one noticed? Or that we put it there and not a single scientist bothered to mention it?” Black’s hand twitched against the arm of the chair.

Sesi’s eyes lit up like a professor with an eager protégé.

“See, we thought the same thing. But Georg told you what Model 21 was and you didn’t believe him.

” Sesi wagged her finger. “You killed him even. Because you couldn’t believe that your great grandpappy hadn’t planned to take you with him.

That he used you while the rest of the population slowly died out so he could have the planet to himself. ”

“There are more greats than that.” Callum interjected.

“Whatever,” Sesi shrugged. “The thing is, people did notice. But it’s really easy to silence scientists whose funding depends entirely on corporations and governments.

” Sesi spread her hands “Replace them all with DocPods and AI tools and then it’s trivial to rewrite textbooks.

Especially when they’re all electronic. If any do speak out, they’re painted as crazy . ”

“Then where’s your proof?”

Sesi grinned and threw a thick biology textbook on the desk. “To be fair,” she nudged it toward Black, “the organelle looks really similar to an endoplasmic reticulum. It just has its own genetic code.”

Callum picked up the textbook and leafed through the pages before setting it aside. He knew he didn’t know enough biology to make sense of this, but he felt he should make it look like he did.

Sesi wasn’t fooled, but she wasn’t going to call him out on it.That would be pushing her luck.

“Just because you’re upset that his plan only included himself and some billionaire friends a couple centuries ago doesn’t make this any less true.”

Black shook his head. “And you’re claiming the decline in fertility was intentional.”

“If it makes you feel better, the original design would have rendered everyone sterile immediately.” Sesi shrugged.

“Of course, that would have been a poor method of propagating the gene. Instead, he deployed an airborne retrovirus in cities primed to flee the climate crisis. It attacked the Y chromosome, providing instructions to build the novel organelle in the next generation.”

“That would only affect men,” Black grunted. “Your brother mentioned it.”

“Including their sperm. I’m glad you’re paying attention,” Sesi chided.

“The novel organelle, once in the egg, now becomes independently self-replicating in the generation after. Nice and slow, before anyone could notice or do anything about it.” Sesi walked her fingers across the desk.

“And then you spread it when you all came up here.” Sesi narrowed her eyes.

“Feels like I’ve heard this story before. ”

Black grunted.

“I get it,” Sesi leaned forward. “You don’t want to admit that the company you’re heading has been played by its founder. That you’ve been housing his ego and his friends’ egos for this long.”

Black turned away. “I could…”

“No, you couldn’t. You don’t have the men. We’ve been eating your lunch for years. That’s why you’re here.”

Before Callum could respond, the door slid open.

“I need to speak with you a moment.” Siku appeared calm and professional, but Sesi could tell by the way he clipped his words that this was urgent.

Black inhaled deeply, holding his breath. Assuming this was true, placating the Natalists would be a waste. Better to let them burn, after he got what he was owed. They’d been failing for years anyway, with a birthrate only marginally above average and still declining rapidly.

Sesi returned, sitting straight-backed in her chair, her hands clasped in front of her on the desk.

She looked Callum directly in the eye. “I’m going to offer you something and it’s going to be far more than you deserve.”

Black squinted and curled his lip. “I didn’t come here for a lecture on what I do or do not deserve . You offered a solution to the fertility problem and in return, I would give you the location of the Natalists’ lab. I’ve yet to hear a reasonable proposal.”

Sesi shook her head. “I don’t need it anymore.

They overstepped and took someone with a shielded tracker.

Black-market, of course.” Sesi leaned forward.

“Here’s the new offer. Half of the profits from Model 21’s baubles go to funding the training of human doctors and lab techs.

In return, I’ll keep Talia from killing you a little while longer.

I’m told she already took care of your CSO.

” Sesi narrowed her eyes. “You’re the one she really wants. ”

Black sputtered. “Absolutely not. The board will have my head.”

“Indulge my curiosity,” Sesi flexed her fingers.

“To my knowledge, the Natalists are in the same boat as the rest of us.” She looked up at the Hexaline ceiling and then back down at Callum.

Every ounce of him communicated power and wealth.

The suit, the full head of thick chestnut hair and DocPod blue eyes.

Not a wrinkle to be found. All it did was fill Sesi with disgust. “Why inflict such torture on women – girls, for nothing?”

Callum refused to take the bait. He wouldn’t justify himself to this petty criminal.

“We’ll take care of the board.” Sesi broke the silence. “Or,” she opened her hand, “Talia can take your head, whichever you’d prefer.”

Callum stood in a huff “Fine,” he spat through gritted teeth.

“We’ll also need regular financials,” Sesi said, sweetly.

Callum strode hurriedly toward the door, unable to restrain the rising anger. Losing cool in a negotiation never ended well. But this was hardly a negotiation, was it? he thought. This was an ultimatum .

The part that this arrogant shit had neglected during this charade was his fee.

One did not simply betray the people you’d been working with gratis .

For all her research and planning, she had done precious little on the Natalists themselves.

They cared little for Talia – he did. And he had already paid for her.

Talia was his . Now, he simply needed to collect.

The moment Callum emerged from the tunnels, he sent a message.