Darkside Blues: SciFi Alien Romance (Dark Planet Warriors Book 4.5) (7 page)

Kai’s voice was as cold as winter ice. There was no emotion in it; he kept his anger close to his chest and let it permeate every thought and fiber of his being.

He just didn’t show it.

“Tread carefully, little brothers and sisters, because I’m watching your every move. And from now on, it’s verbal orders only until I get my bio-sig fixed. Do you understand?”

He was going to have to get his bio-sig recalibrated as soon as possible, and then he was going to get to the bottom of this.

Another threat had surfaced, and someone important to him had been hurt. Threats Kai could deal with. They were part and parcel of his existence, and he warded off danger all the time. Even though he had risen high in the ranks of the
Urubora
, danger and violence shadowed him at every step.

It came with the territory, and Kai had accepted that.

What he couldn’t stomach was Melia getting hurt in the process.

There were rules to follow when carrying out business in Darkside, and someone had just broken the rules in order to get to him.

Unforgivable.

Zyara watched the green-eyed twins, a Human boy and girl, with a growing sense of unease. It seemed they were changing before her very eyes. Their dark pupils had narrowed to thin slits, and they glared at her through the window. Although she knew they couldn’t see her through the one-way barrier, their twin, almost-glowing gazes were disconcerting.

This morning, it was back to work as usual. The surreal events of last night seemed like nothing more than a distant dream.

“This is the effect of the virus?” She turned to the Human doctor, Lorelei Asher, who was watching the twins with a dispassionate expression.

“This is what
Dracaera
does,” she said. “If you were to walk in there right now, they’d probably try and tear you to shreds. We’ll have to sedate them.”

“They haven’t been this bad before.”

“No, but that’s because they haven’t had their monthly dose of suppressant. The last shot they had was back in the facility, and I’d estimate that it’s almost completely out of their system by now.”

“So they’re regressing?”

“The physical effects, the DNA-modulatory effects of the virus are accelerated, inducing rapid changes. They gain physical advantages, but the changes come at a price. Mentally, they revert to simple predators. The mere sight or smell of blood, for example, is enough to drive them into a frenzy. You can see how we’d want to suppress that trait. If we could induce those physical advantages without the cognitive side-effects, we’d have enhanced Humans on our hands.”

Zyara glared at the Human doctor who stood beside her. Her neutral tone was beginning to irk Zyara. How could she be so nonchalant as she watched these two Human children turning into mindless beasts? This
Dracaera
virus, which had been forcefully introduced into their bodies, was destroying them, turning them into something less-than-human.

Zyara was disgusted.

“How do we stop it?” Zyara bit back on her anger. Right now, she needed to keep a cool head. She needed to find a way to help these children.

“The only way is to dose them with suppressant. If they don’t get it within the next forty-eight hours, they’ll be lost.” Lorelei shrugged. Zyara glared. Although the Human was acting aloof, she couldn’t hide the fact that there was a black Kordolian slave-collar around her neck.

Lorelei had been brought back from the SynCorp research facility along with dozens of Humans and aliens who had been experimental research subjects.
 

General Tarak and his crew had brought them here, to this ranch in the middle of the desert, where the Kordolians had set up a base. Many of them had been in need of intensive medical care. There were far too many for Zyara to take care of on her own. So because Zyara had required assistance, Tarak had slapped a slave-collar around Lorelei’s neck and ordered her to help treat the victims. The General didn’t trust the good doctor one bit, and Lorelei knew that her life hung in the balance.

One mis-step, and she could be forced to endure extreme torture, delivered through the collar. It was an archaic device, a symbol of the Old Empire. Zyara hated the damn things.

But General Tarak’s orders on this were absolute.

So far, Zyara had to admit she’d been an invaluable source of information. She knew the medical histories of all the victims, and as far as medics went, she was half-way competent.

After all, she’d engineered many of these experiments herself.
 

“So how does one obtain this suppressant?” Zyara had run blood samples from the twins through multiple analyses, but so far, she’d failed to come up with a compound that could treat the virus. It annoyed her that the Humans had achieved a feat she hadn’t yet been able to crack. If only she had more time.

A doubtful look came into Lorelei’s eyes. “I’m sorry, but
Simavir
is very, very expensive to manufacture. Even in SynCorp we only ever carried very limited stock. It’s going to be virtually impossible for you to obtain at short notice.”

“And why didn’t you warn us about this earlier?” Zyara fought to restrain her frustration. She was half-tempted to activate the slave-collar herself.

“I’m sorry.” For a moment, Lorelei’s blank expression cracked; she looked genuinely apologetic. “With all that’s happened these past few weeks, it just slipped my notice. I didn’t realize they hadn’t received their last shot before leaving the facility. I should have informed you at the start, but the reality is that once you took the twins out of there, any hope of obtaining their next dose of
Simavir
was lost. You won’t be able to get it at such short notice.”

Zyara pressed a panel on the wall and watched as artificial light illuminated the room. The twins shrank back, retreating into a corner. They clutched each other, their intense green eyes hidden behind wild, sandy hair.

They were young, probably the same age as the girl she’d saved last night.
 

Zyara shook her head and turned off the light again, granting them the mercy of darkness. She could still see them perfectly well, but they couldn’t see through the one-way screen.

What had been done to these children by the Humans was abhorrent, but her people were no better. After all, how much Kordolian blood had been spilled to create the biologically enhanced soldiers of the First Division?

The warriors she worked with had some sort of silent agreement; they never spoke of what had happened to them on Planet Xar.

Zyara hadn’t been involved in those trials, but she’d heard the stories. When she’d started as the First Division’s medic, she’d found herself responsible for the care of a group of silent, dangerous, and slightly damaged males.

No-one in this Universe was perfect.

They all had their secrets.

She turned to Lorelei. “These children are innocents, Human. Even if we can’t obtain this suppressant you speak of, we have to try.”

The only other option for a maddened creature who had reverted to a primal, beast-like state was eternal confinement, or death.

And in her mind, those were
not
suitable options.

Brown eyes fluttered open. At first, they were unfocused, but as Kai got out of his chair and came to keel by the bedside, they filled with recognition.

“Kai?”

“I’m here, kid.” He took Melia’s small hand into his own.

“Wh-where am I?”

“You’re in the hospital.” He paused, giving her a moment to orient herself. “Do you remember what happened?”

“I… wait, there was a whole bunch of guys fighting, then that Kordolian lady came, and…” Melia blinked, brushing a long black strand of hair from her face. “Oh, fuck.”

“Language, young lady,” Kai said sternly, but the corner of his mouth quirked upwards.

“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes. “You swear all the time.”

“Yes, but I’m allowed.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Darkside gangsters swear. It’s in the job description. Daughters of prominent men don’t swear, especially those who want to pass the MQ exam and go on to study at the Federation Academy.”

Melia sat up, looking tiny in her voluminous blue hospital gown. She winced as she moved her shoulder. “I’m allowed to swear just today. I just got caught up in a gang war, and my shoulder really fucking hurts.”

“Melia,” Kai growled warningly.
 

She rolled her eyes in a typically teenage way. “Cut me some slack, Kai.” Melia stretched and pouted. “That was the scariest thing that’s happened to me in a while. I told them you would never tell us to cut through the Glory Strip, but they said they had a direct order from you.” She shook her head, her eyes wide. “I would have stayed in the car, like you always told me to, but they were shooting at it. So I tried to run away. Obviously, my plan didn’t work out too well.”

Kai bowed his head, wrapping her tiny, cold hand in his large, callused one. “I’m sorry that you had to go through that, Melia.”

A sudden sob shook her, and as she leaned forward, Kai wrapped his arms around her. “I hate this,” she whispered. “I’m sick of the guards, the security, the constant threats. The one time I get to go out, even if it’s just for a Federation screening test, I get stabbed. You know, I’ve never even been to a real physical school in my life. Other kids get to, you know, socialize and have friends. I spend my lunchtimes at home, staring at the fucking virtual classroom. My best friend is an AI unit called Artemis.”

Kai kept quiet. There was nothing he could say to make her feel better. Melia’s life was that of a mob boss’s daughter. No-one really understood why Vadim had decided to have another child after the birth of his son, but sure enough, Melia had been born with the aid of reproductive technologies. Since birth, she had been heavily guarded and carefully watched at all times.
 

From the time she could walk, Kai had been assigned to watch over her.

He’d eventually moved up through the organization, and the task had been given to others, but he’d always had a soft spot for her.

And for some reason, Melia was at ease with him. She wasn’t this way with anyone else, even her own father, who was a distant figure in her life.

It was probably the closest Kai had ever come to feeling… fatherly.

“You’re all right now,” he soothed, murmuring in her ear. Melia sniffled and nodded. She was old for her years; she understood how things worked in the world, and she knew she couldn’t change a thing.

“I know you didn’t give that order, Kai. You’re going to find those who did this and kill them, aren’t you?”

“Melia,” he began, uncomfortable with her brutal honesty. They were heavy words for someone who was so young. But it was true. Kai was a killer, and Melia knew it. She had witnessed him doing terrible things to protect her.

She’d seen things no child should ever have to see. Perhaps the dark secrets they shared had brought them closer together.

“Chill, Kai-bear,” Melia whispered. “It’s okay.” She broke out of his embrace, drying the tears from her eyes with the edge of her blanket. “And make sure you reward that Kordolian lady. She saved my life, didn’t she? She was like a freaking valkyrie, decking guys all over the place to get to me. It was so cool. She was awesome.”

Why was Kai not surprised? “I’ve conveyed my thanks,” he said, experiencing a sliver of regret and a pang of longing. Oh, what he would give to see her again.
 

But what would she think if she really understood who and what he was? Would she run far away like any sane Human woman would?

They were from different worlds. Kai didn’t see any point in trying to open that particular can of worms.

His train of thought dissolved as his neural implant sent a familiar flash through the cells of his occipital lobe.

It was a signal he was intimately acquainted with.

Because only the Boss had direct access to his neural link.

He’d been summoned.

Kai bent over and brushed the hair away from Melia’s face. “I have to go, kid,” he said softly. “You need to rest and take it easy with that shoulder. Doctor says you shouldn’t use it for a week.” There was only so much that modern medicine could do. Sometimes, only time and nature could heal a wound.

“Ugh.” Melia made a face. “Can I at least get some avocado ice-cream, then? The food here sucks balls.”

“Melia,” Kai warned.

She tried on her best innocent look, offering him a small shrug. “Figure of speech.”

Kai suppressed a smile. Although Melia led a relatively sheltered life, she’d picked up a few bad habits here and there. It came with the territory. After all, she was a gang boss’s daughter.

His usual response to her potty-mouthed cheek would have been a sharp rebuke, but Melia had been through a hell of a lot, so he let it slide.
 

Kai reached out and fondly ruffled her hair. “I’ll see what I can do.” He made a mental note to have one of his people order some avocado ice cream from the local e-mart.

After all that had happened to her, it was the least he could do.

The elevator to the top floors of the Tower was smooth, swift and noiseless, gliding along a set of glimmering metal tracks that stretched along the glass walls of the building. As he rose, Kai looked out over Darkside and the desert beyond. His territory, the North Ward, was a sprawling, glittering mess of low-level structures, stretching towards the boundary of Teluria proper.

From up here, the organized chaos of Darkside’s streets somehow managed to look impressive.

The sun was high in the sky now, but the dark-tinted windows of the Tower kept the interior cool.

This was the heart and center of their clan’s operations. The boss lived here, along with Melia and countless soldiers and staff.

Kai exited on the sixty-eighth floor, walking across a cavernous space, each footstep a hollow echo. He had come alone, not daring to bring any of his men for fear of appearing defensive.

In this situation, surrounding himself with a posse of guards would be considered poor form. It would be a sign of cowardice, and even worse, it could be seen as an admission of guilt.