Barbarian King’s Mate by Ivy Sparks

Chapter Nineteen

Daphne

I tinkeredwith my scanner adjustments as I crossed the catwalk toward the deep freeze. It was easier to focus on that than what happened between me and Garath yesterday. My entire world had shifted, and I wasn’t quite sure how to face that yet.

I had told him I loved him. And I meant it. I’ve used that word before, used it on my ex who had so horribly betrayed me, but the word didn’t feel empty now like it did then. It really meant something, something I had never truly felt before. Sure, I’d thought I had felt it before, but now I knew without a doubt how wrong I was.

What I felt now was unlike anything. But I still needed time to process it.

As I fiddled with my scanner, I wasn’t watching where I was going and almost stepped off the platform. I righted myself and was about to go on when laughter pealed over my head. I looked up and scowled. “Nissaya! What are you doing up there?”

She smiled down at me with beautiful, jovial eyes. “Watching you make a fool of yourself. Why don’t you put that thing in your pocket before you kill yourself?”

I looked down at the adjustment knobs, then shrugged. “You’re right. I can do this when I get there.”

“Where’s there?” she asked, climbing down to my level. “Where are you going with your head in the clouds?”

I made a face. “I was on my way to the deep freeze to look at the Vorlax.” I cocked my head to examine her. “You should come with me. This will be my first time dissecting one of those nasty things, so I could use the help.”

She considered it. “But the Vorlax are such disgusting beasts.”

I cracked a grin. “I know you’re not the squeamish type. Who was the one who wrapped me in a nichi skin to smuggle me into this village? Come on. You know you want to.”

Her eyes sparkled with fun. “Okay. You talked me into it.”

I pocketed my scanner, and we both continued toward the deep freeze. We got within twenty yards of the building when I noticed three enormous Kavians posted outside the door. I stopped in my tracks. “What are they doing here?”

“You don’t have to worry about them. Father posted them to guard the Vorlax carcass. No one may touch it except you.”

“Wow. I didn’t think I made that much of an impression on him.”

Nissaya shot me another wild grin. “No one has had the nerve to stand up to him the way you did. You should have mouthed off to him a long time ago.”

“I’m getting that.” We crossed the last catwalk, but when we got near the deep freeze, we found Garath nose to nose with none other than Zixor. The two giant Kavians bumped chests and hissed in each other’s faces. I couldn’t believe they were at it again. “What’s going on?” I demanded.

Nissaya answered for Zixor, reading the situation clearly. “I think I know. This idiot still thinks he speaks for the clan King even when everybody knows he’s nothing but a dope. He thinks he’s gonna break in and study the Vorlax in your place.” She rolled her eyes to the sky. “As if.”

“We can’t leave the dissection to an outsider,” Zixor countered. “I know how to slice open a body as good as anyone.”

Garath laughed out loud. “I’ve yet to see it. And she’s no outsider. She’s my mate. If you can’t accept that, I’ll have the guards bring you to the King. Then you can explain to his face how you think his order to only let Daphne touch the bodies was a foolish one.”

Zixor started to protest again, but thought better of it. Unlike me, he didn’t seem willing to question the King directly.

Nissaya tapped my elbow. “Ignore these fools and let’s go see what we can find out.”

I nodded. The guards opened the doors to let me and Nissaya inside. I crossed the threshold and shivered from the sudden chill. “I don’t think we’ll be able to work here for very long.”

I turned to one guard, but all three were already entering the building. One went to the back corner and returned, carrying the frozen-solid body of the dead Vorlax.

Without a word, they left the deep freeze and carried the body to a nearby hut, with us following closely behind. The first guard kicked the door open to reveal a single, waist-high bench against one wall. He thumped the Vorlax onto the counter and dusted off his hands. “The clan King designated this house as your workspace. We will return to the guard post. Signal us if you require anything at all.”

Nissaya and I exchanged glances as the guards retreated, leaving us alone with the Vorlax. Garath sneaked in, somehow followed by Zixor. Nissaya was the first to question it. “What is he doing here?”

Garath sneered. “Apparently, our father gave him permission to observe the dissection. But he’s not to touch the body or interfere.” Garath sent Zixor a glare of warning before turning his attention to me. “Can you scan the beast without cutting it first?”

“I’ll try.” I took out my scanner and pointed it at the body. “I adjusted the settings to animal physiology, but I might have to recalibrate depending on Vorlax biology.”

Nissaya frowned at the suture on the back of the Vorlax’s head. “Whatever the Ranxi are doing, they can cut into the Vorlax’s exoskeleton, then reseal it as tight as before.”

Garath tapped the creature’s armored abdomen. “What I don’t understand is how they can modify so many species on such a mass scale. They would have to build factories to modify thousands of individuals—maybe even far more than that. They had modified at least a hundred thousand Troan and Thiria for the initial attack on Kavius.”

I frowned at the screen, only half-listening to their conversation. “This is weird. Maybe the scanner got damaged… but it was working fine in the glade. I’ve kept it wrapped in cloth since then.”

Garath peered over my shoulder. “What’s wrong? What’s the matter with it?”

“It’s registering something inorganic in the Vorlax’s brain. Half the molecules are organic, as they ought to be, but the other half is something else. I can’t identify it.”

“It sounds like a malfunction to me,” Zixor crowed from behind me.

I tried to ignore him. He would be thrilled if my scanner turned out to be ineffectual, even if that meant we’d have a harder time countering the Vorlax.

I looked up and spotted some kitchen tools under the counter. “I’m going to cut into the Vorlax’s head. If I can remove the exoskeleton, I can get a better scan.”

“I’ll do it.” Garath moved in and pulled his dagger from his belt. He bent over the Vorlax and started carving.

Nissaya squinted at the scanner. “Are you sure it’s a malfunction and not something implanted by the Ranxi?”

“It could be. See those crisscrossed lines? They don’t resemble any implant technology I know about, but the Ranxi could be using something else. The crystal lattice uses a geometric pattern. It could be something artificially synthesized or it could be something naturally occurring. For all I know, the Vorlax were infected with a virus that solidified their brains into something different.”

“There must be a way to tell,” Garath called over his shoulder. “How do you suggest we make the distinction?”

Zixor, of course, had to make a snide remark. “With your eyes, of course. We’ve both seen Ranxi technology ourselves. We don’t need this alien’s scanner to prove that.”

Garath glared at Zixor, and his fingers clenched around his knife handle. “Our eyes aren’t capable of even half the things her technology can do. Only a fool scorns the resources at his disposal, and that is why you could never be clan King, Zixor. You’re too stupid to see a blessing when it falls into your lap.”

Zixor bristled, but his next words lacked the same confident tone. “A good clan King guards his back against treachery. I only have this clan’s interests at heart.”

“A heart—you?” Nissaya snorted. “I don’t believe you have one of those, Zixor, and if you do, you only have your own interests in it.”

“Forget all of that,” I interrupted. “We could easily identify if the origins match up if we had some other sample of Ranxi technology to compare it to.”

“Father has some Ranxi artifacts at the house,” Nissaya remarked. “I could get them.”

“That would be perfect.”

She hurried away. Garath started to turn back to the Vorlax carcass when Zixor furrowed his brow. “You’re making a mistake,” he mumbled. “She shouldn’t have access to Ranxi artifacts. She’s a spy, I’m telling you.”

“Is that what you’re telling my father?” Garath countered. “If you’ve told him and he still trusts her, then you should realize how little your words matter to him. You were once a wise advisor, but now? I don’t know what happened to you, Zixor.”

Zixor crossed his arms over his chest, staring off. “I suppose losing our entire homeworld due to foolish trust might have something to do with it.”

“Not everyone is looking to stab us in the back,” Garath continued, somehow finding the patience to not raise his voice. “You’ll figure it out soon enough, or die a bitter old man.”

To my relief, Zixor had no further comebacks. Instead, he lowered his eyes, his breathing softening. Maybe the bastard was actually looking inward for once.

Nissaya came charging back only a minute later. She laid a collection of objects on the table next to the Vorlax. The three Kavians stared at these things as if they could come alive and annihilate them all over again.

Seeing their reactions, I moved with care. I held up the scanner and took a reading on the first one. “The lattice pattern is definitely present here.” I moved down the line. “They all have it.”

“So does that prove the Ranxi really modified the Vorlax?” Nissaya asked.

“Wait a minute. I want to scan the brain without the exoskeleton in the way.” I went to the body where Garath was sawing through the heavy armor plating. He cracked it back and carved it away from the squishy flesh underneath.

He exposed the brain, and I pointed the scanner at it. The lattice pattern showed up even more distinctly without the armor blocking the signal.

“This is amazing,” I breathed. “I can see all the connections and even the scar tissue where the Ranxi system is connected to the Vorlax network. It’s… holy crap! It’s spreading right now. It’s attacking the Vorlax tissue and rewiring it into the lattice pattern.”

I observed more closely, trying to make sense of what I was seeing. “It spreads like a virus. It injects microscopic components into healthy nerve cells and takes them over. It uses the Vorlax cells to produce more components to perpetuate itself. This kind of rewiring could completely change the nature of any creature.”

Garath and Nissaya stared at the scanner screen. “So… what do we do?” Nissaya asked.

“For a start, we take these results to Father,” Garath replied. “We have proof that the Ranxi are modifying the Vorlax, which means they’re using the Vorlax in their campaign of conquest. We need to act immediately.”

“I’ll keep analyzing the scan to see if I can discover any weaknesses,” I told him.

“Get to it.” He turned to Nissaya and Zixor. “You two, come with me.”