18. Calder

Sarai is staying in the same hotel as we are. I hack into their system, find her room, and head straight there and knock. “Just a minute,” she calls out. She opens the door and looks confused. “Calder? Is something the matter? Is everything okay with Elodie?”

She seems genuinely concerned. On my way here, I’ve been trying to determine whether Sarai is part of the plot. Is she developing a weapon for the Crill Empire, or has her research been co-opted for our annihilation without her knowledge?

I haven’t yet decided. Her reaction to what I’m about to say next will determine whether she spends the rest of her life in a Karven prison.

“Elodie is fine. Can I come in?” I’m already pushing my way into the room.

Sarai backs away, her eyes alarmed. “Foder is going to be here any minute,” she says, her voice quivering. “We have plans.”

She’s afraid of me. Good. I suppress the faint stirrings of guilt ruthlessly. “Trust me, I’m aware of your plans,” I snap. “Six months ago, Karven Special Forces intercepted a ship a few clicks outside Harte. They found this.”

I throw up the vid of Pieter and Naomi, carefully monitoring Sarai’s reaction as she watches the Amarillo squadron soldiers die. “The smugglers were carrying a weapon. The aerosol from it contained a virus that attacked Karven nanoarmor.”

“No,” Sarai whispers, shocked. “Six months ago? That was just after our lab accident. . .” Her eyes fill with horror. “Stars. Are you telling me that this is the virus I’m engineering? My work killed those two people?”

She bends over and vomits on the carpet.

“I didn’t know,”Sarai says between sips of water as the hotel cleaning drones take care of the mess. She leans forward, fixing me with teary eyes. “I had no idea.”

“I believe you.” It’s a lot harder to vomit on command than you’d think. “Tell me about the lab accident.”

“Two weeks after I met Foder, my lab was broken into. Dozens of batches of viruses were destroyed. I did my best to inventory what we’d lost, but. . . “

“Throop must have arranged the accident and stolen some of your work in the confusion,” I say grimly. And Pieter and Naomi died. “What do you know about Jarel Onel?”

“He’s one of Foder’s friends. He hired him when he heard that Foder was looking for a job.”

“Onel hired your boyfriend to be the Chief of Engineering at his company. Throop’s not an engineer. You didn’t find that suspicious?”

Sarai looks distressed. “When you put it that way, I guess I should have.” Her shoulders slump despondently. “Foder approached me at a fundraiser. Said he was fascinated by me. Nobody’s ever been fascinated by me.” Her mouth twists in a bitter grimace. “I should have known something was wrong.” She takes a deep breath and puts a lid on her emotions. “Where does Onel fit in?”

“He’s a weapons dealer who sells black-market weapons to the Crill Empire. In less than an hour, he’s meeting General Goron Demarcu and General Felicia Fenel from the Crill High Command. He’s selling your virus to them.”

“I don’t understand. Foder was going to introduce me to some Crill researchers at lunch today. They were going to help me figure out why my virus keeps destroying Karven nanobots. I have samples of my work. . .” The dawning horror in her eyes tells her that she does understand. “But I’m not meeting with Crill researchers, am I? I’m meeting their generals. Are they going to kill me?”

“They’re more likely to kidnap you and force you to work in their labs.”

Sarai goes deathly pale, and I stop talking. As much as I want to stay hard-hearted, I feel a little like a jerk. Sarai spends all her time in a lab. When somebody as slick as Throop comes along and woos her, of course, she’s going to be swept off her feet. “I’m sorry. That came out harsher than I meant.”

She shakes her head. “It’s the truth. Who are you, Calder?”

“I’m a Karven Special Forces agent.”

“Prove it.”

I roll my eyes. Now she wants to verify identities? We don’t have time for this. I look around and spot a room service tray. That’ll do. “Watch,” I tell Sarai. I grab a steak knife and slash down the length of my arm. The cut starts to bleed, then my nanobots activate. A blue glow dances over my arm as they disinfect the wound, secrete collagen, and knit my skin together. In less than thirty seconds, the cut is gone.

Sarai stares at me, an awed look on her face. “I’ve never seen Karven nanoarmor,” she whispers. “Okay, you’re Special Forces. What happens now?”

“We leave Luxaria and head to the Karven Federation.”

“Am I going to be a prisoner there?”

“I don’t know,” I answer honestly. “I cannot speak to what will happen to you. But we’re not unreasonable. I will testify that, in my opinion, you’re an innocent in all this. The most likely outcome is that you’ll be recruited by a Karven biotech company.”

She stares at me and then starts to laugh a little hysterically. “Something funny in what I said?” I snap. She might not have meant it to happen, but her research still killed my people. I’m not seeing the humor.

She sobers up. “Every single one of my peers wants to get recruited by a Karven biotech company,” she says. “In my profession, it’s the equivalent of winning the lottery. This just isn’t the way I thought I’d get their attention. Ironic, isn’t it?”

Whatever. “We need to leave now. Grab all your research. Notes, samples, viruses, everything. Leave them nothing they can use.”

“Hang on. What’s Foder going to do when he comes here and finds that I’m gone?”

“Not my problem, Sarai. He needs viruses to make a trade, and he won’t have any. He’ll reschedule the meeting and try to find you, but we’ll be gone before that happens.”

“No.” The researcher gets a determined expression on her face. “No, that’s too easy. Foder made a fool out of me. I want payback, Calder. I have a plan.”

Stars preserve me. “What do you want to do?”

“I’m going to write him a note telling him I’ll meet him at the restaurant,” Sarai replies. “As for the viruses. . .” She opens her suitcase and retrieves a small box filled with test tubes. “Help me swap these out.”

Fifteen minutes later,I drop Sarai off on my ship, secure it from entry, and head to the restaurant where the rendezvous is taking place. I’m just in time. I’ve barely managed to conceal myself in the roof rafters when the waiter bows Onel and Throop into the room. As expected, Throop carries the box of test tubes.

“Your girlfriend is meeting us here?” Onel demands. “She seems to be running late, Foder. Are you sure she suspects nothing?”

“She has no idea,” Throop says, licking his lips nervously. “She’ll be here.” He snorts in disgust. “I can’t wait for this to be over. She’s so fucking needy. Clingy women drive me insane.”

Asshole.

Generals Fenel and Demarcu arrive on time. “The scientist is running late,” Onel says after some pleasantries, giving Throop a hard look. “She’s on her way.”

“And the weapon?” General Fenel asks. “Do you have that?”

“Yes.” Onel opens the box we planted and pulls out a test tube. “Here it is. As promised, a virus that destroys Karven nanoarmor. It’ll take their scientists months to devise a vaccine; meanwhile, their soldiers will be helpless.”

“So you say.” General Demarcu looks unconvinced. He pulls out a portable analyzer. “Let’s see if the virus lives up to your marketing hype.” He takes the test tube from Onel and places it in the chamber. The analyzer does its thing and spits out the results.

General Demarcu reads its findings, and his face turns red with anger. “Are you fucking with me, Onel?” he demands, rising to his feet, his hand on his energy weapon. “This isn’t a Karven-destroying virus. It’s nutrient vapor.”

“What?”

General Fenel’s eyes narrow. “I like you, Jarel,” she says slowly. “I’d like to think you’re too smart to try to defraud the Crill Empire. But this?” She draws her own weapon. “This doesn’t look good.”

“Of course, I’m not going to defraud the Crill Empire,” Onel snaps, holding his hands in the air. “I’m not a fool. How long have I been working with you? Put your guns away. My associate simply appears to have made a mistake.” His look promises death. “Please accept my apologies for wasting your time. I’ll provide compensation for this error.”

After a bit of haggling, the Crill generals leave, still bristling with anger. Onel watches them depart, then turns to Throop. “You have some explaining to do,” he says, his voice low and dangerous. “Start talking.”

Perfect.

I leave them to work out their issues. Raz’s orders were to stop the weapons sale, find the manufacturer, and hide any KSF involvement if I could. I’ve done all three. The Crill generals have departed empty-handed, Sarai is safely aboard my ship, and Onel blames Throop for this fuck-up. He has no idea that the KSF is watching his every move.

Not bad for my last mission.

I send Raz a status update. All that’s left is for me to get Elodie back to my ship and for us to get the hell out of here. I’m almost whistling as I walk toward the hotel.

Then a woman materializes in front of me. “Going somewhere, Blaze?” Deandra purrs. “You wouldn’t be thinking of ditching my fight, would you?”