3013: SALVATION (3013: The Series Book 5) (6 page)

The D’Aire had the ability to
slip into someone’s mind and do a scan or something they called a mind-merge,
although they never did something like that without permission. It went against
their code to do so, and it would be dangerous for both the D’Aire and the
person being scanned if it wasn’t consensual. Still, Arik knew an older D’Aire like
him could tell if a person had been tainted by
xili
just by being in
their presence.

“That’s what makes this such a high-risk
situation,” Jax said. “As far as we know, the D’Aire are our only defense to
this drug. Even though the effects are more dangerous and physical to the Helios,
they are able to work the drug out of their systems quite quickly. However,
humans are at greater risk due to the lasting effects of the whatever
suggestions are implanted. Arik was able to show Serra what had really happened
to her, and since then, there have been no other effects from the drug. It
gives us hope that we can effectively counteract the drug and cure anyone who
has been influenced by
xili
.”

“Okay, I have to ask. Have there
been others? I understand you’re pissed that Serra was drugged. Hell, I am,
too, but you said that most of the plant has been killed off, and what happened
to Serra was years ago. So, why is this top priority now?” Skylar asked.

Jax’s jaw tightened in anger. “We’ve
have little luck tracking down the Tarin that Serra’s mother hired to drug her,
but I want to find the fucker. Just knowing a Tarin is out there using this
drug is enough to open an investigation. However, when we started looking into
this matter, we stumbled onto a clusterfuck of a problem.”

“I’d say that’s an accurate
description,” Archer agreed. “Initially, we thought we were dealing with an isolated
issue on Tartarus, but about six months ago twelve
xili
specimens were
requisitioned by the Alliance-run lab on the planet Avox.”

“Are they studying mind control?”
Reva asked with a frown.

“In a way. It’s really quite
fascinating,” Serra interjected, her eyes bright with excitement. “One of the scientists
there believes that the
xili
plant can be used to create a better
formula for the enhancements given to all elites. If we look at the cognitive
function applications for the drug—”

“Oh, fuck no. You want to give
this shit to people on a widespread scale?” Dom asked incredulously. “After
what was done to you, do you really think this is a good idea? Because I sure
as hell don’t.”

“It wouldn’t be used in the same
way that was done to me. I’ve read Dr. Catherine Whitmer-Fields’ proposal, and
what she is attempting to do is extrapolate the basic enzyme from the root of
the—”

“Wait...what?” Dom looked liked
he wanted to slam his head down on the table. “I don’t want to hear all the
scientific crap. Dumb it down for me and just give us the basics.”

Serra frowned at him, at a loss
for what to say. Her assistant Troy took pity on her and explained, “In a
nutshell, they want to alter the
xili
drug so it can be added to the
enhancements to help people learn and process at an increased level, without
taking away someone’s free will.”

Dom heaved out a breath. “Well...fuck.”

“Well said. I still think it’s a
bad idea, regardless of what the possible benefits could be,” Archer said. He
held up a hand to stall Serra from arguing. “You’re never going to convince me
that using this drug is a good thing, and I won’t be the only one who feels
that way.”

“You aren’t,” Dom confirmed.

“This will be groundbreaking if
Dr. Whitmer-Fields succeeds,” Serra insisted. “Can you imagine all we can
accomplish if our ability to learn is expanded?”

“Sweetheart, I don’t think it’s
possible for you to be any smarter than you already are.”

Serra looked over at Jax and
smiled at him. “Thank you, sweetie. Anyways, I believe all of you are being
short-sighted if you aren’t willing to attempt to see the potential of this new
version of the enhancements. We modify the elites for strength and physical
endurance, why not attempt to do the same with our mental capabilities?”

“Because anything that fucks with
people’s minds is never a good thing,” Skylar said with conviction.

“I agree,” Jax said. “There are
too many variables we don’t understand yet, and they have just started with
their research, so they have no clue if they can actually do what they claim.
But that isn’t our problem right now. What is would be the fact that twelve
xili
plants were requested and shipped from Helix, but there are only ten on Avox.”

Dom blinked in astonishment. “They
lost two of those fucking plants?”

“Not lost,” Archer said. “They
claim only ten were requisitioned. I contacted the lab on Avox and spoke with
Dr. Whitmer-Fields when we found out about her project, but she was confused
when I insisted on seeing the twelve plants and said they only had ten.”

Reva’s spine stiffened as she sat
up in her chair. “There are strict protocols my people follow when allowing
anything to be shipped off planet. The only way they would have allowed twelve
xili
plants to leave the surface is if twelve were officially asked for.”

Archer nodded. “We know. I spoke
to the commander of the vessel that transported the plants to Avox, and he also
confirmed that twelve were delivered. Someone is lying, and that person is on
Avox. Since those plants have gone missing, we’ve discovered six other
individuals that have been drugged with shadows in their memories.”

“Six?” Dom asked. “I thought
there were only five.”

“Based on Arik’s recommendation,
we had Commander Hale tested on the way back to Earth. He was very cooperative,
and was pretty adamant that we’d made a mistake replacing him as the commander
of X7,” Jax explained. “When a D’Aire on board did a closer scan on Hale, they
found that he had been coerced to basically give over control to two generals
under his command.”

Dom slammed his fist down on the
table. “I knew those two were fucking dirty!”

Jax shot him a hard look. “Funny
about that. They were pretty talkative...as long as we promised they wouldn’t
have to see you again.”

Dom’s face became a blank slate.
“Those two didn’t have a mark on them when they left my custody.”

“Yeah, I know you wouldn’t have
to actually put your hands on those two to put the fear of God in them,” Jax
drawled out, then slowly smiled. “You haven’t lost your touch.”

Dom grunted in satisfaction. “So,
what did those two assholes have to say?”

“The two generals admitted to
taking bribes to basically allow anything to happen on X7. All the people we’ve
found that have been tainted with the
xili
so far have been located on Alpha
Stations X7 and X15, so now it makes more sense since those are the closest
stations to Tartarus. I’ve ordered a strike force team to take control of X15
and lock shit down there until we know more about what we’re dealing with.”

“But how?” Reva asked. “How do
you know those are the places we should focus on?”

“That was the brilliant work of
my chosen,” Jax said with a smile.

Serra beamed at him before
addressing the group. “It was really quite simple once I thought about it. When
I was discussing all of this with Jax, Archer and Troy, we realized there was
no feasible way for the D’Aire to check every human to give us a starting
point, and then it hit me. We didn’t have to. Before I knew what my mother had
done to me, I had multiple tests run for my headaches. I thought something was
medically wrong with me, but all tests came back negative. With this in mind, Troy
and I went through the records looking for anyone who has had multiple tests run
with no definitive results. From that, we’ve been able to narrow down our
search parameters using information we found from the archives.”

Troy pressed a few keys on his
data unit and several reports appeared on the wall screen. “As you can see
here, back before we knew what
xili
really was there were several reports
ranging from assassination attempts to theft where the perpetrators couldn’t
explain why they had committed the crimes. Additionally, there were also dozens
of women who had been coerced into bondings using
xili
.”

Serra nodded. “Using that as a
guide, we discovered a few reports made within the last few months by men who
claim that women they were in a relationship with or who were promised to them
had been forced into bondings with other men. Initially, these claims were
overlooked because the women in question told investigators that they were
happy with their new pairings.”

“There were also several
convicted prisoners whose cases stuck out because even though they admitted to
the crimes they were accused of, they swore they had no clue why they committed
them,” Troy added.

Dom gulped down the last of his
coffee before he spoke. “Once they found a few people who fit the pattern, they
brought their findings to me and I petitioned the Council of Regents to re-open
the investigations and requested for a D’Aire representative to be present
during the interviews. From those interrogations, we’ve discovered that three
convicted prisoners and two women have been tainted with
xili
so far. Everyone
involved with those cases are being sent back to Earth for further questioning,
although initial reports are that the men who have coerced the women bought the
drug from a Tarin. This brings us full circle.”

“The D’Aire that were part of the
investigation claim that the victims have been drugged with a dose of the
xili
slightly different than anything we have seen before. They said it’s easier to
release the victims from the thrall of the drug, but it’s harder to initially detect
the shadow. Our fear is that someone on Tartarus has found a way to mass
produce the drug, and that’s why it’s different,” Arik said.

Archer’s hand fisted and he
tapped it on the table. “Which means we have to stop them before they spread
this shit all over the universe.”

Jax’s eyes burned with anger as
he looked around the room. He waited until all eyes were on him before he
spoke. “In order to do that we need to go to Avox, question the scientists
there who had access to the plants, then go to Tartarus and find whoever is
behind this and put him in the ground.”

***

Chapter Six

“I’m down with that,” Dom said,
almost gleefully.

“At our current speed, we should
arrive at Avox tomorrow afternoon,” Archer told them. “But according to the
Director of Security there, we only have clearance for three to go down to the
surface...and none of them can be men.”

Jax scowled. “What the fuck?”

“I’m not surprised,” Serra said.
“Skylar, Reva and I will go.”

“No.”

Serra frowned at Jax. “Be
reasonable.”

“I am. You aren’t going without
me and Archer with you.”

“Oh, really?” she said casually,
belying her anger. “And just how do you plan to do that without upsetting the
Avox? They are very specific about who is allowed on their planet.”

“How? They don’t even speak!”

“I’m with Jax on this one,
Serra,” Archer argued. “I don’t want you going without one of us with you.”

Serra fought back the urge to
argue with her bonded, knowing they were just trying to protect her. She
couldn’t get upset about that, but they needed to respect that she was a valued
member of the investigation team. Added to that, she was the only member of the
group that had visited Avox before, working to set up the shield that protected
the planet and knew all of the protocols that went with being on the unique
world.

But there were strict rules that
needed to be followed if one desired to visit.

“I’m not sure I’m comfortable
with going to a world that is all water,” Reva admitted.

“Then Arik can come with us,
since the Avox don’t seem to have a problem with the D’Aire.” Serra took a deep
breath before continuing. “They don’t like men. There is nothing you can do to
change that. Is it fair? Maybe not, but they will remember me as someone who
helped their people. And I’m the only one who can look over the research they
are doing with the
xili
to see if they really trying to do what they
proposed. I assure you, we’ll be fine.”

“When the D’Aire first approached
Avox, we studied them before we made contact. We brought them a gift of metal
from our home world that they were able to use in building their underwater
cities, and they accepted us as friends. It’s unfortunate, but all it took was
for your men to kill one of them to create the distrust they still feel for human
males,” Arik explained.

Jax frowned. “That was a long
time ago.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’ll go with
Skylar and Serra to ensure their safety, and I will also be able to scan the
scientists to see if any of them have been tainted with
xili
. I’ve also
requested aid from my people since there is a ship with five D’Aire close by.
They are about half a day behind us, and will rendezvous with us in Avox’s
orbit.”

Dom crossed his arms over his
chest. “I don’t like it.”

Arik smiled. “I’m not surprised.
The women will be safe with me.”

“I’m an investigator,” Skylar
said. “This is what I do.”

“I still don’t have to like it,”
Dom snapped.

“Fine, let’s just get this done,”
Jax finally growled. “But if anything happens to Serra, I swear to God, I’ll
nuke the entire fucking planet.”

Serra smiled at him. “Extreme,
but strangely very sweet.”

Skylar rolled her eyes at them. “Ok,
so we go to Avox, then we head to Tartarus. Is there anything we can do in the
interim?”

“Troy will send the files to
everyone’s data units. I want you to look over all the information so you’re
prepared for the days to come,” Jax said. “Meanwhile, you should all know that
the Council of Regents has once again suggested putting together a Ministry of
Nations. We need some sort of governing body that makes it easier to deal with
threats against all our races, like this. So far, my father has been nominated
to represent the Alliance in the Ministry of Nations. Also, Naomi Tala has been
nominated to be Chancellor for the Helios.”

“Good choice,” Reva said. “She is
far more...diplomatic than other ambassadors such as my mother. Chancellors? Is
that the title they have been given?”

“Yes. We’ve also decided to reach
out to Xavier Tesera of the Dragon Warriors to represent the Arcadians.”

In the past, the Dragon Warriors
had chosen to abstain from anything resembling politics when it came to the
Alliance, but Xavier Tesera, his brother Galan and their two best friends,
Thorn and Brydan Volis, were now mates to Alexis, a former human woman they had
converted. Alexis still had ties with the Alliance, and Jax considered her and
her mates friends. Because of that, he was hopeful he could persuade them to
take an active role with the Ministry.

“And as of this morning, the
D’Aire ambassadors have voted and appointed Adric M’Dor as our chancellor,”
Arik added. “When I spoke to him, he informed me that the D’Aire are working
with the Alliance to check all high ranking officers to see if any of them has
been tainted by
xili
. It’s going to be a slow process, but one we feel
is necessary.”

“That makes sense. Do you think
you can get in touch with the D’Aire who are handling the investigation on
Earth tonight to see if there are any updates?” Jax asked.

“Consider it done.”

“What about the Krytos? Are they
willing to join the Ministry this time?” Skylar asked.

Dom sighed. “They’re going to
take some work. We told the Adaro brothers what was going on with this
investigation while we were on New Vega, so they know the gravity of the
situation. They’re also worried the
xili
may affect the Krytos the same
way it does the Helios. I think they’ll be able to convince their people to
join the Ministry, but getting someone to become Chancellor is a different
story.”

“We need you to work on that,”
Jax broke in. “Since you’re friends with the Adaro brothers, the Council hopes
you might be able to convince one of them to take the position as Chancellor.”

“Hell.”

Jax looked sympathetic. “I know.
You can tell them it won’t take much of their time. Whoever takes the position
will just have to attend a meeting every once in a while and pass on news to
the rest of the Krytos when something comes up. Since the Adaro brothers
already do that, it shouldn’t be an issue.”

“Maddox and Daimon will say no,
but I can try to work on Tavius.”

Skylar knew the Krytos clans took
pride in remaining autonomous since their home world was destroyed. They did
come to each other’s aid when needed, but they were against being part of the
Ministry of Nations the last time the idea was presented. The Krytos as a whole
didn’t believe in politics or positions of power that didn’t directly benefit
them.

It was said that if they couldn’t
fuck it, fight with it or eat it, they just weren’t interested.

But Tavius was different. He
liked to stick his nose in other people’s business, and took joy in managing
people, just as he’d tried to do with her when she’d been on New Vega. Because
of that, she had no doubt he’d make a perfect Chancellor for his race.

As the meeting came to an end,
Skylar, Troy and Archer helped Officer Ryans gather up all the dishes to stack
them back on the cart. It was nice to see Cal Ryans back on his feet, but
Skylar couldn’t blame Serra for worrying about him, since she felt the need to
tell him to take it easy herself. She wanted to have a word with Serra, but
didn’t want to bother her since she was working on her wrist unit. Since Reva
was speaking to Jax and Arik about getting an update from the Helios, Skylar thought
she could slip out of the room before anyone noticed, but Dom stopped her
before she could.

“Are you heading back to your
quarters?”

“I was planning to. Why, did you
need me to stay?”

It wasn’t like Dom to hesitate,
but Skylar noticed he looked extremely uncomfortable as he said, “It can wait.
I want to meet with you later tonight.”

“Is this about the mission?”
Skylar's expression darkened as another thought occurred to her. “This better
not be about what happened between me and Arik, because if you’re planning on
bitching at me because—”

“No...I’m not. It’s not about
that...not really. Hell, just come to my quarters at seven tonight.”

Suspicious, Skylar asked, “Why?”

“Damn it, woman. Can’t you do
anything without arguing? We're having dinner tonight. My quarters. Seven. Be
there,” Dom barked out before stalking from the room.

Skylar was speechless as she
watched him leave. She stood staring at the empty doorway, then practically
jumped as Serra surprised her by linking her arms with her to pull her out of
the conference room. “Did you hear...what the hell was that?”

Serra chuckled “Sky, I think that
was him asking you out on a date. It was very Dom-like of him to order you to
have dinner with him instead of asking. I think it was kind of sweet.”

“Sweet? I don't know what the
hell that was, but it sure wasn't sweet.” It took a moment for Skylar to
realize that Serra was leading her back to her quarters. “What are you doing?”

Serra smiled. “Jax and Sully are
going to make a call with Reva to Helix for an update, so I thought I would come
hang out with you for a bit.”

Skylar would have rather been
alone for a bit, but she didn't want to hurt her friend's feeling so she simply
led the way back to her room and opened the door for them. Serra took a seat on
the small sofa in the living room area as Skylar got them both something to
drink. 

“So, just how angry are you at
the Council of Regents?”

Skylar sighed as she carried two
tall glasses of iced water back over to the sitting area. She handed one of the
glasses to Serra before sitting down on a chair facing her friend. “Honestly,
not that much anymore, although I was pretty pissed. I'd say it's more
resentful than angry now.”

Serra took a sip of her water. “I
can understand that. I still don't think it's right to push you into this, and
I made sure that Jax knows how I feel about this subject.”

“Yeah,” Skylar winced. “I can't
believe you made him sleep on the couch. Are you trying to get me killed or
something?”

“It's good for him. And just so
you know, it was all his mother's idea.” Serra let out a peal of laughter as
Skylar's jaw dropped open. “I spoke with Donna Spartan-Rollins last night and
she told me that she was making Regent Spartan sleep on the couch, and that I
should do the same to make Jax understand how upset I was. She said it was a
family tradition.”

“I really love that woman.” Skylar
couldn't help but laugh, but a part of her felt guilty. “Serra, you do realize it
was the Council's decision, don’t you? Jax couldn't really do anything.”

“I do, but he could have figured
out some way to help you. And so could his father. Nothing stopped any of them
from informing you about this before it was too late. And the fact they have a
double standard for men and woman with your capabilities is just not
acceptable.”

Skylar's wrist unit beeped,
cutting off whatever else Serra was going to say. When she looked at the
display, she grinned. “It's Alexis. Want me to put this up on the wall screen?”

“Sure, I’d love to talk to her.”

Skylar transferred the call and was
thrilled to see her friend Alexis on the wall screen. Alexis had an ethereal
beauty, with glowing violet eyes and pale blonde hair that almost looked pure white.
The three women had attended the Academy together, and Alexis and Skylar had
worked in the Liaison Division before Alexis had met her four Dragon Warrior
mates.

The Dragon Warriors were a
powerful race of beings that had the ability to wield magic and could shift
into their dragon forms at will. Although the Dragon Warrior were allies of the
Alliance, it had been years since any of them had visited Earth, choosing to
either stay on their home world of Arcadia, or spend their time traveling the
stars exploring new worlds.

Xavier, Galan, Thorn and Brydan had
fought alongside humans, the D’Aire and the Krytos to defeat the Zyphir during
the Alien Wars, and they had finally decided to visit Earth again a few months
ago. Upon arrival, the four Dragon Warriors instantly fell in love with Alexis.
Now, she proudly wore the stunning gold and silver tribal-looking tattoos on
her torso and arms that declared her their mate. The five of them had been
traveling for the last few months, visiting distant worlds far beyond Alliance
protected space, and Skylar hadn't realized just how much she missed her friend
until now.

“Sky! Serra! I’m so happy I
caught the two of you together. It saves me a call.”

Skylar smiled. “I’m so glad to
see you...but how exactly are you contacting us? I thought you were heading to
Arcadia and would be out of range?”

“Magic. I’m able to give the
transmission a little boost that makes it possible to call even while we’re in
jump drive. We visited Arcadia, but we’re heading back to Earth now.”

“I can’t believe you were already
there,” Serra said. “It’s only been a few months, and you were stopping at
other planets on the way, right?”

“We have. My guys have been
taking turns manning the controls of the ship, and they can boost the jump
drive with their magic, making us go at what I like to call super speed.
Everything I’ve seen has been so amazing. Stars, the stories I have to tell
you, but those can wait until we get back.”

Serra was fascinated. “What I
wouldn’t give to be able to study your capabilities.”

“I love you, but you are not
going to study me like one of your experiments,” Alexis said with a laugh. “I’m
so happy to see you both. I really need some girl talk time.”

Concern had Skylar asking, “Is
everything okay? You look wonderful. I knew you were pregnant, but wow, look at
your belly!”

Alexis shocked them all as she
burst into tears. The door slammed open behind her, making all the women jump
as Xavier, Galan, Thorn and Brydan stormed into the room. Xavier and Galan had
glowing silver eyes and long, flowing jet-black hair, while Thorn and Brydan
had glowing gold eyes and long dark-brown hair. All four of them were
devastatingly handsome, but they made an intimidating sight as they snarled at
the screen.