Davin's Quest (16 page)

many others, for quite a long time and Rick not only respected him, but also felt affection for the other man. Davin had done so much to help Rick and the others, he’d do anything he could to help Davin now.

“I promise. I’ll look after her, but you’re going to be all right. I stopped the bleeding and if your med team gets here reasonably soon, they can pump you up again. You’ll make it.”

Davin was about to speak when the medical team arrived and Rick moved back so they could work on his patient.

“Watch them, Rick.”
Callie’s voice entered his mind.
“We probably shouldn’t trust anyone right
now.”

“Wise thinking. I’ll keep an eye out.”

Rick took stock of the situation as he watched the med team. Someone had tried to kill Davin—either tried and failed, which he didn’t think likely, or made a token attempt by way of warning. The security contingent that arrived a few seconds later agreed, after Davin told them what happened, and sent teams out to investigate. Frankly, Rick didn’t expect them to find anything, but when they came back with a prisoner, he was surprised to say the least.

The med team did their job well as Rick watched. The projectile hadn’t been poisoned and he’d fixed the nick in Davin’s artery, though he wouldn’t be able to use his arm fully for a few days, given standard Alvain healing techniques. Rick figured he could speed that up some more, but he’d wait to offer his assistance until the other Alvians cleared off.

“I want to talk to the prisoner,” Davin insisted. Callie held his hand as Rick watched everyone—the med team, the guards, and the couple—from a few feet away where he had a clear view.

“That’s not wise, Chief Engineer. The man tried to kill you.” The head of security, a fellow named Rilan 3 said. He wasn’t bad, for an Alvian, Rick thought. At least he’d never dealt badly with him.

“Do you know who he is?” Davin asked.

“Sinclair Prime.” Rilan answered with a slight inflection of dismay in his voice. Rick understood the Primes were the top of their genetic lines—both the most experienced and the most gifted. He wasn’t sure what having a Prime attempt murder would do to the Alvian social order, but from the tight looks on the alien faces, it wasn’t good.

Silence filled the room.

“Sinclair is a warrior line,” Davin observed. Rick recognized the cunning look in his eyes, though it was probably lost on the Alvians attending him.

“Yes, Chief Engineer,” Rilan answered.

“Covert operations, if I’m not mistaken,” Davin went on.

Rilan stiffened. “I’m not at liberty to say, Chief Engineer.”

“No matter. Have you already made your report on this incident, Rilan?”

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“I will transmit it when I leave this room,” he responded.

“I see.” Davin’s gaze went to Callie. She nodded and moved back, toward Rick. “I know you have your duty, Rilan, but can I ask you to delay your report until I can get my mate to safety? Given the identity of my attacker, I believe both she and I have been targeted by a rogue member of the Council.

Knowing that Sinclair Prime failed will bring even more trouble. They’ll send someone else and I plan to have my lady secure before they get the chance.”

Rilan looked as uncomfortable as an Alvian could. As a soldier, he had more emotion than most, but still lacked a basic understanding of human feeling. Still, he had to understand the duty to protect. His gaze cut to his lieutenant, standing by the door, then back to Davin.

“As long as the comm system is operational, it is my duty to file my report at the earliest opportunity once order has been established.”

Rick caught the rather deliberate phrasing of the soldier’s words, as did Davin. The Chief Engineer nodded. “I understand your position, Rilan. Thank you.” Davin winked at Callie and Rick saw her turn to the comm panel next to him and input a few commands. The status of the panel went from blue to yellow, then to red as the system went down. She’d disabled the comms.

Rick didn’t know how they’d done it, but he was glad they’d thought ahead. They had bought themselves a little time. Not much, but perhaps it would be enough to get out of Dodge before another assassin showed up to blow them away.

“I still want to talk to the prisoner,” Davin insisted.

Rilan voiced his reluctance yet again, but was eventually convinced to bring the prisoner to them. Rick and Callie stood off to one side while Davin confronted the man who’d shot him. The Alvian guards were vigilant, protecting the Chief Engineer against any possible threat. They paid little attention to the two humans in the room, so only Rick noticed Callie’s reaction. She swayed, off balance when the man was brought in. Rick moved to her side, steadying her with one hand when she tried to brace herself on a nearby console. He could feel her trembling and moved closer in case she needed…something. He didn’t know what, but the way she clung to his hand made him realize she needed his support.

“What is it?” he whispered.

“He’s—” Callie breathed deep, as if looking for words. “I need to talk to him, Rick.”

“Are you sure?” Rick came around in front of her to search her expression.

She nodded, clinging to his arm. “He feels.” She breathed the words, mouthing them more than actually speaking them, out of view of the Alvians. Rick realized she didn’t want them to know and he understood her caution. If this guy—this assassin—had emotions, it would explain a lot about why he missed, but it would also stir up a whole new batch of questions.

“Wait here for a minute.” Rick left her as she nodded and moved to confront the Alvian contingent. He eyed the restraints on the assassin’s wrists and feet before taking the next step.

“Chief Engineer, do we really need all the guards?”

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Davin wasn’t unaware of Callie’s reaction, or her words, except those last few spoken too low for his hearing. Something was strange about their prisoner, but the man refused to speak. Bound hand and foot, he couldn’t hurt anyone, and judging from his demeanor, he already knew he was powerless to carry out his mission.

“Chief Rilan.” Davin turned to the ranking officer. “Please take your men and wait outside. I wish to speak to the prisoner alone.”

Rilan objected once more, but Davin outranked him. With a last, almost-puzzled look, Rilan cleared the room, taking his men and the Alvian med team with him. It was just Davin, Rick, Callie and the prisoner now and Davin intended to get some answers.

But before he could ask a single question, Callie spoke.

“You feel emotion.” That bombshell statement landed in the middle of the room, aimed, to Davin’s astonishment, at the prisoner, Sinclair Prime. “Don’t worry. Comms are down all over the facility and this room is fully shielded. Nothing can eavesdrop here. You’re safe for the moment.”

Sinclair Prime’s eyes dilated as his shoulders seemed to relax a small fraction. “I didn’t understand what empathy was until recently. Can you really feel what I’m feeling?” His tone held a curious mix of dismay, wonder and resignation as his expression pled with Callie, looking to her for profound answers.

She nodded, holding Sinclair’s gaze. “I feel your confusion and turmoil. I feel your guilt and pain. And I feel your wonder at this.” She grasped Davin’s hand as the comforting Hum sounded to Davin’s ears. “I love Davin and he loves me.”

“I don’t understand love,” Sinclair admitted, pain in his eyes.

Callie gave Sinclair a compassionate smile. “It’s not a simple concept, to be learned in a few days. For most of us, it takes a lifetime.”

“How do you know it’s only been days for me?” Sinclair’s eyes shuttered, suspicion filling his stance.

“It stands to reason. You’re not a throwback. There’s no way you could’ve hidden such a perceived flaw and rise to the level of Prime. So these emotions have to be something new. From the level of your confusion, you can’t have been feeling long.”

Sinclair crumpled then, his knees giving out as he leaned against the edge of the console behind him. “It’s been two days since the worst hit. I tried to control it, but it’s…it’s overwhelming. I don’t know how you Breeds do it day in and day out.”

Davin put his arm around Callie’s shoulders, drawing her to his side. She’d gotten through to the assassin. Perhaps now they would get some real answers.

“How did this happen?” Davin asked.

“The emotion, you mean?” Sinclair gave a short, bitter laugh. “I was approached a few weeks ago by one of the Maras. They’ve cooked up a potion to alter us on a genetic level. I don’t know all the particulars, but I agreed to be part of their study. A few days ago, at their direction, I applied a skinpatch with a gene-altering agent. The effects were slow to arrive at first, and I fear I’m not completely done
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with them.”

Callie stepped toward the man, but Davin held her out of the assassin’s reach. “There’s nothing to fear in unlocking emotion, Sinclair Prime. I understand your confusion, but I think you’ll discover living this way is better than your prior existence.”

“But there’s so much pain.” His eyes were a study of agony that was hard for even Davin to watch.

“And joy too, once you get past the hurt. Give it time. After the dark comes the dawn, and after you work through the pain, you’ll discover things to inspire happiness, amusement, wonder and perhaps even love.”

Sinclair seemed to think about it, but his gaze didn’t clear. “You don’t know the things I’ve done, Lady.

Only now am I beginning to understand the impact of my actions and I feel hatred for the first time.”

“For the ones who made you kill?” Davin asked, curious.

Sinclair turned to him. “For myself, Chief Engineer. I loathe what I am.”

“What you
were
.” Callie’s voice was firm. “You are reborn. A new entity.”

“I can’t erase the memories of what I’ve done.” Sinclair’s tone was bleak as a winter day.

“Nor should you,” Callie agreed. “But you can learn from the past and overcome it to be a better man from this moment forward.”

Sinclair’s mouth quirked up at one corner. “I begin to understand the concept of optimism, Lady, thanks to you, but I do not feel it.”

Callie smiled at the man who’d killed so many. “That’s okay. I have enough for all of us.”

Davin was amazed by the turn of events. The Maras were experimenting with returning emotion to the Alvian race and doing it successfully, if Sinclair Prime was any indication. This was something to investigate, but there was one more pressing matter to look into.

“Why did you try to kill me? Or perhaps,” Davin tilted his head, “the better question is, why did you miss?”

The expression on Sinclair’s face was again tortured when he raised his gaze to Davin. “I watched you interact with your mate for hours before taking the shot. I could’ve bagged you any time, Chief Engineer, but at the final moment…I couldn’t. I can’t be the man I was before. Everything’s changed. I’ve changed. I feel things. Things I can’t control and don’t understand. I saw you with your mate and finally understood what I was looking at—happiness. True happiness and joy. My eyes were wet and I knew I could not take the shot. What you’ve found is a miracle. It’s not for me or the Council to take that away when all you’ve known in life to this point must’ve been fear and pain.” Tears wound down the tough soldier’s face, unheeded. “I’m feeling now what you must’ve felt your entire life.” Sinclair’s eyes unfocused. “How you must have suffered. I cannot comprehend how you survived it.” He shook his head and returned his full attention to Davin. “You’re a stronger man than I, Chief Engineer. Stronger and more courageous than any member of the Council. They have no right to sit in judgment of you or your mate. That realization made me miss when the imperative trained into me from my earliest days told me to take the shot. I am deeply ashamed. My career is over, as is my life.”

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“It doesn’t have to be.” Rick sauntered over to face the assassin. He shot a questioning look over his shoulder at Davin, continuing at his nod. “You don’t have to go back to the Alvians. You have emotions now. You could be of great help to the pockets of humanity trying to survive all over this planet. Hell, you might even find a mate among our women—the few that are left.”

“You would allow this?” Sinclair’s wide eyes searched Davin’s.

Davin leaned back, watching the assassin. “It’s not up to me, but if you help the humans, they’re likely to help you in return. They are a generous people.”

“You’d let me go, knowing I was sent here to kill you?”

“You’re a different man now than you were just a day ago.” Davin saw Callie nod in agreement at his side. “I can imagine what you’re going through—I’ve been through it myself, as you pointed out. You deserve the right to explore the man you are now, the man you could’ve been had the geneticists not tampered with our DNA generations ago.”

Sinclair dropped his head back against the wall, watching them with pain in his eyes. “You are too forgiving of my sins, Chief Engineer.”

Callie spoke up. “In time, you’ll learn to forgive yourself, Sinclair Prime.”

“I am Prime no more, Lady. Please don’t call me that.”

Callie smiled and nodded. “You know, on this world, Sinclair used to be a common surname.”

“Indeed? One of my ancestors was part of the expedition that never returned to Alvia.”

“Well, start thinking about a new name, my friend.” Rick walked over to stand beside Callie. “If you want to leave your old life behind, you have an opportunity to reinvent yourself, starting with your name.

Sinclair is a respectable, human-sounding surname, but you can choose a new first name, if you want.

For now, I’m going to call you Bill.”

Callie giggled as Sinclair Prime started, coming completely to his feet. “Bill?” He said it as if tasting the name. “This is not an Alvian name.”