Unique Ink

by Cyndi Friberg

  “But humans can’t manipulate magic. How would his discovery help him?” Roxie fiddled with the drawstring on her borrowed pants, unable to stop the nervous motion.

  “He wasn’t sure it would, but he was the type of person to explore any and all possibilities. He sent his eldest son with a small contingent of men and they hijacked the Ontarian program.”

  “What sort of program?” Roxie braced for another flood of information. Even the simplest question seemed to result in a twenty-minute answer.

  “The details aren’t nearly as important as what Pern learned.”

  Even Elias looked confused by Morgan’s evasive response. “You’re talking about the Dirty Dozen, correct?”

  “Correct. According to Gerrod, they had a purpose far more nefarious than knocking up coeds.”

  “Knocking up coeds?” Roxie felt her jaw drop and snapped it shut. “Twelve Rodyte warriors went around intentionally impregnating human females?”

  “Gerrod started with twelve Ontarian rebels. They were the ones known as the Dirty Dozen. However, Gerrod’s primary motivation for forming the group was to shield the movements of his real team, his Rodyte team. And there were a whole lot more than twelve of them.”

  Roxie was stunned. Elias claimed that humans held little interest for the visiting aliens, but each word Morgan uttered proved him wrong. Human technology might be primitive compared to other planets, but humans themselves had attracted all sorts of unsavory attention. “Don’t Rodytes have to be bonded to produce children? Is the bond that easy to turn off and on?”

  “Not at all,” Morgan assured her. “But a stubborn person can get good at anything if the motivation is powerful enough.”

  “What possible motivation could there be for ‘knocking up coeds’?” Roxie shuddered. The more she learned about the Rodytes, the less she liked them.

  With obvious reluctance Morgan explained, “Originally Pern was just testing the compatibility of human females. As I said, there aren’t that many species able to reproduce with Rodytes. But Gerrod is a battle-born hybrid. His mother was an exceptionally gifted Bilarrian. Gerrod’s abilities are scattered at best, but each of his female offspring was not just gifted, they were extremely powerful.”

  “All that affects Jillian not Roxie.” Elias crossed one leg over the other, his foot lightly bouncing.

  That was right—Gerrod was Jillian’s father. The one Sevrin had tried to murder!

  “I’d agree, if that’s where the story ended. But it doesn’t. Pern was never content to let progress unfold naturally. He took a group of Gerrod’s children back to Rodymia, so his best scientists could figure out if it was a predictable pattern or a genetic anomaly.”

  A sudden chill made Roxie shiver. Talk about ominous. This story sounded worse by the minute. “What did the scientists learn and were the children harmed by their experiments?”

  It took a moment for Morgan to find the least provocative phrasing. “Gerrod didn’t mention the wellbeing of his children, so I presume we don’t want to know. And I’m not a geneticist, so I only understood a fraction of what he rattled off next.”

  “Well, you better dumb it down even more if you expect me to understand any of it,” Roxie cautioned. “Science was my least favorite subject.”

  Morgan released her hands and allowed her stance to relax just a little. “It wasn’t an anomaly. It was a consistent pattern. The mutation takes place in two stages and it’s triggered by coding contained on the X chromosome. The first time the coding appears an aptitude for magic is created, but a second X chromosome must be present for the person to utilize the gift. Anytime the Y chromosome is present, the child’s abilities remain dormant.”

  “That’s why the girls could use their magic and the boys couldn’t?” Morgan nodded and Roxie sighed. All this conversation was doing was making her feel stupid. “I still don’t see what any of this has to do with me.”

  “Be patient a moment longer. We’re almost to the part that directly pertains to you.” After Roxie’s reluctant nod, Morgan continued. “Because battle-born sons are seldom born with powers, they’re considered inferior.”

  “That’s so hypocritical,” Roxie muttered, unable to silence her indignation. “Their fathers don’t have powers.”

  “The battle-born exist for the express purpose of changing that fact and the vast majority of battle-born sons failed. They’re good for menial labor or they’re trained as frontline soldiers. They’re not considered shameful, but they are expendable.” Morgan’s bitter tone mad it obvious she didn’t agree with the attitude. She was just explaining how the Rodytes thought.

  “Are there any good parts to this story?”

  “The secret Pern uncovered was a second chance, a way for them to claim a higher place in society,” Morgan told her. “And by this time there were thousands of them. Though the men were basically powerless themselves, they were capable of creating empowered daughters. That would give them worth again, a purpose.”

  Roxie was so confused, she couldn’t even think of a logical question. There had to be a reason Morgan was telling her all of this, but Roxie still didn’t understand.

  “Pern was never content to play by the rules. He’d found an unexpected advantage and he intended to exploit it to the fullest. He had his scientists program a retrovirus that could be injected as part of the bonding process. It increased fertility in human females and greatly increased her chances of producing female offspring.”

  Roxie swallowed, her throat suddenly tight. The random facts were finally starting to feel personal. Morgan had already told her that her mother was a war bride. “Was this done to my mother?”

  “Yes. You’re one of the daughters that resulted from this experiment.”

  “But the experiment failed,” Roxie insisted. “I don’t have abilities.”

  “We’ll find out if that’s true in a moment. I wasn’t finished explaining the program. War is expensive, so is space exploration and scientific research. Pern indulged liberally in all three. So when he was ready to test his hypothesis, he didn’t have enough money to fund another trip to Earth.”

  “I don’t like that sound of that.” Elias uncrossed his legs and his gaze grew even more intense. “Where’d he get the money?”

  “He approached the fifteen most powerful families on Rodymia and told them he could provide a mate for the male of their choice and guarantee her ability to manipulate magic, all they had to do was fund the expedition.”

  “Okay, hold on.” Roxie scooted to the edge of her chair. “If Rodytes are patriarchal, why would Pern pursue research that empowered females?”

  “Because nothing else provided consistent results. Claiming war brides on Bilarri was a necessary step, but the offspring weren’t always empowered. Pern had unlocked the code. He found the perfect combination of ingredients that always resulted in an empowered child.”

  “But that child was female,” Roxie pointed out. She needed that fact to be significant, to make her less desirable, yet the regret in Morgan’s eyes didn’t give her hope.

  “Having each of his strongest warriors bound to an empowered female would still make Rodymia stronger than it had ever been before.”

  “There are more like Roxie?” Elias tensed. “Are they listed in the notebook? How do we find them?”

  Elias had already accepted Morgan’s story as fact and moved on to strategy, but Roxie was still struggling with the details. “There’s a Rodyte warrior out there who considers me his property?”

  “Rodytes don’t own their mates, so the analogy is inaccurate.”

  Now Morgan wanted to mince words? Roxie had to resist the urge to fly across the room and strangle her. “Fine. He doesn’t want to own me; he just wants to claim me as his mate and force me to pop out a bunch of magical baby girls. And Sevrin is going to make damn sure he knows where to find me.”

  “It’s not just you,” Morgan reminded, though the fact did little to slow Roxie’s thundering heart. “The fif
teen strongest, most politically connected Rodytes will soon come to Earth, expecting to collect their mates from Sevrin.”

  “The fifteen are incidental. When word gets out that battle-born sons can produce empowered daughters simply by bonding with human females…” Elias just shook his head. “This is only the beginning. Earth won’t know what hit them.”

  “Which is why this situation must be contained ASAP. Gerrod insists that Sevrin is the only one who knows how well the experiment worked and Sevrin is in serious trouble. Pern died suddenly. He didn’t have time to fill her in on the details of this program. She’s frantically searching through files and interviewing contacts, but Roxie is the only daughter Sevrin has been able to locate.”

  “Lucky me.” Over and over Roxie had tried to imagine why Sevrin had targeted her. A prearranged marriage to an alien warrior never entered the equation.

  “You are damn lucky,” Morgan snapped. “If our paths hadn’t crossed, you’d be at the mercy of the Rodytes right now.”

  She knew Morgan was right, but she was too upset to apologize. Ever since these people barged into her life, situations had gone from bad to worse. Nausea twisted her stomach as she realized—if what Morgan said was true—her bad luck had begun before her birth.

  “As of right now, Sevrin hasn’t told Quentin the details about any of this. All he knows is that Pern was conducting some sort of breeding experiment involving battle-born sons and human females. She doesn’t want to admit that she doesn’t know how to find the empowered brides.”

  “Control Sevrin and we control the message?” Cunning sharpened Elias’ gaze, made him look dangerous.

  “Exactly. We can use Sevrin’s likeness to convince Quentin the experiment failed, that Pern’s hypothesis was wrong. But that will only be an option if the real Sevrin can’t contradict our message.”

  “It’s a serious Hail Mary pass,” Elias grumbled.

  “It’s the only play we have left. Quentin is being pressured by the families. He has to tell them something. Why not use that pressure to our advantage?”

  Roxie shook her head. She might not know much about alien politics, but she understood proud men. “He’s not going to admit that he failed. No ruler would.”

  “He didn’t fail. Sevrin did. And when her body is found, he’ll claim that he made her pay for bringing shame on his family. Win-win situation.”

  “Unless you’re Sevrin.” Roxie knew Sevrin was ruthless and corrupt, but that didn’t keep a spark a pity from erupting.

  “This is all according to Gerrod.” Elias scrubbed his jaw, clearly looking for flaws in the story. “We thought he was a harmless refugee hiding from his past and suddenly he’s Pern’s right-hand man.”

  “That’s what he needed everyone to think,” Morgan explained. “He was hiding in plain sight while he carried out his father’s orders. Even Sevrin thinks he’s just one of their father’s many henchmen.”

  “Maybe she found out who he really is. That could be why she tried to kill him.” Roxie shivered. She’d thought her life had moved beyond associations with people ruthless enough to kill for power or profit.

  “It’s possible, maybe even probable. We just don’t know for sure.”

  Elias shook his head. Apparently Morgan had yet to win him over completely. “How do we know we can trust him?”

  “We don’t need to trust him,” Morgan insisted, “as long as we can verify his information.”

  “Then what tangible proof do we have that any of this is true?”

  “As you know, Gerrod had a thumb drive hidden in his shoe. He never went anywhere without it. He finally unlocked the coded entries and showed me a bunch of messages between Quentin and Sevrin and between the families and Quentin. I have no idea how Gerrod got ahold of them, but they looked authentic to me. The families want to know when their investment will be rewarded. If Sevrin jerks them around for too long, it’s more than possible that they’ll head this way and hunt for their brides themselves. Don’t forget this is the culture that gave the Shadow Assassins their love for hunting mates.”

  Finally understanding the scope of her peril, Roxie crossed her arms over her stomach. “What the hell are we going to do?”

  “The objective hasn’t changed,” Morgan insisted. “We have to find Sevrin. But there are a couple of details that need to be sorted before we set our trap.”

  “Like whether or not I have latent abilities?”

  “Yes. I’d much rather send a novice Mystic into danger than someone who has no way to defend herself.”

  “I thought that’s what I was for,” Elias objected.

  “You are. And human to human, you will never lose. Unfortunately, we’re not dealing with humans. If Roxie can learn how to raise a shield or open a lock with her mind, it’s worth delaying her return for a day or two.”

  “I have to call Tess and Jett. They need to hear my voice. Text messages are too easy to fake.” The glare she shot Elias earned her a soft chuckle from him. “If you let me talk to them, I’ll cooperate.”

  Morgan nodded. “I’ll tell Lor what’s going on and he can decide how to proceed. This is out of my realm of expertise. As soon as one of the Mystics has scanned you, Elias can take you topside so you can make your calls.”

  “Sounds good.” Compromise. They were starting to work together rather than butting heads and it was infinitely more productive.

  “We’re going to conference at o-six-hundred to discuss options. Obviously, I expect you both there.” Morgan looked from Elias to Roxie and back. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Chapter Six

  After letting Morgan out of his apartment, Elias returned to Roxie. She sat on the edge of the chair with her hands tucked between her legs. Her face was pale, eyes wide, nearly unblinking. “You look dazed.”

  She came back to life with a sudden burst of energy. “I can’t just sit here. Can we go find Lor?”

  Easily understanding her anxiousness, Elias took a step back so she could stand. “Lor’s likely in his office, but let me call and make sure.”

  “Let’s just go there. I need to move. The walls are closing in on me.”

  She started for the door so he followed, reaching around her to pull open the door. “That way.” He motioned to the right and they started walking.

  They didn’t speak and she was so distracted that she nearly collided with two different people. He finally took her by the hand and adjusted his pace so he walked at her side. His semi-rude behavior drew several annoyed looks from the people they passed, but it was better than letting her smack into someone.

  “Are you okay?” He knew the answer. He was just hoping to draw her out of her stupor. “That was a lot to take in all at once.”

  “I haven’t been okay since Sevrin strolled into my store.” She glanced up at him then shook her head as she continued down the corridor. “I’m not a coward and I’m not going to fall apart on you. I just can’t understand how all of this could be true when I knew nothing about it.”

  “You were still very young when your mother died. It’s likely she would have told you.” Roxie had fought all of her battles alone, unaware of the forces shaping her life. It was a wonder she’d survived. Yet Roxie hadn’t just survived, she’d blazed a trail through the destruction and built a life of which anyone would be proud.

  She looked at him again, her gaze more focused. “Suddenly Aunt Shelia doesn’t seem so crazy. She might not have known the nature of the danger, but she knew something was wrong. Maybe if I’d listened to her, both of our lives could have been different.”

  He paused and turned her to face him, his hands lingering on her arms. “Her death was not your fault. Neither was Jodi’s. You have to stop blaming yourself for things you had no control over.”

  Her initial response was a tense nod then she shrugged off his hands and squared her shoulders. “I’m not trying to be melodramatic and I did play a part in Jodi’s death. But that’s not the point. If I’d been old enough
to sense the truth behind Shelia’s paranoia, if I’d taken her warming seriously, my aunt might still be alive.”

  “Or whoever staged her suicide might have gotten you too.” Unless Shelia’s death had actually been a suicide. From what little he knew about her, it seemed just as likely that she had just neglected to turn on the radio because she knew she wouldn’t be singing anymore.

  Roxie thought for a moment then sighed. “You’re right. Speculation is a waste of time. We need facts and Lor is a good place to start.” With that settled, at least in her mind, she turned and continued down the hallway.

  Elias watched the sway of her hips and the stubborn tilt of her head. Even in a utility uniform the woman managed to look appealing.

  Lor and Blayne were engaged in a terse conversation when Elias and Roxie arrived. Lor sat in the desk chair, but at some point he’d turned around and faced his friend. Elias tapped on the open door, drawing the other two’s attention. “Can we interrupt for a minute or should we come back?”

  “We were just venting.” Lor motioned them forward. “Come in.”

  Elias ushered Roxie into the office/lounge. They were halfway across the compact room when he noticed Roxie staring at Blayne. Her expression was hesitant yet curious, so he disregarded the unexpected surge of possessiveness twisting through his being. “That’s Blayne, one of the other Mystics. He and Lor are married to sisters.” Why had he felt it necessary to establish the fact that Blayne was unavailable? Jealousy wasn’t usually one of his problems.

  Roxie offered the Mystic a quick smile, but didn’t hold out her hand. It hadn’t taken Elias long to realize Roxie didn’t like to be touched, especially by people she didn’t know. And his quick trip through her past made her reaction tragically understandable.

  “It’s nice to meet you.” Blayne returned her smile and Elias felt another annoying surge of jealousy. Blayne had responded to the crisis at Unique Ink along with the other Mystics, but Roxie must have blacked out before she saw him.

  “Did Morgan step on your toes again?” Elias asked Lor. It was a safe bet. Lor and Morgan had been politely butting heads ever since her project networked with the Mystic Militia. Neither leader was used to having their decisions questioned and the collaboration required compromise on both sides.