Like the Gant family, the dining room was a scene of carnage. The stink of the Prophet was all over it. Kooper and Jett were already at the home, waiting for us when Travis and I arrived.
I showed Jett how to shield himself, since he was new to his power. Kooper glowered at the brief interruption; he was angrier now than he'd been when he saw the Gant family's home.
"The initial search of all records reveals nothing," Jett told me as we surveyed the well-appointed kitchen and dining combination room.
Blood was everywhere; the ASD forensics department was allowed to take point on this rather than the CSD, since they had previous experience with the Gant family murders. Investigators from both teams were in the process of recording images before removing the bodies.
Father and son had been taken away from the scene, lest they become contaminated—at Kooper's command. It was the wisest thing to do. I'd check them later for contamination—when we were done, here.
"I sent images to Quin," Kooper growled as he stalked across the adjoining living space, where the rest of us stood. We hadn't walked into the affected area, to keep from disturbing evidence.
"Now that you've seen these bodies, what do you think?" Jett asked.
"That they have the Prophet's stink on them," I said. "I wish I'd seen the Gant family earlier. By the time I saw them, it was gone. I can't believe that one family would have it, when the other wouldn't. I just can't determine how it disappeared in the Gant family within a day's time."
"I agree." Jett's jaw worked, making the tattoo on the left side of his face jerk. It was the only indication that he was angered by what he saw.
"I want you to check the bodies again—tomorrow," Kooper growled as he stopped in mid-pace.
"I can do that."
"Good. Jett and I will get things moving on this and keep you advised."
"Thank you."
Travis lifted an eyebrow at me. He hadn't spoken during our stay; he didn't want to set Kooper off any more than I did.
Kooper was so frustrated he was ready to explode, I think.
Zaria, I sent, somebody needs to help Kooper calm down.
I'll see what I can do.
Thank you. I hadn't expected such a prompt reply, but it came immediately. I was grateful. We didn't need our lion-snake-shifting Director of the ASD to out himself in front of underlings, that's for sure.
I was ready to go, and opened my mouth to ask Travis if he wanted to fold us back to our ships when the feeling hit.
I'm sure it was aimed at Kooper, but the rest of us felt the backlash. Kooper dropped to his knees, it was so intense.
Love.
Love had been sent to him—and to the rest of us.
Zaria, somehow, had contacted the Mighty Heart, and she'd done what she could.
She is mated to Kooper, came Zaria's soothing response. She just needed to know that he needed her.
"Koop," Jett said softly, holding out a hand to lift him up.
"Yes. Thank you." Kooper let Jett pull him to his feet.
"I must say, you're a lucky man, Kooper Griff," Jett said.
"I am. Randl, I'll talk to you and Travis later," Kooper nodded at me. "Jett and I will handle things from this end," he reiterated.
"Thank you, Director," I dipped my chin to him.
"Ready?" Travis asked.
"Yeah. Let's go back."
BlackWing X
Miz'Sandar Keel
"I have it programmed to look for certain elements in a planet, but I haven't figured out how to set it to search for DNA from such a distance," Sabrina said as I studied the prototype scanner she showed me.
"That will be more difficult, as the scanner will have to search an entire planet for a single source of the DNA—like finding a marble the size of my thumb in the vastness of space," I agreed. "With elements, those are generally located in swaths—like gold or other metals."
"I know." Sabrina sounded stumped. "I have to keep working on this, to refine it. Wyatt found hair from Mae's hairbrush, which I had to share with Nari and Tiri, but I'm going through all that faster than I thought I would."
"My DNA should show a familial similarity," I said. "You can always take something from me if you need it."
"That may be a possibility," she considered my suggestion. "Especially when we test it. That could help a great deal."
"Do you think it would help to send out micro-satellites—to boost the signal when you search for a particular set of DNA?" I asked.
"You mean position those things around the planet?"
"Yes."
"My concern is if we find the Prophet's planet, he'll detect anything like that. It could give him time to get away—and take everybody else who's with him, too."
"That's a no, then," I sighed.
"It's a good idea, and under normal circumstances, would help tremendously," she said. "In this case, he's too powerful. We don't want to let him know we've arrived if we can avoid it."
"He really can animate the dead?"
"I've seen it. You've seen some of the vids—before the comp-vid cameras died, anyway. All those scenes of the army marching down the street in Campiaa City—those at the front were already dead. They'd been handed a weapon and the Prophet instructed those corpses to fire at anything that moved."
"I need to sit for a moment and digest this," I told her. My hope was dimming that we'd find Mae soon with Sabrina's new technology.
"Want something to drink? Tea in the galley?"
"Can they put something stronger in it?" I begged.
"I sure hope so. Let's go find out."
Markus, carrying a bottle of bourbon, found us at a table in the galley half an hour later. Without a word, he nodded to Sabrina and took a seat adjacent to mine. Lifting the bottle up, he silently asked if I wanted liquor added to my tea.
"Yes. Please," I pushed my cup toward him. He poured a generous portion in my cup, which was only half full.
"None of this is your fault, Miz," he told me, while adding bourbon to Sabrina's tea next. "We're working as fast as we can. I know time appears to be dragging as far as results go, but we're still the best option for finding your sister."
"I understand that—the logical part of my brain does," I agreed. "But the emotional part is drowning in fear."
"I read a study once that says shifters require larger portions of alcohol to get drunk," Sabrina said, lifting her cup of tea to sip.
"Here." Markus pulled the top off the bourbon and poured until my cup was full of the amber liquid. "There's more, too, if you need it."
Travis
"Markus had to carry Miz over his shoulder when Vik came to take them back to XIII," Sabrina told me over dinner. "He was too drunk to stand."
"He's terrified for Mae—and you know what Randl and Dragon said—that Mae is a Queen Or'myr and the hope of their race. Miz has the weight of his love for family and the survival of his race resting on his shoulders."
"No pressure," she set her fork down with a heavy sigh. "I'm working on the scanner, but trying to program the thing to search for DNA? Nobody's tried that before—not from such a distance."
"I know the med scanners have to be close to the patient—if not connected to them," I said. "Even Randl's spelled cameras have to be close enough to get a reading. Baby, are you sure this is even possible?"
"I'll make it possible." She sounded determined.
"That's what I love about you—you never give up," Trent slid onto a chair on Sabrina's other side and leaned in to give her a peck on the cheek.
"Anything new on the Lindom family?" Trent asked. Gerrett arrived to set a plate of food in front of him—Trent was Captain until tomorrow, when I'd take over.
"I haven't heard from Kooper. Randl hasn't reported anything. Same type of scene as before, except two family members were away when it happened. They're terrified and confused about the whole thing, and I'm sure Kooper's people are asking questions that don't make any sense to them."
"The Prop
het does that to people."
"Kooper was about to unravel," I said. "Randl sent mindspeech to Zaria. I'm glad she answered—she convinced Breanne to send Love to Kooper to calm him down."
"Zaria can communicate with the Mighty Heart?"
"Hmmph," Trent snorted. "Zaria can probably communicate with anyone she pleases."
"Can she communicate with the Prophet?"
"I could, but that could make things worse for everybody else—after all, people tend to retaliate against an easy target," Zaria appeared and took a seat across from the three of us.
"I didn't consider that," Sabrina blinked at Zaria. "If I could, I'd probably taunt him as much as I could in mindspeech, and then everybody would pay for it afterward."
"Yes. Exactly," Zaria nodded. "There's no reasoning with a madman, either. Anything can set them off."
"You think the Prophet is crazy?" I asked.
"I think he's programmed for it."
I didn't ask how that was possible—Zaria knew things I'd never know.
"How did you know we needed that information?" Sabrina asked.
"Nexus echo," Zaria smiled. "It's an old Larentii trick. Ask Lissa about it—she can do it, too."
"I can tell you—Mom told me," I offered.
"Okay—go ahead. I'm curious," Sabrina bumped my shoulder with hers.
"Mom says it's like setting an invisible spider web across the universes, and tuning it to a single thing—like a spoken name or a subject being discussed. Whenever that name or subject is spoken, it causes the web to vibrate, telling the Larentii where, when and who. It's their decision whether they wish to interact past that point."
"That must take a great deal of power," Sabrina breathed.
"It does. As things tend to go, only the most powerful, immortal races have the ability," Zaria explained. "Sadly, too, if a Sirenali is involved, they can mask those terms from anyone. We'll never hear the Prophet's minions addressing him, because of their unique talent for concealing themselves and those about them from the powerful."
"It's never easy, is it?" Trent asked.
"Hardly ever," Zaria replied. "While Gerrett keeps you hidden here, I am connected to him, and to your medallions. That enables nexus echo to work between us."
"It's like a vid game," Sabrina offered. "Every time you master one level, the next one is harder. Unless you design the game, and then you cheat," her laugh was humorless.
"Baby, did you do that?" I nudged her.
"Maybe."
Zaria smiled at Sabrina. "Keep working on this level, all right?" She reached across the table to pat Sabrina's hand. "The rest of us will do what we can, too. I have to go, now. Someone else is calling my name."
Zaria disappeared. Sabrina appeared stunned by the brief contact with Zaria—as if she'd been given an amazing gift. I slipped an arm around Sabrina's shoulders and drew her close. "Love, you, baby," I whispered against her hair.
I love you too, she breathed into my mind.
Trent, I sent, our girl just got mindspeech.
BlackWing XIII
Miz'Sandar Keel
After passing out from drinking too much, I woke in my own bed aboard XIII with a pounding headache.
I blamed Markus—and myself—for the headache.
I didn't regret the sleep I'd gotten between, however. Sleep had become elusive the longer Mae was missing.
I had vague memories of being carried by Markus, before we were transported away from BlackWing X. The next thing I recalled was Markus pulling off my boots after placing me on the bed.
Had I told him I loved him when he did that?
I couldn't remember, and considered it was a mistake if I had. Time to stop thinking—it only made my headache worse. Rolling off the bed, I staggered to the bathroom to find painkill. It would take half a bottle to dull this pain.
Once I had the headache under control, I'd compartmentalize things again, emotions included. Alcohol always muddled my good sense and let too many things wander out of sealed, mental boxes.
"Miz?" A knock sounded on my door, followed by David's voice.
"Come in—I'm looking for the painkill," I said, each word stabbing painfully into my brain.
"No worries," David said, opening the outer door as I poked my head out of the small bathroom. My vision was blurred; I struggled to make his image clear as he stood inside my cabin, hands on hips.
"Damn, dude, you look like hell," he said flatly. "Markus asked me to stop by to see if you wanted something to eat. He'll bring a tray if you do."
"I suppose I should eat something," I rumbled while attempting to get the cap off the painkill bottle.
"Let me," David held out a hand.
I gave the bottle to him without hesitation. "I'll let Markus know," he said, passing the opened container back to me. "I figure you have time to shower and wake up a little more before he gets here."
"Yes. Thank you," I said as David walked out the door and closed it behind him. Maybe I hadn't embarrassed myself in front of Markus after all.
One could only hope.
Pyrik
Randl
"Barely a tingle," I told Kooper as we studied the bodies found the day before.
"How can he do that?" Kooper asked the rhetorical question. "How can they be soaked in his stench one day, and barely anything the next? You'd think that if the Prophet wanted to pull the evidence away, he'd do it right after his targets died, instead of a day after."
"Has forensics or the examiners found anything?" I asked.
"No poisons, just as before," Kooper shook his head. "No other obvious diseases or injuries—except those inflicted right before their deaths."
"Like the Gant family."
"At least we stopped their waste from joining that of their neighbors, this time. We had everything inside the house shut down the moment we got the call."
"Maybe this will be easier to go through," I said.
"It'll certainly be less."
"There's that."
"Any connections between this family and the Gant family?" I asked.
"We're researching that, now. Quin has studied the images I sent to her—she said she saw nothing out of the ordinary—just a family preparing to have a meal together, then the violence came."
"Then this family, like the Gants, had no idea they'd been targeted. If they had, Quin would certainly find it."
"As would you," Kooper huffed.
"Quin may be better at it than I am—she's been doing it longer."
"So. No poison in the food, no evidence through the victims that they were a target, and we're following their recent footsteps, like we did with the Gant family. I worry we'll find nothing. Again."
"Director, there has to be something here; we merely don't know what we're looking for," I said. "We'll find it. We have to."
"I wish we'd hurry, then. This frustration is making the snake angry."
"How do you calm a snake down?" I asked.
"Not easily," he sighed. "If the Prophet were here, I imagine biting him a few dozen times would help a lot."
"He'd be dead by the fourth bite," I pointed out.
"But it would give me satisfaction to bite him more."
"Then everyone else would stand aside and allow it," I shrugged. "If the Director's not happy, nobody's happy."
"Damn straight." Kooper grinned for the first time in days. "Come on, there's a drink calling our names, I think."
"I haven't been here in a while," I said as we chose a table for four in New Fangled, Le-Ath Veronis' favorite vampire bar. I'd already seen in Kooper that Kell and Opal were joining us. I waited to see what Kooper wanted to discuss.
Those two—Kell, a modified vampire, and Opal, a powerful shapeshifter and member of the Hierarchy, often carried out undercover operations and research for Kooper.
"I assigned them to this case—to look into everything concerning the Gant and Lindom families. If there's something we missed, it's their job to find it," Kooper said as O
pal and Kell took their seats.
"We'll be coordinating with you, if we do find anything out of the ordinary," Kell told me. "We'd like you to stay in contact with us, too, if you come up with any ideas."
"I can do that," I agreed. "Want to be included in shipboard meetings, if we're covering the subject?"
"If we're available, yes," Opal said.
"Right now, Sabrina is working on a portable scanner," I told Kooper. "She's attempting to adjust it to search for DNA long distance, instead of elements or other substances."
"I don't know how that could be possible," Kooper said before motioning a waiting comesula over to take our orders.
I don't argue with Sabrina where technology is concerned, I said in mindspeech while Opal and Kell ordered their food.
I won't either, but it sounds far-fetched to me, Kooper replied before opening his mouth to order a steak sandwich and fries, plus a bourbon and soda.
"I'll take the Earth-burger, please, with mustard, lettuce, onion, tomato, pickles and cheese," I said when my turn came. "Also with fries and a Refizani Blue."
"I'll have your orders out soon," the comesula dipped his head to us and strode toward the kitchen.
"I'm starved," Kell smiled at Opal. Both were older than dirt, looked young and had waited centuries for the right person to come along.
A smile from Kell, as an ancient vampire, was a rare occurrence. I reckoned he saved most of those for Opal.
"I hear you have Nari and Tiri working on the kidnapping," Opal said.
"We do. They're occupied with locating the missing through more personal items," I explained as the comesula set our drinks on the table. Kooper had a sound shield around us, but it never hurt to take every precaution.
Personal items? Kell sent mindspeech.
Hair and such, I replied. I'm not exactly sure how their talent works, but I can't argue with the results they've gotten in the past.
Understood, Kell said, lifting his glass of bourbon. I held up my beer in a silent salute and we both drank.
BlackWing XIII
Nari
"This isn't like historical artifacts," I dropped onto a chair in our lab with a weary sigh. "We don't have a ready supply of paper or metal or anything else from a particular era to help us do the search," I added.
MindRogue Page 10
