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“That is not life,” I stated in disgust. One of the mutants came to the glass screen that separated them from us. She put her one good hand against the glass and mouthed the words ‘Help me.’
I wanted to puke. What did I get involved in? Did Jocelyn want me alive to turn me into one of them? I made a vow to myself that I would die first.
“Don’t worry,” said Jocelyn, coming up behind me and ripping the stasis box from my hands. “That will not be your fate. I have another use for you,” she claimed.
“You’re sick, Jocelyn,” I said. “You need help. What you’re doing here is so far from okay I don’t even have words to express it.”
Jocelyn just smiled. “Nonsense,” she said. “I tried to make them virtually immortal. Who doesn’t want to be immortal?” she added.
“At what cost?” I asked. “This is not life for them. Death would be a kindness.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t need to continue with my experiments once I extract the essence from this little baby,” she said, removing the beautiful flower from its stasis box. “You weren’t aware of its power, were you, stupid woman?” she spat. “You had the universe’s most treasured gift in the palm of your hand, and you never even knew it.”
“If it’s a treasure to you, then I certainly wouldn’t want anything to do with it anyway,” I retorted.
“Don’t be like that,” she said placatingly. “Come, help me. I will give you both a history and a science lesson while we work.”
It wasn’t really until that point that I took in the rest of the lab. There was a cold steel inspection table at the center of the well-lit room. From the ceiling above hung various hooks and wires and tubes containing fluorescent-colored liquids. I cursed my vivid imagination as I tried to tear my eyes away.
“Fetch me those vials over there,” she said while clamping the bloom into a clear glass dome. “Yes, those ones there.”
I picked up the vials she indicated. I was pretty sure they were meant to be sterile, so I swiftly spat on my finger and wiped it around the inside while her back was turned. I didn’t know if it would do any good, but I had to try something.
“This innocent-looking flower is the key to immortality,” Jocelyn told me dreamily. “It was once sacred to a race of people called the Endorians. They discovered that if you extracted the essential oils from this flower and drank them, you could achieve immortality.”
She placed the two vials in two slots beneath the glass dome and then adjusted some of the dials on the side of it.
“However, all things come at a cost, as the Endorians discovered,” she continued. “The price was that to maintain life, you must extract life. Amongst us humans, we have an ancient folklore of vampires. People who had to drink blood to survive.”
“I know what a vampire is,” I replied coolly. I heard the Vinduthi called that, all the time. But that wasn’t the case. Draven was warm, and alive. And if I couldn’t survive this, I’d never be at his side again. “Nothing but old wives tales.”
“Not so, Elara,” Jocelyn replied. “The Endorians came to many worlds, and their story is embedded in many cultures. You see, once all of the Endorians drank the essence of their brothers, there was no one but the ‘turned’ left to feed from. So they went out into the universe to quench their hunger. Alas, it lasted only for a short while. You see, they needed someone of their own species to feed from. Other races could sustain them briefly, but not indefinitely.”
I stood, watching the liquid from the tubes drip into the glass vials. As it did so, the perfect bloom withered. “You think that if you drink that you will become immortal?” I asked in disgust.
“This is the last remaining flower that has been found. The Endorians’ home planet and source for this plant was destroyed recently in the Farana Wars. If I drink this, I will not only be immortal, but I will be one of a kind. There are a million trillion humans scattered across the galaxy, and no one cares what happens to them. I will never run out of food.” Her smile was dark as she turned to look at me pointedly.
“No!” I said. I made a desperate grab to try and dislodge the vial from under the glass dome. With fierce satisfaction, I watched it tumble to the ground and smash, its precious contents spilling across the floor.
To my surprise, Jocelyn laughed. “You foolish woman,” she crowed. “That was the wrong vial. That merely contained the water that is extracted alongside the oil.”
I looked in horror at the other vial and the glowing mauve liquid it contained. I knew in my heart that her words were true. I backed away, but Jocelyn didn’t look up. She intently watched the vial slowly fill with the potent liquid.
I glanced around. The two guards by the door were not paying me any attention. I leaped across the room, grabbing a chair on my way past, and then hurled it at the unsuspecting guards. The two Ewani went down in a tangle of arms and legs, and I thanked Celestia that the door from the inside was controlled by a palm switch.
I slammed my palm into it and was through the portal the moment it opened wide enough. Straight into the fist of one of the Nazok guards who stood outside.
I opened my eyes blearily a few moments later, realizing I was back in the lab. Fuck, he hit me hard. He knocked me clean out.
Oh, please, Draven. Come and find me,I thought hopelessly.
DRAVEN
Iloaded the plasma ammunition into my pistol and holstered it. I ran a finger along the edge of my dagger, drawing a smidge of blood from my hand. Sheathing the knife, I concealed it underneath my jacket, where it stuck like glue to an armor plate hidden beneath my clothes.
It was only minutes since the attack, but I felt the absence of Elara like an ache in my side.
Once I was ready, I turned around to face my men. It was just my unit, my comrades from the war, our bond lasting from the battlefield to this life here on Thodos. This was personal. Despite my desperation to get Elara back as quickly as possible, I knew I shouldn’t involve Alkard and the rest of the family unless it touched on syndicate business.
