Page 69 of Black Star

Make sure he gets here immediately.

I’ll bring him there myself.

Nani hesitated.Have you heard from Nadira? Is she OK?

Mikiel says she’s fine. She’s healing nicely. She wants to see you.

She sucked in a breath. Her one encounter with her daughter had been rushed and unsure. Neither of them had known what to do. Nani desperately wanted to see Nadira, but she wanted to do it with Darian at her side. That was important to her, but if her daughter wanted her, she would not wait. Nadira had been put off long enough.

I want to see her too, Damon. Is she able to come here, or does she need a day or so to rest?

It would probably be best to give her a few days. Mikiel thinks she needs some time to get her strength back. He said he wants her to enjoy her time and make the most of it. He also knows you’ve got big things going that you need to finish.

Nani let her head fall forward. These people were simply amazing. All of them were so selfless and understanding.

I always knew you were a good man, Damon. I’m glad to see my daughter found a man just as wonderful.

He’s good to her, Nani. I wouldn’t tell you that if it weren’t true.

I know. She smiled. She really did know. Mikiel was a good man. Both she and Darian were thankful Nadira had found him. It was ironic too, given Mikiel was from the Asalian Coalition and Nadira was, for all intents and purposes, the daughter of the leader of the Vok’nair Empire. Just like her and Darian.

Thanks. Thanks for looking after her.

It was my pleasure. I owed you that much.

You owe me nothing. Any debt I might have once tried to claim you’ve more than returned by raising my daughter.

Nani took several deep breaths. This was all so overwhelming, and there seemed to be no end in sight. Even now, she waited. One crisis after another.

It wasn’t long before Damon helped an elderly man into Dr. Zabin’s office. His white hair hung in long, dirty strands, and he had a wild look about him.

“Pardell Grimm?” Nani looked from the old man to Damon.

“I am, indeed.” His words were slurred, and he seemed not to focus on anyone or anything. “Pardell Grimm. Das me.”

Nani looked at Damon, who shrugged. Dr. Zabin nodded his head and advanced on her. “That’s just great, Nani. What exactly is this old drunk supposed to do?”

“He designed the chip, doctor. He’s the only hope I’ve got of saving Darian and uniting the Asalian Coalition and the Vok’nair Empire.”

“My dear.” Grimm staggered toward her. “You look somewhat familiar.” He still slurred his words, but his eyes were focused and bright. Intelligence glistened there, but he continued to bumble around, going so far as to stumble into Nani so that she had to catch him. She scratched her arm on a huge ring on his finger and inhaled sharply, but did her best to steady him. “So sorry. How clumsy of me.” He immediately looked at the ring she’d left a fair amount of her skin on.

Nani was dumbfounded. She wanted to burst into tears. She wanted to laugh. Of all the things she expected, this was the last. The man was definitely chemically enhanced.

She was about to tell Dr. Zabin to continue with his work when Pardell Grimm suddenly changed completely.

“I’m sorry.” He grinned. “Blood sample. I had to make sure you were actually you. Well, as much you as you could possibly be considering I helped bury you twenty years ago.”

“This has got to be the strangest day I’ve ever had in my life.” Nani collapsed into a nearby chair. “All I want is to get my man out of stasis, take him to my room, and fuck like rabbits. Can no one understand that?” Damon turned away, but not before Nani watched him cover his smile with a hand. “Oh, stop it. It’s not like you don’t do that from time to time with your woman. I happen to know for a fact you make so much noise you alarm the whole ship.”

“Um, right. Yes, yes. Well.” Grimm cleared his throat. “Anyway. Your DNA is the same as that of the woman I helped imprison within this ship. I can only assume the good doctor here is responsible for undoing all that damage we did.” He sounded apathetic, but the look in his eyes told a different story. This man was haunted by what he’d done, but had grown accustomed to hiding it. “I understand, however, you’re having trouble with the chip?” This last question was directed to Dr. Zabin.

“It’s too old for me to be able to extract the DNA without destroying whatever else is on it. Can you help?”

“Sure.” Grimm grinned, walked over to the doctor’s workstation, and picked up the second chip. “Use yours to extract his DNA. I’ll use this one to extract the data.”

Dr. Zabin blinked. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Why, no.” The old man grinned. “Only the DNA needed to be kept separate. It was actually essential the data be the same on both in case one was destroyed. I’d have put both sets of DNA on each chip, but I didn’t have enough time to develop a method.”

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