Page 73 of Black Star

“He knew of your interest in biotechnology, and he knew you were good enough to make good on your research. He twisted your quest for immortality into the ultimate death sentence.” Damon pleaded with the doctor while Nani listened intently. Something inside her wanted to believe Dr. Zabin wasn’t as willing a participant as she believed him to be at first.

“Tell me exactly what happened, Dr. Zabin,” she said. Darian had sat back on the table but held her hand firmly now. He gave her access to his mind, and she knew he felt stronger. He wanted this story, too. Though he knew the doctor’s emotional state at the time of the original procedure -- one of horror and a disbelief he was actually doing something like that to another human being -- there were still many unanswered questions.

“I was told I’d be testing my theory that a human brain could actually be transplanted into a cyborg machine. I was told I’d be performing the test on criminals sentenced to death for crimes so unspeakable they weren’t made known to the general public. I questioned whether people like that deserved a second chance at life, and I was told even if they survived, once the study was over they’d be terminated anyway. It was better not to use good people for the study phase of the experiment.

“Of course, I recognized Darian right away. I immigrated from the Asalian Coalition after medical school and Darian, being the son of the president, was always in the public eye. Naturally, I refused to do the procedure…” His voice trailed away and, if possible, he looked even more anguished than before.

Darian grunted. Nani felt his distress even as the images flooded her mind, and she cried out. The pain in her chest and stomach was so great, she doubled over. She was going to vomit. She couldn’t hear another second of this. Even as the images of Mahat Zabin’s family being slaughtered one by one played through her mind like a vid image on continuous playback, she ran from the room. That same room she’d seen on the computer screen in her cabin earlier was truly a hall of horrors. She knew Darian followed but she couldn’t wait for him. She ran to her quarters and into the bathroom where she vomited violently.

She severed her link with Darian, but it was too late. She saw a tearful and begging Zabin doing as he was told until both she and Darian were encased in their new “bodies,” only instead of android bodies, they had computer casings. What had happened next she was spared, only to know Zabin had left Vok’nair space as soon as he’d been able. It wasn’t until Nadira had gone aboard theBlack Starthat he’d returned. He’d gotten himself on board as one of three doctors and quietly waited for an opportunity to right everything he’d done wrong.

A warm body pressed against her back and a cool, damp cloth was held to her forehead while she got her stomach back under control.

“I’m sorry, my love. I wasn’t prepared for it, either. I’d have blocked you if I’d known.” Darian held her hair back from her face with one large hand. She took the cloth from him and blotted her sweating face and neck, spitting out the last remaining nastiness in her mouth. He stood and ordered a glass of water, then handed the cool, synthesized liquid to her. She gulped it down greedily.

“It’s probably on the video, too. How can I show that to the people when I can’t stand to watch it myself?”

Darian thought for a moment. “Perhaps you only need to show it to one person.”

“Samair.”

Darian nodded. “That, combined with Admiral Amos’s support, may be enough for him to voluntarily step aside.”

“We’re talking about a monster, Darian.”

“We’re talking about a man who did horribly nasty things in the name of gaining power when he was fifty years old.”

Nani blinked. “I’d forgotten how much older than me he was. My father hadn’t seemed to think much of it at the time.”

“From what I’ve found out, your father may not have had much of a choice.”

“True. Samair had contacts high in the inner government. Even though my father was king, he still had to answer to the parliament. Once Samair had his sights set on being king, his only choice was to marry me, since, as my father’s only child, I stood to inherit the kingdom.”

“I hate to say this, but he probably knew you and I were seeing each other even after your marriage. You carrying my child would be the perfect excuse to be rid of you.”

Nani wiped her mouth one last time and stood. She looked into his eyes as the last piece of the puzzle clicked into place. “It’s not just that, Darian.” She laid the cloth on the counter and brushed past him into the living area of her quarters. The computer screen still showed her terrified and agonized face where Grimm and Amos had left it. “I’m betting Samair couldn’t father a child by me, or any other woman.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I’m not sure. I only know that he and I never consummated our marriage.”

“Wait. He never had sex with you, and you didn’t think something was wrong?”

“I was twenty at the time, Darian.” She laughed a little, needing the tension break. “The only thing I was concerned about was avoiding him. I knew he only wanted my title. I figured he just didn’t care about sex with me. Even when he had the baby tested to prove parentage, I didn’t say anything. We both knew that child wasn’t his, but I thought if I said so, that would just make things worse.”

“Which it would have,” Darian quickly supplied, pacing the room, obviously thinking. Then he stopped. “So, it was his plan all along to get rid of you. What does that tell us we don’t already know?”

Nani shrugged. “I’m sure he didn’t want the whole kingdom finding out he was sterile, or worse, impotent.”

“And by getting rid of you, he destroyed the one person who could have hinted at either of those things, and he got an heir to the throne with his name. He was assured immortality through his descendants.”

“Could all of this have been about a quest for the throne? It just seems so…” Nani struggled for the right word.

“Trivial?”

“Well, at the very least it was supreme overkill.”

“Who knows what he was thinking?” Darian shrugged. “What matters now is making sure that record of events gets in the right hands to pull Samair from the throne.”

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