Page 28 of Kazmyr: Molten for Her
Jenna's fingers dug into my forearm, her touch grounding me even as battle-fury threatened to consume my thoughts. The golden marks I'd left on her skin during our bonding pulsed in perfect sync with my own ember patterns, our connection now visible for any who dared to look.
"All those signals," she whispered, eyes fixed on the data streams flooding the display. "Those are people. Mates."
Thousands of genetic signatures poured from the fortress, each one representing a stolen life, a broken bond. Human DNA featured prominently, Earth's people harvested like crops for Asset P's twisted experiments. The knowledge that Jenna could have been among them—would have been among them, if not for our intervention—made my marks blaze hot enough to scorch the console beneath my palms.
Heartforge responded to my rage, engines howling as we cut through the final layer of debris. The ship wasn't merely a vessel; it was an extension of my will, my fury, my determination to burn away this corruption. We dove toward the fortress's blind spot, a structural weakness Silvyr had identified from stolen schematics.
"Incoming transmission," Silvyr announced, his silver form flickering with alarm. "All channels. It's?—"
A chorus of voices flooded the bridge… human voices, Earth accents, each one twisted into a mocking parody of concern.
"Patient Jenna Maple, please report to decontamination. Your treatment awaits."
"Fire Inspector Maple, your presence is required at the Vorthar containment facility. The alien specimen is unstable."
"Subject K-1, your human complement has been deemed incompatible. Termination authorized."
Jenna flinched against me, her face draining of color. "Those are?—"
"Earth voices," I confirmed, ember marks pulsing with protective rage. "Asset P is broadcasting on all frequencies."
"It knows us," she whispered, horror dawning in her eyes. "It knows everything about us."
Silvyr's projection stabilized, his silver skin etched with scrolling code that moved faster than even I could track. "Not everything. Not yet. But it's been monitoring all Agency communications, harvesting data on every mate pairing for decades."
The fortress loomed larger in our viewport, its surface rippling as defensive arrays tracked our approach. Even with Reality cloaking—Silvyr's experimental tech that bent light and sensor readings around our hull—we couldn't remain invisible forever.
"Impact in three," I announced, pulling Jenna tighter against me. "Hold fast."
Heartforge shuddered as we struck the outer hull, specially reinforced prow punching through layers of alien metal. The sound of tearing steel vibrated through the deck plates, a metallic scream that set my teeth on edge. Emergency protocols engaged automatically, the ship's systems adjusting to maintain atmosphere as we created our own airlock in the enemy's hide.
"Breach successful," Silvyr confirmed, his voice tense with concentration. "I'm detecting life signs throughout the structure… most in stasis, concentrated in the lower levels."
Jenna's body tensed against mine. "The other mates."
I nodded grimly, ember marks pulsing with renewed purpose. "We free them after we destroy Asset P."
"If we destroy it," she corrected, ever the pragmatist despite the fear I could smell on her skin. "No plan survives first contact."
My lips curved in a humorless smile. "This one will. It must."
The docking seal hissed as pressure equalized between Heartforge and the fortress. I rose from the command seat, bringing Jenna with me, unwilling to separate even for a moment. The marks along my arms and chest brightened, internal temperature rising in preparation for combat. Even the cooling beads around my neck had gone dormant, unable, or unwilling to suppress the inferno building inside me.
Silvyr's projection followed us to the airlock, his silver form flickering with anxious energy. "I'll guide you from here, maintain communications, and keep Heartforge ready for extraction. The central control node is seventeen levels down, heavily shielded against conventional weapons."
"Not against me," I rumbled, ember marks pulsing with deadly promise.
Jenna checked the small disruptor at her hip, a modified Agency weapon Silvyr had adapted to her specifications. Her eyes met mine, fierce and determined despite the danger we faced.
"Together," she said simply.
The airlock cycled open. We stepped into hell.
The fortress corridors stretched before us, pulsing with sickly light that seemed to crawl across the walls like living tissue. The air smelled wrong… sterile yet somehow rotten, as if decay had been chemically scrubbed but never truly eliminated. Our footsteps echoed unnaturally, the sound bouncing back distorted and wrong.
"Life signs strongest two levels down," Silvyr's voice murmured through our comm patches. "Stasis chambers, hundreds of them."
We moved quickly through the twisting passageways, encountering no resistance. The emptiness was more unsettling than any guard force would have been. Asset P knew we were here, was broadcasting directly to us, yet made no move to stop our advance. It was waiting. Watching.
