Page 28 of Monstrous Hunt
“Noooo.” Lohr drew the word out, slightly garbled since his tongue still touched my knee. Maybe he’d forgotten since he was so deep in thought. Or maybe he’d decided to keep touching—tasting—me since I didn’t flinch away. Either way, I didn’t mind, but I caught Axxol staring, his jaw flexing, cords straining in his neck. “I still have the analysis from the samples I took. Balaenoptera, kamacite, and technetium.”
“With just enough traces of pyrazine to confirm there had been Myrm at the site,” Snryx added. “There were no traces leading away from the debris, so the mrion didn’t escape the crash.”
“What are all those words?” I asked. “I want to understand what you’re talking about.”
“Balaenoptera is an organic deep-space creature very much like your whales, except it primarily digests minerals on barren asteroids, which explains the kamacite and technetium,” Lohr replied. “We were created to annihilate deposits of Myrm before they can spread and contaminate an entire planet. They have several forms that allow them to spread without detection, until they find a primary host where they can begin replication.
“Mrions are the smallest form, practically impossible for us to detect. Even Kroktl’s infrared vision can’t find a single mrion because it’s too fucking small. Even their DNA is hard to identify and track because they fragment so easily. Since they’re nano particles at that stage, the only way we know for sure that Myrm are present is the chemical trail they leave behind. It’s their signature, and the more mrions present, the bigger the trail.”
“Oh wow.” My brain sparked with new information, lighting up like a circuit board. “A trail—like a pheromone?”
“Exactly,” Snryx replied. “They lay down scent trails for other deposits of Myrm to follow, while replicating at the same time. Mrions replicate exponentially fast but they’re not the biggest Myrm threat.”
Nibbling on my lip, I frowned. “Follow to what?”
“Food.”
Gulp. “Animals? Wildlife?”
Snryx shook his head. “Myrm prefer to feed on the most sentient species on a planet. They need that intelligence, warping instincts and behaviors as long as possible while the mrions multiply.”
I gaped at him for a moment. “So someone on Earth could be infected with these mrions right now?”
He shrugged but his coils remained stiff. “Unlikely.”
“But possible,” Lohr clarified.
“Yeah,” Snryx sighed. “Mrions are damned near impossible to detect, which is why they’re sent out to find new planetary targets. A biologic of that Balaenoptera’s size could have held trillions of mrions.”
“Right.” Axxol’s voice dripped with sarcasm and nastiness, his mouth twisted like he’d tasted something wretched. “Which is red flag number one. Why would a biologic that large be used for a small deposit of mrions in the first place? But that’s not the only thing I noticed.” He paused, his lips clamping in a fierce slash. His jaws ground furiously.
Rizan inhaled softly. “You detected Sirian cells.”
I thought Axxol was just being a dickhead on purpose, dragging out the information he possessed in a battle for control of the squad. A pissing contest with Kroktl, or a last-ditch effort to prove his worth. But the way purple bled away from Snryx’s tentacles, while Lohr’s tongue snapped up to slap against his teeth, told me it wasn’t a ploy. Even if I didn’t entirely understand what was wrong. “What does that mean?”
Kroktl made the low, fierce cough that vibrated through his entire body. “Draco-Sirius Command owns all Sirian technology. So if Sirian cells were present, HQ sent them.” He dragged me up out of the chair, wrapping his arms around me as if he’d shield every inch of me with his own body. “They meant to exterminate humans before I found you, baby.”
“They know.” I couldn’t stop shaking. “About me.”
13
KROKTL
I’d never been so furious in all my life—while also dead calm. She needed me at my brutal best. So did the squad. I couldn’t race ahead and start slaughtering anyone—yet.Not until we know who’s behind this.
“Not you specifically,” Rizan said. “I’ve been monitoring all channels out of Earth. Anything that might indicate other squads are here. Nothing has made it off Earth to HQ since Axxol blew our original grid. The second squad at the cave might have uploaded data—but they couldn’t have gotten much intel on us through all that rock.”
“But HQ had to know what could happen,” Snryx said. “If they were already having a hard time controlling Kroktl’s hormone levels, then why would they send us here to fail? The presence of compatible females only sent him into overdrive.”
“It’s a fucking set up,” Axxol retorted. “We’re the best—but also the least trustworthy. They frame us with failing to eliminate a Myrm infestation and send a new, improved squad to eliminate us. That way they eradicate risky tech while also exterminating the greatest threat to DSC that nobody even fucking knows about.”
“Wait a second,” Natalie broke in. “How are humans their greatest threat? They’re trying to exterminateus.”
“Humans aren’t just compatible mates,” Lohr replied. “You’re fertile. Your youngling now carries Sirian cells that aren’t owned, controlled, and manipulated by DSC.”
:And now your mate carries free Sirian cells as well,:Snryx warned.:Your DNA has been mingling with hers as well as the embryo’s.:
:A fucking liability,:Axxol said.:Especially in an inferior mate.:
