Hotbloods 6: Allies

“Let’s hope so. Although, I might increase the shield strength, just in case—don’t want any stray scanners picking us up,” Bashrik said nervously, putting the ship into stealth mode.

Peering through the windshield at the approaching solar system, the sight now familiar to me, I wondered what we’d find when we got closer to Vysanthe. I had no love for Gianne, but I still held on to a fragment of respect for Brisha. I wasn’t sure what I wanted the outcome to be—I didn’t want it to be either of them, to be honest, sitting triumphantly on top of a mountain of dead soldiers and civilians. Then again, what if neither of them had won the war yet? What if it was still dragging out? I couldn’t bring myself to say which scenario I thought was better, because they were both awful.

Then, there was the elixir to think about. Ezra stealing Yorrek’s notebook was a gut-wrenching thorn in our side, but what if one of the queens had managed to make progress without it? What if they were already rallying an army of invincible fighters, ready to take on the universe? My imagination was running away with me a little bit, but I had to be prepared for every possible outcome. Unfortunately, that was one of them.

A loud crash shattered the peace of the slow-moving vessel, my head whipping around at the sound of it. It was a single explosive clatter, then silence, coming from the back of the ship.

“What was that?” I whispered, just as Xiphio popped his head into the cockpit, frightening us all.

He wore a worried expression on his scaly brow. “Did you hear that?” he asked, his gills flapping wildly.

“You’d have to be deaf not to!” I replied, reeling from the surprise of his sudden appearance.

“Quite right, Miss Riley. I thought it might be my Fed paranoia, always making something out of nothing,” he explained sheepishly. “Would you care to assist me in an investigation?”

I glanced at Navan, who didn’t seem too perturbed by the noise. “You want to come?”

“No, you go ahead. I’m going to stay here with Ronad and program the ship’s comms to pick up on the news transmissions,” he said, turning toward the control panel.

He’d been spending less time with me since our discussion in the bedroom, about his past and his secrets, exacerbating the clawing sense of doubt that lingered within me. I couldn’t stop feeling like he was holding something back from me, especially since he kept going missing. I’d been waking up in the night to find him gone again, or he’d be up and out before I’d even awoken. At least here I knew where he was.

“Okay, we’ll let you know if we find anything,” I said, with forced brightness.

“I love you,” he replied unexpectedly, turning back over his shoulder for a moment.

I smiled. “I love you, too.”

With that, I followed Xiphio out of the cockpit and into the main space, moving toward the right-hand corridor. It was hard to tell which direction the noise had come from, but it had definitely rumbled up from the back of the ship. I was surprised that nobody else had come out to join us, though it was still pretty early. Plus, since the party, Bashrik and Angie had discovered a new level of nauseating romance, keeping themselves locked away until noon, emerging in a glowing haze with goofy grins on their faces.

“I’m really not fond of this part of the universe,” Xiphio mumbled as we headed for the engine room, which was tucked away down a hatch at the farthest end of the right-hand hallway.

“What, Vysanthe?”

He nodded. “I’ve never enjoyed their politics or their people, although the ones aboard this ship are rather pleasant. In fact, they may have changed my entire perspective on coldbloods and their ways,” he said cheerfully. “I’m still extraordinarily concerned about what you told me, however—about the rebels on Earth. They seem more like the coldbloods I’m used to. Saying that, Miss Riley, I cannot fathom how it was permitted to occur. Even if the lycans posted there couldn’t deal with the intrusion themselves, they ought to have rallied the troops and called for backup. It’s their moral duty to do so—it’s written in the Universal Federal Rulebook.”

“Maybe they didn’t have the resources,” I suggested. “The Fed always seem pretty reluctant to get involved where Vysantheans are concerned. I guess they wanted to avoid a fight. Either that, or they didn’t want to risk bringing the queens to Earth.”

“You could be right, Miss Riley. A coldblood horde is not easy to contend with, for anyone,” he replied. “Even so, how it was allowed to happen in the first place is a great mystery. They must have discovered a loophole of some sort. Or had help.”

“You think there might be a dirty agent in the lycan headquarters?” It wasn’t something I’d thought about seriously, but it made sense. All this time, I’d presumed the lycans had been too few to do anything about it, or lacked the resources to even notice the rebel base, but now I wasn’t so sure.

“It’s certainly something to muse upon, though I cannot think of a single one of my Fed brethren who would defy their calling in such a manner. It’s more likely that they had grown lazy, tucked away in an isolated corner of the universe, with very little to do,” he reasoned. “A sad state of affairs, but I have seen it happen.”

I knew he was proud of his job, but there was something na?ve about Xiphio. He didn’t seem to think it was possible that an agent could be a betrayer, but I thought differently.

“Do you have any sway with the other Fed agents in your branch?” I asked, more determined than ever to get ourselves some new allies.

Xiphio tilted his head from side to side. “I might, now that I have Stone in custody. He shall be my shining trophy, to win back my reputation,” he said triumphantly. “If I can get him to tell the truth, then all may be forgiven. They might even start giving me the good jobs again!”

I nodded along, trying to show some enthusiasm, but I wasn’t sure how to feel about what he was saying. The thing was, I had a bargain with Stone, to set him free in exchange for his help, but then I’d offered Xiphio Stone’s capture, to win back favor with the Fed. Obviously, I couldn’t deliver both. I guessed I’d really managed to get myself stuck between a Stone and a hard place. I just hoped I’d have time to get out of my predicament, one way or another.

Pausing to pick up weapons, we moved the rest of the way down the right-hand corridor, coming to the hatch in the ground. I lifted the panel and urged Xiphio to go first, and the two of us clambered down the ladder into the belly of the ship. The engines were relatively quiet, purring along steadily, though it was hot as hell down here, my forehead beading with sweat within a few minutes.

“You see anything?” I asked, but Xiphio shook his head.

“Nothing so far.”

Puzzled, I weaved around the various hulking blocks of machinery, wincing as the hot metal accidentally grazed my skin. The engine room stretched the entire width of the vessel, so I knew my room was somewhere above my head. Seeking it out, I clambered up onto a box and peered through one of the slender vents, seeing the familiar sight of my bedroom above. I half expected someone to jump out at me, or an eye to appear in front of me, the way they did in horror movies, but there was nothing but the peace and quiet of my chambers.

Undeterred, I made my way back through the engine room, sneaking up to every shadowed corner, before whipping around it, hoping to take someone by surprise. The only person I managed to startle was Xiphio, who’d been creeping in the opposite direction.

“Oh! You’ve made my gills flutter!” he cried, clutching his chest.

“Sorry, Xiphio… I didn’t see you there,” I replied, before moving off again.

For a crash that loud, there should have been some sign of impact, but there was nothing to speak of—no tumbled boxes or broken machinery pieces. It made me wonder if the noise had come from the rooms above, though I was a bit wary of peering through vents, in case I saw something I didn’t want to see. Even so, I looked through every available gap, but I couldn’t find a single thing out of the ordinary.