Chapter 46

Hawke found Judd in the corridor heading towards his and Brenna's quarters. He didn't want to hold him up again as he had done so many times during the last weeks. But he didn't really have a choice. The man was his best source on anything that went on in the Psy world at the moment, so he had roped him in for a lot of tasks lately. Because they had to know what was going on. Anything related to the Psy tended to bleed over to the other races, especially if it was connected to violence.

"Judd! I need you to come over to the cats with me. Faith has seen something and they'll only discuss it in person. It has to do with the Psy Net."

That could only mean something really big was going on and something probably really dangerous. Judd turned on his heel and followed the alpha. He'd text Brenna on the way. She would be pissed but she'd also understand. And he really liked making up to her. To Hawke he said: "We need to talk with them about Alice Eldridge too."

"Anything new on her strange reaction to the files? Tell me on the way." The corridor they were taking was empty so they could talk freely.

"Dorian found something on that cryo-company named KRYONIK. As I suspected it is connected to Kaleb Krychek, quite directly even: He inherited it from his family group. I haven't given Dorian any more intel when I made him research the company." And Dorian hadn't asked so far. He wouldn't however keep any information connected to a Council member from his own alpha. "But now the leopards will want to know what's going on."

"No problem there," was Hawke's instant response. The alliance between the packs had strengthened over the last years. Their common enemies had tried to divide them but only welded them closer together. "Didn't know there is a Krychek family group though."

"There isn't. But there was. The Krychek business group specialized in biotechnology. The family was comparably weak, financially. But they got a little bigger during the cryo-boom." At the beginning of the new millennium a lot of people had been lured in by the thought of immortality. "The corporation with the name KRYONIK was the branch that offered cryogenic conservation of human and Psy bodies." There was no question changelings would have ever requested such services. They were too attuned to nature. And as hard as it might be at times: Death was a part of life. None of them would ever try to evade that natural law in such a way. "After expanding in that area they got also quite big in other biotechnological products and services. Until the business was closed about fifty years ago. On the surface it seems to have gone down with numerous other companies of the kind, when cryonic suspension was banned." After decades of freezing people no one ever came up with how to successfully unfreeze them. So people had slowly lost faith in the false – and very expensive – promise of cryonics. And in the end it had been made illegal by all governments. "According to what Dorian found so far the only thing that's left today is a trust fund that secures the continuation of the cryonic contracts, in case it's ever possible to bring people back on a larger scale."

They had reached the garage of the den and headed for one of the pack SUVs.

"Why did they stop the whole business, when they still had the other branches?" Hawke asked as he opened the door to the vehicle.

Judd answered entering on the passenger side. "We were wondering the same. There must have been quite a lot of resources left even when cryonics turned unprofitable. But all of those vanished from any accessible data source. The only other thing Dorian found until now is that the family line was slowly dying out. Kaleb is the only successor."

"A Psy family dying out? Don't they reproduce with scientific precision? And if they were into biotech, they should have had it down to perfection."

"That's what I thought too. But then I remembered what my contact told me when he handed me Alice: He said he found her in an experimental chamber of a scientist who had a psychotic breakdown and killed himself and his family, while also destroying his research in the process. I don't know how big the family group was, but if the mental problems ran in the family, that might be another reason they vanished."

"What?!" Hawke had been about to start the engine when the full impact of Judd's explanation hit. "Great! So you're saying it's possible your fucking contact and the most powerful Psy on earth is a descendant of a family of lunatics and he had Alice Eldridge practically in his fridge?" Although Judd had shared the secret of the Ghost's identity with Hawke, he had still stuck to talking about Judd's contact. The information was dangerous enough that he hadn't wanted to risk anyone else ever overhearing a conversation that revealed it. Right now he was shocked enough to forget about it for a second.

Judd however stayed calm. He had expected an emotional reaction. That was why he had waited to tell him until they were alone. It wouldn't do good, if the alpha scared his pack mates with his outburst. "We are trying to research that. But Dorian said he already strained the borders of legality getting that information. He wanted to talk to Lucas before he digs any deeper."

"Good thing then, we're talking to them anyway." He finally started the car and drove off towards DarkRiver territory.

"Will you reveal the Ghosts true identity to Lucas?" Judd knew he had given up control over the information, when he told Hawke. His loyalty to the pack had demanded it at some point. And now it was a decision the changeling alpha had to make on his own, if he shared it with the leopards. The impact would be substantial, since once the DarkRiver alpha knew so would Sascha Duncan, who was daughter to one of the Councilors. And there the information would possibly link back to the Net. The outcome would be unpredictable and more than dangerous for everyone involved.

"At this point it is not absolutely necessary. So not yet." He'd have to take the risk that the cats would be really pissed when that point arrived and they found out he'd been holding back information. "Damn Psy and their war. – No offense intended! – But right now this is driving a thorn in our alliance. And that pisses me off. Luc won't appreciate being kept in the dark for his own protection."

"He has a child now. Maybe that changes things."

Hawke snorted. "If you really believe that you still don't know us." But silently he wondered if Judd was right. Until he had mated with Sienna, he had never given a thought to how a child would change a man.