Chapter 9
Shine feels himself involuntarily breathe sharply in relief when the doors of his temporary quarters finally close behind him. He's spent most of his day with Death's clevermen, 'helping' them out, while discreetly extracting data from their consoles onto his tablet.
A few days ago, he was given a bracelet, and told to wear it on his right wrist at all times. Shortly afterwards, the energy flow he observes shifted dramatically.
He takes a few steps into the room and fidgets aimlessly with the bracelet. It's made of metal, only the core of it, sitting directly on his enzyme vein, has the organic structure of Wraith technology, and he hasn't managed to figure out how it works. At least not without having to take it off, which he does not dare.
With a sigh, he lets himself sink down on his bed, flips on his stomach, and places his tablet in front of him, powers it up, and begins typing.
"My Queen,
I have discovered an array of interesting things during my stay on Death's Hive. She is working with the Vampires you mentioned, and it seems, they are combining their efforts on a technological level as well. My understanding of it is lackluster, as I am a Blade, not a Cleverman, but from what I gather, it is a telepathic weapon to assault our most basic, primal instinct – the need to feed.
The Vampires-..."
The sound of his doorbell has him flinching. He hides the unfinished message under his blanket, and gets up to answer the door.
It opens with a hiss, and Shine takes a step backward.
Before him stands a Vampire, dark haired, dark skinned, and littered with metal augmentations all over her face. Her uncomfortably blue eyes flicker up to him, and she wordlessly brushes past him, into his room, and closes the doors behind her.
"I've been watching you." she states, and he notices a similar implement to his bracelet around her neck. "I know what you're up to."
"I'm afraid I do not know what you're talking about." he attempts to deflect, but she shakes her head.
"You're an affiliate of Helena's, aren't you?" she accuses, and takes a step towards him. He backs off in response.
His feeding hand flexes, and his eyes dart around the room, for something to use as a weapon.
"Whom?" he asks, playing dumb, while being backed further into the wall by the Vampire.
"Death suspects you. Because you resist her. Says, you smell like..." she pauses, halting her approach. "...another Queen."
Shine feels his racing pulse in his throat.
"So what if I do? Are you going to kill me right here and now? Or will you tell the Queen?" he snarls at her, his off hand having managed to lock around his stunner's grip on his belt. He's certain he can take her in combat, if he gets one stun off at her.
"No." she responds, and her hand jerks forward, like an attacking snake, locking around his wrist and preventing him from drawing his weapon.
Their eyes lock, and he feels his slit pupils dilate.
"Tell me why you are here." she demands and he bares his teeth at her, which she immediately mirrors. "I am not your enemy." she adds.
His half-snarl fades in surprise and he stares, taken completely off guard.
"What?" he flatly asks, and she lowers her voice.
"I am Captain Myah, and I was once a powerful, proud warrior of my race. Death took that pride from me. I am her slave now, and it tears me apart." she explains herself. "I was in charge of the early experiments on the Unyielding Thirst. She made me use my own crew as subjects. I saw them starve before my eyes. But."
Taking another step closer, close enough for her nose to touch hers, she lets go of his off hand.
"I know that there is at least one ship that still resists. And I know that you're a mole. So tell me what you know, and we can work together."
Shine's breath hitches, and he backs off uncomfortably.
"The Unyielding Thirst?" he asks, equally hushed as her.
"Yes. That's why we wear these things." She flicks her finger against her necklace. "They make us immune to it. Everyone who does not wear it, and comes in range, if consumed by an all-encompassing, ravenous hunger, their minds tricked into believing it to be the real thing. Until their organs start shutting down, one by one."
His off hand snaps around the bracelet, and his eyes go wide. He feels a light prickle in his palm, akin to the tingling sensation someone might get from listening to someone talk about a crawling critter.
"She made you do this to your own people." he breathes.
"Yes. And I want to leave her in a pool of her own blood for it, but for now, we're both trapped in her net." Myah hisses. "Do you have a way of contacting your superiors?"
Shine inhales until his lungs ache, then lets the air out with a snarl.
"If you are playing me, I will personally rip this necklace off your body and watch you die." he warns her, then moves to his bed, and uncovers his tablet. "I was in the process of reporting to my Queen. My actual Queen."
"Ivory, I presume?" Myah asks. "She didn't bear that title when I last saw her."
"She took my Hive under her care recently." Shine feels his chest swell with pride at that.
Myah snags the tablet from him, and begins typing.
–
'My Queen,
I have discovered an array of interesting things during my stay on Death's Hive. She is working with the Vampires you mentioned, and it seems, they are combining their efforts on a technological level as well. My understanding of it is lackluster, as I am a Blade, not a Cleverman, but from what I gather, it is a telepathic weapon to assault our most basic, primal instinct – the need to feed.
The Vampires
Ivory, this is Captain Myah. Your spy and I are currently both confined to Death's Hive. Do not approach. Her new weapon will force you to your knees. In short – it will make you starve to death. We call it the Unyielding Thirst. I will do what I can to have your spy deployed on a planet with a Stargate, so that he may return to you. I will take his place.
Send Helena my regards, and my most sincere apology.'
Ivory finishes reading out the message, and sets her tablet down. Her, Helena, her Hive Master, Silverlight, Erinya and Guide are gathered in the small conference chamber, prompted by Shine's transmission.
"This is a good thing." Erinya says. "We know what it is that assaulted us, and we know that at least one Vampire is defying Death."
"We also know that Shine is alive and well." Silverlight adds, a hint of sharpness in his tone and the glance he shoots her.
"I did not doubt his ability to keep himself alive in this situation." Ivory steps in to snuff this budding conflict before it has time to become a problem.
"He did transmit a set of new data, too." Guide says. "With the information that this is a telepathic bio-weapon, we may be able to decrypt it into a format that makes sense for us."
"Shine writes that this weapon was made in collaboration with Vampires. It's likely that we never understood our data, because we did not take that into account. What we had so far was written in Wraith, but the base code seems to be Vampiric." Ivory adds, and hands the tablet to Silverlight.
"I can work with this, but not alone. I need the support of this ship's clevermen." he states, and Erinya nods hurriedly, seeing that Helena seems to be entirely somewhere else with her thoughts.
"That's no issue. You can stay here, and I'll help you with the code. Guide also has experience with Vampire technology, and in combination with the competence the both of you have with your own, we should be able to find a cure... or some way to make us immune."
"You were immune." Silverlight says, and she nods.
"That's because I never feed. I am constantly starving, but my high energy levels cancel the effects out. I did feel something, but my body negated it." she explains. "Which is good. Because me bringing us out of its range saved lives."
"That is nothing we can use to immunize ourselves." Guide chimes in, before Silverlight can say anything else on the matter. "Erinya's mutated genome is unique to her, and comes with a plethora of unpleasant side-effects."
"Consider that this brief brush with this weapon dealt us a heavy blow." Helena finally comes alive. "According to my damage report, we lost seventy-three lives in barely a minute of exposure. My ship is under crewed, and my people are divided by Death's threat. What I want to focus on for now, is Myah. She volunteered to take Shine's spot as our spy, but I do not think we can allow any of them to stay for much longer."
"What are you suggesting?" Guide asks, and Helena gets up from her seat.
"I suggest we have them gather as much data as they can, and then telling them to come home. Myah has influence, with her, we may be able to draw together what scattered remains of my kind aren't under Death's command yet." she responds, her voice sounding firm and proud. "Furthermore, we should utilize our new, lanthean friends, and give them the information we have. Love them or hate them, but we need them and their city."
"You still wish to cooperate with humans?" Silverlight hisses. "Did you not get from them what you needed?"
"We got Guide and Erinya safely home, yes. But Atlantis is a major political player in this Galaxy." Helena counters. "Their assistance might be vital to our survival."
"You cannot ask me to work with humans!" he snarls, but immediately backs down, when Ivory places her off hand on his shoulder.
"I can," she simply states, and it's enough to shut him up. Exchanging a glance with Helena, she continues. "Maybe it's time to introduce them to your Wraith contact, Helena."
"They do not treat their own contacts particularly well. Don't expect them to welcome you, or grant you basic trust." Guide warns her. "Especially not you. They keep me in shackles already, they will not be any more at ease in the presence of a Queen."
"Of course not. I, for one thing, am not planning to put myself completely at their mercy. I will remain on my Hive." No one misses the obvious jab, and Ivory rises from her seat. "Silverlight, you will stay here, and work on the Unyielding Thirst, with Guide and Erinya. I will take Helena with me to my Hive, and travel to Atlantis."
"Yes, my Queen." Silverlight barks.
"Wait... just a moment." Erinya stops her. "You intend to... fly there. With your Hive? They'll shoot your out of the sky before you can even open communications."
"I know. But Helena can announce me, can she not? They might not be happy about my entrance, but I do not do this to make them happy." Ivory responds, and walks past the table, taking Helena by the hand.
Queen and Queen Consort, Erinya catches herself thinking, and nods.
"You've got the command in my absence." Helena tells her, while walking out. "Remain here, if you can."
As soon as the door closes behind them, and uncomfortable silence hits the room. Erinya has the impression that Guide and Silverlight are arguing telepathically, simply because of their intense stare down.
A few seemingly endless seconds later, Silverlight averts his gaze with a scoff, and Erinya takes this as her cue to speak.
"Well. I believe we should get to work?"