Dekkir (Galaxy Alien Warriors #1)(45)
Norcross stiffened, his mouth closing suddenly. I fought down a smile. Norcross had already organized three attacks on the world below us, and apparently, none had been authorized. I could only wonder how much Wickman had been drinking to not notice . . . or what drugs Norcross had slipped into his drink to ensure his obliviousness.
The guards sat me down in one of the chairs in front of the commander’s desk and fastened my manacles to its arms. I couldn’t help but tug at them a little bit, but they were on firmly. Calm. Stay calm. What would Dekkir do? Stay in control.
As we waited for the interrogation device to arrive, Wickman looked at me curiously. “What has happened to your eyes?” he finally asked.
I smiled a little awkwardly. My once dark-brown eyes were now threaded with gold and bronze, signs of the aliens’ symbiont I now carried in my system, just like every Lyran did. “Well, sir, it’s a symbiont native to Lyra. It ended up in my system after being exposed in an infirmary, and I’ve adapted to it. It’s not hazardous. Dr. Stirling can back that up.”
“You know that means I’ll want to see the results of a full physical and blood workup once we’re done here.”
“Of course, sir. Dr. Stirling already did a blood draw on me before he left with Dekkir. It was not actually known by any of us that this symbiont could adapt to a human’s system. I was as surprised as everyone else.” Which was to say, not surprised at all. Stirling had given me a capsule of the Golden Strain to take in case of emergency, and I had, after being given knowledge of its properties.
Wickman steepled his fingers. “What does it do?”
I smiled and chose my words very carefully. “Well, for one thing, it’s helped me adapt physically to the stresses of life on the surface. People with the Golden Strain in their system will heal and recover from illness a lot faster than normal. It’s much more efficient than nanotech, as a matter of fact.”
His brow knit. “Are there any side effects?”
I smiled sadly and, instead of answering immediately, reached into the commander’s mind. I was still getting control of my empathic and telepathic powers. I had enough command of it now, thanks to brief but intensive instruction back on Lyra, that I had been able to use it to assist Dekkir in the last battle. Now, reaching out to the open book of a man in front of me, I felt a mind that was full of doubt and grief.
He knew Earth Command wanted to take over Lyra. He also knew the conquest would be costly, that it was morally insupportable, that it went against the charter of the Earth Command military, and that it wasn’t even necessary if they had managed the proper trade arrangements. But Earth Command did not care. They saw Lyra as a fresh store of natural resources the depleted and dying Earth desperately needed. The commander had struggled for over a month with these new orders, refusing to go forward with anything that would destabilize the planet or risk the peace. He was under tremendous pressure from his higher-ups, and he suspected someone on the base had been working on the plan behind his back. Now that I had brought Norcross to his attention, he was starting to suspect. It was a hopeful sign.
Dekkir, Tabirus, I sent telepathically. Had a look in the commander’s mind. He’s been suspecting Norcross for a while now. I think I am giving him enough reason to investigate fully.
After a moment, Tabirus answered, his cultured voice translating into calm thoughts. I’m here with Dekkir, faking an interrogation and medical examination. Keep playing him; he’s much more open than Norcross, now that he’s mostly sober, and it’s time we got more humans on our side.
Dekkir was no telepath, but simply sent me an awareness of his presence with Tabirus, his calm security, and his faith in me. It was enough. I had to fight a smile. “Sir, the full effects of the symbiont are somewhat difficult to explain because they vary from individual to individual. I will happily give you and Dr. Stirling a demonstration once he is free.”
Wickman scratched his chin. “That could be interesting. Let’s just finish the formal interrogation first.”
I reached out to the commander’s mind again, soothing and reassuring him as subtly as I could as I infused my thoughts into his mind. He was so exhausted that it was easy. It’s all right. Grace will cooperate. She always has before. There’s no need for this to become drama just because Norcross wants it to. You can handle this no matter how bad he gets. There’s no need to reach for the bottle behind you.
It worked. The commander seemed to relax slightly, and some of the light returned to his eyes. I wondered how long he had dealt with Norcross’s crap that it had worn him down so much.
Just then, one of the science officers arrived, a tall, gawky redhead who blinked at me in surprise as he wheeled the blocky, trashcan-sized interrogation device ahead of him.
Norcross stood and gestured a bit grandly. “Ah, now the interrogation can begin.”
He turned to leer at me . . . and his smile faded and died as I looked back at him impassively. Suspicion glinted briefly in his still mostly empty eyes, but I didn’t change expression. I had a plan now, and Dekkir and Tabirus were together and safe. And the calmer I was, the more worried Norcross got. And the more likely he would make a mistake in front of the commander.
“Hook me up,” I said calmly and saw even more of the color drain from Norcross’s face.
CHAPTER 19 / DEKKIR
“What are you doing with Grace’s blood?” I asked as soon as “Dr. Stirling” ordered the guards outside into the hallway. The manacles they put on me gapped open on my wrists; they had not been able to fasten the puny things properly, and after a nod from the white-garbed man in front of me, I slipped them off and set them aside.