Chapter Fifteen

“Elara?” Zafir knocked on the woman’s door with his free hand, his data pad gripped in the other. He waited a moment, but there was no response. The room was dead silent. Something isn’t right…

Closing his eyes, Zafir concentrated briefly, before catching the sound of oddly slow breathing. Then, the scent of blood filled his nose. Decidedly inhuman blood.

Damn it! Zafir swiftly disabled the security for the room from his data pad, then sent a harmonic pulse through the immediate area to fry anything that might be lurking. “Elara, I’m coming in.”

Zafir braced himself for the worst, concerned that perhaps this new life and the confrontation with slaves had been too much for the amnesiac to handle. He closed and locked the door behind him, set the data pad aside then carefully searched the room for the woman—finding her on the opposite side of her bed. Elara laid sprawled out on the floor in her stomach. A copious amount of blue blood was splattered on the floor, her hands, and her mouth.

Did she push herself too far? Zafir frowned and carefully pulled Elara from the floor, setting her upright on her bed. There were no obvious injuries, so she hadn’t attempted to harm herself as he’d feared. Nor had she seemed anything other than tired during her meal. Zafir swiftly pulled a set of linked rings over the fingers of one hand and faced the sensors in Elara’s direction. As he scanned, he paused by Elara’s right hand. Her veins had become more apparent than normal and were a darker blue than they should have been.

[High levels of toxins detected.] A synthetic voice reported from Zafir’s Syldrari brain chip. [Noting twelve different varieties. Analysis: Sloppy attempt at murder. Subject’s system is slowing down. Rate of cellular dissonance increasing. Recommendation: Dy’zglit and tyhtor to counteract the active toxins. Cellular dissonance has progressed too far to be halted. Suggestion: Subject should learn better control.]

“Easier said than done…” Zafir let out a soft sigh, then turned his communicator on. “Amara, I need you to acquire some things for me and bring them to Elara’s room—and keep quiet about it.”

“Yes, sir!” Amara answered cheerfully, followed by the sound of her chair swiveling. “What do you need?”

Once Zafir was done listing off his requirements, he set to work cleaning Elara’s face and then the floor of her room, removing any trace of blood. He sighed, hands on hips, as he looked down at the bottle of cleaner. Good thing I hid these around the place. Never would’ve gotten the blue out in time…

There was a knock at the door, and Zafir crossed the room to allow Amara in.

“Here you go! Two vials of nigh-unpronounceable whateverthefuck!” Amara handed off her cargo, the looked over at the collapsed Elara. “Someone tried to poison her? Who do you think did it?”

They wouldn’t have done it after she brought them such important information, so… Zafir’s chest clenched and his blood boiled. “We’re looking at an inside job. Someone who can get their hands on alien substances. The cocktail they used on her includes toxins from five different planets—all ones we are at odds with, but none ruled by any of the Syldrari clans.

“Go take everything out of her bathroom and analyze it for toxins.”

Amara narrowed her eyes. “An inside… I’ll investigate to kitchen too. She might not be the only target.”

Are they trying to kill her, or reveal the subjects for what they are? Zafir sat on the edge of Elara’s bed again and prepared the dose of antitoxins. They’re sloppy. Half the of these toxins cancel each other out. Should I report this…?

Zafir finished administering the antitoxins, then pulled over his data pad, promptly sending a message to his Syldrari contacts to inform them someone had tried to off Elara. He hadn’t expected any response, let alone so soon, but it was almost instant.

Zafir sighed and rubbed his temples. Prey? By the ancestors… She is an ally and not prey, you dolt. It doesn’t matter if she ‘intrigues’ you or not.

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