Page 111 of Tamed By Her Touch

Sendar’s expression changed almost imperceptibly. Kaelus noticed.

“What?” he asked.

The other male shook his head.

“Nothing.”

“You reacted,” Kaelus said.

Sendar shrugged.

“I merely find your certainty interesting.”

“My certainty is based on the data,” Kaelus growled.

Sendar folded his arms.

“The conventional theory is that our strain evolved over time into a more benign form.”

Kaelus frowned.

“Then the viral genome should show substantial changes in the sequences responsible for receptor binding,” he pointed out.

“It has changed,” Sendar assured him.

“How much?” Kaelus demanded.

Sendar hesitated.

“Marginally.”

Kaelus stared at him. Why was he being so evasive?

“How marginally?”

“Less than one percent in the major expression sequences,” Sendar admitted at last.

Kaelus bit back a curse.

“That is not enough to explain this!” he exclaimed, pointing at the samples.

“You cannot know that,” Sendar said coolly.

“No. But I can damn well determine it,” Kaelus growled.

He began overlaying the viral proteins from both populations. The structures aligned almost perfectly. There were differences, certainly, but none appeared significant enough to explain why one group of males raped and killed females while the other group treated them like sacred beings.

Despite his frustration, Kaelus felt the first stirrings of excitement. This was the mystery. Not why Titus Four males didn’t contract the virus, but why they could carry massive quantities of it without becoming violent.

He expanded the blood chemistry panels and began comparing compounds. Most were predictable. Electrolytes…proteins…hormones…metabolic byproducts.

Then something caught his eye.

“What is that?” he asked, pointing.

Sendar leaned closer.

“What is what?”