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Chapter 9

It had just gone sevenin the morning, and Dallin was slumped in a seat in a quiet cafeteria, his eyes heavy and his head aching from lack of sleep.

He’d searched most of the areas identified in his site plans, and there was still no sign of the Siblet poison. But he’d gathered an increasing number of reports of people becoming unwell, so it had definitely been here.

He grimaced as he raked a hand through his tangled hair and his fingers caught in the knots. He needed sleep and a shower, but there was no time for either of those things.

His exhaustion wasn’t helped because he’d given Sloane as much of his energy as he could, before putting her on that cruiser. His healing energy wouldn’t eradicate the poison, but it would slow its effects and buy her more time. She could relax on the pleasure cruiser and then get the best medical help until he found an antidote for this poison. The doctors on Veridian were some of the most skilled in the galaxy, and they’d keep Sloane alive.

But he missed her not being around, even though it was the right thing to do to send her away so she wasn’t at risk from the poison, the mutated beasts, or any scumbag alien laying claim on something that wasn’t his.

Dallin sighed and shook his head. This was what happened when you left your safe place. Bad things came at you. And while he couldn’t properly defend Sloane, he had to do the next best thing to keep her away from danger.

“Hey, you’re the Apexian looking for traces of the Siblet being on board, aren’t you?” The female guard, Nilad, strode over to him.

Dallin pulled himself upright in his seat. “That’s right.”

“I almost didn’t recognize you without the glasses. I discovered something weird. It could be what you’re after. Do you want to take a look?”

He nodded and followed her as she led him out of the cafe and along the corridor. It was blissfully quiet this early in the morning. All the revellers from the previous evening were most likely still fast asleep after a night of hedonism. As far as he was concerned, they could stay that way.

“We haven’t seen any more of those weird beasts you killed,” Nilad said. “It shook the passengers up, though.”

“It must have done.”

She glanced at him. “Have you heard the reports?”

He shook his head.

“They’re everywhere. I’ve had twenty waystations make contact to say their facilities have been attacked. There have been over a hundred deaths and lots of injuries.”

Dallin scowled. “Unless we stop the Siblet, it’ll only get worse.”

Nilad led him away from the main corridors and through a door into some service tunnels. They were small, cramped, and unpleasantly warm.

“Aren’t there door locks to stop aliens coming this way?”

“Sure, but they aren’t that difficult to bypass, if you know what you’re doing.” Nilad stopped by a valve and knelt beside it. “This is what I found. I touched nothing.” She pointed at three canisters on the floor.

Dallin activated his scanner and ran it over them. He got an instant reading, and his pulse sped up. “This is it.”

Nilad tensed, then stood and backed away. “These are the poison canisters you’ve been looking for?”

He nodded. “The Siblet must have attached them to those valves. Where do they lead?”

“They’re a part of the air filtration system. They serve the bars, a couple of rows of stores, and that last valve is for the spas.”

Dallin checked his records. They were all sites the crew had visited. “I need to take these canisters with me.”

“You’re welcome to them. I don’t want them here.”

“They might not be the only ones on the waystation. Make sure you do a thorough check of this whole area. Examine all the valves, in case the Siblet have planned more attacks using their poison.”

“I’ve already got a team working on it,” Nilad said. “What are you going to do with the canisters?”

“Examine this poison, make sure it’s a match, and then figure out an antidote.”

Her eyes widened a fraction. “And you’re planning on sharing the antidote, right? A lot of people are getting sick.”