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“Is there such a thing?”

“There is when it comes to saving angels like this.” She petted Brutus, and he rumbled a happy noise and leaned against her.

“I’ll think about it,” Dallin said.

“Don’t think too hard, or you’ll get a brain freeze.”

He grunted a laugh.

“The Apocalypse should dock soon,” Sloane said. “They’ll expect us to have results.”

“And we’ve almost got them.” Dallin’s forehead wrinkled. “Although there’s something I’m missing. I’ve tried several versions of the antidote, but it’s failing to take. I’ve neutralized the effect of the nanotech particles, but it’s something in the mixture that’s corrupting it.”

“Do you want me to take a look?”

Dallin grumbled under his breath, then handed her a tablet.

She scanned through the information on the screen. “It looks like some kind of mineral.”

“I can’t pinpoint it. It’s not something I’ve seen before.”

“It could be a binding agent. Or something to slow the poison down so it causes maximum pain to anyone who gets a dose.”

Dallin discarded the latest vial he was looking at and started mixing another.

“I can mix up samples.” Sloane attempted to get off the seat, but Brutus pinned her with both of his large front limbs.

A smile flickered across Dallin’s face. “At least he’s good for something. He knows not to let you overexert yourself.”

“You’re as bad as each other.” Sloane tickled the grimlin’s stomach until he stopped squashing her. “I can mix up test tubes. That takes no energy.”

“There’s no need. You stay there and relax.”

Sloane grumbled under her breath, but in truth, she felt awful. She turned to the display screen in front of her and switched it on, tuning to a news channel.

Her eyes widened as she stared at the chaos on display. “Dallin, look at this.”

He glanced at the screen and scowled.

Sloane flicked through the channels. They all reported the same thing. Another fifteen waystations had been attacked by mutant beasts, and there were increasing reports of aliens becoming sick. One newscast detailed five planets with new and dangerous animals appearing.

“The Siblet are moving so quickly,” she said. “They have to be working with allies. They can’t be doing this on their own.”

“We already know they’ve been selling animals and poison to other aliens,” Dallin said. “Maybe they coordinated their attacks to create maximum chaos and instability.”

“So they can take over more easily?”

“More like so they can destroy as many stable societies as possible. The Siblet love chaos. They thrive on it. They like to exploit and dominate.” Dallin stared at the screen for a few more seconds. “Do you see a pattern with the planets?”

Sloane read through the names of the planets on display. “They’re all wealthy?”

“Yep. They’re all resource rich and self-sustaining.”

“You think the Siblet are looking for new homelands?”

“Why not? They can expand on them and then put out feelers to decide which part of the galaxy to exploit next.” Dallin sighed and placed down another vial, before turning to a new sample.

Sloane continued to watch the scenes on the screen. Her head ached, and all she wanted to do was sleep, but she wasn’t leaving Dallin to face this alone.