The Star Thief (Star Thief Chronicles #1)(69)
Author: Jamie Grey

Renna snorted, then winced as her head pounded. “Aldani is a better man than you’ll ever be.”

Navang shrugged. “You know nothing of me. Of the work I’ve done for this organization. I’ve used my research to create an army for MYTH. One that will be unstoppable.”

She stared at him. It couldn’t be true. MYTH wouldn’t have hired her to find the boy if they were already involved. None of it made sense. “You’re saying that MYTH asked you to create an army of hybrids to take over the galaxy? That doesn’t make sense.”

The man was insane. Completely and utterly mad. He’d created a new race with the blessing of a government agency. They’d be completely undetectable once they assimilated into the humans.

If it was true.

“But it does make sense,” Navang said. “Someone wants power, and undetectable assassins and spies are the perfect solution. I don’t ask questions. I just get paid for my work. One branch of MYTH is the same as any other to me. Besides, who’s to say the order came from MYTH headquarters itself? The bigwigs probably had no idea what we were working on. Dallas certainly didn’t when he sent you after the boy.”

She struggled to sit up. Enough of this mad man’s ramblings. Aldani had said not to trust him. These were probably all lies. “Where is he? Where’s Myka?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing.” The doctor narrowed his eyes. “Seems like the good captain has escaped with our template. I want him back.”

She forced her face to stay expressionless, but she felt herself relax against the pillows. Myka and Finn were safe. That was the most important thing. And if she could keep Navang talking, maybe she could figure out a plan to get out of here.

“So who was behind the attacks on the planets?” she asked.

“MYTH was, of course. I needed test subjects to build my army, and my contact was more than happy to oblige. Each attack gave me thousands of dead or dying humans to work with. A virtually unlimited stock of research subjects. It was the perfect solution.”

Impossible. MYTH would never condone that. The people she’d met were honorable. But a sliver of doubt wormed its way into her mind. She’d wondered before about how easily the kidnappers had found Myka. About the attacks on the planets. But surely they wouldn’t kill their own people. Unless…

There was a traitor within the organization.

Navang smiled as he watched her come to her conclusion. “Don’t look so surprised, my dear. An organization as large and decentralized as MYTH has to have its share of bad apples. I don’t care who I work for, as long as I get paid. You and I are alike in that way, I think.”

“Never!” she spit. “I’d never murder thousands of people or torture innocent children.”

“No. You’d just steal a priceless cultural artifact and let its people die in a pointless war.”

She blinked at the doctor, going perfectly still.

“That’s right. I know who you are. And I think you may be even more useful to us than Myka.”

White-hot anger scorched through her, momentarily burning away the fog. “At least I can assure you you’ll never get Myka back.”

“We may not need him. We have enough of his genetic material to work with for now. And the new subjects are coming along very well. Most of them are on a steady dose of the drug and hooked into our neural network. They are completely under my control.” He shrugged, looking smug and haughty. “And the few that we are unable to control are destroyed once we know they are no longer viable.”

Navang pulled a pair of rubber gloves on and smiled over at the nurse. “Rebekka, please remove the IV from Miss Carrizal’s arm. I think she’s had enough. I’ll be curious to see the effects of the drug at this dosage.”

Renna’s gaze flew to the needle in her arm, and then to the orange liquid that had been dripping into her vein. “What have you done to me?” she demanded.

“We’ve simply made you better, my dear.” Navang’s smile turned his face into a hideous mask. “I haven’t been able to try our new dosing on the current subjects yet, and with the addition of Myka’s DNA, I think the implant integration process will go even more smoothly than before. By using the antibodies and genetic material in Myka’s blood, we’ve developed a way to allow the implants to fuse with your nervous system seamlessly, until you’re able to control your implant like you would another limb. Or so we hope. Plus it’s always interesting to deal with someone who already has one.”

“How did you know about my implant?”

“You don’t exactly keep it a secret, my dear. Now take a few deep breaths and calm down. I’d hate to have to knock you out again.”

She stared at him, her heart racing beyond her control. The fog in her brain was swirling back in. What would the drug do to her? Would she become a machine like one of those…things?

“What’s going to happen?” she asked, trying to keep her voice from shaking.

“I’m not entirely sure. Regular implants and transplants are superficial; their limitations well-documented. Even the most well-designed technology fails after a few years as your body attacks and rejects it. What I hope will happen is that this new drug will allow your nervous system to gradually integrate with your implant until it becomes a part of you. Something that physically ties you into the technological world.”

He rubbed his hands down the front of his lab coat, tugging at the lapels as if he was giving a lecture to a university class. “Some of our subjects have almost been able to control the flow of information on the network. Others had brief integration with electrical systems, like power centers or computers, allowing them to turn entire power grids on and off with a simple thought. We haven’t been able to make it work long-term yet, but you’re strong enough. And now that we’ve integrated Myka’s genetic material, I think it might finally take.”

Okay. That wasn’t too bad. When she thought about it rationally, it could actually be pretty useful. Especially if it helped her break through safes or into buildings. “What’s the catch?”

“I don’t know what you mean, Miss Carrizal.” His smile was slimy and full of lies.

Fuck this. She flexed her muscles beneath the sheets. Luckily, they’d left most of her clothes on, only removing her shirt so they could stick her with the needle. She was grateful for the army bra keeping her girls firmly in place.