Chapter Eight

The fear returned a thousand-fold later that evening. They were in the cafeteria of the consulate, having dinner as they discussed their future plans. They had just decided they would hold off for a bit before undergoing the bonding ceremony, but Ysaak would come live with her in the interim. Once she was done with her ambassadorial duties, and the humans had settled on a course of action, they would get married the human way, along with undertaking a bonding ceremony to make their union legal on both planets.

“I look forward to having you bound to me for a full Dazon day and night by the kursti, belisa,” he murmured with a hungry look in his eyes—one that had nothing to do with the pasta and garlic bread they were consuming.

She smiled in return, familiar with the ornate strap that bound mates for the first Dazon day and was a symbol of their union. “I wonder what we’ll do with all that time, forced to be with each other for thirty-one hours in close proximity.” Her voice was a deliberate purr.

He threw back his head and laughed. “I’m sure we’ll think of something, Embeth.”

Before she could reply, there was a brilliant flash of gold, so bright that it blinded her temporarily. She shielded her eyes with her hand as she looked out the observation window that provided a stunning view of Earth below. As her eyes adjusted to the intense brightness, she realized the glow was coming from Earth rather than the consulate or the moon. She couldn’t imagine how much more blinding it would be on the planet at that moment.

The intense flash burned for several seconds before fading away, and then chaos ensued. She grasped Ysaak’s hand as they rushed back to the command center, keeping near him because his presence was reassuring even in the confusion, though her mate had no answers either.

Commander Darvig was at the helm, and he was barking orders as Dazons scurried around with data analysis.

Dr. Wy broke into the chaos a moment later, just in time for Darvig to hand him the tablet filled with data.

“Preliminary reports suggest it was a dispersal system for some kind of gas, Dr. Wy. Do you have any clue what it might be?”

Dr. Wy let out a sound of distress after reading for almost a minute before responding. “The women are already falling ill.”

Commander Darvig looked over his shoulder, a fierce frown on his face. “Dizziness, vomiting, loss of coordination… What is it, Dr. Wy? Have our people unleashed a biological weapon on the Earthlings?” He looked ill at the idea.

The doctor sighed. “Yes, of a sort, anyway. It’s not a weapon of destruction, per se, but if I had to guess based on what I’m seeing now, coupled with what was done to the ambassador, I assume they just infected Earth with the retrovirus that modifies the genetic code of humans to add an additional fragment to the ninth chromosome.”

Darvig rubbed his gold-brown eyes. “You’re talking about Kaiser’s Syndrome, aren’t you?”

Dr. Wy nodded. “Yes, Commander. It appears First Prince Aryk and his cohorts have made it so that every Earth woman exposed to this retrovirus will be a compatible genetic match for Dazon males. He appears to have engineered it to exclude human males.”

The commander cursed in the Dazon language.

“And he didn’t deploy the nanotechnology, did he?” Embeth asked Dr. Wy.

The commander looked over at her. “Nanotechnology?”

Embeth nodded. “During my mission to Dazonia Major, it appears he infected me with the retrovirus, and then he administered the nanotechnology the next day to keep the symptoms in check. I doubt it was for altruistic purposes. I would guess he just didn’t want us to know yet what he was doing, until this horrible act was completed.”

Ysaak looked sick. “He intends to hold the nanotechnology as leverage to force the cooperation of Earth and make them turn over the best breeding stock.” He said the last two words with a disgusted curl of his lips. “I can’t believe how shocked I am by this after seeing what he’s already done, but I couldn’t have imagined such a twisted and vile plan, or think he would be capable of forcing half the humans into breeding and servitude.”

“Not so shocking,” contradicted Taleeza, who had been a quiet spectator in the corner until that moment. “Dazon males have done it to the females for the last three generations, and they care even less about human females than their own species.”

Ysaak nodded, clearly agreeing with her, albeit reluctantly. “You’re right, sister.”

“Now what happens?” asked Embeth. It was the obvious question, but with no obvious answer.

It took hours before their theory was confirmed, and even more time spent by the leaders of Earth on debating whether it could actually be true. It was early the next day before there was a general acceptance among world leaders that the reason women were falling ill was because of a biological weapon used by the Dazon Empire.

As an ambassador, especially with the unique perspective obtained from having been to the planet and present during the coup to replace Emperor Talek, Embeth was involved with the debate behind the scenes and the teleconferences coordinated from the central hub of the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. She had folded there with Ysaak early that morning, before he had returned to the consulate.

By early afternoon, the leaders had reached a consensus that war was the only answer. Embeth wanted to disagree, but she had no alternative options to offer, especially with the state of health among the general population.

Dr. Wy was currently synthesizing nanotechnology as quickly as he could, and women would be receiving doses as soon as possible, but in the meantime, half the population of Earth was suffering or ill. There had been a catastrophic number of miscarriages already, and female infants and elderly women in particular were faring poorly.

The babies and elderly should be the top priority when the nanotechnology was available in large enough quantities, but she was certain the nanotechnology would go first to the elite before eventually trickling down to the “common” population. It was disgusting, and for a moment, she could understand why Aryk and his group considered humans barbarians.

Not that the Dazon were any better, having practically poisoned half the population with little regard to what would happen to the weaker members of the race. A large number of elderly women and many of the babies had already succumbed to what the scientists had dubbed ROMKS, or Rapid-Onset Mutagenic Kaiser’s Syndrome.

Only the young, strong, and previously healthy women seemed to be handling the severity of symptoms, though there weren’t any signs of recovery yet. This must have been what Aryk had referred to as The Culling when he had talked about selecting the strongest breeding stock. He’d just left out the detail that they would only take the ones who survived the process and ignore the ones who didn’t or were severely weakened by it.

The president addressed the world that afternoon, having inserted herself as the spokesman for all the world leaders. For a change, Saunders didn’t look perfectly coiffed and poised. She seemed frazzled and looked ill. As a world leader, she, along with all the other female heads of state, had received one of the first batches of nanotechnology that were available, so her symptoms had remained relatively mild and were mostly in check now, but there was still evidence she had been suffering too.

“It is with a heavy heart I confirm news reports that the Dazon Empire has attacked us to infect human women with a virus that will reprogram our genetic material to make us compatible with their DNA. They wish to acquire human women, or at least our eggs, to continue their race. Our negotiation efforts have failed, and the Dazons proved intractable. They insist there’s no peaceful solution available, and we’re reluctantly forced to agree. World leaders have unanimously voted to declare war on the Dazon Empire. Although a frightening prospect, for the first time humanity is drawing together to face a common foe. I’m confident we’ll emerge stronger than ever from this threat, and with a new sense of unity and purpose among all people on Earth.”

It was a pretty speech, but Embeth didn’t buy it. The way the president had swayed and paused to dab her brow to remove perspiration at the key moment when she assured them they would all emerge stronger was an unintentional dose of irony, she was certain. The president was saying the right things, and they were probably what the people needed to hear, but Embeth could take no comfort from the speech, and she had no faith in the president’s words.

At that moment, they were united, but it had taken a lot of squabbling and negotiation just for the major world leaders to agree on an initial course of action, whose sole task was to declare war, but without a substantive plan of how they would do so. She was skeptical that the union could last, even in the face of a common enemy, but she couldn’t continue to worry about that at the moment. She just didn’t have the energy.

She was leaving the conference room with seating for five hundred, along with international teleconferencing equipment, when Ysaak folded in front of her. “What are you doing here, Ysaak? I thought we’d agreed to meet at my apartment this evening. I expected you to still be at the consulate.”

He put his arm around her. “We must return to the consulate as quickly as possible.”

She didn’t even have a chance to reply before he had folded them back to the antechamber of the consulate. It was normally an open area with people coming and going. Today, it was filled almost to capacity, with Dazons and humans alike pressed against the glass of the observation windows. He angled them into a small opening between a group of Dazons, and his gaze seemed to be frantically scanning the stars.

“What is it?” Fear curled in her stomach like an icy ball.

“Our long-range sensors have detected an armada approaching.”

“Armada? Aryk?” she asked, her breath hitching in her chest as panic filled her.

“We don’t know yet, but it seems likely.”

She clutched Ysaak’s hand and leaned against him. “They’ve come to harvest the women, haven’t they?”

He hesitated. “Or just their eggs, though that will still require taking the women they’ve selected. I really don’t know his exact plans, my love.”

Grim possibilities occurred to her, chief among them being torn away from Ysaak, and then she wondered what they would do with the infant already inside her when it was born. Would she be allowed to raise her child, or would he be shunted to a rearing facility while she was forced to be a breeder in a breeding facility?

Her heart ached at the thought, and for a desperate moment, she wanted to get in the ship that had folded them here and disappear to one of the other colonies or somewhere else uninhabited in the galaxy. In their explorations, the Dazon had mapped a good portion of the universe, and Ysaak would know where to go.

Before the selfish impulse could take root, the armada entered their view. It was too late to flee now if they could physically see the ships without the Dazons’ advanced technology. The armada would see their ship folding and might destroy it. She wasn’t yet ready to throw away her life, Ysaak’s, and their unborn child’s in an attempt escape the Dazon.

All the communication screens nearby suddenly filled with the face of the man she had seen in the corridor as they had made their escape from the palace. She didn’t remember his name, but she recognized his scarred face, particularly his missing eye. “That’s General…”

“Monash,” said Ysaak.

“Is he Aryk’s man?”

Ysaak shrugged. “I don’t know. I suppose we’ll find out soon enough, belisa.”

“This is General Monash of the Dazon Armada. We’ve come to protect Earth from First Prince Aryk’s unlawful campaign to exploit Earth and its resources, including humans.”

A wave of relief swept through her, and she collapsed into Ysaak’s arms, detecting he was also trembling slightly with relief. She couldn’t determine the size of the armada, or the number of Dazon warriors aboard each of the ships, but that they had some support and advanced technology gave her new hope for the forthcoming war with Aryk and his supporters.

She squeezed his hand and clung to that hope rather than submerging herself in fear.