As it had on Eliana’s arm, the foam dissolved the blue substance, leaving behind…
“A Purveli male,” Dagon uttered, studying him in confusion.
“You seem surprised,” Eliana commented.
“I am. Though the Purvelis are not part of the Aldebarian Alliance, they have never exhibited hostility toward Alliance members.” The male was more slender than others Dagon had encountered, but he bore distinctive, barely discernible scales and a silvery skin tone, which Dagon knew without examining more closely was paler in front and darker in back. The Purveli’s long hair pooled on the table in silver waves that would look black when dry. And though Eliana’s fist had penetrated the Purveli’s suit, only her blade had pierced his chest.
She studied the male curiously while Adaos took more readings. “So why is this one working with the Gathendiens?”
“I don’t know. They usually keep to themselves. This is unheard of.” He looked at Adaos. “Is he dead?”
Adaos studied the readings on his tablet. “No. But he will be soon if I don’t surgically repair the wound in his chest.”
“Do it,” Dagon commanded.
Adaos summoned two medics to aid him.
Eliana motioned to the floor where the cleaning bots were vacuuming up the last of the mysterious blue substance. “How did he see and breathe under all that stuff?”
Dagon pointed to the Purveli’s rib cage, which bore what appeared to be a series of parallel scars. “Purvelis can live on land or in the sea.” Taking her uninjured arm, he drew her back as Adaos and the other medics began to repair the damage done to the Purveli.
She rose onto her toes and tried to peer around them. “Are those gills?”
“Yes. When on land, Purvelis use lungs like ours to take in oxygen from the air. In the sea, they extract oxygen from the water with their gills.”
Adaos grunted. “This one’s gills may not be salvageable. Whatever metals are contained within the blue liquid have damaged them severely. If I’m not able to repair his lung, he’ll die.”
Eliana shot Dagon an uneasy look. “But his lung can be repaired, right? I mean, with your advanced medical knowledge, you guys can fix just about anything.”
Adaos shrugged. “Were it just the stab wound, I would say yes. But the blue liquid has seeped into the damaged lung and is complicating matters.”
Dagon could practically see her anxiety levels rise. “What is it?” Did she think he would blame her if the Purveli died before they could extract information from him? “I know you didn’t intend to kill him, Eliana.”
“I know. And I appreciate that you aren’t angry about that.”
“Had you not stopped him, he would have continued to detonate bombs, injuring many more men and crippling the ship.”
“I know. But…”
“What?”
She shook her head. Her brow furrowed as she lowered her heels to the floor and shifted from side to side in a familiar display of disquietude. “I’ve killed a lot of men over the years, Dagon. A lot of vampires. But each and every one of them was either psychotic or well on his way to becoming psychotic and was preying upon innocent men, women, and children. When I confronted them, I knew killing them would save countless lives because I knew they were bad guys who would only get worse if I didn’t.” She motioned to the Purveli. “But what if he isn’t a bad guy?”
“He bears the scent of a Gathendien and collaborated with our enemies,” he reminded her. “The same enemies we fear now have your friend. He injured my men with explosives meant to impede our navigational capabilities. And his people have rejected all invitations to join the Aldebarian Alliance.”
She drew in a deep breath and slowly exhaled it. Her agitated movements ceased. “Yeah. That does look pretty bad.”
“My men would not be standing guard if it did not.”
“Okay.” She watched the activity centered around the operating table. “But you’ve got this… Right, Adaos? You aren’t going to let a measly thing like weird, snotty blue gunk keep you from showing off your brilliance and saving the Purveli’s life, are you?”
The chief medical officer issued a sound that Dagon couldn’t decide was a laugh or a snort. “Yes, Eliana. I’ve got this.”
Dagon reluctantly left Eliana to linger in the infirmary while he headed to the bridge.
Barus frowned when he entered. “CC said the intruder is Purveli.”
“Yes.”
Confusion clouded his second-in-command’s features. “How many explosives did he intend to detonate?”
“Efren found more than enough in the bag the man carried to take out every thruster on this ship and then some.”
“Leaving us unable to maneuver if attacked.”
“Yes.” Dagon turned to his navigations officer. “Galen, keep an eye out for both Gathendien and Purveli ships. Bring in extra eyes to scan at maximum magnification.” If any ships lingered beyond Ranasura’s radar range, just waiting for it to grind to halt, he wanted to know.
“Yes, Commander.” Galen turned back to his station and began to speak softly, summoning all assistant navigators to the bridge.
Barus shook his head. “Why would the Purvelis work with the Gathendiens? They know the atrocities those grunarks have committed.”
“That’s a question I intend to put to our prisoner if he survives. One of many.”
The door to the bridge opened, allowing Chief Engineer Cobus to enter.
Dagon nodded at him. “Cobus, what can you report?”
“Seven men injured. None fatally.” He shook his head. “Considering the size of the explosions, I’m surprised no one was killed.”
Dagon had only gotten a brief glimpse of the damage as he and the others had chased down the intruder, but he had to agree. “Were the thrusters themselves damaged?”
“No.” Cobus’s tone reflected bafflement. “Only the systems used to operate them.”
“How long will repairs take?”
The older man scratched his chin, leaving soot marks. “Eight hours.”
Barus frowned. “We’d be able to detect any ship that was only hours away from us and could make the repairs and be ready to fight before they could reach us. Why not disable the thrusters themselves and delay us longer?”
Dagon pondered possible explanations. “Either they’ve acquired new radar-dampening technology that is enabling them to elude detection or they failed to take into consideration the possibility that we would catch the Purveli before he damaged all the thruster controls and simply planned to take the ship from us while inflicting as little damage as possible. A ship incapable of motion would be far less useful to them.”
Barus swore.
“But,” Dagon continued, “will the Gathendiens proceed with whatever attack they planned if they see our ship is still mobile and—by all outward appearances—unharmed?” Losing two thrusters merely slowed them down a little. They were still racing toward K-54973 as quickly as possible, hoping they would find Ava there.
His men had thus far dredged up little information on the planet. Its distance from its sun indicated that the estimated temperatures it endured could sustain life. The appearance of both landmasses and oceans suggested it held an atmosphere that could support the same. Beyond that…