Dagon held up a hand. “Wait.” He looked at the Purveli. “What was the plan?”
I was told to blow up your thrusters.
“You didn’t. You blew up the controls for them.”
I am aware. I knew it would be faster and easier for you to repair the controls than it would be to replace the thrusters. And I assumed you were more likely to have what you need to repair the controls than to have that many spare thrusters on hand.
“Why blow them up at all? Why not make your presence known and seek my aid if you aren’t acting with them of your free will?”
I had to make it appear real. The explosives emit a signal when the timer is activated that ceases upon detonation. The Gathendiens would know if I didn’t set them and told me that every moment I hesitated would bring my brother greater pain.
“So you injured my men and brought them pain.”
Even Dagon could read the regret that filled those silver eyes.
Ziv’ri’s throat worked in a swallow. Did any perish?
“No.”
I tried to place and time the explosives so they would injure as few of your men as possible. Had I placed them nearer the thrusters and detonated them earlier in the day, more would have suffered.
Far more. An explosion close enough to a thruster’s housing might’ve ignited the energy cell that powered it.
Please. I need to know how much time has passed since I detonated the second bomb. My brother…
“Almost one Alliance hour.”
Pain rippled across the Purveli’s gaunt features.
“We found your bag.”
He stared disconsolately up at the ceiling.
“There were enough explosives in it to disable every thruster on this ship.”
That isn’t all it contains, he said, his telepathic voice almost a monotone. Tell your men to tread carefully.
Dagon scowled. “What else is in it?”
Half the devices were explosives. Half were aerosol canisters rigged to burst when remotely activated.
Eliana exchanged a troubled look with Dagon.
While placing the explosives, I was supposed to make short detours to position the aerosol canisters in each of the ventilation system’s primary intakes, Ziv’ri continued without prompting.
“Did you?” Dagon asked.
No. While you and your men were distracted by the fires and trying to hunt down the source of the explosions, I was also supposed to seek out the Earthling, capture her, provide her with the mask in my bag, then remotely activate the aerosol canisters.
Dagon curled his hands into fists. “What’s in the canisters?”
Ziv’ri closed his eyes. Tengonis.
Every male present, including Dagon, swore.
Eliana eyed them all with concern. “What’s tengonis?”
Adaos answered grimly. “A swift-acting poison. One inhalation incapacitates you and leaves you no time to even reach for a mask. Further inhalations kill you. Painfully.”
Dagon struggled to tamp down the fury that filled him. “If you detonated all the canisters at once, the ventilation fans would have distributed the tengonis throughout the ship, taking out every soldier and crew member within minutes.”
Ziv’ri nodded. Once you were all down, I was to activate a beacon that would alert the Gathendiens that both the ship and the Earthling were theirs for the taking.
“Commander Dagon,” Joral suddenly said in his ear.
Dagon was so deep in thought he nearly jumped. He tapped the earpiece. “Yes?”
“Only half of the devices in the bag are explosives. The other half are aerosol canisters linked to a device that would allow someone to detonate them from a safe distance.” Joral’s experience as a weapons designer extended to explosives. “The canisters aren’t labeled, but we found a mask beneath them, so I doubt we want to risk exposure.”
“It’s tengonis,” Dagon informed him.
“Drek! I’m glad none of us accidentally triggered it.”
“As am I. If the Gathendiens suspect we foiled their plan, they may try to trigger them remotely, so store them safely.”
“Yes, Commander. I will do so now.”
“Wow.” Eliana addressed Ziv’ri. “If the Gathendiens thought you could accomplish all that alone, you must be a real badass.”
The Purveli offered no response.
Dagon crossed his arms over his chest. “What did they promise you in return for infiltrating my ship?”
They said they would let my brother and me go.
“And you believed them?”
No. They proved they are exactly what you and the rest of the Aldebarian Alliance have claimed. I know they cannot be trusted. I merely hoped to buy my brother time, to ease his suffering… At last he met Dagon’s gaze. And to find someone who could help us. Someone capable of defeating them. He looked at Eliana. Someone who was fast enough and strong enough to keep the Gathendiens from slaying my brother and Ava at the first signs of an attack.
Her breath caught. “Then they do have Ava?”
Yes.
“She’s alive?” Eliana pressed.
She was when I left.
Heavy silence fell.
Dagon motioned to the Purveli’s form. “Did the Gathendiens give you those scars?”
Yes.
“Are they doing to your brother what they did to you?”
If he still lives, yes. Ava, too.
Eliana took a step forward, her expression darkening. “They’re torturing them? Both of them?”
I call it torturing. They call it experimenting.
She looked up at Dagon, her features tight with anger. “I know I’ve said this before. But I hate. Those fucking. Gathendiens.”
He did, too. Dagon looked at Maarev. “Take one of the explosives Lanaar found, place it in an ejection tube with refuse and old ship parts engineering doesn’t need, jettison it, then detonate it.”
Maarev strode from the infirmary.
Ziv’ri met and held Dagon’s gaze. Thank you.
He nodded and started to leave but halted when hesitant words tinged with desperation filled his head.
Will you help them?
He turned back to the Purveli.
Ziv’ri’s pale gray eyes bore into his. Will you rescue them?
“That’s yet to be decided.” He would reveal no plans to the Purveli.
If you do, Ziv’ri advised, you should dose all your men with galaris.
“Why galaris?” As far as he knew, the herb was only used to reduce inflammation.
Few are aware, but galaris can dramatically reduce the impact of a senshi.
Dagon glanced at Adaos.
His friend frowned and shook his head. “I have encountered no mention of this in my studies.”
Turning back to the Purveli, Dagon arched a brow. “If such is true and you are not—as you’ve claimed—our enemy, then why should we fear you harming us with a senshi?”
It isn’t me you should fear. It is my brother.
“You think he will attack us? Have the Gathendiens broken him and won him to their side?”
No. If the Gathendiens suspect duplicity, they will attempt to use him as a weapon.
Dagon frowned, suspicion rising. “Can’t you contact him telepathically and tell him to resist, that we are coming to rescue him and Ava?”
Ziv’ri shook his head. I can and will try, but it may not matter.