{Reipon}

Pablo left Kyle to sleep to the dulcet sounds of Korac’s voice.

Fat chance.

The former Icarean General’s charismatic storytelling translated too well to audio. No one was sleeping in this house tonight, and not only because most of the residents were couples enjoying their first night off together in months. No. Everyone had homework to do.

With that in mind, Pablo went to check on his other patient. He opened a whisper of a crack to her room. Perspiration gleamed all over Triss’ pitch-black skin, exposed from the tossed blanket. On. Off. She couldn’t get comfortable, evident by her gritted teeth and occasional groans.

Triss knew Pablo was checking on her. He could tell by how she tried to control her irregular breathing and the flutter of her lashes as she squinted in agony.

The pregnancy wasn’t going well.

Korac told the story of his life even in this room. Until Triss told Pablo to turn it off, he’d let her listen. She might learn something to assure her that the Generals adopting her unborn daughter were indeed decent options for parents.

One could only hope.

Securing the door, the doctor returned to the labwork he needed to run on both his patients. So much work to do. Pablo sighed and permitted himself a moment to hang his head. Once the stress settled in, he couldn’t make it stop. He pulled on his neck with both hands and blew the hair from his cheeks.

What a fucking day.

And now he wouldn’t get to spend the night with Lynn. He rubbed the tattoo of gold-laced circular text over his nacre.

Never endanger this. Never risk yourself without me. Never leave without coming back.

As far as Pablo was concerned, they were still making up for breaking their vows during the attacks on Iona Medical Ecology and Iona Arsenal two months ago. No making up tonight, though.

Then there was the strange interaction with X and Legir on Yu. Against the backdrop of the most beautiful planet Pablo ever saw, X whispered his vow to the Shadow, “Tell Wingmaster, our Traitor Prince, when he finds the courage to hunt down his own creation, we will be at his side.”

It bothered Pablo ever since. Were they implying that Xelan hadn’t killed Celindria, not because he couldn’t, but because he chose not to? Or were they implying that Imminent was somehow Xelan’s creation? They were so cryptic.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“I should ask him,” Pablo proclaimed to no one, but it was a good idea. Ask tomorrow after Xelan and Tameka shared some family time together.

In the meantime, the doctor resigned himself to researching the rest of the night. He’d thought to check the blood they took from Rayne before Imminent snatched her. It was contaminated with the virus that was in Silence’s blood. The virus Pablo created. That meant Rayne’s nacre was possibly fortified against any attempts to deweaponize her.

When Pablo shared this discovery with Xelan, the Icarean Prince vowed, “We’ll figure it out.”

The young doctor cautioned against building up false hope. “Wingmaster, I feel I need to stress how thorough this virus is—”

“I’ll find a way.”

So would Pablo. He worked in tandem with Xelan to cure the virus and further simplify Rayne’s nacre. The doctor was two hours deep into his research when Thubgy, resident Hellkitten and big purr motor machine, scratched at the door. Pablo cracked it. “Hey, fella. I know you usually sleep with Kyle, but not tonight. His room needs to remain sterile and you…” He inspected the six-limbed critter with a crocodile snout. Mud covered every red-scaled inch of him. “Are not that.”

The kitten scurried away with a “huff” toward the veranda. Through the cracked door, Pablo looked up at the nacre glass pool above. Sounds traveled down the open staircase and through the infirmary wing. Uhm. Oh. Those kinds of sounds—

“Do you think Tumu and Lamassau know everyone can hear and see their naked asses?”

Caught spying, Pablo opened the door for Andrew. “I was just… I thought I heard—”

The Progeny chuckled. “You and the rest of the house can hear it. I hope Thubgy jumps in and ruins it for them.” He tilted his head to the side. “You know what? I take that back. I’m just bitter and maybe a little jealous.” Lucas’ betrayal hit the entire Shadow hard, but it must be killing Andrew. “What about you? No ‘Lynn time?’”

Why was the doctor trying to blush? He was a married man. Who made a professional sex tape. Besides, when Pablo told Lynn of his on-call duties, his wife was most generous with their good night parting. He pushed aside his bashful reflexes and grinned. “I promised to make it up to her later.”

“Is it cool if I take advantage of your on-call time?”

Pablo straightened and let Andrew in. “Of course. How can I help you?”

The infirmary was comprised of four research stations, each with a pair of projection terminals borrowed from Enki tech. Instruments littered the black countertops. White perimeter lights kept it bright enough for work, but not so bright that Pablo suffered from fluorescent light syndrome. There was a built-in cot in the corner, which he often resorted to during their more dangerous operations.

Andrew leaned on a counter and folded his arms. He seemed uncertain about how to proceed.

The doctor sat on his rolling stool and waited patiently. No need to push here.

After a few heartbeats, the Progeny opened up. “I can’t see the Probability Matrix with my coin anymore. It’s stagnant and been that way for the last few months, but I think… I think I can trance my way into it.”

Pablo’s brows shot up as he considered how to approach this. “What do you need from me?”

“You won’t like it.” At the doctor’s encouraging wave, Andrew finished, “I need you to kill me.”

The Progeny was right.

Pablo didn’t like it.