Kaplan herded Jinx into an IST pod, clamping his teeth down on a few choice words. The look she shot him over one shoulder could've drawn blood. If she'd had conflicted feelings about him before, they'd now clarified. One wrong move, she'd go for his gun. Zio Tarak had a lot to answer for.
He wasn't the only one.
Kaplan shook his head. The conversation he'd reviewed in Channing's memories; the doctor's non-disclosure programming had failed cataclysmically and made a bad situation worse. Someone had screwed up. They'd go down hard for that oversight.
And so would Jinx, if he couldn't salvage the situation. If he couldn't convince his superiors she wasn't a threat.
Meeting her gaze, feeling the antipathy behind her control, he wondered if he could convince himself.
He hit the IST pod's hold button. Using his headtech, he submitted an audio-only call request, but didn't set it for silent neuro-coms. It was too late to protect Rha Si secrets. Right now, the priority was regaining Jinx's cooperation, earning back her trust.
And to have even a chance at that, he needed her out of the crosshairs.
Atlas accepted the link almost immediately. "What's up, Kap?"
"I need ten minutes of the vid feeds in the med research centre, connecting wards, and accommodation area to get 'archived' for the next twelve hours."
"What you need, Kaplan, is authorisation for that request."
"Authorisation from the high councillor who ordered me to do whatever it takes to get intel from my aberrant witness? Or from the Director of Military Intelligence, who just psionically coerced a couple of med-techs to knock out my witness and administer psi-active drugs?"
A moment of silence on the other end of the com link. A widening of sienna eyes on the other side of the IST pod.
Atlas cleared his throat. "My tech goddess, Temple, has just asked if you'd like that ten-minute window to start before or after your witness tried to slug you in the face?"
Kaplan considered the pros and cons. "How much of the conversation was picked up?"
"Bad angle on your faces. No useable audio."
"Then after. We let all interested parties know Admiral Tarak's actions failed to get results and have turned our witness hostile. Officially, I'll be escorting Ms Koel to the wards and conducting a standard interview. She'll be locked down overnight and monitored for adverse effects."
"In other words, make it known further psionic follow-up is pointless." Atlas' tone reflected the blow that news was to those who knew Callan Tarak. "Your witness alright?"
Kaplan met Jinx's intent stare. "She will be." He released the hold on the IST pod and punched in the level for the wards. If anyone tracked Jinx's movements, the transport logs would show that destination. He and Jinx would move on foot from there to his temp quarters. Not somewhere his fellow Rha Si would expect him to take an aberrant, but a location he could control. "You get static on this, Atlas, let me know. Tell Temple I owe her."
"Just get what intel you can, Kap."
Kaplan ended the call.
Jinx planted herself in front of him, the fear and anger in her eyes resolving into something cooler. "Exactly how much trouble am I in?"
He vetoed reassurances. She needed to understand the stakes. "You know what we are and what we can do. And because of your aberrance, we can't take that knowledge from you. Bottom line, you talk or fail to cooperate, your family history of mental illness will be used to discredit and contain you."
"You son of—"
He jerked her forward, eye to eye, cutting off her retort. "That was the Coalition military's official position. Unofficially, Jinx, you force me to take that action, I will personally kick you out an airlock."
She stiffened. He expected another swing at his face, but only got another cold look. "Why the hell did you get altered, Kaplan?" It was an accusation, plain and simple. What he was equating to betrayal.
And that shouldn't have bothered him.
He shoved her out of the pod as the doors opened at the med ward's reception area. "Short answer: I didn't."
"What do you mean 'you didn't'?" Jinx swung to face him as he followed her out. "How—? Ah, shit, you're not like the Atillians, able to—?"
"No, natural reproduction isn't possible." He pushed her down a side corridor marked 'Visitor Accommodation'. "I'm tank bred. Created from already altered genetic donors."
She stopped again, and the look she shot him—straight head to toe—could only be described as appalled. "They grew you? Designed you? Fit for frigging purpose? Jesus, Kaplan. I thought the upper elite were the only ones who got away with that illegal, designer-baby bullshit."
He reoriented her once more and propelled her forward, keeping his hand on her back to keep her moving. "There's a need for people with my skill set."
"So, alter goddamn adults."
"Not enough viable candidates."
"And that justifies violating the G-alteration laws? They were put in place to protect juvenile life forms from exploitation. Kaplan, you should have been protected." Her anger vibrated in the rigid spine under his hand, lit up his psi-tech. "How long's this shit been going on for? Since the war?"
"I told you my grandmother was a war vet."
"No, you said High Councillor—" Jinx broke off, snapped about, eyes rounding in horror. "Oh, you are not related to that toxic bitch. Is one of the side effects of alteration some kind of emotional cryogenesis?"
"She likes and needs control. You challenge that." Kaplan shoved her ahead.
"So, what? I'm the anti-Christ because I can't be made into a frigging meat puppet?"
"The attitude might also be a factor." Ignoring her unimpressed snort, Kaplan pulled her to a stop outside his temp accommodation. Pressing a hand to the door console, he released the lock.
The door slid back to reveal a minimalistic, open-plan unit. Sleek, white bulkheads and furniture. The only point of colour was a pale green orchid on the small dining table by the kitchen.
His black gear bag sat by the bed. Jinx's duffle slumped on a charging baggage bot just inside the door—an unsubtle reminder from Sun that the bag and owner were meant to head elsewhere.
An unnecessary one.
Kaplan set his teeth. Any personal plans he might have entertained had got void dropped the second he'd seen the blood analysis. The only thing he needed from Jinx now was a lead on Cal or the rebel Xykeree—no easy task given her aberrance.
And next to impossible with her current disposition.
She resisted his move to push her through the door. "Why bunk in the medical precinct, Kaplan?"
He met her accusing stare head on. "Nothing to do with you or any therapy I might have asked you to consider."
"So, you're here for the delightful antimicrobial ambience, then?"
"My brother's unwell."
The set of her jaw didn't soften, but her psionics altered subtly. Instinctive sympathy, possibly. But whatever the emotion, it came with a healthy dose of scepticism. She resisted a second longer then allowed him to push her inside ahead of him. "If you need to be elsewhere, Kaplan, I can entertain myself."
He could imagine how. And the trouble she'd find as she tried to get off ship. "Neither one of us is going anywhere." He reset the cabin's biometric lock. "My orders are to get additional information from you."
"Will there be torture? Screaming?" Nerves hummed behind her sarcasm, and not the sort that fed a man's ego. Unlike an hour or so ago.
When she'd come on board, she hadn't only been concerned about the blood analysis; she'd been looking for an excuse to break her own rules.
Stomach taut, Kaplan shut down that knowledge and moved to secure his sidearm in the closet safe and stow his jacket. "Get yourself a drink. Hydrate." He'd ensure she was okay then question her as ordered.
After that, he'd hunt down his Rha Si superiors and remind them of the 'protect and serve' rhetoric they used to justify their budgets and existence. Aberrance didn't void a Coalition citizen's civil rights. Jinx hadn't been a hostile source. If they'd just left him to do his job...
He slapped closed the closet and locked down his temper. He'd do it now.
Turning, he found that job—make that 'piece of work'—perched on his kitchen bench, boots swinging, arms braced behind her. The picture of bloody-minded ease. Her jacket and singlet strap hung off one shoulder, providing line of sight on a vivid green bra and more than a little flesh. Her blunt, painted fingernails tapped against the bench as she waited for a drink to pour. A Vodka Triple Tap according to the display on the refreshment dispenser beside her.
Forget rogue Rha Si; the woman was her own worst enemy.
Kaplan strode over and hit the drink cancel option. "No alcohol. Channing's orders. Cooperate or you go to the wards."
"Right..." Jinx remained slouched, but her smile was sharp enough to cut plex. "Cooperate with a psychic military experiment who wants to rip open my mind."
Kaplan stabbed in a request for water, watched it pour—let his temper settle before turning to hand her the drink. "You've every reason to be angry, but I need you to stow the melodrama for five minutes."
"Because the missing guy's some VIP's son?" She accepted the drink, her hard gaze making a lie of her flippant tone. "And a classified military experiment like you?"
"Callan Joshua Tarak. A Space Corps lieutenant. A friend, Jinx."
The heat went out of her psionics fast enough to give him whiplash. "Kaplan... Shit, you should have said—"
"What? That I had a personal reason for wanting you to take those drugs? For wanting to 'violate' your mind?" He punched in a request for a beer, but understood her desire for something stronger. "There's more to this than one lost soldier, Jinx." He forced down the emotions threatening to close his throat. "How much do you know about the Formation War and how it was won?"
She stared at him, her psionics a riot. Then she visibly collected herself, inadvertently helping him do the same—a telling sign. His abilities, his subconscious, were yet to get the memo about stepping back.
She blew out a breath then shook her head. "I've read the public reports. We were losing badly. Then the Coalition found a way to disrupt hive minds. You 'Rha Si', I'm guessing. Soldiers like your grandmother."
He nodded, retrieved his pre-packaged beer, and popped the cap. "It was believed the Xykeree had no detailed knowledge about the tech and personnel involved. Then you handed me that blood analysis."
The rapid hum of her mind cooled as she processed his words. The memory of their first meeting rose. She'd had bounty hunters on her tail then, but had prioritised interrogating him to gauge what threat he and the Xykeree posed to Tirus 7's port. And as he had then, he felt her hostility dissipate as she sidelined personal concerns.
An unsettling awareness spread through him. Tight, ripped jeans and fluro lingerie weren't what threatened his objectivity, despite what Sun and others might believe. One conversation. That's all it had taken to get Jinx on board, even after the way she'd been treated. The woman had iron nerves, brains, and a bad case of altruism she'd most likely deny.
Qualities his colleagues hadn't recognised, too focussed on her aberrance.
Jinx eyed him, then downed her water in one hit. "Those weird drugs your friend was given. They're bad news."
"They indicate the Xykeree not only know about us, they can suppress our abilities."
"So, let me get this straight. You're saying you 'Rha Si' are the Coalition's key defence against the Xykeree and the flesh-harvesting bastards have developed a way to take you out?" Jinx binned her cup definitively. "Fuck, Kaplan."
He smiled thinly, appreciating the summary. "That's the best-case scenario. Some of the agents are similar to ones under development in classified Coalition research. We could have a serious security breach. And research intel might not be the only thing compromised. We need to know if Cal was picked up in a random harvest or IDed and targeted."
Jinx dragged back her hair with a faint grimace. "If they drugged him, he wasn't just meat to them. He was held, probably questioned. What could he have told them?" She looked up, her pulse rising a few hard beats. "Kaplan, those roaches were nova hot to find your ship."
His stomach clenched—nerves. His heart rate accelerated, rapid and telling—sympathetic mirroring. But the next jolt of disquiet was all his.
He sensed Jinx's concern for him—and he felt it. Despite his decision to focus on work, despite her aberrance, and for reasons that had nothing to do with his orders to interrogate her, his mind was still seeking a stronger connection.
Not helpful.
Kaplan bit back an oath. Jinx had an aversion to what he was. He'd soon go after Cal's abductors, and it would probably be his last duty outside a medical facility. Allowing his hyperactive psionics to form a strong empathic link would be pure masochism—and kicking himself in the teeth was not his style.
He forced his mind and psionics back on task, blocking conflicted emotions, both sensed and felt. "Cal went on med leave weeks before we were assigned to this sector. And nothing definitive points to Xykeree involvement in the attack on my ship. The vessel that downed us was black, spherical, fairly featureless. Not typical of Xykeree tech."
"But the roaches knew you'd crash-landed." Jinx narrowed her eyes. "I can understand a military power wanting to develop or acquire a counter measure to you lot. That's just good business. But if they came looking for more Coalition soldiers to interrogate—G-enhanced ones or not..." She flicked her gaze back to his, her disquiet bringing a sympathetic chill to his skin in spite of his efforts to rein in his abilities. "Those rebel hives were planning hostilities well before they attacked Tirus 7."
He remained silent, giving her a second to fully process the ramifications. Another jolt of nerves told him she understood the worst-case scenario.
A return to large-scale harvests. Another bloody war.
He waited for her low curse then spoke. "You need to tell me everything that happened on that barge. No censoring."
She looked away, gripped the bench under her, her knuckles going bloodless. He didn't need his rebellious psionics to tell him the idea of sharing the information she'd withheld still unnerved her, but he couldn't cut her any more slack.
"Jinx, just tell me what I'm missing. Make it quick, as painless as possible. There's no need to go over every—" He broke off as her pulse and respiration became erratic. His own heart started to speed. "Jinx—"
All heat washed out of her face and psionics. Her eyes rolled back in her head.
A shockwave hit his psi-tech.
A burst of pure terror.