“Naomi Knoll.” I let myself be led to the seat. “What is happening to Danek? Will he be okay?”
She sits down, tucking her indigo robes around her. “The resonance sickness will not cause permanent damage,” she responds carefully. “However, there is a complication.”
My heart lurches. “A complication?”
Kenia draws in a breath. “You must understand something about Noturn,” she replies. “No Zorahn can last more than three months on this planet without losing their mind. That’s true for everyone. It’s true for the administrator, it’s true for the security guards that the House hires, and it’s true for Sidrx and me.”
“Okay.” She might have said that the resonance sickness doesn’t cause permanent damage, but she also said that Danek is still unconscious, and I’m struggling to maintain any semblance of calm.
“Despite that, or maybe because of it, we’ve developed a robust record-keeping system,” she continues. “Here’s what we’ve learned. The resonance sickness is very highly correlated to failing the Testing.” Her voice softens. “I heard that the two of you are newly bonded. I’m so, so, sorry.”
My heart clenches reflexively, and then my brain finally decides to start to work. Kenia is not expressing sympathy because Danek is dying. She’s expressing sympathy because he’s Draekon. To the citizens of the High Empire, failing the Testing is a fate worse than death.
Hang on a minute. That’s not all she said. What were her precise words? The resonance sickness is very highly correlated to failing the Testing. She’s telling me that Danek is sick because he’s Draekon.
Oh shit.
How could the Rebellion have missed this? How could they not have realized that Danek would be incapacitated on Noturn? If we get out of here in one piece, remind me to kill Dariux.
I don’t have to pretend to look dismayed. “What?”
“I’m so sorry,” she repeats.
“Are you sure? Absolutely sure?”
Kenia nods. “Your bondmate has the strongest reaction to Noturn that we’ve ever recorded. His concentration of Draekon genes is incredibly high.”
No doubt.
“His genes also seem mutated,” she adds.
Once again, not a surprise. However, she’s wrong about this. It’s not Danek’s genes that are mutated; it’s everyone else’s. Danek is pure, one-hundred-percent, unadulterated Draekon.
Right now, none of that matters. I feel a sudden need to see him. Jumping to my feet, I rush into the hospital. I’m hoping against hope that he’s up and about, but no, he’s still unconscious. “When will he wake up?” I ask Kenia, my voice tinged with desperation. “When will he be well enough to leave?”
“I don’t know,” she replies. “Most people recover in a week or two, at least enough to leave the healing tanks. But nobody has ever had such a strong reaction to the planet. It’s impossible to tell what could happen. He might regain consciousness sometime in the next three months. He might not. But everyone always recovers once they leave the planet.”
I gape at her. “In that case, what are you waiting for? Why can’t you get him on the shuttle?”
“Because it’s full,” she replies. “The five hundred miners that are currently on Noturn need to leave before the planet impacts them permanently.”
“You’re telling me there’s not enough room for one more person?”
“That’s exactly what I’m telling you. Shuttle runs are expensive. The cargo holds are filled with rihim and the passenger section runs at peak capacity. Nobody can be evacuated early. All of this was in your employment contract and in the Noturn entry paperwork.”
Which I signed without reading. Not that reading it would have made a difference—none of us predicted that this would have happened to Danek.
Think, Naomi. There has to be a way out. “What if we paid for a private shuttle?” I’m sure that if I contacted Danek’s brothers, they’d be here in an instant. “Nothing is more important than Danek’s safety.”
Kenia stares at me. “You’re really naïve, aren’t you? Do you have any idea what private shuttles cost? The amount is more than your bondmate could earn in a lifetime.”
Oops. I did not know that.
The scientist throws the healer a glance. “Sidrx, can you give us a moment?”
“Sure.” Giving me an encouraging smile, the man leaves the room.
Once the door shuts behind him, Kenia activates a cone of silence. “You’re undoubtedly in shock,” she says. “I don’t blame you. House Cindifin does not share data with the High Empire, but that does not matter. Your bondmate will test positive.” She looks around reflexively, even though we’re alone. “There are alternatives to exile. There are underground services that will extract your bondmate to safety. Several people claim they have a route to the Rebellion, but most of them are scammers, preying on people’s desperation. But I have a reliable contact that will get him out.” She gives me a searching look. “And you as well, if you choose to leave with your bondmate.”
Is she saying what I think she is? “Why are you helping us?”
Her expression darkens. “We conduct the Testing because it’s supposedly the only way to keep us safe. But that’s a convenient lie that we’ve told ourselves. In a thousand years, there have been no Draekons capable of transforming into dragons. The gene has mutated, and I doubt the transformation is even possible.”
It’s definitely possible, and I’ve seen it with my own eyes, but I don’t contradict her.
“We ruin the lives of those that fail the Testing, and to what purpose?” She shakes her head grimly. “The Testing might be the law of the land, but I don’t support it. We are scientists. The data shows that Draekons are functionally extinct. Rather than letting the data guide us, we have allowed ourselves to be ruled by fear.” She leans forward, her expression earnest. “He’s going to test positive, Naomi. He will be taken from you, and he will be exiled for the rest of his life. If you want to run, let me know, and I will alert my
