“I am sure there are a few citizens who would jump at the opportunity, but you never met with the Sovereign.” I kicked my feet onto the table, crossing my ankles. Qraniebi wasn’t a threat, and as long as he continued talking, I had nothing to fear from him. “So how did you end up in the Aldawi Capital instead?”
“My crew tracked me down and begged for forgiveness, asking if they could rejoin,” he muttered, clasping his hands together. “And I was foolish enough to trust them. As soon as we left the space station, their attitude quickly changed, and they jumped me while I slept.” He flinched, his hands jerking, and his battered face appeared haunted. “Those monsters bound me and plucked my gorgeous feathers one by one, laughing at every painful cry that escaped my lips.”
Sorrow, anger, and hatred passed through his pale green eyes, which remained locked onto mine, filling me with empathy.
Qraniebi preened himself diligently to be the best-looking Quaww this side of the galaxy. He spent most of his free time pruning and using his credits to buy the finest new beauty treatments. Now all his hard work is ruined, leaving him looking like an overgrown hatchling.
“Why?” I asked, my voice breaking.
A flicker of life passed through his eyes, dying as quickly as it had appeared.
“One of them mentioned how many credits they could fetch for my feathers. Others spoke about selling Selena’s eggs for a hefty profit.”
He glanced away. I didn’t know if he was ashamed or unsure of how to word his next revelation, but his hesitation made me nervous.
“The plan was to take Selena’s clan and sell them to the Quaww. The late Sovereign was willing to pay my crew to kidnap her clan from the palace, while my crew’s secret client offered to pay five times our usual rate to deliver Selena. Her clan was a bonus since Circuli venom is invaluable. The buyer also planned to test their newly designed weapons against the Aldawi on Selena’s cubs.”
“Z mentioned what his sire had said during their challenge; his evil plans triggered him to kill that corrupt leader,” I muttered, satisfied that Qraniebi’s story lined up with what I already knew. “But how did you come across this information? And more importantly, what happened to Selena and my brother?”
“They bound me up and covered my face, leaving me to rot in a corner while they wreaked havoc upon my ship. Unfortunately for me, while I lay unmoving and in pain, they brazenly spoke of their plans as if I was unconscious. If they had thought I was awake, I’m sure they would’ve made me watch them mutilate Selena in horror, unable to move or look away,” he spat, facing me. “I hope you killed them all when you reached my ship because none of them deserve to breathe after what they did.”
“You are the only member of your crew that remains alive,” I smirked, remembering the sight of their corpses when I had boarded his ship. He must be dying to get revenge against the crew who had betrayed him. “At least for now. Z isn’t sure what to do with you yet, so he’s left your fate in my hands for the time being.”
“I’m innocent!” he pleaded. “I know you have access to my vidcorders—”
“They were all destroyed,” I sighed. “Along with any other evidence which would prove your innocence. So, for the last time, tell me what happened to my sibling.”
“It was bad, B—Agent Bryeca.” He winced, raising his bound hands to his neck and attempting to scratch it. He sighed as disappointment crossed his face, proving he had failed to tame his itch.
Clenching the side of the table tightly, I forced myself not to get out of my seat to aid him. We were no longer friends who had spent time in each other’s arms between missions. At the moment, I was Zirene’s voice of reason. I couldn’t allow our past relationship to interfere with my mission, blurring the lines of past and present in Qraniebi’s favor.
“They sliced Selena’s hair off and debated whether to keep it as a trophy or sell it as a stylish rope.” Returning his wrists to the table, he stared at them as if they offended him. Perhaps he simply didn’t know how to explain the rest. “Those . . . Those ishing fraxs sliced her torso straight down the middle. Their goal was to harvest Selena’s ovaries and anything else of value before stitching her up and passing her over to the Quaww as if untouched. They thought that someone as unique as her could be sold in parts to the highest bidder. Imagine what would happen if someone wanted to continue the Yaarkins’ work?”
“That would be illegal,” I hissed, knocking my feet off the table as I sat up. “The Yaarkins’ artificial insemination experiments went against CEG law. That’s why the Assembly fears what Selena and the rest of us demi-humans could represent if allowed to roam freely as citizens. We are products of a procedure they oppose in fear of the consequences if scientists were allowed to experiment and create hybrid super-soldiers. The politicians don’t care if species are dying out due to the fertility problems many face. Their priority lies in preventing a powerful species like the Quaww from mass-producing genetically enhanced soldiers to take over the galaxy.”
“Like they accused Sovereign Zirene of doing,” Qraniebi muttered. “The problem is with her eggs. They are highly desirable because they can create hybrid species offspring without needing to splice a zygote together artificially, which would be illegal in the CEG. Technically, all they need to do replicate her ability, and no one could stop them.”
“How do you know so much about this?” I
