3013: GENESIS (3013: The Series Book 11) Read online

  “Females like that are never going to get what they want.” Pia shook her head. “They always want more, and when they get it, they just find something else to covet.”

  “Her tribe leader should have just killed her instead of letting her leave,” Reva stated. “Someone like that is a danger to the tribe and everyone around her.”

  “Harsh,” Mikal said. “But I see your point.”

  “Leanna won’t bother you again,” Kahla assured Mya. “Everyone who works on New Vega considers themselves part of the Adaro pack, but it’s different with the Krytos who live here. Every single one of them would protect you with their lives now that you’re our alpha female.”

  “Let’s hope that’s not necessary,” Mya said with a shaky laugh.

  “Stars, I keep forgetting that you’re alpha now. I know you are, but I guess I’ve overlooked what that really means,” Pia admitted.

  Mya had asked her mates to hold back on making the official announcement of their mating until the TechCon was over. She’d told them she was still getting used to the idea of being the alpha female to one of the largest packs of Krytos in the universe. That was part of it, but the other reason was she feared she wasn’t strong enough to be a good alpha. She also worried that the pack members would hate her because she was human, and she wanted time to prove herself.

  “I haven’t asked, have you considered converting?” Mikal asked. When Mya only stared at him blankly, he explained. “Humans can be converted into Krytos. At least, that’s what I’ve heard.”

  Kahla shook her head. “My cousins would never do it. Conversions are extremely dangerous. There have been as many humans who have died trying it as there have been of those who were successful.”

  Mya stared at them, her head reeling from the information she’d just heard. She and her mates had never talked about conversions, and it was something she didn’t even know was possible. Wanting a few minutes in private to compose herself, she stood. “I’ll be right back. Mind if I use the private bathroom in your office?”

  Kahla waved her hand in the air. “Go ahead. You’re programmed in.”

  Mya made her way to the hidden door near the end of the booths lining the mirrored wall. The last time she’d been in the office, Kahla had let her in. It touched her that the other female had made sure Mya had access to the office.

  Kahla had said Mya was family now, and she’d obviously meant it.

  A few minutes later, Mya had taken care of her pressing needs, but she didn’t rush to go back and rejoin her friends. Giving herself a little more time alone, Mya stared blankly at the wall of video screens. She’d go crazy working in an office like this. One wall might have looked like mirrors from the outside, but inside the office, they were dark windows that overlooked the entire bar. The opposite wall had multiple screens displaying the security feed from various sections of the bar.

  Despite being alone in the room, Mya felt surrounded.

  She knew she was just being silly. Being with Maddox, Daimon and Tavius made her happier than she’d ever been, but she hadn’t really thought of the reality of being mated to the alphas of New Vega. She’d come to care about all the people she’d met, but there were so many more she hadn’t had the opportunity to speak to yet. Would the rest of their pack accept her like Kahla, or would there be others who reacted like Leanna had?

  New Vega was her home now, and she took pride in what her mates had created. She wanted to help them, to learn how to be the alpha female they needed her to be. But could she do that as a human or would they want to convert her at some point?

  Her inner musings were interrupted as something caught her eye. She’d seen a strange flicker of light coming from one of the screens. Walking toward the wall, she pressed the button to zoom in on a couple sitting in one of the dark booths. Mya felt guilty as she entered the command to initiate audio. It wasn’t right to eavesdrop on a private conversation, but something pushed at her, telling her something was wrong.

  Mya could see that the man was an elite by the uniform that he wore. The woman was dressed in a formfitting black jumpsuit that showed off every curve. Around her neck was a thick black choker that looked like a collar. There was something about the stone on the front of the choker that reminded Mya of something she’d seen before.

  At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The man looked angry about something, but it was the woman that Mya continued to focus on. Her expression was cold and there was a calculating gleam in her eyes. It was difficult to hear their conversation over the music and other voices in the bar, but Mya saw that she could filter the background noise out and zoom in.

  This is wrong, she scolded herself even as she turned the filter on.

  “Dr. Whitmer-Fields called a halt to the Genesis Project on Avox after she discovered the new side effects of the altered enhancement drug. A different group of scientists kept working on the project at another lab, hoping they could prove to her that it was still viable, but they just made it worse,” the man said. “When they were discovered, Dr. Whitmer-Fields reported it to the regents and high command.”

  “What did they do to the formula?”

  “They were fucking with the enhancement drug that all elites are given by adding xili and some other shit that was supposed to make it easier to learn. It didn’t work because the enhancement drug is based off of D’Aire, Helios and Krytos genetics, and when the new shit was added, it created something new that isn’t safe.”

  “I want to know exactly what the side effects are,” the woman snapped.

  The man shrugged. “I have no clue. All I know is that it’s bad. What’s left of it is being taken back to Earth, where it will be destroyed.”

  “You were paid to get me samples of the drug, not information that’s useless to me,” the woman said coldly. “I want those samples.”

  “I told you. I can’t. There are only five small canisters, but they’re in a locked bio-container that Commander Macy has in his quarters. He’s under orders not to let them out of his sight. What I did to tell you all this is bad enough. Stars, I’m going to get sent to the Mars penal colony if they find out I’m the one who fucked with the Intrepid’s system so we had to land here for repairs. There’s nothing else I can do.”

  “Failure is not an option. You know what happens to people that cross Korsek.”

  Mya’s heart began to pound at the sound of the war criminal’s name.

  The man on screen sneered. “I know who Korsek really is. All of the Alliance knows that it’s just some Tarin bitch pretending to be a man. I’m not afraid of her.”

  “You should be,” the woman warned softly.

  “Tell your boss that she can’t have the drug,” the man said dismissively. “It’s no longer going to be produced. And I’m not giving the credits back. I earned them.”

  Mya stared at the screen, horrified by what she’d heard. She started to leave the office, but froze in place when she saw the flash of light again. In an instant, she knew why the necklace had looked so familiar. A few years ago, someone had figured out how to use holo-tech to create a holographic mask. Anyone who wore one could change their appearance at will. The technology had been banned, except for toy versions where kids could dress up as demons or other mythical monsters.

  But this wasn’t a child’s toy.

  The flash of light had been a glitch in the holo-tech, allowing the high-grade security cameras to show Mya the real face beneath the disguise projected from the necklace the woman was wearing.

  No, she wasn’t a woman at all.

  She was a Tarin female…and a war criminal.

  ***

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Mya rushed out of the office, looking around the crowd of people that blocked her view from seeing the booth where the couple had been sitting. Her heart slammed against her chest in panic as she saw it was empty. A group of people had already moved in to claim the space, and she looked around the bar frantically for some sign of the couple she�
��d seen on the security screens.

  They were gone.

  Maddox had arrived while she’d been in the office. He smiled at her as she hurried over to their table, but his expression changed to one of alarm as he stood up and gripped her arms tight. “What is it, tava? What’s wrong?”

  “We have to find them! Oh, god. We have to find her, right now!”

  “Find who?” Daimon asked as he rushed over to them.

  “I saw something on the security feed. It’s bad. Korsek, Quilla Rego. She’s here. She was sitting in that booth, but now she’s gone.”

  Mya started to pull him toward the office, but he shook his head. “Not here. We can access the feed from our main security center. Daimon, contact Tavius and tell him to meet us there.”

  Maddox told her to remain silent as their group left the bar and made their way up to the security center. Once they were inside the secured room, Maddox barked out, “Pull up the security feed in Sanctum.”

  “Tavius and Ryland were handling an incident in the sublevel five ballroom, but they are on their way now,” Daimon told them.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Kahla demanded.

  Mya told them everything she’d heard inside the bar. As she did, she watched the expressions of everyone in the room change. They weren’t scared. They didn’t even look worried. Sheer determination and rage burned in their eyes when she finished her explanation. Her mates and friends were warriors, ready to fight and kick ass.

  She might be wearing the outfit, but she was nothing like them.

  “Alpha Maddox, I have the security feed for you,” one of the security officers announced.

  Maddox stalked over to the controls himself and found the footage they were looking for with Mya’s help. They watched the conversation play out as she had done a few minutes ago. When it was done, everyone was silent.

  Finally, Reva asked, “Are you sure? She looks nothing like Quilla Rego.”

  “I didn’t see it on this feed, but she’s wearing a holo-mask. I saw the flashes of light, and when it flickered, I could see her real face. I looked up the reports on her after Orion D’Sil mentioned her when he was here. I saw her face. I know it’s her.”

  Expression grim, Maddox nodded. “I believe you, tava. Run the facial recognition program on this image,” he told the security officer. “Do another one for Quilla Rego’s real face. Find her. I want her found and locked in a cage.”

  “Yes, Alpha Maddox,” another security officer said before he started typing rapidly.

  “She has that holo-mask on,” Pia reminded them. “She could look completely different now.”

  “Fuck,” Daimon growled. “You’re right. We need to get to Commander Macy and secure those samples of the Genesis Project drug before she gets to them. That’s why she’s here, and she won’t leave without them.”

  “I need to contact Ambassador Golaris,” Reva said, mentioning her mother. She walked away from them as she tapped on her wrist unit.

  “I met with Commander Macy earlier today,” Maddox announced. “I’ll go get him and bring him in.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Mikal offered. “He might be easier to convince if you have another elite officer with you.”

  Maddox knew he was right. “Fine. I want a security team in place to take this bitch into custody when we find her. And someone figure out how the fuck she got onto New Vega and cleared through security.”

  “I can help with that,” Kahla offered as she sat down at one of the computer stations.

  People scrambled around the room doing what Maddox had asked. One of the security officers let out a shout. “I’ve identified the male she was with, Alpha Maddox.”

  “Bring his image up on screen.”

  When the officer did, the image and credentials of Officer Ken Howards popped up on one of the large screens. “Bastard,” Maddox snarled. “I want him found.”

  Before he could leave, Mya gripped his arm. “Please be careful.”

  “I will,” he vowed. “I have too much to live for now that we’ve found you.”

  “Take some more men with you,” she whispered. “Please. I don’t mean to insult you, but she might have brought people with her. If you run into them while you’re getting the commander, there could be trouble.”

  “You’re right. I’ll take a team with us. We’ll go prepared.”

  He kissed her hard before heading over to the section of the room where they kept weapons and other equipment. Maddox and Mikal both started to gear up along with three other security officers. Usually, the security team members carried stunners that would knock someone out, but Maddox and the others were also strapping blasters to their thighs and inserting more knives into their waistbands.

  “What’s this?” Mikal asked as he was given a thin, transparent black helmet along with lightweight body armor.

  “There’s a comm system in the face shields, and the armor will deflect a blaster or a stunner,” Maddox explained as he strapped his own armor on. “We don’t know if Quilla came with a group, and the regulars on New Vega know to get out of the way when the security team comes through.”

  Pia helped Mikal put his armor on as they spoke quietly to one another. Across the room, Mya joined her mates as Daimon put a comm link in his ear. “We’ll have you on the security feed, but I want direct comms with you in case we find anything,” he told Maddox. “This will be easier than using wrist units.”

  “Good thinking. Give everyone a comm link,” Maddox ordered as he took one from the box and put it in Mya’s ear himself. “This way you can hear that I’m okay.”

  “Thank you.” Her voice wavered even though Mya tried not to show how worried she was. Lifting onto her toes, she kissed him, pouring all the love she felt for him into it.

  Maddox wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her to him as he took the kiss deeper. He wanted to sink in, to stroke his tongue against hers, but he cut the kiss off before he did that. He had a job to do now, and he couldn’t let himself be distracted. Breaking the kiss, he took a physical and mental step back.

  “You did good, tava. Without you, we would never have known about this threat.”

  “We have to find her.”

  “We will.”

  It was a promise he gave her.

  A vow that he would find the war criminal and make her pay for ever stepping foot on New Vega. He turned to his brother, his gaze meeting Daimon’s in mutual understanding. “Keep me updated.”

  “Anything we know, you’ll know.”

  Maddox put on the black face shield, giving the audio command to activate it. With the shield on, he would be able to access audio and visual feeds, and stay connected to Mya and his brothers through the communication system. He stalked from the room with Mikal and the three security officers, not looking back.

  Daimon would keep Mya safe, and Tavius would be with them soon. He didn’t have to worry about them…but he did.

  Rage burned through him. How the fuck did that sick, sadistic evil female get on New Vega without anyone knowing? They scanned IDs upon arrival. That meant she would have had to have altered her fingerprints and retinal markers before she arrived.

  He didn’t care what Quilla’s reasons were for coming here, but she’d put his family in jeopardy, and he would pay her back for that in blood.

  “Alpha?”

  Maddox turned to look at the head of security. The face shield covered his entire face so his vision wasn’t obstructed, but it left a slightly darkened tint to the world that Maddox didn’t care for. “What is it, Amir?”

  “Do you want this criminal taken alive?”

  He thought about it for two seconds before snarling, “No.”

  “The Alliance and the Tarins are going to want her alive for questioning,” Mikal said. “As Korsek, she developed a network that is far reaching. We could learn a lot from the information she has.”

  “I don’t give a fuck what they want. She came here, she deals with our justice. When we
find her, we take her down. I don’t care if she’s breathing or not.”

  “That’s what I wanted to hear,” Amir growled back.

  “I was just checking,” Mikal said. “Consider it playing devil’s advocate. But believe me, I really want to kill this bitch, too.”

  “Get in line,” Maddox told him. “Commander Macy is in a room on the fourth level, central location. We’ll take the VIP elevators up to the fourth, then head down the hallways of that floor. Macy seemed like a reasonable male. He can come with us, or give us the bio-container.”

  “He was ordered not to let it out of his sight,” Mikal said. “He won’t let us take it.”

  Maddox didn’t bother telling the human male that the other elite wouldn’t be given a choice. They stepped into the elevator, and he gave the order for it to take them to the fourth floor. Once they were inside, he activated the comm link. “Have you found anything?”

  “No,” Daimon answered. “We’re still scanning, but so far, there is no sign of Quilla. Wait! Hold on…Kahla might have something.”

  Kahla clicked on through the link. “I was going back over the feed from the docking bays from earlier today. She was there…in Docking Bay Four. She was with six men, all of them dressed in elite uniforms.”

  “Fuck,” Mikal hissed. “How the fuck did they get those?”

  “I don’t know, but someone is going to pay for this,” Pia said.

  “Send a team down to the docking bay,” Maddox ordered. “I want that shuttle locked down. They don’t leave New Vega.”

  “We’re on it,” Daimon growled over the link.

  Maddox and his team went silent as the elevator stopped on the fourth floor. They stepped out when the doors opened, and the other males followed Maddox as he led them to the suite the commander was staying in.

  “Mikal? How did she know?”

  Maddox hadn’t been as friendly as his two brothers had been with the two males that guarded his tava, but he liked them and was beginning to trust them. They’d known her a lot longer than the Adaro brothers had, and there was much they could learn from the human males when it came to Mya.