Chapter Twenty-Three
A nurse-tech took Ruyn to be poked and scanned, and another escorted Michaela to a “comfort station” to wait. In the corridor, a dark-suited man approached from the opposite direction. He looks familiar. Where do I know him from?
She turned around but could only see his retreating back.
Then she forgot all about him when she entered the waiting room. “Korsan! What are you doing here?”
“Michaela! How are you?” He ceased pacing and rushed over, his face wreathed with concern.
“Well, out of the woods for the moment. What are you doing here?” she repeated.
“Ruyn told me what happened to you, and I came to offer him moral support. Where is he?”
“They’re running tests on him.”
“Tests? Is he all right? What’s wrong?”
“Hopefully, nothing. I get the impression the doctor thinks he may have been exposed to the antigen too.” She hoped Ruyn didn’t have what she had and clung to the fact that he was asymptomatic. That had to be a positive sign, didn’t it? But the fact the doctor was testing him made her anxious.
Korsan looked stricken. “He seemed fine to me.”
“To me, too.” She sank into a seat. “This is all so scary. Thank you for coming,” she said, grateful for small favors he hadn’t gotten involved in anything illegal or unethical.
They didn’t need that worry on top of everything else.
His business was still mismanaged, but that wasn’t as bad as him running a criminal enterprise.
“Of course I would come,” he said. “Do they know how you got exposed?”
“Not yet. If they can’t figure it out, I’ll have to go home. Dr. Kurur said I can’t risk another exposure.”
“Is it something you ate?”
She shrugged. “Two doctors insist it isn’t.
Dr. Kurur says it’s a bioengineered alien antigen but asked a lot of questions about my eating habits.
The attacks always occurred a few hours after I’d eaten.
” She’d always thought a reaction to an allergen would happen quicker, but they were dealing with an alien microbot, so who knew?
“I’d assumed I was allergic to something at the Starlight because I was fine until we went to Elyxis 4.
However, Dr. Kurur seemed to think I was reexposed here.
But we haven’t changed our habits. We eat at the same places all the time, mostly Mama Murta’s café. ”
Korsan’s concerned expression turned to stone. “You eat at Mama Murta’s,” he deadpanned.
“It’s our favorite place. The food is great, and the café is close to the apartment.”
“Don’t go there anymore.”
“Her food is the last thing I would suspect of making me sick, but it may turn out I can’t eat anything on this planet, and I’ll have to go home.” She really, really hoped it didn’t come to that.
“Go home anyway—and under no circumstance should you eat at Mama Murta’s. Not you. Not Ruyn. Promise me you won’t go there anymore.”
She was stunned. “What? Why?”
“Just…just…stay away from that place.”
He shoved his hands in his pockets and turned his back.
She grabbed his arm and spun him around. “You can’t say something outrageous like that and not give me an explanation.”
“I can’t.” Stricken eyes met her gaze. “None of this was supposed to happen—if I’d had any idea—I never would have—”
“You never would have what?”
“Go home, please. Take the first flight to Earth, and take Ruyn with you. I think you can convince him to go with you.”
He would, but that wasn’t the point. “What aren’t you telling me? I’m not going anywhere if you don’t explain yourself.” She crossed her arms.
“Both of you are in grave danger. I am so sorry for dragging you into this. So very, very sorry. I would undo everything if I could. But I can’t. Please, please leave while you still can.” He paused, looking devastated. “Before she kills you.”
“Who?” He couldn’t be referring to—incredulous, she dropped her jaw. “You don’t mean Mama Murta? She’s a harmless, sweet old lady.” Former defense minister, sure. Busybody, true. But still just a retired lady who owned a café.
“No,” he replied in a hoarse voice. “She’s anything but harmless. She’s…a captain in the Prellim Cartel.”
“What?” she gasped.
“Ms. Perine?” The nurse-tech appeared. “The tests are done. If you’ll follow me, the doctor wishes to speak to you both.”
Getting the test results was critically important, but so was this. Mama Murta a Prellim? It seemed incredible, but Korsan wouldn’t have said anything so shocking if it wasn’t true, would he? Why lie when you could easily be proven wrong?
What the hell did he get involved in? The revelation suggested he’d climbed into bed with the cartel. The notion made her ill. Having to tell Ruyn made her even sicker. He’d just come around to believing in his brother’s innocence. Working with the cartel was worse than anything they’d envisioned.
“Ms. Perine?” the nurse-tech said.
Dammit! “I’m coming,” she said, afraid Korsan would disappear. “If you care to know about Ruyn, you’ll stick around,” she said and followed the nurse-tech out of the comfort station.
* * * *
Ruyn and the doctor were waiting for her.
Her head spun from the bombshell. The ramifications extended far beyond the likelihood that Murta—she couldn’t think of her as Mama anymore—had been poisoning them. A Prellim had been Luturna’s minister of defense!
No wonder the woman covered her head. It wasn’t to protect the food but to hide the identifying cranial nodules. Chaumi always wore a cap, too.
Shit, the whole family must be involved. The family who spies together stays together. She’d never met Murta’s husband, but he’d have to be Prellim, too. Unless he’s a Luturnan traitor.
Like Korsan. Her stomach churned with disgust. He betrayed his planet! He’d committed treason.
“Are you all right?” Ruyn frowned.
Oh, my god. I’m so sorry. “I had a…disturbing conversation with Korsan, but we’ll get to that.” She took a seat. “What did the tests show?”
Dr. Kurur cleared his throat, and her stomach tightened. More bad news.
“Let me preface by saying Ruyn’s life is not in danger.” A positive that sounded like a negative if she ever heard one.
“I’ll explain in more detail in a moment, but what it boils down to is, you, Ruyn, are producing the antigen, that you, Michaela, are allergic to. You are being exposed during sexual intercourse.”
Her jaw dropped. “I’m allergic to Ruyn?”
“Basically, yes.”