“She’s done more in that wretched human lab than ten men with access to all our elven advances.” Ulbrine hesitated. “This opportunity is a gift, Kal.” Hunched with his elbows on the wooden railing, the older man eyed Kal, the dappled shade of the palm making his eyes look black. “If you find errors in the immunity of the tactical virus, it will be your task to fix them.”
“You want me to fix her work?” Kal asked in disbelief, but in his very question he saw the beginnings of an idea.
“What I want is for you to give us control of something worth having,” Ulbrine said. “It will take stealth and cleverness and test your ability to manipulate to the utmost. These are the traits that define the best of us, Kal, and your father was the epitome of the warrior poet steadfastly doing what needed to be done to keep our people alive. Even the most ugly of deeds.” He hesitated, focus going back to the water. “Perhaps I made a mistake. Sometimes it skips a generation.”
But Kal hardly heard, his mind racing forward, seeing this for the golden chance that Ulbrine never dreamed it was. He could do what the enclave wanted and bring it to their attention that Trisk’s donor virus was not the savior to their species it looked to be, prove that other avenues of research shouldn’t be shut down in the name of fast results. He could stomach Trisk thinking he was a field manager if it might bring the perils of her flawed research to light.
Pulse quickening, Kal gripped the worn railing. “I’ll do this,” he said. “But if I have to make repairs to her work, I want my name on it, not hers.” If it bore his name, he could keep her techniques and utilize them on his own organism. And with that, NASA would again be in his reach, his family name restored.
“That sounds fair, Ulbrine,” a light but resonant voice rumbled, and Kal spun, shocked to realize Colonel Wolfe had come up silently behind them both. Rick and Max remained at the table, the older man slumped in what Kal now recognized as jet lag.
“I knew he’d do it,” Rick said, jostling Max’s elbow. “Didn’t I say he’d do it?”
Max waved a listless hand, the cigarette dropping ash into his coffee.
“I need a few days to wrap up my life here,” Kal said softly. He had no emotional ties, and he’d accumulated only a few belongings in three years. It would be easier to leave everything behind. Except for his orchid collection, of course, carefully developed and tended like the obsessive-compulsive hobby it was.
“Wonderful.” Standing, Rick took his coat from the adjacent chair and put it on as if getting ready to depart. “I’ll let you three finish up. There’s a flight leaving in an hour, and I want to be on it. I don’t like to be away from my family.” He extended his hand. “Kalamack. Good to have you on board.”
Max leaned forward to look at Kal over his glasses as Kal and Rick shook hands. His eyes were a dark brown, and bloodshot. A thin hand held back the metal charm hanging around his neck. It was probably the spell that was keeping him cool. “I’ll have my secretary book you a flight for late next week and send you a listing of nearby apartments,” Max said. “Consider it part of your salary.”
“Thank you,” Kal said softly. “I appreciate the offer for transportation, Mr. Saladan, but I’ll make my own way out there if you don’t mind. I’m not leaving my orchids, and I’ll not risk them on a plane. The pressure shifts are damaging.” Not to mention he wanted to bring his car.
Rick peered at him in disbelief as he settled his coat about his shoulders. “Are you sure?” he asked loudly. “Eight hours versus three days? A small ear pop, and it’s as comfortable as your living room. Pretty women bring you drinks and food. Max, buy him two tickets so his plants can sit next to him.”
“No, thank you,” Kal said. “I’d appreciate the drive time to change my focus.”
Colonel Wolfe leaned in, whispering, “I don’t like my feet off the ground, either.”
“Suit yourself,” the vampire said, clearly not caring. “Ulbrine,” he said, shaking the man’s hand before giving Max Saladan and Colonel Wolfe a nod and walking away. Kal watched the waiter he passed shudder, the human clearly not knowing why.
Mood expansive, Ulbrine sat back down in the shade, his satisfaction obvious as he beamed at Max’s listless expression. “Gentlemen, shall we order, now that the predator has left?”
“I could do with a mimosa,” Max said as the waiter hustled forward. “And the breakfast special with the shrimp and scrambled eggs.”
“Meat tray,” Colonel Wolfe said as he found his place. “And no fish on it. I want meat.” He hesitated. “And a bowl of chowder.”
Kal slowly sat down. He was going west to work as a field manager to infiltrate a human-run lab headed by a vampire CEO. His loss of his own work would be temporary, and once he’d gained Trisk’s techniques, it wouldn’t matter. From there, he could fix the elves’ failing genome so that no one, not his child or anyone else’s, would have to go through the hell that he had endured.
“I’ll have the roast duck,” he said absently as the server hovered expectantly at his elbow. “With honey drizzle,” he added as he took the pollen-laced flower from the centerpiece and replaced it with his own faded orchid bloom from his hat.
Ulbrine was wrong. The elven savagery to survive hadn’t skipped a generation. He would do anything and everything to bring his name back to greatness and save what was important to him. Just the idea that Trisk’s theories were better than his burned holes in him. They were faster, maybe, but not safe. He’d find fault with Trisk’s work—even if he had to invent it.