Star Covenant

Chapter 9: The Iris Key Resonates with the Heartbeat

Erin's fingertips traced the condensing glass of the incubation chamber where Clone 37 was slumbering in the liquid nutrient solution.The embryo, which was 99.8% genetically similar to Kane, had an additional dark purple stripe on the back of its neck - a sign of genetic contamination from the Thera race.

"You crossed the line."Kane's mechanical prosthetic eyes flashed red at the entrance of the lab, and his spinal tentacles wrapped around Erin's waist like chains, "According to Article 309 of the Alliance Agreement, private research on the Commander's genetic samples shall be punished by-"

"Execution?"Erin raised her quantum wedding ring, and the chip suddenly projected a holographic image.The image showed Kane's tentacles unconsciously carving alien writing into the wall as he slept last night, "Explain this first, Commander Vesta."

The air suddenly solidified into a gelatinous mass.Kane's tentacles retracted abruptly, only to leave two glowing bite marks on Erin's waist.They were nanobots secreted by the tentacle glands and were traveling down her capillaries toward her heart.

"Alert! Thrawn biosignal detected in sector B7!"The AI's warning sound was accompanied by the crunching sound of the quantum barrier breaking.The lab dome was honeycombed with acid-etched holes, liquid metal pouring down like a torrential downpour.

Kane ripped open the front of his uniform to reveal a star map projector embedded in his chest, "Follow the coordinates!"He grabbed Erin's wrist and pressed it against his bare chest, and the mechanical skeleton under his skin suddenly morphed and reorganized into the shape of a key slot.

Erin's iris was scanned and authenticated in 0.3 seconds.The entire wall of the experiment slid open to the sides, revealing tunnels leading to the underground ship's vault.She stumbled into Kane's arms and heard a double heartbeat coming from his chest - the part that was human was 17% faster than usual.

"Hold on tight."Kane's tentacles wrapped around both of their bodies as they leapt toward the hovercraft, acid corroding scorched black marks behind them.Erin's wedding ring suddenly vibrated at a high frequency, displaying Serena's liquid face, "Honey, you think he's got an escape map hidden in his chest?That's actually the star-orbit cannon activator that annihilated Earth-"

The escape ship completes a quantum folding leap in the nick of time.The swarm-like silhouette of the Thrawn fleet loomed out of the acid cloud that exploded outside the porthole.Erin suddenly pressed down on Kane's hand operating the console, and the glowing goo from his tentacles was seeping down her fingertips and into her skin.

"You're controlling the ship with a symbiotic neural net?"She stared at the bioelectric waves pulsing on the dashboard, "So it's not energy that's consumed by each folding leap, it's your neurons?"

Kane was silent as he aimed the genlock at Erin's carotid artery, only to turn the gun the instant her pupils constricted, shattering the cockpit's surveillance probe.The uniform cuffs slipped off the aged photo of the youngster being held in the arms of his human mother - and the woman was wearing the uniform of the Netstar organization.

"42nd test passed."He suddenly recited the encrypted code as silver fluid oozed from the interior of the escape ship's hull, "You are now the second host of this bioship."

A stabbing pain shot through Erin's temples as a massive stream of alien data forced its way into her brain.In the last vestiges of her consciousness, she saw Kane's tentacles gently holding her backward leaning body, while in the porthole reflection, his mechanical prosthetic eyes took on the dark brown color of human pupils for the first time.