Star Covenant

Chapter 6: Quantum Resonance and Parasitic Pulse

Erin's quantum wedding ring seared her knuckles in the darkness, and Kane's mechanical prosthetic eye scanned the cracks in the abandoned medical bay that six hours ago had been the heart of the Alliance's genetic lab.The corrosive fluid left over from the Thrawn raid was devouring the titanium walls like a swarm of hungry, transparent jellyfish.

"Your heart rate is overshooting."Kane's spinal tentacles suddenly wrapped around Erin's wrist, the translucent tip stabbing into her vein, "Sedation required."

"Get off your alien prosthetic!"As Erin shook off the tentacle, the wedding ring chip suddenly projected a holographic star map - the very same galactic symbols that recurred in her dreams.Kane's pupils constricted suddenly, and the tentacles arced through the air in a warning arc.

The alarm pierced the dead silence.The supposedly dead Thrawn parasite in the incubation chamber was writhing, its human host's chest cavity cracking open and three glowing bioluminescent tentacles burrowing out.Erin was tackled to the ground, a cold, sticky touch on the back of her neck.

"Don't move."Kane's voice wavered for the first time as the tips of the tentacles erupted into a stream of high-frequency particles running through the parasite.As purple blood splattered across Erin's cheeks, she realized that the beads were being absorbed into her own skin.

The lab suddenly activated its self-destruct protocol, and Kane yanked her into the emergency tunnel.In weightlessness, Erin's curls tangled with Kane's tentacles in a glowing web of silk, and the two of them levitated in a galactic projection, the wedding ring chip emitting a blinding red light.

"You have a Thrawn genetic marker in your body."Kane's mechanical prosthetic eye unlocked the encrypted archive, displaying Erin's genetic map from her infancy, "The Alliance found out eighteen years ago, that's the real reason for the union."

Erin grabbed him by the collar of his uniform, her nails piercing the synthetic fibers, "You used me in a live experiment?"The questioning is interrupted by an explosive shockwave that reveals three humans with hive-structured pupils at the end of the passageway - full Thrawn parasites.

Kane suddenly pushes Erin in the opposite direction of the escape hatch, his tentacles leaving burn marks on her waistline, "Go to the B12 freezer, there's ......"

Before the hatch closed, Erin saw Kane's mechanical prosthetic eye detach from its socket and transform into a miniature nuclear bomb that slammed into the cluster of parasites.In the glare, the tentacle wounds on her wrists began to proliferate the crystals, and the song of an unknown language rang in her ears.

The gene-editing equipment in the cryo-storage automatically activated, and as the needle pierced Erin's spine, a line emerged from the holographic screen:

[Welcome back, Thera Primordial Queen].