Page 27 of Marked By the Bounty Hunter

“There.” The hidden door slid open with a soft hiss, revealing what looked like a standard research lab - at first glance. But my vision picked out the truth behind the careful disguise: neural interfaces masked as diagnostic equipment, genetic sequencers hidden beneath innocent-looking panels. Dr. Gondon’s equipment, twisted to new purpose.

Nalina moved to a workstation, her fingers dancing across the controls. “This matches the equipment requisitions Dasari found, but the power readings are all wrong. Why would they need this much-”

A whisper of boots against metal. Multiple teams converging.

Before I could warn her, two maintenance workers appeared in the doorway - their movements precise, purple marks visible at their collars. The same modifications we’d seen on Grot. One touched his comm unit. “Status report: unauthorized access detected in Lab 7.”

“Acknowledged,” came the flat response. “Proceeding with containment.”

They turned toward us. No time for subtlety.

I launched at the larger one as Nalina dropped low, sweeping the legs out from under the second.

The worker’s strength caught me off guard, nearly matching my own. His fist crashed into my ribs as I grappled him away from Nalina. She rolled clear, coming up with a shock prod.

“The children,” the second worker gasped, his programmed precision fracturing for a moment. Sweat beaded on his gray skin as he fought against whatever controlled him. “They’re changing them... like us... but faster...”

The device at his neck sparked purple-white. His eyes glazed over as the control reasserted itself, and he lunged for Nalina with inhuman speed.

We dealt with them quickly - no choice - and found the observation chamber three doors down. The privacy shields were still operational, which would work in our favor. Better still, this looked like a monitoring station for the whole facility.

Nalina’s fingers flew across the controls with practiced efficiency. “If they’re using the old security protocols, I might be able to- wait.” Her hands stilled suddenly. “These readings...”

I leaned over her shoulder, scanning the data scrolling past. Biosignatures, neural patterns, genetic markers - and one signal that made my hunter’s instincts surge to full alert.

“Is that...” She pulled up the data, isolating one particular pattern. “Tyrix, it’s Jevik.”

The readouts painted a horror story in clinical detail. His cellular structure was degrading faster than his body could adapt. The genetic modifications were rewriting him from the inside out, turning him into something that read as neither fully Poraki nor machine. But underneath the precision of the data, something caught my eye - subtle variations in his neural patterns that matched what I’d observed when he’d stumbled into Nalina’s bar, hands shaking as he fought for control.

“He’s fighting it.” I traced the erratic patterns in his neural readings. “See these spikes? The control isn’t complete. These patterns here - they’re his own neural signatures breaking through, not the imposed rhythms of the modifications.”

“He’s still in there.” Nalina’s voice cracked. She steadied herself on the console, and I could smell the salt of unshed tears. “Gods, what they’re doing to him... his gills are barely functioning. His body temperature is so low...”

The data showed more - deteriorating organ function, massive cellular mutation, pain levels that should have renderedhim unconscious. But through it all, irregular patterns showed moments of conscious resistance. Jevik wasn’t just alive. He was still fighting.

“Location data is corrupted,” Nalina muttered, fingers dancing across the access panel, muscle memory from years of maintenance work guiding each movement. “But these readings... they’re recent. Within the last six hours. He’s close.”

I watched her work, this remarkable human who’d crashed through all my defenses. The urge to simply grab her and run, to get her far from this danger, clawed at my chest. But she was right. These were her people. Her station.

And she was mine. My partner. My mate.

“Here.” She highlighted a section of data. “These power fluctuations match the pattern we saw in Blue Section. They’re moving something - or someone - through the old maintenance shafts.”

I studied the readings. “Six hours ago. If Jevik’s condition is deteriorating that quickly...”

“Then we don’t have much time.” She gnawed at her lower lip as she mapped power surges. “There - that junction point. It’s the only place these patterns intersect.”

The coordinates flashed on screen: Section 42-C. Deep in the station’s guts, where even maintenance crews rarely ventured. Where screams wouldn’t carry through the metal walls.

Perfect place to hide something they didn’t want found.

Or someone they were slowly turning into a weapon.

NALINA

The maintenance shaft narrowed as we descended further into the station’s insides. My footsteps echoed off corroded pipes while I tracked power fluctuations on the tablet. The readouts pulsed brighter - we were getting closer.

“Another surge.” I pointed to fresh numbers scrolling across the screen. “Same pattern we saw in the monitoring station.”

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