Janwar came through for me. He and his men captured a Gathendien scout ship returning from near-Earth space and tortured the crew until they admitted they knew you were here.”
Marcus frowned. “Gathendiens? Aren’t those the assholes who unleashed a bioengineered virus on your planet that sterilized ninety-five percent of your females?”
Lisa gaped. “What?” When Taelon had mentioned the virus rendering many of their females infertile, she hadn’t realized it had been such a high percentage.
Ami glanced at Marcus. “Yes. Remember I told you one of my reasons for coming here was to warn your people that the Gathendiens were headed this way?”
Lisa held up a hand. “Wait. You came here to warn us and our government had the military capture and torture you?”
“Yes.”
“Typical,” Lisa grumbled with disgust.
Ami turned back to her brother. “I hoped it would take the Gathendiens longer to get here.”
“It was just a scout ship,” Taelon said. “Not the whole fleet.”
“What were the scouts looking for?”
“According to Janwar, the Gathendiens unleashed a virus on Earth a long time ago that they believed would have exterminated all the Earthlings by now.”
Ami’s eyes widened.
“Oh shit,” Marcus breathed. He looked at Ami. “Do you think…?”
She nodded. “It has to be. That has to be where the virus came from. That’s why it behaves like no other virus on this planet.”
“Motherfucker!” Marcus growled. “I can’t bloody well believe it!”
Ami rested a hand on his knee. “I didn’t know they’d been here before. I thought they were coming to unleash a virus on Earth now.” She met Lisa’s gaze. “That’s what they do. When the Gathendiens find a planet with resources they wish to claim for themselves, they bioengineer a virus that will eventually kill all the humanoid inhabitants and unleash it. Once only animals remain, the Gathendiens return to claim the planet for their own.”
Lisa shook her head. “I know this is going to sound hypocritical since genocide and attempted genocide have taken place quite a few times on this planet, but that is so fucking wrong.”
Taelon squeezed her hand. “The genocide and attempted genocide here is one of the reasons this planet is considered too backward and barbaric to form an alliance with.”
“I can understand that.”
Ami glanced at Marcus. “They must have been coming back to ensure the virus they unleashed had done what it was supposed to do and killed all the humans.”
Lisa looked back and forth between them. “What virus?”
Marcus pinched the bridge of his nose and seemed to be striving for calm. “Vampirism is caused by a virus. A very fucking peculiar virus,” he snarled.
Ami patted his knee.
Lisa glanced at Taelon and caught him staring at Ami’s hand on Marcus’s knee. When Marcus covered her hand with his own, Taelon’s eyes narrowed.
Marcus cleared his throat. “Sorry. This is just so infuriating. The vampiric virus behaves more like a symbiotic organism than it does a virus. It first conquers, then replaces the host’s immune system, creating a fucked-up catch-22: kill the virus and you kill the host. The virus lends those infected with it greater strength, speed, and regenerative capabilities. It also enhances all the host’s senses. It leaves the host with a frequent need of blood infusions as well. But in humans, it also causes progressive brain damage that rapidly drives them insane. Humans infected with the virus become psychotic vampires who prey upon innocents. But there are also gifted ones like me on the planet. We were born with more advanced DNA than ordinary humans, and that DNA protects us against the more corrosive aspects of the virus. So gifted ones who are infected with the virus don’t suffer the brain damage or go mad. We become immortal.”
Ami nodded. “Immortal Guardians spend their nights hunting and slaying psychotic vampires to protect humanity. They’re the reason humanity hasn’t become extinct.”
Lisa stared at them a long moment. “Okay. I’m not going to lie. That’s a lot to take in.”
Marcus smiled. “It is. And I didn’t mean to drop that on you so quickly. Forgive me. But the whole Gathendien thing threw me.”
“So…” Lisa struggled to grasp it all. “You guys—you immortals—are the reason the Gathendiens’ plan failed?”
“Yes.” He looked at Ami. “At least we know now where the virus originated.”
She nodded.
“Where did the advanced DNA originate?” Lisa asked.
He hesitated. “That I can’t tell you.”
“Can’t or won’t?” Taelon asked.
“Both,” Marcus said with notable regret. “I’m afraid it isn’t my secret to share, so I’m honor bound to keep it.”
A heavy silence fell.
When Ami noticed Taelon staring at her, she