A muscle jumped in Aldani’s jaw. “You know the man who took Myka?”
“Most mercenaries know each other, at least by reputation. I happened to know Viktis personally, though it’s been a few years.”
Finn’s relaxed posture was gone as he sat stiffly in the chair. “She used her connection to the pirate to get on board his ship, but while she was gone, Viktis’s men found the kid. We escaped, assuming he was still hiding on the Athena. When we realized our mistake, it was too late. If we’d gone back for him, the pirate vessel would have destroyed our ship or at least grounded her. They had an advanced class ship-to-ship missile. We’d never have gotten close enough to rescue the boy.”
“Myka. His name is Myka.” Aldani slapped his hands down on the desk. “And he’s the only family I have left, so your feeble excuses don’t exactly reassure me. A MYTH agent and a galaxy-renowned mercenary should have been able to rescue a small boy from a bunch of pirate scum.”
“I tried. And got thrown in the brig for mutiny,” Renna said with a shrug. “Now we’re here, and your accusations and recriminations aren’t exactly helpful. What do you suggest, Dr. Aldani? You seem to be the man with all the answers. You might even be the man these people are after and Myka’s just bait. Did you ever think about that?”
He stared at her. When he said nothing, she continued, pinning him with a cold glare. “Viktis was working for an organization, but it’s a front.” She pulled the heavy business card from her pocket. “Who’s Draven Navang?”
At that, Aldani went perfectly still, his hands clutching the table in front of him. “Navang is my former business partner.”
“Former?” she asked. “What happened between you?”
The lines around Aldani’s eyes deepened as he frowned. “I didn’t agree with his research methods. He didn’t agree with mine. We dissolved the partnership. Now we’re competitors, though I’m sure he’d say we’re just old friends with differing opinions.”
“You’d disagree?”
Aldani shrugged. “We don’t have anything to do with each other. I haven’t heard from the man in years.”
“Why would Viktis be working for him?”
“I wish I knew,” he said softly.
Renna’s palms started to itch. She could tell from Aldani’s expression that he was lying to them. But why? What was his end game? Why would he protect his ex-partner?
Finn glanced at her, and she knew he was thinking the same thing. He might be military now, but a merc never lost those skills.
“Could Navang have kidnapped Myka? To get back at you, perhaps?” he asked.
“I doubt it. We haven’t worked on the same sort of research in years. He’s more focused on his business.”
Renna leaned back with a frown. “All the more reason to go after Aladea Scientific Industries.”
Aldani shook his head and glanced over at the picture of Myka at the corner of his desk. “There’s nothing that would please me more than putting an end to Navang and his…business. But I don’t think he’s involved.”
Renna thinned her lips. Lies were a dangerous necessity in this business, but they could also get you killed. And she did not plan on dying for this man. “Then, as I see it, we have two options,” she said. “Go after Myka and try to rescue him from Viktis if we can find him. Or we can continue with our mission and investigate the facility using your technology with the hope we can figure out what’s going on before more people die. Which do you suggest, Doctor?”
Aldani pinched the bridge of his nose. “Myka is my nephew. How can you ask me that?”
“Because we can’t do anything without your cooperation.” Finn leaned forward, his expression earnest. “I’m worried about him, too. But we have an obligation to figure out what that facility is and how it’s connected to the attacks. Myka can’t help us with that.”
Renna’s gaze rested on the picture of Aldani and Myka. The doctor stood with his arm slung around the little boy, while a rough, stony mountain jutted up from the plain behind them. The dun-colored sand was dotted with burgundy rocks. Banos Prime.
She studied the picture more closely. Myka looked to be about six and had a bandage around one arm, though his happy expression said he wasn’t in any pain. Aldani himself looked younger, too, less gray at his temples and fewer lines around his eyes. She guessed at that moment nothing bad had yet happened. Myka’s parents were still alive. The attack still a few months out. But even then, Aldani had obviously cared for the boy.
The guilt of Myka’s kidnapping made her stomach clench, but she had to put her unexpectedly maternal feelings aside. Finn was right. They had to focus on getting into that facility if there was a chance it would stop the attacks. She’d have to trust that whoever wanted the boy wouldn’t harm him. “Doctor, I know it’s a lot to ask, but our original mission still stands. Millions more may die if we don’t stop these people, and that facility is our only lead right now. Can you tell us what Myka’s parents were working on before they died?”
Aldani sighed and stood up. He turned to look out the window onto the golden fields surrounding New Rome colony. “I can’t see that it matters now.”
She gritted her teeth, forcing herself to speak calmly. “Because any clue you can give us might help us figure out if there’s a connection between all this. Right now it feels pretty feeble to me. We’re snatching at straws. We need more to go on than a mysterious facility, a kidnapping, and some doctor’s gut feeling.”
Finn glared at her, but she ignored him. The doctor knew something else, something that could help them. She’d played nice so far, but maybe Aldani responded better to threats.
He nodded once, as if he was making up his mind. “My brother and his wife were working on an experimental drug for MYTH. More than that, I don’t know.” He turned back to face them with a frown. “I do know I can’t have anyone else’s blood on my hands. Send the gamma particle destabilizer to my assistant. I’ll have my team finalize the machine. Let’s just hope the answers you’re looking for are in this place, or it might be too late for my nephew.”
Aldani pressed a button on his datapad. “My assistant will show you and your officers to the sleeping quarters. Unless you’d like to stay on your ship?”