CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

 

Nathan followed the group, keeping an eye on the Shifters as they passed, trying not to think too closely about the reason the Supreme Councilors might want to see him. Absorbing the reality of a Shifter city and its inhabitants was more than enough for one day. There were thousands of them, for Christ’s sake. This was beyond even his and BinRal’s ability to secure against. It was going to take a bloody army if they proved hostile. And they had every reason to consider humans hostile given the extermination laws.

The impact of their attempts to communicate with him still had him shaken. They weren’t even trying to hurt him, he was sure, but their efforts had nearly brought him to his knees.

If Val hadn’t pointed out that he had a touch of telepathic ability, he’d have never known. Now he didn’t want it. He felt vulnerable, something he hadn’t experienced in years. He could fight and defend himself against most weapons and attacks, but he had no defense against this and it pissed him off.

They edged through a crowd of Shifters into a spherical shaped cavern. Every time he passed a group of them now he got the chills. He’d thought Ti’ann was interfering with his thinking. This was worse.

Thinking of Ti’ann took his mind off the Shifters. But it didn’t help his sanity much. He couldn’t touch her, or let her touch him, without wanting her again. He was a fucking mess. Sleeping with her hadn’t helped his state of mind at all, only made matters worse, sharpening the edge of his need instead of blunting it. He should have let BinRal come down here with this group. He should stay as far away from Ti’ann Jones as he could get. He wasn’t going to survive this if he didn’t.

Unfortunately, he’d never forgive himself if she didn’t survive because he couldn’t keep his dick under control. So he came into this cavernous pit full of Shifters and tried not to touch her so he could make sure she was safe. He was a little worried about himself. More than a little worried. He wasn’t prone toward being a hero, not without getting paid. The fact that he wanted to be Ti’ann’s hero was a disaster waiting to happen.

Zim and Sar led them through another set of convoluted corridors until they came to a tunnel lined with doors. They were led through one door into a chamber that branched into a hive-like rise of more arched doorways.

“This is one of their lines’…housing units,” Val stumbled over the phrasing. “Kind of like a family home.”

“Which line?” James asked, his head thrown back as he looked up to the higher levels.

“Ours,” said Zim. All eyes turned in the direction of their guides as Zim spoke. Silence followed, waiting to see if the Shifter had more to say.

“Yours is one of the oldest lines, correct?” Krin finally asked. “I’ve seen more silver eyes than any other color.”

“They’re of one of the first two lines to come here.” Val said then tilted its head to one side as if listening to something.

“What is it?” Krin’s voice was quiet but still echoed around the hive.

Val looked at him and smiled. “They were telling me something of their history and pointing me toward their own Keeper of the History. I would very much like to talk to him.”

“Him?” James spun around to face Val.

Nathan tried to focus on Val, but his gaze kept bouncing around the “house” to all those doors over their heads. Looking everywhere at once, watching for possible danger, he almost missed the significance of what Val had said.

“Him,” Val confirmed. “Haven’t you noticed the difference?”

“Are you telling us they aren’t asexual anymore?” Ti’ann asked.

Her voice made Nathan take an involuntary step closer to her. He stopped, forcing himself not to move.

Val was quiet for a minute then said, “They’re sexually reproductive now. That’s why there are so many more lines. Our naturally high mutation rate means that lines split off to form new lines regularly during our asexual reproduction. But this splitting of lines has increased with cross-fertilization. Zim and Sar’s line is very successful in this environment, so it’s grown a lot compared to the others.”

Nathan considered this change. Shifters like Val procreated by a process similar to budding, each individual developed another individual and “gave birth” to it without needing the help of a partner—which meant Val’s kind weren’t male or female; they didn’t need to be. The new Shifters being different sexes meant they needed two of them—a male and a female—to make a baby. That was a huge evolutionary change for a species. But what did this mean to both Val’s kind and humans in the extermination debates?

“Jesus, they’re different sexes now?” Glen muttered, echoing Nathan’s shock. “How could that happen?”

Val fell silent again, listening as Zim stared back. Sar wandered off in the direction of one of the doors. Nathan watched Sar go, frowning. This was a perfect place for an ambush. But so far, they could have been ambushed anywhere. He only knew where they were inside the city because he’d brought a tracking devise with him. He was certain the others were lost. Except maybe for Val, but only because Val had access to the thoughts of the other Shifters.

He backed against a wall near the entrance into the family home and kept his gaze circling the layers of doors. There was no way they’d be able to defend against an attack from here, but he’d at least have enough warning to try. He pulled out his comm-card, pressed a point along its surface and waited for BinRal’s response. The coded reply came in “all clear”. He sent a code to indicate he was still not certain of their safety then turned his attention back to the group.

“Parasites?” Glen said. “What do parasites have to do with anything?”

“When we evolved the ability to shift, we lost our vulnerability to parasites and the damage they can inflict on our offspring,” Val said.

“The Red Queen.” Ti’ann’s voice was quiet, as if she was talking to herself. She glanced up as all eyes turned on her and said, “It was an evolutionary biology theory started on Earth during the late twentieth century. Among other things, it provided an explanation for the evolution of different sexes.”

When everyone continued staring at her, she lifted a hand, palm up and said, “Basically, an asexual species will out-compete a sexually reproductive species in no time because every member of their population reproduces, whereas only half the population of a sexual species can reproduce. Because of this, scientists were baffled as to why sex was so prevalent.

“The Red Queen theory says, in essence, that the world is competitive to the death so species have to…constantly change just to stay in the same place. Species are in constant competition with all other species around them, so in order to give their offspring a fighting chance in an ever-changing environment, they have to continue to evolve new strategies against competing species, like parasites. The best way to change constantly is mixing DNA from different individuals—sex.”

“Why was it called the Red Queen?” James asked.

“The Red Queen was a character from a couple of nineteenth century Earth novels by Lewis Carroll,” Nathan answered, earning surprised looks from the entire group. “There’s a scene in one of the books where Alice, the main character, finds herself running at top speed with the Red Queen and her court. She wonders why, even though they’re running as fast as they can, they never seem to get anywhere. The Red Queen tells her that in the Queen’s country, they have to run as fast as they can just to stay in the same place. If they want to get anywhere, they have to run twice as fast. I assume that’s where they got the name?”

“It is.” Ti’ann smiled at him with such pleasure he felt his heart start to hammer. He looked away before he lost himself in her eyes.

“So animals and plants have to keep running just to keep from falling prey to the parasites, is that it?” James asked. “And sexual reproduction continues.”

“That’s the theory anyway,” Krin said.

“Apparently, this is a case to support the Red Queen,” Val said with a touch of humor. “Our scientists claim we were a sexually reproducing species until we evolved the ability to shift. With shifting came a very high mutation rate, changing our DNA frequently enough between generations that parasites could no longer keep up with us. The most accurate hypothesis our bio-historians have now is that we reverted to asexual reproduction within four generations.”

“And no one objected?” Glen asked, incredulous.

Val laughed. “This was before we had more than very primitive cognitive abilities, Glen. Sex was for reproduction, not for fun, so there was no reason to object to losing it.”

Zim formed a mouth and said, “We have not returned to that primitive state of existence. We do enjoy sex now.”

The humor as well as Zim’s rapidly increasing ability to use words stunned Nathan. “You’re learning quickly.”

Zim faced him. “It is easier with Val’s help. We did not have a translator familiar with the use of words when humans first landed. We understood the concept of word-based communication but did not practice it.”

“Are you male or female?”

Ti’ann would be the one to ask, Nathan thought, curbing his own questions.

“Male,” Zim said. “Sar is my mate.”

“This is so amazing,” Krin breathed, practically bouncing in place.

Ti’ann grinned at him, vibrating with the thrill of discovery as well. Her energy and enthusiasm tugged at Nathan, urged him closer. Real moth to the flames situation, he thought in disgust.

“But why did sex re-evolved with the lines down here and not the other Shifters?” Glen asked. “If there’s a dangerous parasite down here that can keep up with your shifting, then why doesn’t it affect those above ground? I mean they’re not exactly cut off from the outside environment here.”

“If the majority of the Shifter population spent most of our lives here,” Val said, “and attempt to reproduce here, we’d be vulnerable to the parasite too.”

“Are you in danger, Val?” James asked, stepping closer to the Shifter.

A very protective gesture, Nathan noted.

“Not unless I move underground permanently.” Val paused for a moment then said, “I may get sick if I stay below for more than a few days at a time. The parasite affects our nutrient absorption. It’s taken in when we ingest nutrient molecules from the environment and damages our cells’ ability to properly utilize our food. It feeds off of what we ingest, leaving us malnourished.”

“You shouldn’t stay here then. Not even for a day.”

“Don’t worry, James,” Zim said in a soothing voice. “We would never allow a Keeper of the History to be damaged if we could prevent it. Infection to a level that would cause Val harm takes time. Brief exposure to the parasite can be compensated for by Val’s immune system.”

James nodded but didn’t look convinced. Nathan wasn’t sure he was either, but he kept his doubt out of his expression.

“Have you evolved any sort of competitive behaviors?” Ti’ann asked. “Are the sexes proportional or do you have more of one sex than the other?” Her face glowed with concentration and curiosity.

“Perhaps we should settle into our rooms now,” Val suggested.

Ti’ann’s cheeks reddened in the soothing light of the chamber. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to get carried away with so many questions.”

As if she and Krin hadn’t been pummeling them with questions from the beginning. Nathan couldn’t believe she was embarrassed about it now. He stared at her reddened cheeks and had to fight back a grin. She looked so cute and fluster, he felt an overwhelming need to pull her close.

Cute? His Ti’ann Jones looked cute? Sexy as hell, intriguing, irritating, maddening and irresistible, maybe. He’d considered her all those things before. But cute? It seemed so…intimate.

Damn.

“Don’t worry, Ti’ann. We’ll answer any questions you have later,” Val assured her. “But there’s still so much to tell and we have to prepare for the meeting with the Councilors.”

“We should contact the group,” James said. “Let them know we’re staying the night.”

“I’ll send a message.” Nathan didn’t mention that he’d already sent several.

Ti’ann smiled at him, her eyes softening with emotions he didn’t need to see.

One night. It had only been one night, and he was way in over his head. He should have paid more attention to the warning signs when Alex fell. At least he’d have known what to avoid. As he turned away from her, he knew he wouldn’t have avoided the traps even if he had seen them coming. He’d lost this fight three years ago.

Sar returned then and directed them toward a group of doors at the far end of the cavern. He looked up at the other doors and couldn’t help thinking of the place as a hive again. An empty hive. “Is there anyone else here?” he asked from his place at the rear of the group.

“Most of the family is out this evening,” Sar said in a quiet voice.

Nathan realized it was the first time he’d heard Sar talk.

“A few of the older ones are in their… rooms?” She looked to Val for confirmation of the word before continuing. “Rooms this evening. Many will join in the meeting with the Councilors.”

“Representatives from each of the lines will be there,” Zim added.

“We didn’t exactly come ready for a formal meeting,” Ti’ann said with a slight tremor in her voice.

“They won’t be expecting much from you. Just a simple conversation,” Val assured.

A simple conversation, Nathan thought, with representatives from each line. That kind of attendance never meant a simple anything.