***Tirnanog, Aerie Flagship***

***Magnus***

“Holy Moly,” I exclaimed when Gunnar showed me the row of corpses in the morgue. “I thought we were searching for a traitor and not some kind of monster. Seriously, what's up with the popped eyeballs?”

I approached one of the bodies and inspected the empty eye socket. No matter whether we were hunting a human or some kind of creature, it was a sick motherfucker with a penchant for eyeballs.

Gunnar harrumphed. “More like their brains.”

“Brains?” I repeated, baffled.

“Whatever killed them went in through the eye and slurped out the brain.” He mimicked using a drinking straw, slurping audibly while doing so. “At least that's what the doctors said.”

“What the fuck?” I shook my head and gestured down the line of corpses. “I am not going to play bait for whoever or whatever did this without my full armour. Why are you even still saying it was a spy when it looks more like some horror-flick monster did this?”

I and my ‘uncle’ hadn’t gotten a proper opportunity to talk yet. But since this was an important matter I agreed to set aside my misgivings for the moment and treat him no differently than I had while we were still working for the organisation. I could do as much, though I had a few stern words for him as soon as this was over.

Gunnar sighed. “I would have said the same, but after extensive interviews with doctors and elders alike, I was assured that there are even more grotesque mutations out there. And during my time back at Earth I had to learn often enough that humans are capable of horrible things. So far, I haven’t seen much on Tirnanog which could compare to what the worst of our kind are capable of.”

He shrugged. “According to the elders something like this,” He gestured at the bodies, “isn't beyond an enemy infiltrator who desires to sow fear and chaos. And I must admit, the methodical selection of the victims so far speaks against a mindless beast. This isn’t some monster picking targets of opportunity when it gets hungry. Every victim was carefully selected to get the saboteur one step closer to the imprisoned Thich.”

There was certainly a lot to learn when it came to the sequence of deaths, but I didn’t have time to listen to hours of research. But Gunnar was experienced with such affairs, so I trusted him to get the basics right. Nonetheless, there were a few things I wanted to make sure to be considered. When it came to Tirnanog, I had a few months of experience on him.

I hummed and scratched at the stubble on my chin. The last time I had gotten the chance to shave was a few days ago. “You are aware that some monsters out there are frighteningly intelligent. I’ve met ones which could talk, though Astra assured me it was no more than a parrot could do. It still freaked me out.”

He nodded. “I was told as much, but everyone I asked also pointed out that such things are rare. It is much more likely that our enemy is human and possesses some form of shape-shifting to blend in. In any case, what I am on board with is that to hide this well they must possess human-level intelligence. As of yet, a creature possessing all these characteristics without human origin is unknown. It could be a deviant – a former human whose mutations got the better of them. Such things supposedly exist. The question remains why they would go out of their way to eradicate possible intelligence we could gather from our prisoners.”

“How do you explain that all of them were killed in the same manner?” I asked and gestured at the bodies. “I see no other signs of fighting than the single wound in the eyes. Shouldn’t at least one of the victims have fought back?”

Gunnar looked down the row of bodies. “Vanya assumes it must be an extremely strong psychic. Which was indirectly confirmed by Chitters. According to him, all the bodies smell excessively of fear. The current assumption is that there is some sort of mental paralysation involved.”

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. “Okay. Let’s just make sure we aren’t overlooking anything. Can we go over the sequence of events once more in detail? I want all the details if I do something as stupid as playing bait for this thing.”

“Sure. As I see it, the first victims were two groups of hunters who helped Jeng harvesters in tracking down dead iobeetles. One of the two groups was wiped out completely. From the other, only two hunters survived and returned to base. From what I could track, that’s when the killings started. In a way, the trail of bodies was very similar to what I would do when infiltrating a government organisation. Pick someone as low and unimportant as possible in the chain of command who still gets access to where you want to go and impersonate them. Switch identities as often as necessary but avoid killing if possible.”

“Avoid killing?” I asked.

“Most of the bodies are from the prison massacre,” Gunnar explained. “From what I can tell our saboteur only switched identities three or four times outside of that. It gets a bit iffy because I also have a few disappearances to take into account. No bodies, so not certain whether they are connected to this case.”

I nodded along. “And what makes you think we have only one infiltrator and not two? Would suck to suddenly face two saboteurs when we expect only one. If the going assumption is that our enemy is of human origin, then two partnered opponents would be likely.”

“It was my thought too, but there is evidence against it. For once, the trail of corpses indicates that there is only one saboteur.” Gunnar looked through his notes. “We followed the trail from the prison incident to these initial hunter deaths. Of the two survivors, a certain Henrik disappeared a day after the bodies started piling up, so I assume our saboteur took on Henrik’s identity for a time. The other survivor, a certain Brook, we found in good health back at the Mother Tree. Of course, we had him checked thoroughly. According to doctors and psychics alike, he is one hundred per cent human.”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

I creased my eyebrows at the name. “Did you say Brook?”

“Yes.” Gunnar nodded.

“Ahem, you just said Aerie hunting parties were killed, but Brook is a Hochberg, isn't he?” I inquired further, just to make sure they didn’t happen to share the same name by coincidence.

Gunnar rifled through his notes. “Indeed, he is a Hochberg. Haven't I mentioned that the hunting parties were a mixed effort between all three clans? You happen to know the man?”

“Indeed. At least I think so,” I affirmed and turned around. “I never forget someone who pissed against my leg. Always assuming we are talking about the same guy.”

“What’s your history with him?” Gunnar asked, now more interested. “I know you well enough to tell that you memorize a person’s name only if you intend to have an unfortunate accident befall them.”

“He was a recruiter when I arrived at the Old Camp and he taught me the staff for a while. Gurney arranged it. However, Brook always behaved antagonistically towards me. Later on, I got into an argument with another exile which Brook helped to escalate. I ended up killing the other exile, underestimating the backlash. The other clans used the incident to fuck around, politics. Brook was all too happy to play witness.” I frowned. “In hindsight, it feels like he was a little too eager to cooperate with people outside his clan. His comrades weren’t all too pleased with his meddling from what Astra told me, but at the time I wasn’t important enough for them to put a stop to it.”

I didn’t mention the incident was the ultimate reason for Astra and me to partner up. In a way, Brook was responsible for the best thing ever happening to me, but I flat-out refused to give him any credit for it. Given the circumstances back then I strongly suspected Astra and I would have ended up together anyway. After all, she was the only clanner who showed interest in me.

“Hmm. And now Brook is involved in this incident,” Gunnar added, nodding slowly. He rifled through his documents. “Pays now that I had his movements tracked nonetheless. Standard procedure when dealing with slippery targets. Monitor everyone who had contact.”

“And he is now?” I inquired.

“Transferred to the Aerie Mother Ship as a regular guard for Hochberg’s quarters,” Gunnar provided, reading from one of his documents before switching to another. “And he is indeed a former recruiter for the Old Camp. We are talking about the same guy.”

I massaged the bridge of my nose. “Wait, wait. If we are talking about the same Brook, then how does a regular recruiter get a transfer to one of the clan’s most important military assets? The guy was barely stronger than me while I was still unpartnered. I mean, he was stronger, but not that strong. Not strong enough to justify him occupying an important military position. Unless he found someone to partner up with, giving him a power boost. He should be barely more than cannon fodder.”

“No, no. He is not partnered.” Gunnar grinned. “It feels like you just provided the final detail to kick this case wide open. We have a person who has seemingly no trouble collaborating with other clans. He returns as the sole survivor alongside a mysterious saboteur from a mission. And then he gets a suspiciously unjustified transfer to a high-value target. I suggest we visit this Brook, though I don’t understand how he got through the psychics. I was assured of their reliability.”

I waved a hand in a so-so gesture. “Psychic powers are a little bit iffy. If Brook has some protective mutations and received training in blocking out psychics, he could have fooled them. I know only two psychics who I would expect to get through my current defences. The more you are exposed to psychic powers, the more resistance you build up.”

“Then Mr. Brook just jumped to prime suspect number one,” Gunnar said. “At the very least he is a silent collaborator.”

We left the morgue and Gunnar called for his guards. My ‘uncle’ had military-grade enhancements from Earth, including gene adjustments and cybernetics, but he was still no match for a juggernaut class. His whole kit was more suited to espionage than direct combat.

After a few informal inquiries, we got the information that Brook was currently enjoying downtime in his quarters. Likely sleeping because he was scheduled for the night shift.

As soon as we reached the corridor with his quarters, I walked ahead of the rest of the group. “I will take it from here if nobody objects.”

“Wait, wait. Shouldn’t one of the guards take the lead?” Gunnar asked.

I eyed Gunnar and his guards. “Sure, so are any of you classified as a juggernaut? A strength-enhanced speedster who can look through walls and has a guaranteed means of non-lethal takedown?”

The guards all shook their heads.

“So!” I clapped my hands together. “Then I will take the lead. Room 3-20, right?”

Gunnar nodded and I strolled down the corridor, switching between Second Sight to observe the energy signatures beyond the walls and normal sight to read the room labels.

Second Sight wasn’t anything like x-ray vision since it only provided a blurred outline of most things, but if the obstacle between a living creature and myself wasn’t electromagnetically conductive it provided me with more than enough information even if there was a wall in the way.

If there was time and opportunity, I would have to check where exactly on the microwave or radio wavelengths Second Sight was settled.

Since the Old Camp, I had concluded that Second Sight was similar to an ultra-sensitive radar array, allowing me to see far into the spectrum of electromagnetic energies. In other words, since most living creatures possessed a nervous system relying on electric signals, I could see their bioelectric energy output. It also explained why most electric devices shone like lightbulbs in Second Sight.

I stopped my idle thoughts when I reached Brook’s room and found the energy signature of what looked like a grown man inside it. Since he was currently lying in his bed and not doing anything particular, I took the time to scan everything in his room and commit it to memory.

Only once I was sure I wouldn’t commit a political faux pas with my next actions, did I knock on his door.

Brook stirred and rolled out of his bed. He stood there, apparently not decided on what to do next, so I knocked again, more urgently this time.

He finally decided to answer the door, instead of going for his equipment. It saved me from taking some more drastic actions which had the potential of killing him. After seeing what he hid under his bed, I wasn’t willing to let him get anywhere near it.

Seriously, who hid incriminating equipment under his bed?

While Brook approached, I placed my hand on the metal door handle and waited. And as soon as he touched the handle on his side, I tazed him.

Brook stiffened on the other side, his muscles locked into place, giving me all the time in the world to apply a hammer fist to the door. Everything built on Tirnanog was meant for mutated humans. Which implied heavy duty in most cases. On the other hand, there was a line to walk between used materials, functionality, and sturdiness.

Aerie’s airships had a lot more carrying capability than anything comparable I had seen before. But they nonetheless had a limit, and so the regular doors weren’t up to snuff when someone with strength enhancements decided he wanted to get to the other side.

The door itself withstood my fist, but the hinges gave way and the entire door disconnected from the door frame, hitting Brook right in the face. He went down with the door on top of him.

I stepped on the door and walked over Brook into the room, looking around.

“Now, was that really necessary?” Gunnar followed me. “We don’t even have proof of him doing anything bad. Not yet at least.”

“Oh, we have,” I replied coolly and touched the tip of my boot to Brook’s shoulder when I saw him stir.

Another taze and he twitched, he shook, and he spit out a few loose teeth, probably from when I had applied the door to his face.

I stopped and watched him to make sure he was out for good before I turned to his bed and flipped it over. Beneath it under a loose floor tile, I found the thing I was looking for.

A cobbled-together, alien-looking device which had an eerie similarity to the communicator we took from the Thich delegation. “If that isn’t incriminating enough, then I don’t know what is.”