Read Online Bane by Viola Grace - Free Book Online Page A

“Switch the containers, please.”
    Given an order, the attendant rushed forward and did the switch as quickly as she could, fumbling a little with the drip end but finally managing to make her way over to Dr. Rathos with a relieved slump to her shoulders.
    “My grandson has told me that you wish to put us under fifty-year quarantine. Why?”
    Ava shrugged carefully. “Either someone wanted to infect you with that plague to get a cure for sales purposes, or they wanted to destroy your bloodline. Whichever one it was will be thwarted if they can’t get a hold of me or your antibodies.”
    Eeli frowned. “So, this is about you.”
    “Yes. By using me in particular, they gained the ability to craft a toxin for all who share your genes.”
    “You are so special?” Eeli raised her snowy eyebrows.
    Kondr frowned.
    Ava grinned at the older woman’s face. “Yes. Yes, I am one of a kind and like no one else in the universe.”
    Eeli Lytan stood silently for a moment before cackling with laughter. “Excellent. I have been telling Kondr that he needs to find a woman who can stand on her own two feet, but he has spent his time with work as prefect. He needs a little fresh air now and then, and I get the feeling that you are just what the doctor ordered. I will set the plague protocol in place and talk to the Sector Guard. It will be settled by dinner time.”
    Ava was confused. “What?”
    “Didn’t my grandson tell you? I am High Prefect and Council Speaker for Nafki. When I say do it, it is done.” Eeli crossed her arms and looked smug.
    Kondr’s chest was puffed with pride. He loved Eeli, and it rippled out of every inch of him.
    Ava cleared her throat. “So, I will be living in your home?”
    “Of course. That is how we live here on Nafki. A family remains in its home until it outgrows or marries into a family with more room. You have seen the house. There is tons of room for three or more generations.” Eeli gestured, and an attendant brought a chair over.
    There was a small mark on Eeli’s arm and it made Ava smile, another successful inoculation.
    Ava was going to say something inane when Eeli cut her off. “Now, how many great-grandchildren can I count on? I want at least two.”
    Ava blinked, and her hands tried to run through her hair, but the feeds stopped her with a wince.
    Kondr burst out laughing. “She isn’t comfortable with the subject, Gran.”
    “The subject isn’t the problem. I can probably have as many kids as you want. It just tends to scare other species when Terrans mention it.”
    Eeli blinked and sat up with perky attention. “I can have a lot more than two?”
    Ava decided to talk about family. “My parents had seven children, my mother came from a family of ten, my father from a family of thirteen. When not pregnant, I will cycle approximately every twenty-eight days.”
    Eeli’s mouth opened, and she clapped her hands in delight. “Excellent.”
    Kondr looked both intrigued and appalled. “So, as many children as I want?”
    Ava scowled. “I am still packing that toxin, Kondr. Get that leer out of your eyes.”
    He blushed when his grandmother smacked him, and suddenly, Ava liked her much, much more. Eeli was the same jet black with the shimmering skin as her grandson, but her spirit reminded Ava of Grandma Leftiss.
    “Let’s start with this little guy and work our way from there.” She smiled.
    Two more filled units and she was free to go. Kondr smiled and handed her a parcel wrapped in paper.
    Curious, she opened it to find a cookie inside. It didn’t taste like anything she was used to, but the changes the baby had made to her taste buds made it far more palatable than it would normally have been.
    “Now, we will see the other Dr. Rathos. She is waiting for you in a private room.” Kondr inclined his head to his grandmother, and Eeli waved them off.
    Ava smiled at Eeli and muttered to him. “You had to spring her on me while I was pinned down?”
    “It seemed the