“But also releases noxious fumes into the air and chemicals into the water,” Deep said, nodding at the oily waves lapping at the brown sand. There was a thin grayish scum on the water that looked toxic.
“It’s disgusting,” Kat said, still holding a hand over her nose. “I mean—oh!” Her foot slipped and she started to fall from the steps. Only Deep’s strong hand under her arm saved her. He pulled her back to her feet and gave her a quick shake.
“Try not to injure yourself while we’re here—all right, sweetheart?”
Kat stiffened and lifted her chin. “What do you care what happens to me? You just want to be free of me, right?”
Deep’s black eyes flashed. “Just because I don’t want to be bonded to you doesn’t mean I don’t care if you—”
“If I kill myself?” Kat finished for him, without thinking. To her surprise, instead of snapping out a sarcastic retort, Deep turned pale.
“Don’t say that.” His voice was low and hoarse and for a moment, his eyes looked almost haunted.
“Why not?” Kat stared at him, again having that niggling feeling that there was something important she ought to remember.
But Deep only shook his head, and the moment passed. “This may be a deserted world but there are still plenty of dangerous things lying around—the Scourge weren’t very careful where they left their toys.”
“Deep is right,” Lock said, unexpectedly agreeing with his brother. “This is a dangerous place. Which is why we should leave and go back to the Mother ship right now.”
“Nice try, Brother,” Deep drawled. “But I don’t think so—we’re going to do what we came here to do. Besides, don’t you have another little job while we’re here?”
Lock frowned. “Olivia did ask me to see if I could find any clues to her cousin’s whereabouts. Although what we can find on a planet that’s been abandoned for fifty cycles, I have no idea.”
“The prophesy,” Kat reminded him, walking carefully down the steps to the greasy sand below. “If we can find out the exact wording we might have a clue as to what they want her for and where they’ve taken her.”
“Possibly,” Deep agreed, his boots crunching on the sand. “Although I think we all know what they want her for.”
Kat frowned at him. “What do you mean by that?”
Deep shrugged. “What does any Scourge want with a female?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know but I take it they’re not interested in romantic candlelight dinners and long walks on the beach. Especially not this beach.” She made a face.
“They’re depraved in every way,” Lock said, stepping down to join them on the sand. “It’s one of the reasons many of our forefathers wanted to block the genetic trade with them.”
“Hold on.” Kat put up a hand. “You’re telling me the Kindred actually made a trade with them? With the Scourge?”
“Unfortunately, yes.” Deep nodded. “A small faction of Kindred, anyway.”
“It was only about a hundred and fifty cycles ago that we came across them,” Lock explained as they began to walk up the beach. “We observed them first, of course. They had the physical characteristics and DNA to make a genetic exchange possible. But the majority of the Council was against the trade from the start.”
“Why?” Kat asked, fascinated despite herself. Who could have guessed that the Kindred’s greatest enemy had at one time been an ally?
“The things they had done to their world for one thing.” Lock gestured at the dirty beach and oily black water. “To so pollute and ruin a planet showed a blatant disregard for the blessings the Mother of All Life had bestowed on them in the first place. But more importantly, the forefathers didn’t like the way the Scourge treated their females.”
Kat’s breath seemed to catch in her throat. “How…how did they treat them?”
“They’re sexual sadists.” Deep’s black eyebrows were pulled low, his face like a thundercloud. “They enjoy inflicting pain and they demand complete submission at all times.”
Kat raised an eyebrow. “So the whole planet was into BDSM? Kinky.”
“Not just ‘kinky’—depraved,” Lock corrected her sternly.
“Lock’s right.” Deep nodded. “I’ve seen vids about your sexual practices on Earth—I know a few of your people are into games of sexual control. But it’s no game for the Scourge—it’s a dominant gene, hardwired into the genetic makeup of every Scourge male. Dominance and submission isn’t play to them—it’s life or death.”