Eva stared at the water bear as it floated, frozen in midleap, rotating slowly over the base. However, the armor, skin, and much of the musculature of the creature was gone—revealing a detailed view of the organs, blood vessels, and nerves within. It reminded her of the holograms she had captured on her Omnipod—but this wasn’t a model made of light. It was real. This water bear had been alive, just seconds ago . . . and now . . .

Eva closed her eyes and held her own insides, gagging.

“Impressive work, Taxidermist,” Zin said as he circled the mounted water bear. “Observe: You can clearly view the cardiac stomach and the pyloric stomach . . . and here, the ganglion extends the entire length of the body ventrally. Fascinating. It reminds me of the loripeds we examined on Ceres.”

“It does indeed,” the squat taxidermist replied. “I do hope the queen will like the new additions.”

The queen, Eva thought. Rovee mentioned a queen before.

Zin pushed the specimen to a wide circular doorway, and the door’s many blades retracted like a fan. “Her Majesty delights in all of your exquisite work, sir, as do I.”

“Oh, before I forget,” the taxidermist said as he followed Zin to the door. “There was the one specimen Besteel brought in today that he wanted you to have a look at.”

Eva’s heart stopped.

“Oh?” Zin reentered the room.

“Yes, this way.” The taxidermist led him toward Eva’s cell. She slid back as far as she could, cowering in the bottom. She watched as the two dissimilar faces peered into the cell that held her.

“Says this rare one was tough to catch, and has to do with all of the relics you’ve been gathering out in the wastelands,” the taxidermist said, jabbing a squat thumb toward Eva.

“Really?” Zin circled her cell. “Now that you mention it, the adornments do bear a resemblance to the items we’ve unearthed from a remote site, and its unique physical appearance differentiates it from other living specimens collected thus far.”

“That it does,” said the taxidermist, nodding in agreement. “If it indeed has to do with your other work, then Besteel wanted to know if . . . perhaps . . . the queen would be willing to renegotiate his undertaking.”

“I cannot answer that directly, but I will forward his inquiry on to Her Majesty,” Zin replied as he studied a trembling Eva. “Please delay the preparation of this one until I hear of Queen Ojo’s wishes. Her Majesty may prefer to keep it under observation. . . . Very interesting indeed.” Zin zipped back toward the door.

The runty taxidermist followed him. “Good enough. I’ll be back here shortly. I need some additional mounting bases.” He tapped a button on a remote, causing the ringing sound to return. The cells, once more, clouded with condensation.

CHAPTER 27: MESSAGES

Hyperventilation occurring,” Eva’s tunic announced. “Please—”