“Just lie down on the open table. The machine does all the work.”
He hobbled over, Kerys pushing or bracing him as needed until he lay flat on the cushions.
“So you figured out how to run this thing? Doesn’t that take like years of medical school?”
Kerys moved to the control screen, hunting for an option that seemed appropriate for a crushed leg. Sadly, the auto-surgeon had no setting to fix ‘misogynistic shithead.’ “Doctor Sekhar seemed to think so too.” She pushed ‘internal injury’ and looked at the sub menu. “I was trying to save MacLeod over there, but the doctor objected to me touching the equipment. He hit me over the head from behind. Woke up to find him tossing body parts at the walls to see how long he could make them stick.”
Will gurgled and lurched over sideways, but didn’t throw up.
“Lie still.” She chuckled to herself. Should be good at lying.
He flattened out again, staring up at her. A placid smile replaced his nauseated expression. “The worst part of the past few days was not knowing if you were okay. It’s so good to see you.”
Internal injury… crushed limb… leg. Wow this thing. Why do we even have doctors anymore? She glanced at a panel presenting ‘recommended dosages’ of various complicated sounding chemicals and asking for user confirmation. Okay, that’s why. Uhh. I’ll trust the defaults. She clicked ‘accept.’
The egg split open and the ‘scanning arm’ lowered.
“Whoa… you turned it on,” said Will.
“Yeah. Getting too much practice lately.” She backed up.
He pressed himself into the cushion as if trying to get away from the mechanism. “So, umm…”
“Just relax. It might give you something to help with the pain… maybe knock you out while it looks at that leg.” She turned away. “I’ll be back in a bit. I need a moment.”
She hurried out before he could say anything, running with no destination in mind other than ‘away from Will.’ Hallways and stairs passed in a blur of emotion, and she found herself heading toward the residence pod, perhaps drawn to the security of her quarters. Kerys didn’t look down the hallway to Residence Pod 1 to avoid the chance of spotting Mai’s body. She paused long enough to close the door, and ran the rest of the way to Pod 2.
The air smelled like death, which made her remember Paula in the bathroom at the north end of the second floor. She and Will would have to deal with the bodies before the air became too contaminated for the scrubbers and the stench of decay infiltrated everywhere.
Or, judging by his reaction to the infirmary, she’d have to deal with the bodies. That would probably be the case. Will couldn’t handle anything remotely disgusting.
Kerys sighed. “Nothing an e-suit can’t fix.”
Her room smelled like a peach meteorite crashed into a lavender grove. Compared to the building rot outside, she took a deep breath of it, making her sinuses tingle. Feeling ‘safe’ in her quarters, she closed and locked the door before pacing around, kicking at dirty clothes.
“What am I doing in here? I just needed to get away from him. How can I not want to be alone at the same time I don’t want to be on the same planet as him?”
Pacing… pacing…
She fell seated on the edge of the recessed bed, head in her hands. The microbes are obviously in the air. They should’ve made Will sick by now. They should’ve made me sick by now. Kerys peered between her fingers at her desk. Her gaze settled on the strange purplish-blue flower that she had put in a plastic box.
A plastic box that had been opened again.
The floret rings appeared less vivid than before, though still looked pretty. Seems to be doing okay without water… Kerys blinked. It’s open again. Will? How the hell did he do that while stuck under a shelf? She pictured the scene where she’d found him. It seemed legit, and if he had been running around the whole place avoiding her before, why would he all of a sudden need to lure her into the storage room? No… he really got stuck. But if he’s up to something, that couldn’t have been part of his plan. What the….
She stared at the flower.
“Shit…” Kerys rose to her feet and crept up to the desk. “The spores… it’s the only thing we were both exposed to that no one else was.” She touched her fingertips to her face, beside her nose. The image of a tissue full of purple snot came to mind. Crouching, she leaned close to the flower, gazing into the intricate lattice of tiny florets. “What did you do to me? I’ve been breathing you for days… what are you?”
The flower, being a plant, did not reply.
“He kept opening the case to expose me to the spores.” She snarled. “He knew something. He knew this thing would… protect me?”
She edged closer, her nose a half-inch from the plant, and inhaled. Strong lavender-peach flooded her senses. Pins and needles within her nostrils spread up into her sinuses and brought involuntary tears to her eyes. The fragrance struck her as wonderful and fruity. Savoring it, she breathed in until her lungs could hold no more air.
But… is that why he kept coming here? He didn’t spend that much time in my room.
A few seconds’ worth of exploring the Avasar intranet site brought her to a directory listing. She located Will’s room on the ground level of Pod 1, seventh door on the left. Forgetting her guilty need to avoid seeing Mai’s body, she raced out the door, down the ladder, and around to the other residence pod.
Mai remained dead in the doorway where she’d fallen, a decaying hunk of human muscle―with a bite out of it―still clutched in her right hand. Kerys jumped over the body and skidded to a halt a few meters later by Will’s door. He hadn’t locked it, so she barged in. The room stood in perfect order, far neater than normal for a man. No clothes on the floor, nothing in the wastebasket, bed made and folded.
There, on the desk nestled among plastic bamboo plants, stood a sprig of the same flower he’d given her. Why don’t I smell it in here? She walked closer and stared at it. Purple spores came away on her fingertip from a light touch. “Probably because I took a giant damn sniff of it a minute ago.”
A small case next to the computer terminal had violet fingerprints on the lid. She lifted the lid, exposing a box of purple dust. The empty glass to the right of the monitor had a faint lavender sheen from dried liquid.
“He’s been… milking it for the spores.”
Kerys curled forward, speechless from a sudden attack of grief. She had it in her room the whole time. Had she not let herself get so freaked out by what went on, had she stopped to think, Sergeant Gensch, Gina… heck even MacLeod and Hellerman might still be alive. A new torrent of guilt brought wracking sobs. Her stupidity killed people.
After a while, she calmed, staring at the flower while sniffling.
I don’t know for a fact it did anything. I just have a theory… maybe I’m being wishful.
“Shit… is this me going nuts? Crying over a damn flower?”
Kerys leaned back and wiped her face. A spot of yellow on the monitor announced an unread message. She tapped the keyboard, and got a password prompt.
Damn. Eyes narrowed, she typed: I@mUnst0ppa3le.
And got in.
Arrogant son of a… She’d thought the password conceited years ago, too. He’d used the same one on his computer at the apartment they’d shared.
The message client showed one new text-only message from ‘Broussard, A’ next to an Avasar Biotech logo.
Will,
It’s been a while since you sent a status update and the group is becoming concerned. We need your full report on how the Wayfarer Personnel reacted to the experimental substance. We need timelines of morbidity from exposure to cessation of life, preferably correlated to their psych profiles for full evaluation of weapons potential of AM-3. Please provide an update as soon as possible.
Regards,
Adam H Broussard.
Vice President of Research and Development
Avasar Biotechnology – Military Application Division
Kerys covered her mouth. She scrolled down to previous messages in the thread.
Adam,
Things are a little off the rails, but it’s under control. The entire crew has been exposed to AM-3 as planned. Everyone except myself and Kerys are infected. The antigen in the lamiaceae advena sample appears to be working exactly as my tests showed it should. She didn’t trust the plant, so I had to take some extra precautions to ensure she got enough in her system. I never had the chance to get her to ingest the derivative agent, but it seems that breathing the spores in a confined space over a series of days works just as well. Not as practical for our needs though.
My one area of concern is that after I released AM-3, symptom onset was more rapid than anticipated. Some of the crew succumbed to violent episodes within mere hours of exposure. We may have issues with distribution and controlling target areas. On the upside, we’re having success growing AM-3 in the lab. It should be highly possible to weaponize it.
Will Braxton
Senior Project Lead
Avasar Biotech – Wayfarer Expedition
- - - - - - - -
Will,
That is great news! You were right when you said she was smart. Use her for an antidote control test. Unless you’re willing to arrange an ‘injury’ so severe she gets sent home by medical order, anything I do from this side will be suspicious. Have a little faith in your research on those spores. You trust your own life to them, but not hers? Grow a pair, man.
Adam H Broussard.
Vice President of Research and Development
Avasar Biotechnology – Military Application Division
- - - - - - - -
Adam,
I can’t believe it. Her first damn day in there and Kerys opens the vault. I’m not sure what shocked me more, that no one questioned the silt we sprayed on the walls or that she managed to get it open so damn fast. The project is going ahead of schedule now since we budgeted a few months for them to figure out how to open that thing. Guess they were all too gobsmacked at the alien stuff to wonder how dust built up on the walls of a sealed cavern.
Since we have plenty of extra time, can we come up with a way to get her out of here before moving to phase two?
Will Braxton
Senior Project Lead
Avasar Biotech – Wayfarer Expedition
- - - - - - - -
Will,
Don’t worry about Doctor Bhatia. Captain Chen is aware that the true mission of Wayfarer Outpost is weapons research. Why else do you think there’s no civilian administration personnel on site? We’ve told her that most of the civilian scientists are not aware of this for security reasons. She’s on our team. I almost feel bad for her since she doesn’t know she’s in the test pool.
Adam H Broussard.
Vice President of Research and Development
Avasar Biotechnology – Military Application Division
- - - - - - - -
Adam,
Okay, okay… I managed to get another sample of L.A., and put it in her quarters. Might be an issue getting her to keep it. She doesn’t trust it, but I’m trying. I think Doctor Bhatia is becoming suspicious of our true motives for coming here. She’s been on my ass like a damn hawk. Who had the bright idea for me NOT to be the damn boss of the botanical group anyway? You put ONE person technically over my head and of course, she’s a problem. I think she’s got Chen’s ear. If what we’re doing here gets back to the USIC, we’re all going to be fucked.
Will Braxton
Senior Project Lead
Avasar Biotech – Wayfarer Expedition
- - - - - - - -
Adam,
Off the record, you’re an asshole. I don’t know if I can do this.
Will Braxton
Senior Project Lead
Avasar Biotech – Wayfarer Expedition
- - - - - - - -
Will,
It couldn’t be helped. What can I say? We posted a job, she answered, and she had the qualifications. Best part was, she got the shaft so hard at her last job she jumped at the contract, didn’t even balk at the initial salary offer. The group wants the largest chance of success. Now isn’t the time to get sentimental on us, Will. There’s too much money at stake, remember? Do what you’re being paid to do. Oh, and if you’re confident enough in the counter-agent, wouldn’t your little girlfriend make an ideal test candidate for the control group? Every experiment needs a control group. If you feel that guilty about it, maybe you can share some of your bonus with her. Avasar’s saving a lot of money not having to fly everyone home.
Regards,
Adam H Broussard.
Vice President of Research and Development
Avasar Biotechnology – Military Application Division
- - - - - - - -
Adam,
What the hell is Kerys doing here? Do you honestly expect me to go through with this project now? When we ran into that snag finding more samples and I asked for some people who could make sense of that alien shit, that did NOT mean send my goddamned girlfriend up here. Everything is on hold until she’s off world. No way. I’m not putting her in the middle of this. You can’t offer me enough money for her life.
Will Braxton
Senior Project Lead
Avasar Biotech – Wayfarer Expedition
Kerys leaned back in the seat, feeling a deep, cavernous hollow expand where her guts should be. She stared at the screen, mouth agape, before scrolling back to the top and reading it over again.
“They knew… they goddamned knew the whole time.” She jumped to her feet, knocking the chair over and screamed, “You fucking bastard!”
She yanked the handgun from her pocket, and stormed out of the room heading for the infirmary. His hesitance at exposing her to danger formed a tiny thread holding up a ten-ton steel weight. If not for that, she’d have shot him as soon as laid eyes on him. By the time she reached the third floor, her arms shook from pure rage. She marched over the snowfield of glass bits, rounded the corner past the command room, hooked right into the bright hallway leading to the infirmary, and swooped in the door with the weapon pointed…
At an empty table.
Kerys stood like a statue, moving only her eyes to scan around for where Will had gone. Not wanting a repeat of the doctor, she checked the supply closet first, breathing a small sigh of relief when he didn’t jump out at her.
The auto-surgeon emitted an irritating buzz-chirp.
Lowering the gun, she approached the screen. Red text scrolled across the middle: ‹Procedure hold. Patient position fault. Progress 01%›
He was faking. Breath caught in her throat. Her heart raced as she gazed out over broken windows and a dozen empty rooms. He left before it did anything.
27
No
The third floor of the dome seemed infinite in its darkness compared to the infirmary area. Here and there, light glinted back at her from chrome furnishings or broken glass. The shadows of desks, cabinets, and chairs surrounded her. Kerys backed into the counter near Gina’s body and gritted her teeth in anger. She did have the means to save the woman’s life. If only she’d known.
An argument swirled around her head. Half of her wanted to hunt him down like a dog; half of her hesitated at his strange drive to protect her. No situation that played out in her head over the next few seconds presented a rosy future. If she killed him for what he did, the supply ship that picked her up would probably be expecting to find only Will. Or, she could act like she hadn’t found his email and play innocent… and hope for a chance to expose Avasar after returning to Earth. That, of course, meant allowing Will to think she had feelings for him again.
Come to think of it, those text messages did not seem as if they’d taken months to go back and forth… she couldn’t remember the last time she’d sent an interplanetary text-only email, if ever. Perhaps the SFT could send a couple words in a matter of hours instead of weeks? Or maybe the military had tech no one else
knew about. The technical manual for the SFT had gone in circles about exponential increases in energy cost and transmission time―a couple of bytes of data could make the trip much faster than a large video file.
I never was a good liar. He’ll know I’m playing him… Do I trust him enough to go into cryo? I’ll probably never wake up. Cryo’s not dead, but he has to keep me quiet.
Squeaking shoes startled her. Before thinking, she stuffed the gun in her pocket, afraid to let him catch her with it. As long as he didn’t know she had a weapon, it would be an advantage.
Will strolled in smiling. “Hey, good news. I made contact. Captain Chen already sent an emergency request. There’s a ship on the way. We don’t have to wait months.”
“Uhh, how long? Your leg?” She stuck her other hand in her pocket, trying too hard to look casual.
“Fixed it right up.” He winked. “You’re a genius. So tough… so pretty.” Will walked up to stand in front of her and put a hand on her shoulder. “If the timestamp on that message is accurate, they should be dropping out of translight soon, and sending a shuttle down within hours.”
Hours? She gawked. Hope dared to dance inside her soul. “We’re not going to be―you’re serious? We’re… not stuck here for months? We might actually see Earth again?”
“That’s right, babe. You know I never let anything keep me away from what I want.” He brushed a thumb over her cheek. “So… we got a few hours. Want me to take your mind off our situation?”
“Will…” She grasped his wrist and pulled his hand away from her face. “How can you even think about sex after everything? Get real! There’s four dead people in the room with us.”
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