Orion Colony Complete Series Boxed Set J.N. Chaney (books for new readers .txt) 📖

“We should—”

Stacy’s next words were cut off as she reached for the holo card in her pocket. It was vibrating ever so gently. She tapped a button, and a message appeared on her screen a moment later.

I could tell there was something very wrong by the expression on her face. She looked up at me with a stare that could have turned me to stone.

“We have a problem,” Stacy said, standing from her seat. “We need to go, now.”

14

Everything I knew of the terrorist group that called themselves the Disciples was pretty despicable. Founded on the ideology that humans were not meant to evolve past our current state, they hated everything there was to do with any kind of new technology, medicine, or tampering with DNA.

Specifically, they hated the Eternals, who had found a way to prolong their own lives through the use of advanced nanotechnology and DNA manipulation. You could imagine how they felt about traveling amongst the stars and starting a new colony on an alien planet.

Attacks had ranged from shooting and bombings, to the hacking of networks and online assassination attempts. But the message Stacy received on her holo card, if it were true, would be a new low for them.

I followed her down to a level I had only seen once before in passing. It was the garden area open to the Transient population, a place where they could go and forget they were on a ship altogether. There were fields of grass, plants, and even trees growing up from the rich soil.

The entire place smelt of the woods back on Earth. Living in the city, I could forget that we still had preserved national parks and forests, but the smells here brought all of that back.

As we exited the elevator, Iris appeared next to us in her ethereal blue glow. I nearly pissed myself. Actually, I think I did a little.

“Holy shit!” I said, balling my hands into fists. Not that I wanted to hurt her. I couldn’t if I tried. It was just my go-to reaction when I was scared. “You’ve got to give us a heads-up before you appear like that.”

“What is a heads-up?” Iris asked, tilting her head to the side.

“You know, like uh, advanced warning that you’re going to appear,” I said.

“I’ll note that down for next time.” Iris nodded.

“So what do we have here?” Stacy asked.

Iris motioned us to follow her as she took the lead down an aisle of massive planters full of wildflowers. If it weren’t for the overhanging lights and steel walls, I would have sworn I was taking a stroll in some kind of fancy park. I guess that was the point of all of this.

“I noticed an abnormality in the growth of the plants in the green room,” Iris explained quietly so she wasn’t overheard as we crossed the level. “I did not warn the workers here lest we set off a panic. If I’m right, we have a very serious problem on our hands.”

“Great,” I said, shaking my head. “Why couldn’t you have just called us over for some good news? Like you wanted to see how our day was, or you had cookies to share.”

“Ignore him,” Stacy said. “Iris, what exactly are you talking about? What abnormality did you come across?”

“Perhaps it’s better if I show you,” Iris said, motioning with an open hand to one of several large greenhouses on the opposite side of the level. There were square greenhouses all lined up together at the rear. Each one was made up of fogged glass and steel supports. The roof came to a point as it sloped up.

I breathed a heavy sigh, wondering what it could be now. I also wondered how I managed to get myself into this mess for the hundredth time. I was here now, and that was what mattered.

Images of the little girl eating with her grandmother crossed in front of my mind. Maybe I didn’t care what happened at one time. Maybe I just wanted to keep my head down, but I hated to admit that Stacy was right on some level. I couldn’t just stand and allow this Disciple terrorist to have his or her way with the ship. There were too many lives on board.

Iris paused for a moment at the door, waving her hand past a scanner. It immediately clicked open and afforded us entrance.

I walked inside the greenhouse behind Iris and Stacy.

Inside, I was surprised to find we were alone. There were troughs lined up with more rich soil and fruits and vegetables growing out of them. It looked like a chef's dream.

“Each greenhouse carries budding plants, as well as seeds we plan to use for the new colony when we arrive on Kronos Five,” Iris explained to us as she pointed to a misting system that ran just above us. “One of my tasks is to monitor the health of this food source, as it will be paramount in our key of surviving in our new home. A system warning went off, indicating the water level coming from the misters above fluctuated for a brief second.”

Iris looked at us with her crazy blue eyes as if we were supposed to know what she was talking about.

“And?” Stacy said, trying to piece together the facts that Iris assumed we would understand.

“Someone is tampering with the water supply,” Iris said, taking us even further into the room.

My boots stepped in small puddles where the water had gathered from the mist units overhead.

“I tested the water supply to make sure my findings were not unfounded,” Iris said. “There is an alien element that has been added to the system. As soon as I detected it, I ran extensive tests accelerating the effects the foreign element would have on our plants if it could continue to water them.”

Iris waved us deeper into the room, leading us to a trough of shriveled cabbage. There