The Altian Plague by DM Arnold (best book club books for discussion .TXT) 📖

“Total secrecy, Chancellor?”

“Total secrecy.”

“I'll schedule a meeting with the Health Minister. When do you need this plan?”

“Today,” Wygann replied. “Right after lunch is soon enough.”

The security chief's eyes popped. “Right, Chancellor. I'll get on it.” He turned and left.

Janna held hands with Andra as Nyk walked with them in the palace courtyard. An enormous orange crescent hung low in the western sky. “Lexal Prime is especially beautiful tonight,” Andra remarked.

“I'll say this,” Nyk said. “Your security chief is a devious fellow.”

“He's the best,” Janna replied.

“I think his plan will work.”

Janna stopped at a bench near a fountain in the center of the courtyard and held her hand in the stream of water. “I hope your scientists can develop this vaccine in time. I have my doubts.”

“Our best minds are on it,” Andra replied.

Janna shook her head. “Is this to be the story of Lexal? To be a pariah colony everyone wishes to harm?”

“Not everybody,” Nyk said.

“Not you two, I know. We don't have a friendly ear in the entire HL.”

“That will change,” Nyk replied. “Once the horror of what The Seven are attempting is understood -- it will turn opinion in favor of what you and Mykko have accomplished here.”

“Or -- in a few days' time -- this world will become a wasteland. Nykkyo ... Andra -- If I don't have the opportunity again... Thank you for your efforts.”

11 -- The Sequencing Lab

Nyk led Andra into the conference room at ExoAgency headquarters. “You're in on this -- you might as well sit in the meetings,” he said. “We're a bit early.”

Senta walked in and sat across from Nyk. One by one the others filed in. Kronta rapped the table with his knuckle. “We'll keep it short. Progress reports.” He looked toward Helsyn.

“We are making progress mapping the virus and designing an antibody,” he replied.

“We could make more progress if I had access to my labs,” Senta added. “I propose we move the vaccine development to Sudal. I've sketched out some program modifications I can make to a sequencing machine that will dramatically shorten the turnaround time on these antibodies.”

Kronta nodded. “Any objections?” He looked around the table. “Do what you deem best.” He turned toward Sirk. “Any luck chasing down The Seven?”

Sirk shook his head. “No -- none.”

“Did you make any progress tracking down that locator code,” Nyk asked, “the one on the message to Marxo?”

“We did -- it was a spoofed code.”

“Spoofed?” Kronta asked.

“Masked ... whatever you want to call it. We've seen these before in telemessage traffic we've intercepted between Seven operatives. They must have penetrated one of our telecommunications facilities.”

“Did it originate on Altia or did they spoof that, too?”

“They can't spoof a prefix,” Kronta replied. “That is attached at the point of offworld relay. It's an Altian prefix -- the message originated on Altia.”

“I've passed it on to our communications forensic team,” Sirk added.

Kronta looked toward Nyk. “How went it on Lexal?”

“Wygann is more than willing to cooperate with us...”

“... to save his own skin,” Sirk interjected.

Kronta rapped the table. “Go on, Nyk.”

“Wygann thinks he can inoculate the entire population in a single day.”

“Oh!” Senta exclaimed. “If he could do that -- it gives us two extra days!”

“How can he administer 150 million doses in a single day?”

“By pipelining. Here's an overview of his plan. He will begin claiming that Altia intends to invade from the sky.”

“It's very likely the virus and Altian undercover agents are on Lexal already,” Kronta remarked.

“Not Altian,” Sirk protested. “Agents of The Seven.”

“Let's call them Seven agents of Altian nationality,” Nyk suggested.

“And -- Altia has no means to attack Lexal from space,” Sirk continued. “Our defense fleet was grounded.”

“Very true.”

Sirk became more agitated. “What of reports that Lexal is converting some deep-space shuttles into warp-enabled bombing vessels? Altia is defenseless -- and, vulnerable. A few well-placed bombs could destroy the domes covering our cities...”

“Mykko Wygann is not pursuing nor ever has pursued an offensive capability,” Andra protested. “Lexalese perimeter defense is strictly that -- defensive.”

“The best defense is an offense,” Sirk replied.

Kronta rapped on the table. “We have strayed from the agenda of this meeting. Please confine these sentiments to a more appropriate venue. Our goal is to neutralize first-strike use of this biological weapon. The fact the likely target is Lexal rather than Myataxya or T-Delta ... or, Floran itself is immaterial. Is that understood?” He looked around the table.

“Understood, sir,” Sirk replied.

“I apologize,” Andra added.

“Go ahead, Nyk.”

“Wygann is using these statements as the excuse to start staging mandatory air raid drills. It's one advantage he has -- his is a closed society, and his people march in lock-step with him. Once he has the vaccine, people entering the air raid shelters will be wrist-scanned. Lexalese residents will be sent to an area where they will be briefed and inoculated. He will conscript all available nurses and doctors for this task, and he'll use his own security forces to assist.”

“What of offworld visitors?” Kronta asked.

“They will be shunted to a separate holding area away from the vaccinations.”

“They won't be protected?”

“It's a price Wygann is willing to pay to have his own people vaccinated.”

“Wygann looks after his own,” Sirk sneered.

“That is enough, Captain,” said Kronta.

“He will also quietly and discreetly attempt to ... encourage offworlders to leave Lexal.”

“As harsh as it sounds,” Kronta replied, “it seems a reasonable compromise -- one I'd make. The last item I have is manufacturing and transportation logistics -- all I can say is, we're working on it. Let's get back to our jobs. We'll schedule another meeting when we have progress to discuss. Now -- adjourned.”

Nyk strolled the bluff overlooking the sea as the sky darkened into dusk. He felt a hand on his shoulder. “Howdy, stranger.”

He took Suki's hand and led her to a rock. He sat and she sat on his lap. He kissed her lips, held her face against his chest and caressed her hair. “Nykkyo -- what is going on? Senta has been working in Sudal around the clock and Andra is moodier than I've ever seen her. Look... she comes out and sits on her rock.” Suki pointed down at Andra sitting with her chin in her palm. “And -- why are you here instead of on Earth?”

“I can't talk about it.”

“Not even to me? I'm your wife, Nykkyo. Our lives are one.”

“One slip of the tongue could cost hundreds of millions of lives,” he replied. “Are you sure you want to know?”

“Hundreds of millions?”

“Have you seen the reports on Altia and The Seven?”

“Yes... I don't quite understand the politics. I'm too new here.”

He pondered. “I don't know where to start. You recall me describing the Ricin plot?”

“Yes, though I didn't fully understand that, either.”

“In simple terms, we have terrorists threatening to destroy a colony with a powerful biological weapon. Senta is collaborating in a crash program to develop a vaccine. Once the vaccine is developed we have to figure out how to get it there and administer it. We're racing the clock. She has about ten days to perfect it.”

“Ten days? How do you and Andra fit in?”

“The targeted colony is Lexal.”

“Oh... That explains Andra's anxiety.” Nyk lifted the hem of her tunic, slipped his hand under it and began caressing her back. “Mmm ... that feels good...” His finger touched her bra-strap. He grasped it and wiggled it up and down. “You can unhook it... That's better ... mmm... What about you? What's your involvement?”

“I'm acting as a liaison between parties. Right now I'm doing nothing but waiting ... and running errands for Senta and the others. How I wish this was over.”

“Is it really your battle, Nykkyo?”

“If we cave in to their demands, or if we permit them to destroy Lexal - - there's no telling where it would stop. They could hold the entire hegemony hostage. Before I got involved in this, Altia was just a name to me. There are more than two billion Altians, and most of them believe the other colonies owe them something.”

“Oh, God Nykkyo -- it sounds just like Earth geopolitics.”

“It's human nature I guess. At least you and I get some time together.” She snuggled against him. He yawned. “Shall we have some bed?”

“Hook me back up.”

She stood and took his hand as they walked back to the Residence. Nyk heard the sound of a groundcar coming to a halt outside the house. Senta climbed the stairs and headed for the storage room. She sat at the table and set down an injector and a pair of cartridges. “Nyk,” she said, “when you go into town -- pick up some more sleep aids. This is the last one.”

Senta loaded a cartridge into the injector and lifted her hem. She held the gadget above her skin and hesitated, her hand trembling. “Sukiko -- would you mind?”

“Your hands are shaking,” Suki said.

“I get like this after a rough day. Please inject me.”

“What is that?” Nyk asked and examined the injector. “Analgesic?”

“I have a splitting headache,” Senta replied. “I was going to take analgesic and a sleep aid and lie down.”

“I'll inject you.” He pulled off the needle guard, poked her thigh and pressed the trigger. “What have you had to eat today?”

Senta planted her elbows on the table and held her head. “Don't mention food -- my head hurts so much my stomach's upset.”

“Did you have dinner?” Suki asked. Senta shook her head. “Lunch? The reason your head aches is because you haven't eaten.”

“Suki's right,” Nyk said. “You must eat, Senta.”

“I don't have time.”

“You don't want to repeat what happened during the Ricin crisis, do you?” he asked.

“...no...” Senta said through her fingers.

“Let's see what meals we have.” Nyk stepped into the storage room and returned with a stack of packaged meals. “Some soft flat bread ... powdered potatoes ... prepared green vegetables ... soy cutlets ... wheat and rice pilaf ... mixed fruit puree ... sweet bean cake.” He tore open packages, mounded the contents onto a tray and put it into the warmer.

“There...” Nyk set the tray before Senta. “Start eating.”

“The analgesic is helping my head... which helps my stomach.” She picked up a spoon.

Suki looked at the meal with eyes wide. “Nykkyo -- you told me you didn't know how to cook.”

“I don't. I didn't cook any of it -- I just mixed and matched.”

“Still -- that's the nicest looking dinner I've seen since I left Earth.”

“There's more in the packages -- help yourself. This is how we ate when I was a boy. My mother was head of new product development for the Food Service. She'd bring home failed meal packages and we'd have a bit of this and a bit of that...”

“Senta -- what happened to you during the Ricin crisis?”

“By the end, she had made herself so over-wrought she nearly had a breakdown. She developed problems with her intestines. Her bowels were so tied into knots she couldn't even...”

“Nyk!” Senta interrupted. “Must we talk about my insides?”

“It was a long time before you recovered,” Nyk replied.

“Senta,” Suki asked, “how did you discover the Ricin genome?”

“It happened right after we were married,” Nyk said. “We were living in married student housing at the University of Floran City. Do you remember that one-room apartment? We had a thin mattress we'd roll up and stuff into a closet.”

“Mmm...” Senta nodded and gazed at the ceiling. She set down her spoon. “Yes -- I had completed my undergraduate work at the University of Sudal and went to Floran City to study under Dr Hanri. I needed a thesis topic. Hanri tried to convince me to study his native plants, but since my enrollment was sponsored by the Food Service, I felt I should work with food crops. I had studied lentils as an undergraduate and was familiar with them.

“I picked a strain being bred in the pilot domes. Right away I noticed something strange -- something I hadn't seen in Sudal. Not only did I find an alien gene...”

“...from the castor bean,” Nyk interrupted.

“I also found the sequence