Free Thunder by Bonnie S. Calhoun Page A

forty years ago, let alone to the Sorrows. His ancestors had been government workers who remained safely locked in Weather Mountain as the country’s population succumbed to the ravages of the environmental catastrophes. Left to their own devices and without national leadership, most of the people outside perished, but his family had prospered in this closed environment.
    Thinking about the events and the hundreds of millions of lives lost in one week’s time brought no emotion. He could do nothing about the past, but he would control thefuture. His longstanding project of enhancing the DNA signature of Mountain people had been set aside to focus on securing a future for his wife, but the results of one could help the other.
    Everling stared off into space. “Have we tried using any more of our own patrols to capture Landers?”
    â€œNo, sir,” Stemple said. “Very ineffective. Last year we spent several months with AirStream units stationed at the beach areas most frequented as landings. A week after we suspended the patrols, peasants caught a Lander and turned him in. Remember the one who changed?”
    Everling nodded. “Yes, that was the first time we learned the tattoo wasn’t permanent on all Landers. To find that out after all these years was quite shocking. How many others have we missed?”
    â€œYou have to admit it was quite brilliant of the peasants to figure out they could get paid and be gone before the Lander’s mark disappeared.”
    â€œI believe it was just dumb luck. Those peasants were new to the hunt and didn’t know any better. Acquiring the Lander right away gave us a chance to observe his change overnight.”
    â€œI must admit it was surprising to find their DNA reverted to the same as ours after they lost the mark,” Stemple said.
    â€œAgreed, and having no mark makes them useless.” Everling walked to the data board and pulled the data Stemple had just inputted. “The premise is very disconcerting, though.”
    â€œWhat premise, sir?”
    â€œThat they could be among us and we can’t tell the difference.”
    Stemple looked up from his map, a frown etching his eyebrows together. “That is very disconcerting. There might be Landers in the Mountain and we’d never know about it.”
    â€œDon’t worry. We’ve never been infiltrated. Our lineage is very pure.”
    Stemple pushed his eyebrows up. “If you say so, sir.”
    Everling tweaked some figures in the data. “Notify the AirStream units traveling the area to up the rewards by 25 percent.”
    Stemple’s eyes widened. “That much, sir? We’ve never offered anywhere near that kind of compensation for Landers. How should we divide the payments?”
    â€œGive them 25 percent bio-coin and 75 percent energy credits,” Everling said.
    Stemple ran his palm over the data board’s controls to activate the panel next to Everling’s work. A list of comparisons flashed on the screen. He waved his hand across the panel to change the view to new orders.
    â€œHold on there.” Everling moved over to the screen. “What was that?”
    Stemple ran a hand across his brow. “Just some calculations I was making on genetics.”
    â€œI’ll be the judge of what’s important.” Everling gestured to the screen. “Put the data back up, please.”
    Stemple drew his lips tight. His hand hesitated. A split second passed before he recovered his composure and called the data to the interactive screen.
    Everling walked the length of the calculations, tweaking data on the screen. He clapped his hands together and spun to face Stemple with a broad grin. “You’re brilliant! It’s righthere in your third section. You’ve defined the missing progression between their DNA and ours.”
    â€œI could see it, but I didn’t understand why. We’ve genetically engineered farm animals