Free Catherine Kimbridge Chronicles 7: Renegades by Andrew Beery Page A

small urn of top soil. It was customary to present a host family with a little bit of home when visiting the orbitals. Despite appearances however, hers was far from ordinary.
    Small microorganisms had been added to the soil. They were in and of themselves quite unremarkable save a snippet of specially encoded DNA embedded in their genome. That DNA formed a quad-nary code that could be decrypted into a four terabyte data stream. That data stream contained her research and the proof that the contagion was curable and completely artificial. The Hupenstanii people had been duped for generations by the GCP. The question was why and what to do about it .
    Worldview Six was the last of the original orbiting habitats built before the quarantine had gone into effect. It was unquestionably the most luxurious. Small gardens and colorful feathered flying insects graced large sections of each habitat ring. As she exited the shuttle a stranger approached her with a broad grin and open arms.
    “Baska’niiti! My how you have grown! I remember when you were knee high to a Looper… now look at you… all grown up!”
    ‘Niiti’ was a term roughly equivalent to what the humans called a niece. That meant this man was playing the part of her uncle but the question was ‘uncle who?’ The older man seemed to realize her predicament and came to her rescue.
    “Don’t worry about your bag dearest. Your Uncle Oosar has it all taken care of. Now I would imagine you want to see your Great Grandfather. Elder Trifano is not getting any younger.”
    ***
    Elder Trifano looked the young lady over from head to toe. She was quite attractive he had to admit. Her iridescent feathers hugged a form that was still fit and trim. Her tail nub was most enticing. If he were a younger Hopper he might have been tempted to inquire about her mating cycle but alas for him those days were long gone. Still there were worse ways to spend the day than in the company of an attractive and highly intelligent companion.
    He nodded towards the gifting urn. “It that for me?”
    “It is… honored Grand Sire,” Triska’nar said carefully.
    The older man laughed. “This entire ring of the orbital is the most secure facility we have. There is no need for subterfuge here. You are the esteemed Triska’nar are you not?”
    “Indeed I am sir.” It seemed strange. They had been talking with each other for years using a covert network of intermediaries but this was the first time they had met face to face.
    “In fact, if my briefing was correct,” Trifano continued, “you hold three ‘Nar’ designations in biochemistry, geology and, I believe, genetics. Quite an accomplishment for one so young.”
    Triska’nar’s feathers ruffled slightly in embarrassment.  “If I recall correctly Elder Trifano’nar… you hold four such degrees.”
    “Ah yes, well I did not get mine so young nor dare I say have I done as much with mine as you have with yours.”
    Triska’nar handed the small urn to the older man. “I’ve encoded the information you requested but I can summarize it if you like?”
    The older Hopper nodded.
    “It is as we feared. The contagion was bioengineered but the source material was a single-celled animal native to Earth. The pathogen’s original vector is called an Amoeba. It’s very similar to our rhizopods. In this case, a virus was loaded into the amoeba and it was allowed to spawn in a hot water spring near the vacation resort of Da’Lana Hiis. The virus found ample available hosts in the fauna that flourishes in the spring water.”
    Trifano sat down and motioned for her to do the same. “How do we know the outbreak was anything other than an accident?”
    Triska’nar folded her three-fingered hands and looked the older Hopper directly in his eyes. “The virus itself is not signed but…”
    “The vector is,” Trifano finished for her.
    “Correct,” Triska’nar confirmed. “Once the virus had migrated to local vectors there was no way to