eyes.
Logan gets the worst of it, and bears it because he’s got that gift, the medic who guards the strong when they’re at their weakest, who will grab onto a hand and squeeze, who will repeat assurances well beyond the point they’re needed, or crawl through lines of fire just to reach someone who might still be breathing. It’s his particular duty, his calling, and so he does it.
He talks to her, cares for her.
He also does a lot more.
Like many Assaulters, he’s adept at acquiring knowledge he shouldn’t have, technical expertise that goes above and beyond. He’s been running blood tests for days, analyzing digital data from readers, feeding it into his med computer, muttering over obscure references while others sleep.
So now he looks… uncertain.
He shakes his head, too tired and searching for words. “Her blood work is… I don’t even know how to describe it. She’s infected with something. She’s infected with an unknown strain of bacteria, and it’s all through her, everywhere, in the cells, like lateral gene transfer stuff.”
Wyatt groans. “Lateral what?”
Logan looks at Voss, searching for understanding. “There are two ways to pass DNA. There’s vertical transfer, which is parent to child. And there’s lateral transfer, which is between individuals, mostly in single celled organisms.”
Voss frowns. “So she’s sick?”
“Not exactly.” Logan points to his analyzer, a blurry image of blobs swimming in its tiny blue screen. “Her cells aren’t like our cells to begin with. Her blood wouldn’t be compatible with any of our blood types. And this isn’t an accident or a natural mutation. I think that part is pretty obvious, given recent events. She’s a genetically altered being. My guess is that she’s been engineered to host this bacteria, and it’s sharing its DNA with her. She’s only part human, gents. That’s what makes her special. That’s her gift .”
“What the fuck?” Wyatt’s pissed.
Voss feels it too, though he won’t voice it. The betrayal stings. He liked believing that the kids he rescued were all naturally gifted. It was a good story, a glint of hope in the ruins, something worth the lives of the men who’d sacrificed for it. Learning that they’re part of a human experiment doesn’t square the same way, doesn’t make sense to him as a warrior, but it also doesn’t alter the situation.
All of their lives are in danger, including Niri’s, and he has no context for this new information, no way to judge whether it’s part of a responsible plan to rebuild Earth, or not. He doesn’t have that background, or that expertise, so he’s got to go with what he’s been told. He’s got to keep everyone alive.
For Logan, however, it’s more difficult. It’s caretaker-to-patient. It’s personal. He shuts the cover of his analyzer and stares at Voss, just stares, a flicker of something raw in his eyes.
“We don’t get to know the big picture,” Voss reminds him. “We don’t sign up for that. We sign up to do what others can’t. We stand between those who want to destroy, and those who need our protection. The guys running the show… they could be geniuses, or they could be complete assholes, but there isn’t anything else. There isn’t some other Earth, or some other Mars. This is what we’ve got. And whatever this girl is, or isn’t… she’s a citizen, which means the NRM is legally bound to take of her, and we took an oath to protect her.”
“Protect her from what?” Logan asks, and the implication is clear.
“From all those who seek to destroy her,” Voss says. “We didn’t have their motive before, but now it seems like we might. She’s part human, part something else. Maybe that means she’s got a better immune system. Maybe it means she hears things we can’t hear, or can go into places we can’t go. We don’t know what the advantages to this are. Med science is rarely what it looks like. They break bones, put people
Logan gets the worst of it, and bears it because he’s got that gift, the medic who guards the strong when they’re at their weakest, who will grab onto a hand and squeeze, who will repeat assurances well beyond the point they’re needed, or crawl through lines of fire just to reach someone who might still be breathing. It’s his particular duty, his calling, and so he does it.
He talks to her, cares for her.
He also does a lot more.
Like many Assaulters, he’s adept at acquiring knowledge he shouldn’t have, technical expertise that goes above and beyond. He’s been running blood tests for days, analyzing digital data from readers, feeding it into his med computer, muttering over obscure references while others sleep.
So now he looks… uncertain.
He shakes his head, too tired and searching for words. “Her blood work is… I don’t even know how to describe it. She’s infected with something. She’s infected with an unknown strain of bacteria, and it’s all through her, everywhere, in the cells, like lateral gene transfer stuff.”
Wyatt groans. “Lateral what?”
Logan looks at Voss, searching for understanding. “There are two ways to pass DNA. There’s vertical transfer, which is parent to child. And there’s lateral transfer, which is between individuals, mostly in single celled organisms.”
Voss frowns. “So she’s sick?”
“Not exactly.” Logan points to his analyzer, a blurry image of blobs swimming in its tiny blue screen. “Her cells aren’t like our cells to begin with. Her blood wouldn’t be compatible with any of our blood types. And this isn’t an accident or a natural mutation. I think that part is pretty obvious, given recent events. She’s a genetically altered being. My guess is that she’s been engineered to host this bacteria, and it’s sharing its DNA with her. She’s only part human, gents. That’s what makes her special. That’s her gift .”
“What the fuck?” Wyatt’s pissed.
Voss feels it too, though he won’t voice it. The betrayal stings. He liked believing that the kids he rescued were all naturally gifted. It was a good story, a glint of hope in the ruins, something worth the lives of the men who’d sacrificed for it. Learning that they’re part of a human experiment doesn’t square the same way, doesn’t make sense to him as a warrior, but it also doesn’t alter the situation.
All of their lives are in danger, including Niri’s, and he has no context for this new information, no way to judge whether it’s part of a responsible plan to rebuild Earth, or not. He doesn’t have that background, or that expertise, so he’s got to go with what he’s been told. He’s got to keep everyone alive.
For Logan, however, it’s more difficult. It’s caretaker-to-patient. It’s personal. He shuts the cover of his analyzer and stares at Voss, just stares, a flicker of something raw in his eyes.
“We don’t get to know the big picture,” Voss reminds him. “We don’t sign up for that. We sign up to do what others can’t. We stand between those who want to destroy, and those who need our protection. The guys running the show… they could be geniuses, or they could be complete assholes, but there isn’t anything else. There isn’t some other Earth, or some other Mars. This is what we’ve got. And whatever this girl is, or isn’t… she’s a citizen, which means the NRM is legally bound to take of her, and we took an oath to protect her.”
“Protect her from what?” Logan asks, and the implication is clear.
“From all those who seek to destroy her,” Voss says. “We didn’t have their motive before, but now it seems like we might. She’s part human, part something else. Maybe that means she’s got a better immune system. Maybe it means she hears things we can’t hear, or can go into places we can’t go. We don’t know what the advantages to this are. Med science is rarely what it looks like. They break bones, put people
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