host. Co-dependency might take dozens of generations. We don’t have the luxury of time.”
“Why not?”
“They live in us. They feed off of us. Compete for our food. At the worst – after generations – we may learn to live together. But for now, the nasty little buggers pose an unknown medical and bodily risk.”
“Is it really this bad?”
“Yes,” Doctor Starling answered.
“Why?”
“We don’t know yet what kills them, so, please just go to the Escape Pod. Now get into your Hazmat suit. It’s safer for all.”
“But I’m not going in that Pod.”
“Then they will make you go.”
“Who will?”
“The security team.”
“And if I don’t go?”
“You have to do this, for the good of the community.”
“Mom wouldn’t let this happen.”
“This is what needs to happen and this isn’t the time to be a rebel. You’ll be okay in there.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I have the best minds working on this situation. I promise I’ll stay in constant contact.”
“What’s happening to us now?”
“Listen. Staying together you will survive. If you separate, you will die. Do you hear me? Stay together. Work together. Live and survive together.”
“What’s happening?”
“We’re sending you down to the planet,” Doctor Starling answered.
“Why?”
“If you need to kill a parasite, you go where the live most abundantly.”
“So we’re all going to GidX7,” Theo said.
“Yes,” Doctor Starling said.
“But last time I checked Odyssey isn’t a landing shuttle and it’s running out of necessary supplies and… ”
“Just the Positives. You all must to go to the "heart" of where the parasite lives. You have to go down to the source of this life form.”
“But we’re not prepared,” Theo said. “No one is prepared for that place.”
“We don’t have time,” Doctor Starling said. “Now, god speed. I’m on my way. Do you hear me? I’m on my way. I love you guys so much. You hear me? I do.”
“Dad? What’s really going to happen to us?”
“I don’t know.”
“But you always know.”
“Not this time. I’m sorry. Now god speed, Theo, god speed.”
In his sleeping quarters, with the conversation with his father over, Theo thought of how all of this would end and didn’t get a good feeling.
He couldn’t get the ache of fear in his father’s voice out of his mind. His father wasn’t a worrier. He had seen everything, done everything, taught everyone in the fleet just about everything and his father never appeared rattled, which was why Theo was really freaking out: his father was really worried.
CHAPTER 9
LIKE SOME ANIMAL
Defiant meant two things to Theo. First, it was the name of a shuttle that had gone rogue from the Furman Corporation fleet of seven deep space shuttles. Defiant was also the feeling Theo felt after he found out about his infection. This will stuck in Theo’s mind. He would not go to the Escape Pod like some animal, like some rabbit in a cage.
To ease his tension, Theo jumped on his virt-simulator. He programmed it for the eastern edge of Monkey Face in the center of Oregon. It was an otherworldly formation of rocks and it came at Theo in full color and spun with three dimensions around him. The latest in holographic exertainment was radical and virtually real.
As he started to virt-climb, he felt 100% healthy. He felt fit and athletic. The Yin-Yang Twins couldn’t be a threat. His father, of course, was a genius but still Theo thought he was over-reacting.
About an hour later, dripping with sweat from every pore and after repeated messages from his father and the chief security officer Larson Jensen, Theo heard a rumble outside his door. He had locked it earlier. He was sure of that.
But quickly his door swung open by force. Someone had overridden his lock.
Four men in yellow hazmat suits came to get him. It was Jensen, definitely Larson Jensen. He was part of the security team. The others looked to be
“Why not?”
“They live in us. They feed off of us. Compete for our food. At the worst – after generations – we may learn to live together. But for now, the nasty little buggers pose an unknown medical and bodily risk.”
“Is it really this bad?”
“Yes,” Doctor Starling answered.
“Why?”
“We don’t know yet what kills them, so, please just go to the Escape Pod. Now get into your Hazmat suit. It’s safer for all.”
“But I’m not going in that Pod.”
“Then they will make you go.”
“Who will?”
“The security team.”
“And if I don’t go?”
“You have to do this, for the good of the community.”
“Mom wouldn’t let this happen.”
“This is what needs to happen and this isn’t the time to be a rebel. You’ll be okay in there.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I have the best minds working on this situation. I promise I’ll stay in constant contact.”
“What’s happening to us now?”
“Listen. Staying together you will survive. If you separate, you will die. Do you hear me? Stay together. Work together. Live and survive together.”
“What’s happening?”
“We’re sending you down to the planet,” Doctor Starling answered.
“Why?”
“If you need to kill a parasite, you go where the live most abundantly.”
“So we’re all going to GidX7,” Theo said.
“Yes,” Doctor Starling said.
“But last time I checked Odyssey isn’t a landing shuttle and it’s running out of necessary supplies and… ”
“Just the Positives. You all must to go to the "heart" of where the parasite lives. You have to go down to the source of this life form.”
“But we’re not prepared,” Theo said. “No one is prepared for that place.”
“We don’t have time,” Doctor Starling said. “Now, god speed. I’m on my way. Do you hear me? I’m on my way. I love you guys so much. You hear me? I do.”
“Dad? What’s really going to happen to us?”
“I don’t know.”
“But you always know.”
“Not this time. I’m sorry. Now god speed, Theo, god speed.”
In his sleeping quarters, with the conversation with his father over, Theo thought of how all of this would end and didn’t get a good feeling.
He couldn’t get the ache of fear in his father’s voice out of his mind. His father wasn’t a worrier. He had seen everything, done everything, taught everyone in the fleet just about everything and his father never appeared rattled, which was why Theo was really freaking out: his father was really worried.
CHAPTER 9
LIKE SOME ANIMAL
Defiant meant two things to Theo. First, it was the name of a shuttle that had gone rogue from the Furman Corporation fleet of seven deep space shuttles. Defiant was also the feeling Theo felt after he found out about his infection. This will stuck in Theo’s mind. He would not go to the Escape Pod like some animal, like some rabbit in a cage.
To ease his tension, Theo jumped on his virt-simulator. He programmed it for the eastern edge of Monkey Face in the center of Oregon. It was an otherworldly formation of rocks and it came at Theo in full color and spun with three dimensions around him. The latest in holographic exertainment was radical and virtually real.
As he started to virt-climb, he felt 100% healthy. He felt fit and athletic. The Yin-Yang Twins couldn’t be a threat. His father, of course, was a genius but still Theo thought he was over-reacting.
About an hour later, dripping with sweat from every pore and after repeated messages from his father and the chief security officer Larson Jensen, Theo heard a rumble outside his door. He had locked it earlier. He was sure of that.
But quickly his door swung open by force. Someone had overridden his lock.
Four men in yellow hazmat suits came to get him. It was Jensen, definitely Larson Jensen. He was part of the security team. The others looked to be
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