Read Online THE FOREVER GENE (THE SCIONS OF EARTH Book 1) by Warren Dean - Free Book Online
Authors: Warren Dean
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speak with you again once we are inside." With that, she lengthened her stride and disappeared into the trees ahead.
Batu dropped back to walk alongside Qara, glancing repeatedly from side to side. "It's too quiet here," he said apprehensively.
Qara looked around. Apart from the muffled sounds of the people walking ahead of and behind them, the forest was eerily still. No insects hopped or slithered across the ground and no birds could be seen or heard through the trees. Even the wind seemed to have died away.
Abruptly, they stepped into a small glade where the ambassador had stopped to wait for the rest of the party. The dense forest on the other side of the glade was silent. The trees were motionless except for the occasional stirring of leaves and Qara found herself thinking that there was something unnatural about the scene. She glanced at the president, who didn't seem to have noticed. Even the curator, standing alongside him, did nothing but stare gloomily at the ground. There was no sign of any facility and Qara began to wonder what the ambassador was playing at.
Batu had positioned himself between Qara and the rest of the party and she saw him adopt the deceptively relaxed stance she had seen once before; on the day the Pink Pony had been trashed. Qara's uneasiness grew. Now she was concerned not only about whatever the ambassador was about to reveal, but also about what her camera-man's reaction might be. And yet her conversation with Vi had been oddly reassuring. Although she could hardly be sure of the young stranger's motives, she had seemed perfectly sincere. If this was nothing but an elaborate trap, surely the translator would have sought to distract more influential members of the party.
The ambassador waited until everyone was present, and then gave a sub-vocal command. What happened next surprised everyone but the Faerie Folk. The dense forest behind the ambassador shimmered, like a particularly strong heat wave, and vanished. A large, squat structure, constructed of a dark blue substance unlike anything Qara had ever seen, materialised in its place. She couldn't judge its size from where she stood, other than to realise that it was much larger than anyone had been expecting.
The curator flinched visibly at the sudden disappearance of such a large section of the protected forest under his care, while everyone else simply gaped in astonishment. The facility seemed to have materialized out of thin air.
At another sub-vocal command from the ambassador, the main door of the building, which resembled a sheet of glass with a light blue tint, slid silently aside. The faint hum of machinery and the occasional burst of high-pitched conversation could be heard through the opening.
Qara surreptitiously activated her 'mote, and hoped that Tol was paying attention.
"Welcome to our research facility," said the ambassador. "Please, do not be alarmed. For reasons which I will explain shortly, it has been kept cloaked since we arrived. Once we are inside I shall ensure that President Ganzorig has every opportunity to inspect it. Once he has, I hope that he will allow us to retain it, despite the fact that we have built it without permission and in conflict with your environmental laws. Analyst Ko is the head of the facility and I shall ask him to guide you through the complex."
Ko stepped forward but, before he could enter the facility, the president spoke. "Ambassador, I am afraid that you have taken me by surprise. There is no-one in my party qualified to inspect such a facility. I am more than happy to accept your kind invitation of a guided tour, but before I do, I shall call for a team of technicians to be sent from the city to join us."
The president's statement was not phrased as a request. It was clear that he wanted to test that his lines of communication were still open and that the Faerie Folk would not attempt to prevent him from calling for
Batu dropped back to walk alongside Qara, glancing repeatedly from side to side. "It's too quiet here," he said apprehensively.
Qara looked around. Apart from the muffled sounds of the people walking ahead of and behind them, the forest was eerily still. No insects hopped or slithered across the ground and no birds could be seen or heard through the trees. Even the wind seemed to have died away.
Abruptly, they stepped into a small glade where the ambassador had stopped to wait for the rest of the party. The dense forest on the other side of the glade was silent. The trees were motionless except for the occasional stirring of leaves and Qara found herself thinking that there was something unnatural about the scene. She glanced at the president, who didn't seem to have noticed. Even the curator, standing alongside him, did nothing but stare gloomily at the ground. There was no sign of any facility and Qara began to wonder what the ambassador was playing at.
Batu had positioned himself between Qara and the rest of the party and she saw him adopt the deceptively relaxed stance she had seen once before; on the day the Pink Pony had been trashed. Qara's uneasiness grew. Now she was concerned not only about whatever the ambassador was about to reveal, but also about what her camera-man's reaction might be. And yet her conversation with Vi had been oddly reassuring. Although she could hardly be sure of the young stranger's motives, she had seemed perfectly sincere. If this was nothing but an elaborate trap, surely the translator would have sought to distract more influential members of the party.
The ambassador waited until everyone was present, and then gave a sub-vocal command. What happened next surprised everyone but the Faerie Folk. The dense forest behind the ambassador shimmered, like a particularly strong heat wave, and vanished. A large, squat structure, constructed of a dark blue substance unlike anything Qara had ever seen, materialised in its place. She couldn't judge its size from where she stood, other than to realise that it was much larger than anyone had been expecting.
The curator flinched visibly at the sudden disappearance of such a large section of the protected forest under his care, while everyone else simply gaped in astonishment. The facility seemed to have materialized out of thin air.
At another sub-vocal command from the ambassador, the main door of the building, which resembled a sheet of glass with a light blue tint, slid silently aside. The faint hum of machinery and the occasional burst of high-pitched conversation could be heard through the opening.
Qara surreptitiously activated her 'mote, and hoped that Tol was paying attention.
"Welcome to our research facility," said the ambassador. "Please, do not be alarmed. For reasons which I will explain shortly, it has been kept cloaked since we arrived. Once we are inside I shall ensure that President Ganzorig has every opportunity to inspect it. Once he has, I hope that he will allow us to retain it, despite the fact that we have built it without permission and in conflict with your environmental laws. Analyst Ko is the head of the facility and I shall ask him to guide you through the complex."
Ko stepped forward but, before he could enter the facility, the president spoke. "Ambassador, I am afraid that you have taken me by surprise. There is no-one in my party qualified to inspect such a facility. I am more than happy to accept your kind invitation of a guided tour, but before I do, I shall call for a team of technicians to be sent from the city to join us."
The president's statement was not phrased as a request. It was clear that he wanted to test that his lines of communication were still open and that the Faerie Folk would not attempt to prevent him from calling for
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