Read Online The Iron Admiral: Conspiracy by Greta van Der Rol - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Greta van Der Rol
Ads: Link
in passing that the Confederacy believed that a disease wiped
out the population on Tisyphor but no proof had ever been found.
She sighed and her chest heaved in a too-interesting way. “When van Tongeren brought me to this
apartment and I saw what they’d done, I thought I’d take a look around, see if there was anything in the ptorix cupboards and things. They’d been emptied but I found a hidden compartment in the closet.”
She went into the bedroom and returned carrying a small, square book, its covers decorated in swirls of red and gold.
“I found this in the closet, along with a couple of books and aghabra ; it’s a musical instrument. They must have been there since the day the place was abandoned.” She licked her lips, eyes glistening. “Only the planet wasn’t abandoned. They all died. This is the last mine manager’s diary. It’s all there. When they first noticed the illness, what happened. Doctors came from the Khophirate but they died, too.”
Saahren felt cold. It made sense. An unstoppable virus that killed ptorix. The ptorix isolated the place and kept the disease secret, no doubt fearing that someone might come and seek the virus out. And now someone was possibly doing just that.
A resurrected biological weapon that could devastate any ptorix planet. He could say honestly that he wouldn’t use anything like that. Although he wasn’t so certain about a few of the other admirals.
Indiscriminate, devastating, uncontrollable. The nutters of the GPR… oh, yes, he could see them using something like this in a heartbeat. If these people were to find that virus, the business on Brjyl would become a playground spat in comparison.
Sure, maybe it would work for a time. Until the ptorix realized what they were up against and used
environmental suits, or found a way of killing the disease. The story of Tisyphor would be somewhere in the Khophirate’s archives. They’d soon realize. And even with the superior Confederacy Starfleet, what hope would they have? The Khophirate was just too vast, too many planets over too much distance and
the survivors would come roaring back, hell-bent on vengeance, no doubt led by the human-hating ptorix fundamentalists. The human race would be lucky to survive.
“Does it say where the virus originated?”
She shook her head. “Just that the first person to die was stung by a thranx. I showed this to Jarrad. This is how Fyysor describes the disease.”
She flicked through the pages, from the back, as he saw it, from bottom to top, and found a page
covered in ornate ptorix script.
She read, slowly, translating as she went.‘The first sign of the illness seems to be a cough. About three days later, the soreness begins and with it, the pain. Breathing is difficult, the patient vomits ichor. It is as if they dissolve from within. From that time, death comes quickly.’
“Jarrad said it made sense, that it could have been a cross-over from a thranx to the ptorix.”
“Jarrad?” A boyfriend? He had competition?
“Jarrad Korns. He was a researcher here. We got friendly but he left a little while ago.”
Good. The twinge of jealousy settled.
“I was told in the orientation that thranxes kill with their sting, which injects a solvent into the victim’s body. They suck the dissolved liquid with a proboscis, leaving an empty husk.”
She shuddered. “It’s revolting, isn’t it? But I suppose that’s how the Tors eat. They sort of suck up mush through their eating mouths. Jarrad said they were experimenting, trying to find helpful drugs based on the venom. It’s hard to imagine, really.”
She was so naive. It was almost a shame to destroy her illusion. “Allysha, I think these people are trying to find the virus.”
She stared up at him, worried, unhappy and so very vulnerable. He wanted to kiss her, comfort her.
“But why? Why would you want to find something like that?”
“To use it as a biological weapon.”
Her jaw dropped, lips
out the population on Tisyphor but no proof had ever been found.
She sighed and her chest heaved in a too-interesting way. “When van Tongeren brought me to this
apartment and I saw what they’d done, I thought I’d take a look around, see if there was anything in the ptorix cupboards and things. They’d been emptied but I found a hidden compartment in the closet.”
She went into the bedroom and returned carrying a small, square book, its covers decorated in swirls of red and gold.
“I found this in the closet, along with a couple of books and aghabra ; it’s a musical instrument. They must have been there since the day the place was abandoned.” She licked her lips, eyes glistening. “Only the planet wasn’t abandoned. They all died. This is the last mine manager’s diary. It’s all there. When they first noticed the illness, what happened. Doctors came from the Khophirate but they died, too.”
Saahren felt cold. It made sense. An unstoppable virus that killed ptorix. The ptorix isolated the place and kept the disease secret, no doubt fearing that someone might come and seek the virus out. And now someone was possibly doing just that.
A resurrected biological weapon that could devastate any ptorix planet. He could say honestly that he wouldn’t use anything like that. Although he wasn’t so certain about a few of the other admirals.
Indiscriminate, devastating, uncontrollable. The nutters of the GPR… oh, yes, he could see them using something like this in a heartbeat. If these people were to find that virus, the business on Brjyl would become a playground spat in comparison.
Sure, maybe it would work for a time. Until the ptorix realized what they were up against and used
environmental suits, or found a way of killing the disease. The story of Tisyphor would be somewhere in the Khophirate’s archives. They’d soon realize. And even with the superior Confederacy Starfleet, what hope would they have? The Khophirate was just too vast, too many planets over too much distance and
the survivors would come roaring back, hell-bent on vengeance, no doubt led by the human-hating ptorix fundamentalists. The human race would be lucky to survive.
“Does it say where the virus originated?”
She shook her head. “Just that the first person to die was stung by a thranx. I showed this to Jarrad. This is how Fyysor describes the disease.”
She flicked through the pages, from the back, as he saw it, from bottom to top, and found a page
covered in ornate ptorix script.
She read, slowly, translating as she went.‘The first sign of the illness seems to be a cough. About three days later, the soreness begins and with it, the pain. Breathing is difficult, the patient vomits ichor. It is as if they dissolve from within. From that time, death comes quickly.’
“Jarrad said it made sense, that it could have been a cross-over from a thranx to the ptorix.”
“Jarrad?” A boyfriend? He had competition?
“Jarrad Korns. He was a researcher here. We got friendly but he left a little while ago.”
Good. The twinge of jealousy settled.
“I was told in the orientation that thranxes kill with their sting, which injects a solvent into the victim’s body. They suck the dissolved liquid with a proboscis, leaving an empty husk.”
She shuddered. “It’s revolting, isn’t it? But I suppose that’s how the Tors eat. They sort of suck up mush through their eating mouths. Jarrad said they were experimenting, trying to find helpful drugs based on the venom. It’s hard to imagine, really.”
She was so naive. It was almost a shame to destroy her illusion. “Allysha, I think these people are trying to find the virus.”
She stared up at him, worried, unhappy and so very vulnerable. He wanted to kiss her, comfort her.
“But why? Why would you want to find something like that?”
“To use it as a biological weapon.”
Her jaw dropped, lips
Similar Books
