Read Online The Terrorists of Irustan by Louise Marley - Free Book Online

thin.
    “That’s an important one,” Zahra said. “Do you know why?”
    “It’s the gene affected by rhodium,” Ishi said. With confidence, she pointed to another locus on the chain, illuminated in livid green. “And that one.”
    “And what is this, exactly?” Zahra pressed her, tracing the long string that linked the colored shapes.
    Ishi frowned, screwing up her small features as she thought. “It’s letters . . . D something. Oh, I know, DNA!”
    “That’s right,” Zahra said, with a sharp nod of satisfaction. “Those loci, those genes, are like little jewels on a necklace, and the necklace is made of DNA. Do you know what the genes do?”
    Ishi put one finger in her mouth as she searched for the answer. “Some say what our babies will be like, and some work in our bodies like—like chemicals. And if the miners don’t take their treatments, that one, and that one there, they change.”
    “Yes,” Zahra told her. “Those are prion genes. The rhodium on Irustan has an unstable isotope, and it modifies the prion genes, fairly quickly, too. In less than three years, if a miner breathes the rhodium dust and doesn’t come for his therapy, then he—or anyone who breathes enough of the dust—is susceptible to the disease the leptokis carries.”
    Lili shuddered and said, “Ugh. I hate those little beasts!”
    “Have you ever seen one, Lili?” Zahra asked mildly.
    “Yes, in cages! They sell them in the market stalls!”
    “Some people keep them as pets,” Zahra teased. “Wouldn’t you like one, Lili? We could send Asa down to buy it.”
    Lili rolled her eyes and tossed her head.
    Ishi was not to be distracted. “What do we do for them, Zahra? I mean, if they breathe the dust.”
    Zahra sat down beside Ishi to look at the illustration. It revolved slowly, exposing the loci, revealing the delicate structures of the genetic code. They were as lovely to her as any sculpture. They were as clear a call from the Maker as anything she could imagine, a little map, a tiny blueprint for the miracle of creation. She smiled at Ishi and caressed her smooth cheek with one finger.
    “Well, first,” she said, “we scold the miner for not wearing his mask. And we remind him of how his ancestors died! Then we give him inhalation therapy.”
    “I know what that is! It’s the little syrinx on the top, isn’t it?”
    “On the top left of the medicator, yes, and we give him a mask to seal over his mouth and nose. But do you know what it administers?”
    Ishi pouted and shook her head.
    Zahra laughed. “Never mind, Ishi. You will.” She stood again, andreached for her own veil. “It’s oxygen, mostly, with an inhalable regen mixture, and an expectorant. To make our patient cough out the dust. And the accelerated protease that inhibits the prion—” She stopped. “It’s too soon for this, Ishi! When you’re ready, we’ll go into it.”
    “But what about the genes? If they get mo—mo—’’
    “Modified.” Zahra reached to turn off Ishi’s reader. “It means changed, altered. Come now, enough. Lili’s waiting.”
    “But what about it, Zahra?”
    Zahra was pulling on her veil, buttoning the verge. From behind the silk panel, she said softly, “We can’t do anything about it, Ishi, not here.”
    “But on Earth?” Ishi demanded.
    Zahra shook her head. “It doesn’t happen on Earth, my Ishi. The little bit of rhodium Earth had is long gone, and it was different, anyway. This is a problem unique to Irustan.”
    Lili was already buttoning her verge. “If you two don’t hurry up!” she complained. “We only get to visit once in fifteen days, and 1 don’t want to be late!”
    “Come on, Ishi,” Zahra said. “I’ll look at it with you tonight. Poor Lili! And Asa’s waiting, too.”
    Ishi climbed off the cot and went to stand before the anah. Lili brushed her straight brown hair smooth and tied it back with a bit of ribbon before she drew the veil over Ishi’s head.
    “My goodness, I think