Read Online Zenn Scarlett by Christian Schoon - Free Book Online
Authors: Christian Schoon
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crim-in-oly…” Kellin Shandin said. “Is it lunch already?”
“We gotta get back, fast,” Red Hat said. “Your dad’s gonna yell at us.”
“You’re not supposed to be wandering around, are you?” Zenn said. The boys shook their heads, concern plain on their young faces.
“My dad said we could look around the quarry,” Kellin told her. “But we kinda… kept walkin’. You won’t tell him we were out here, will ya?”
Zenn thought for second.
“Tell you what,” she said, sensing an opportunity. “If you can keep the whalehound a secret, I won’t say anything to your dad. Deal?”
They exchanged a long look. This was obviously a hard bargain. But they had no choice.
“Deal,” Kellin said. “And you won’t tell nobody we… touched that thing, will ya?”
“Hey… we won’t… catch something from it, will we?” Red Hat said, suddenly nervous. He held both hands up to his face and squinted at them. “I mean, they’ve got diseases, right?” Zenn’s heart sank at this. For a moment, it seemed as if this encounter might actually do some good. But no. It was already too late.
“No,” she said. “You won’t get sick. They don’t carry any microbes that affect humans.”
“I’m washing my hands anyway, soon as I get back,” Red Hat said, holding his arms out from his body.
“Me too,” Kellin agreed.
“Fine, but there’s really no need,” Zenn said. “Now, remember our deal. If you don’t say anything, I won’t.”
“Yeah, alright,” Kellin said.
They trotted off, now giving the slumbering hound a wide berth as they went to the bluff and climbed up and out of sight.
“I may speak now?” Hamish said, coming to stand by Zenn. He tilted his head at her. “What the young one said about the Earth-humans’ Authority. Will this Authority come to Mars and abolish alien life forms here as it did on the Earth?”
“I don’t really know, Hamish,” she told him, the thought making her weary. She sat down on the bank of the dry streambed.
“I have never had a clear understanding of the Earth-humans and their feelings against forms of life from other worlds. Their thinking on this issue seems… extreme. Do you have an explanation?”
“I’m no expert on sol sys politics,” Zenn admitted. “But it started about thirty years ago. You ever hear of the Orinoco Event?”
“I have not heard this term. We did not study Earth-human history in my hatchling group’s education.”
“It was a disease outbreak. A pandemic, a sort of super-influenza hybrid, worse than anything seen on Earth before. Started in the jungles of the South Amazonia Prefecture. It spread fast, and killed almost two hundred thousand people in three months. Then it subsided. No cure was ever found. The virus just seemed to dry up and disappear. Everyone thought they were safe, that the threat had passed. After eight months, though, it flared up again. This time, it spread worldwide. Killed over two billion people.”
“This is a terrible toll,” Hamish said. “Such a loss is hard to comprehend.”
“It was hard alright. Pretty much made things fall apart on Earth.”
“Things disintegrated into pieces?”
“Socially, I mean. Governments couldn’t cope. Law and order broke down. Industry and farming, too. Entire countries started starving to death. People took things into their own hands. You can’t blame them. Anyway, the Temporary Executive Authority was formed as a kind of global army. They took charge, and things got better. Slowly. And it wasn’t easy. The Authority was pretty brutal about it. I guess they had to be. It wasn’t a democracy, that’s for sure. You either did things their way, or you were on your own. And people on their own didn’t have much of a life during those years.”
“But what of this Authority’s sense regarding alien life forms? That they should not be tolerated? Other beings in the Accord of Local Systems do not behave in such a way.”
“It was because
“We gotta get back, fast,” Red Hat said. “Your dad’s gonna yell at us.”
“You’re not supposed to be wandering around, are you?” Zenn said. The boys shook their heads, concern plain on their young faces.
“My dad said we could look around the quarry,” Kellin told her. “But we kinda… kept walkin’. You won’t tell him we were out here, will ya?”
Zenn thought for second.
“Tell you what,” she said, sensing an opportunity. “If you can keep the whalehound a secret, I won’t say anything to your dad. Deal?”
They exchanged a long look. This was obviously a hard bargain. But they had no choice.
“Deal,” Kellin said. “And you won’t tell nobody we… touched that thing, will ya?”
“Hey… we won’t… catch something from it, will we?” Red Hat said, suddenly nervous. He held both hands up to his face and squinted at them. “I mean, they’ve got diseases, right?” Zenn’s heart sank at this. For a moment, it seemed as if this encounter might actually do some good. But no. It was already too late.
“No,” she said. “You won’t get sick. They don’t carry any microbes that affect humans.”
“I’m washing my hands anyway, soon as I get back,” Red Hat said, holding his arms out from his body.
“Me too,” Kellin agreed.
“Fine, but there’s really no need,” Zenn said. “Now, remember our deal. If you don’t say anything, I won’t.”
“Yeah, alright,” Kellin said.
They trotted off, now giving the slumbering hound a wide berth as they went to the bluff and climbed up and out of sight.
“I may speak now?” Hamish said, coming to stand by Zenn. He tilted his head at her. “What the young one said about the Earth-humans’ Authority. Will this Authority come to Mars and abolish alien life forms here as it did on the Earth?”
“I don’t really know, Hamish,” she told him, the thought making her weary. She sat down on the bank of the dry streambed.
“I have never had a clear understanding of the Earth-humans and their feelings against forms of life from other worlds. Their thinking on this issue seems… extreme. Do you have an explanation?”
“I’m no expert on sol sys politics,” Zenn admitted. “But it started about thirty years ago. You ever hear of the Orinoco Event?”
“I have not heard this term. We did not study Earth-human history in my hatchling group’s education.”
“It was a disease outbreak. A pandemic, a sort of super-influenza hybrid, worse than anything seen on Earth before. Started in the jungles of the South Amazonia Prefecture. It spread fast, and killed almost two hundred thousand people in three months. Then it subsided. No cure was ever found. The virus just seemed to dry up and disappear. Everyone thought they were safe, that the threat had passed. After eight months, though, it flared up again. This time, it spread worldwide. Killed over two billion people.”
“This is a terrible toll,” Hamish said. “Such a loss is hard to comprehend.”
“It was hard alright. Pretty much made things fall apart on Earth.”
“Things disintegrated into pieces?”
“Socially, I mean. Governments couldn’t cope. Law and order broke down. Industry and farming, too. Entire countries started starving to death. People took things into their own hands. You can’t blame them. Anyway, the Temporary Executive Authority was formed as a kind of global army. They took charge, and things got better. Slowly. And it wasn’t easy. The Authority was pretty brutal about it. I guess they had to be. It wasn’t a democracy, that’s for sure. You either did things their way, or you were on your own. And people on their own didn’t have much of a life during those years.”
“But what of this Authority’s sense regarding alien life forms? That they should not be tolerated? Other beings in the Accord of Local Systems do not behave in such a way.”
“It was because
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