Mother of Mars, page 6
part #2 of Mars Ascendant Series
I shook my head, annoyed for letting him distract me again. “You’re telling me it’s native to Mars? That is not possible. It is nanotechnology, not biologic. Only a technologically advanced culture could produce it.”
He nodded knowingly at me.
“There is evidence of a pre-existing advanced civilization on Mars?” I asked incredulously.
“No, to date we’ve uncovered nothing to suggest that. The Ares virus was discovered in a crater that dates back to a time when the planet still had water and an atmosphere, three and a half to four billion years ago. How could something that old survive all this time but the society capable of spawning it leave no trace? I don’t believe it originated here.”
“What you’re saying is impossible.”
“Yet the virus and the crater both exist.”
The concept was overwhelming. Scientific discussion over the idea of advanced alien life had been abandoned for at least a century. Humanity turned its gaze away from the stars and stepped out to colonize our solar system. The consensus developed that there was nobody out there calling to us, and even if they existed, the insurmountable distance between us would require centuries to traverse. Pragmatism and economics overrode romanticism.
“Why do you need me on this project if you know this?”
“I believe you are the only person who can discover why the nanites are dying.”
“Why me?”
“I will lead you to that answer, and one that will address your more personal questions, yet unasked.” He smiled, this time compassionately. “Tell me, Melanie, have you ever been ill?”
“What kind of a question is that?”
“It’s an important one. Have you experienced any major illness?”
“Up until six months ago I had the standard medical nanites, so no.”
“And before you received them? Do you remember ever suffering a significant childhood disease?”
“Of course I do.” I stopped myself as I dug into my memories. I reviewed the years, searching for any recollection of illness. People around me were always sick. The sections of the city we occupied were destitute and had the living conditions of the middle ages. Sickness and death were commonplace. A lot of the kids I grew up with died of infections: cholera, influenza, measles and a host of other parasites and diseases. “I…I have no memory of any.”
“That’s because there is nothing to recall. You have never been sick a day in your life.”
I glared at him, angry he had all the answers and only teased me with crumbs. “Why? What are you not telling me? Is this why you kept track of me my entire life?”
“I’ll make you a deal. Test the Ares virus on a sample of your blood, and I will tell you about anything you want.”
“It isn’t necessary. I can tell you what will happen. It will overrun and destroy every cell. I told you my defensive nanites are all dead.”
“Are you sure your crude attempt at nanite engineering saved you? What if they had no role to play and your immune response defeated the virus?”
“That’s impossible.”
“Well, I believe otherwise. You must prove one of us correct if you want me to provide answers about your past and Carlos.”
I flashed an angry glare at him. “That isn’t right. You have to tell me about him. Why did you have him watching over me? Who was he? What the fuck is going on?”
He stood and walked to the door, opening it. “All will become clearer when you answer my question. Are you immune to the Ares virus?”
Fuming, I stalked past him into the outer waiting area. Bubo continued to sit, motionless, in the place he’d occupied on my arrival. Shaking my head in disbelief, I marched out of the office into the quiet corridor.
Talus Varr had played me into a corner and trapped me into giving him what he wanted. I wanted to tell him to go to hell and move on with my life; resume my boring practice of medicine and forget everything about my insane past. The problem was that I couldn’t. He understood the exact way to trigger my compliance with his sick manipulations. He had my lifetime to study me and discover what made me tick, and he’d learned the lessons masterfully.
I needed to find out about my history but now had a more immediate concern. I had to learn if I possessed any natural immunity.
Chapter 11
I waited until midnight before returning to my lab, too embarrassed for Dani or anyone else to learn of my intentions. The place was locked up and all lights dimmed except the glow from the equipment. I kept telling myself of the craziness of my plan. There existed no way in hell my immune system could mount any defence against the formidable nanites stored in the isolation chamber. Any blood I sampled and exposed to the virus would be instantly devoured. The contents of the phials wouldn’t be able to call up any white or T cells from my body to fight what I intended to introduce. The result of the experiment he proposed seemed a foregone conclusion.
Though confident of the outcome, I still found myself skulking around in the dim light, and that annoyed me. Varr had done more than blackmail me into doing something I thought pointless. He had piqued my curiosity. That son of a bitch knew exactly how to manipulate me.
I made my way to my small office at the back and turned on my computer station. After logging in, I brought up a series of experimental results that needed some analysis and started up the statistical software. I figured I had about three hours before the AI would query me for some input. Satisfied my digital footsteps indicated I had a semblance of a reason to be in the lab at that time of night, I moved into the laboratory to commence my real work for the evening.
I removed from my pocket three small phials. It’s one thing pulling blood from a patient; doing it to myself made me sympathetic to my victims. My left arm ached as I examined the pin-cushioned mess I’d made of it. Anyone who saw me would think me an addict.
I would have enlisted Dylan’s help if he had been home, but I hadn’t heard from him since he stormed out. I had never seen him so angry as last evening, and I reconsidered the wisdom of my actions. Being a state secret, monkeying around with the Ares nanites would probably be a capital offence, knowing my luck. Maybe Dylan left to protect his ass because he realized I wouldn’t drop the subject and might land us both in trouble. He couldn’t appear to collude with me if he didn’t have foreknowledge of what I planned. I sympathized with his motives, but his abandonment of me hurt.
I had considered asking Dani for assistance but rejected the idea after two seconds. The last thing I wanted to do was endanger a friend. I should have sought Varr’s help. He was responsible for this pointless insanity.
I turned my attention to the isolation chamber. Behind the barrier were five silver canisters containing the lab’s last surviving samples. They had supposedly been sealed at their top-secret storage site, somewhere on Mars. The remote monitoring verified the viability of their contents. That contrasted sharply with any of the previously opened containers. Once accessed, all nanites within a canister expired in a few hours. I required an unopened one for my test.
Donning the protective suit, I transferred the crimson fluid from one phial into a petri dish and placed it inside the experimental chamber. I adjusted the screen of the molecular microscope and activated the recording device so I could study whatever happened. Taking a deep breath to calm myself, I grasped the manipulator arm controls and selected a canister. While observing on the display monitor, with great care I extracted a sample and introduced it to my blood. Sitting back, I anxiously watched for the inevitable to occur.
The familiar forms of the microscopic machines swarmed the sample. With the proteins consumed, they replicated and spread throughout the dish. I shook my head, surprised by my disappointment. A small part of me wanted to believe Varr’s ridiculous claims. Maybe he just needed to learn how far he could push me, testing his degree of influence. Whatever his reason, I was pissed off and ready to rouse him from his sleep to give him a piece of my mind.
As I reached for the controls to plunge the isolation chamber into a subzero vacuum, I noticed something odd on the monitor. The replication rate had slowed dramatically. I referred to the software that maintained a count to confirm what I thought I saw. Their population no longer grew and was, in fact, declining. I magnified the view and stared in disbelief at the sight of the once formidable machines, one by one, slowing their activity level until they died and dissolved.
In ten minutes the battle was over and every Ares nanite eradicated. It was an impossible occurrence. There weren’t antinanites present; no T or white cells, only the surviving, healthy blood and the remains of viral nanobots. Stunned at first, I then did what any competent scientist would do. I repeated the experiment.
This time the nanites I introduced were more sluggish and expired in half the time.
Every subsequent experiment produced an identical result, except with each repetition, the virility of the nanomachines declined even more. By the fifth attempt, not a single viable nanite could be extracted from the canister. They seemed to start dying before exposure to the blood.
I studied the two remaining phials sitting on the bench in front of me, then turned to the four, still sealed canisters in the isolation chamber.
With the contents of a second phial, I began again with nanites from another canister. The results were identical. It seemed that until one was opened and nanobots inside exposed to my blood, they remained active and deadly. After initial exposure, every one of them, whether in the petri dish or the originating container, began to die.
Determined to confirm my observations, I again ran through the identical experimental procedure with the last sample phial; the same sequence of events repeated themselves.
I regarded the unopened canisters and considered looking for a venipuncture kit. More careful thought changed my mind when I realized the difficulty I was going to have in the morning explaining the opened containers.
I disposed of as much of the evidence as I could and cleaned up the work area. Closing up the canisters, I replaced them inside the cold storage unit, taking care to move them to the back. After much deliberation, I deleted the recordings made by the microscope. I needed to come up with a plausible explanation for the three empty canisters, but I figured I had a few days to think of something before somebody came across them. I didn’t want anyone to know about my freakish blood just yet.
A realization hit me hard. It had been my biology that had defeated the Ares virus aboard the Helios, and it was only logical to assume that it was also responsible for the demise of my medical nanites. The fact that Talus Varr somehow knew about this disturbed me. It was time for that asshole to come clean.
Chapter 12
At 04:30 I dragged my ass back home. As I opened the door, I realized the night had passed without my falling asleep and I avoided the dream. Perhaps my clandestine activity had something to do with it. Though it failed to visit me for the first time in months, the shock of my experience in the lab more than made up for its absence.
Dylan’s personal effects were on the table by the door, and a quick peek confirmed him asleep in our bed. I longed to crawl under the covers with him and snuggle into his reassuring warmth, but another part of me regarded myself dirty, like some mutant that should not be in contact with ordinary people. Too tired to think anymore, I retired to the couch for some shuteye. I hoped I would be in better condition to decide on my next step after some rest.
After tossing for ten minutes, unable to settle, I looked up at Dylan standing in the bedroom doorway.
“Is the dream keeping you up?”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. I was working late.”
“You didn’t. I guess I’m used to getting up at this time.” He sat beside me. “When I saw your half of the bed not slept in, I panicked a bit and came looking for you.”
“Are spies allowed to panic?”
“I was worried about you after our argument.”
The concern written on his face touched me. I put my hand into his. “What the hell did we fight about?” I smiled to blunt the comment.
He sighed and his shoulders slouched. “We’ve gotten some disturbing intel over the past few weeks. Something serious is in the wind, but we don’t have any specifics. A couple of the reports made mention of the Ares virus as a potential threat. I was just overly sensitive about your involvement with it.”
I squeezed his hand. “Afraid I might become a suspect if something amiss happens? That’s sweet, even though you showed your concern in a lousy way.”
He smiled shyly. “I overreacted. Only one analyst’s report mentioned it, and only as a low percentage likelihood, but I’m required to take every scenario seriously. There are very few people with access to the virus, and we keep tabs on them.”
“I’m being watched?” I tried to sound coy, but my heart raced over the possibility my midnight visit was about to be exposed.
He leaned forward, touching his nose to mine. “My best agent is keeping a very close eye on you, Doctor Destin.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him. He embraced me as our mouths devoured each other in the moment of passion. Breaking off the kiss, he lifted me off the couch.
“Since we’re both already awake…”
With a mischievous glint in his eye, he carried me into the bedroom.
I was roused at 06:30 from a blissfully dreamless sleep. Dylan, up and hurriedly dressing, seemed to be in communication with someone over his cortical implant. His stern look told me something serious had transpired. After he had signed off, he looked directly at me, seeming to consider something.
“What’s happened?” I asked.
He looked at me again, seeming to weigh the wisdom of telling me anything. “There’s been a death. One of the members of the ruling council.”
I sat up, awake. “Who is it?”
“Tamos Carnot.”
“The high chancellor?” An octogenarian, he was a vigorous man, famed for his abundant energy that put most of his much younger staff to shame. “Was it an accident?”
Dylan just stared at me, a grim set to his mouth. “The circumstances are suspicious.”
I threw the covers off and dressed in my hastily discarded clothing strewn about the room.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“You’re going to need a medical examiner.”
“We have somebody for that.”
“Doctor Vishnu is at a forensics conference at the Titan colony. He asked me to cover for him two weeks ago when he left.” I stood and tucked in my blouse. “You would know that if you paid attention to what I say at dinner when you’re here for it.”
Dylan frowned.
“Is there something wrong?” I asked.
“The description of the scene is…”
“What?” His reluctance to tell me anything annoyed me.
“It sounds a lot like what we discovered aboard the Helios when we first found it.”
Recollection of the grisly spectacle we encountered leapt into my mind. The Ares virus had been unleashed inside the ship, wiping out the entire crew. The bodies all showed unmistakeable evidence being overwhelmed by a hemorrhagic pathogen, exhibiting bleeding from the eyes, nose, mouth, fingernails—everywhere.
“Is the site quarantined?”
“Yes, and anyone in contact with the body is too. So far, nobody else is showing any signs.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. Transmission from the incredibly aggressive contagion was airborne. Victims showed symptoms within minutes of infection, and death followed soon after.
I started for the door, but Dylan did not follow. “Now what’s the problem?”
“Your nanites are dead. You have no protection.”
I glared at him then sighed. If he’d seen what I had, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. “You’re overprotective.”
“All the same, I don’t think you should come. Vishnu left a couple of other physicians on call as well. I’ll get one of them.”
“But it isn’t the Ares virus; not from the sound of its behaviour.”
“Damn it, Mel, it still might be an infectious agent, perhaps even a new strain. The other doctors have their standard medical nanites. If it is the Ares, it won’t help, but for anything else, they’re better suited for this than you.”
I opened my mouth to argue with him but realized he was correct. Unless I wanted to explain to him how I knew myself to be likely immune, I needed to let this go. “Okay, you’re right.” I smiled weakly. “Maybe my shrink is correct about my superwoman complex after all.”
Dylan did not laugh at my attempted humour. He walked past me to the door.
I called after him. “Do me a favour? Keep me in the loop? I sort of have a vested interest in the damned thing.”
“I’ll tell you what I can. Try to get some sleep, Mel. You look like hell.” He smiled.
“That didn’t stop you from screwing my brains out a couple of hours ago,” I said, trying to sound flirty.
We embraced, and he left to do his job. When the door closed, my smile faded. I remained unconvinced the cause of the high chancellor’s demise was not the same thing I’d spent the night working with. My experiments suggested that any of the nanites outside of their protective canister became less virulent very quickly once their cousins told them about me. The problem was, I didn’t know the range of my influence—a few metres or a thousand kilometres. The distance they communicated over could be enormous if they talked to each other at the quantum level.
I sat on the end of the bed and considered the situation. The Ares virus, weakened or not, still had to find its way to the victim. That presented some difficulties, since the only known samples on Olympia were securely stored in my facility.
Had that been Dylan’s real reason for wanting me as far away from the crime scene as possible? If the virus were responsible for the demise of the chancellor, I would become a suspect. Even more disturbing, if my office proved to be the origin of the pathogen, it indicated I had a significant security breach. But my problems did not end at that. My nocturnal experiments had depleted the lab’s viral supply. All it would require was an inventory count and a review of the surveillance feed to make me the prime suspect.
