THE ALTIAN PLAGUE

by D M Arnold

“It's why we test these things,” Helsyn added. “Now that her antibody counts have levelled, she is out of danger.”

  “Out of danger?” Senta asked. “You're sure?”

  “Yes -- she will make a full recovery.”

  “When can she leave containment?” Suki asked.

  “In the morning, I think -- after we do a thorough decontamination.”

  “Let's get some sleep,” Nyk said. “Suki -- you can come to the apartment with us. Wouldn't it feel good to lie in a real bed?”

  “I'll stay here,” she replied. “I've been here for two days -- another night won't kill me.”

  Nyk slipped his arm around Senta's shoulder, walked with her to the tubecar platform, ordered a car and directed it to the apartment tower. Senta walked in silence with him to the apartment door. He pressed his wrist to the doorscan and the door opened. Senta stood with her back to him.

  “Senta...” She sniffed. “Senta -- let me hold you.”

  She fell against him and he caressed her red hair. “Oh, Nyk -- Andra had me terrified!”

  “For a while, we were all terrified.” He brushed one of her tears from her face. “You came face to face with our enemy and stood him down. You looked him in the eye and he blinked. Senta ... you vanquished that virus. YOU did it. You've done the impossible -- cured the incurable. Andra will recover. I saw one of our agents die of it. We've won -- this round at least.”

  “I was so sure of our vaccine...”

  “And you were right. Our adversary is stronger than you figured.” He held her until she calmed. “Andra is one lucky woman to be loved so by you and Suki.”

  She stroked one of his tears from his face. “And, by you. Oh, Nyk -- if she hadn't recovered ... I wouldn't have been able to live with myself.”

  “But she is recovering. You saw how much improved she is -- how quickly that booster turned her around.” He held her as she regained her composure. “Come on -- let's have some dinner. I haven't eaten well for the past two days and I imagine neither have you.”

  Nyk sat at the table. Senta placed a meal before him, sat and switched on the vidisplay. “Senta -- must you?”

  She held up her hand. “It's news from Lexal.”

  “What are they saying?” he asked.

  “Mykko Wygann has been sabre-rattling. He's claiming the Altians have developed nuclear flash bombs.”

  “What is a flash bomb?”

  “I have no idea -- he's claiming the Lexalese will defend to the death any invader. He's boasting of the strength of their perimeter defenses -- he's practically daring them to attack. I hope he doesn't lose himself in the part.”

  “Mykko is an expert at brinksmanship -- one of the best.”

  “They're also saying Lexal has begun planet-wide air raid drills.”

  “Mmm...” Nyk nodded. “He's laying the groundwork for the inoculations. I'd hate to get into a high-stakes game with him. He'd win for sure.” He picked up the empty meal packages and dropped them into the waste reprocessor. “I'm beat -- I'm going to turn in. All I want to do is to stretch out on a real mattress.”

  “Wait, Nyk...” Senta approached him and caressed his arms. “You don't have to use that cramped guest room. You can share my bed.” She kissed his cheek and then his lips. “I've missed you, Nyk.” She kissed him again and her tongue touched his lips.

  “Senta ... this isn't a good idea. Let's not complicate things.”

  “But Nykkyo...”

  “It's relief from the vaccine test talking. Senta, I'm happy we can work together like this. Let's keep it on a professional level -- at least for now.”

  “Don't the years we were married count for anything?”

  “They certainly do. Let's not mess things up now -- okay?”

  She released him and nodded. “Of course, you're right. I feel foolish. I'm a bit embarrassed, now.”

  “Don't be. Part of me thought your offer sounded pretty good.”

  “Really?”

  He held her hand against his abdomen. “This part of me.” Senta giggled. He pointed to his head. “This part of me knows it's wrong.”

  She smiled and pointed to her forehead. “This part of me agrees. I'll spend the evening looking over some crop sequencing reports. I've been neglecting my day job for this government project. Good night, Nykkyo.” He headed toward the guest room. “Nyk -- thanks for the help at the lab.”

  Nyk undressed and lay on the guest room bed. He locked his hands behind his head, closed his eyes and attempted to will himself to sleep. Images of Marxo and Andra flashed through his mind.

  He cleared his mind of thoughts and relaxed, modulating his breathing. Sleep was almost upon him when he heard the doorchime. It rang again.

  He heard the apartment front door slide open, and Senta's voice. “Oh, it's you -- come in.” Then came a muffled shriek and sounds of a struggle.

  Nyk hopped out of bed and tore open the guest room door. He saw a figure dragging Senta, limp, into the hallway. “Stop!” he shouted and ran after them. “Stop!”

  Another figure stepped from behind a pillar and pointed an object in Nyk's direction. It discharged with a thwip and he felt something sting his shoulder. He grabbed and pulled out a dart. The corridor began to spin and his vision went grey...

  13 -- A Need to Know

  “Come on, pal -- wake up.” said an unfamiliar voice. Nyk cracked his eyes open. His eyes ached, his neck was stiff and his mouth was stuffed with a wad of gauze; then, he realized it was his tongue. He looked down and around -- he was lying on a thin mattress in an orange confinement tunic. Surrounding him were other mattresses, some inhabited by men also dressed in orange.

  He looked up. Standing over him was a man whose insignia identified him as an Internal Affairs beat patrolman. “I don't know what you got into, pal. Time to see the sergeant.”

  Nyk stood and followed the officer into an interview room.

  “Wristscan,” a stocky older man with a more elaborate insignia ordered. He presented his wrist. “Nykkyo Kyhana -- resident of Sudal. You're quite a ways from home. What were you doing in that apartment building?”

  “I was staying there -- in my ex-wife's apartment. Why am I here?”

  “You were discovered nude and unconscious in the corridor of a very upscale apartment building. We figured you had one too many hits and passed out. We're charging you with disorderly conduct and public intoxication.”

  “No! My ex-wife was abducted last night.”

  “Abducted?” The sergeant poked his vidisplay. “We have no reports of a disturbance or missing person.”

  “That's because I'd be the one to report it. I was trying to help her when one of them shot me with a dart -- it must've held a sedative.”

  “A dart?”

  “Yes.”

  “We found no dart.”

  “They must've retrieved it after I passed out. Look -- I'm involved in a very important project. I can't waste my time here.”

  “What sort of project?”

  “It's top secret.”

  The sergeant glanced toward the beat officer and nodded. “Top secret project, huh?”

  “It's important -- lives are at stake!”

  “Lives at stake, now...”

  “And my wife has been abducted! You should be out looking for her instead of bothering with me.”

  The sergeant nodded toward the door and the beat cop grabbed Nyk's upper arm.

  “Where are you taking me?”

  “Back to the holding cell. You can get back to your top secret project after you've seen the magistrate.”

  “I'm entitled to make a vidphone call, am I not?”

  The beat cop looked at the sergeant. “Yes,” the sergeant replied. He turned a vidisplay toward Nyk. “See to it he gets his vidphone call.”

  Nyk punched in Kronta's locator code. “Illya...”

  “Nykkyo -- where are you?”

  “I'm at the...” He looked up.

  “Four hundred thirteenth precinct det
ention center.”

  “I'm at the four hundred thirteenth precinct detention center.”

  “What are you doing there?

  “It's a misunderstanding. Illya -- please come down here and bail me out. Also -- bring a tunic and a pair of sandals.”

  “I'll be there as soon as possible.”

  “Illya -- Senta's been abducted.”

  * * *

  “I was in here,” Nyk explained to an Internal Affairs inspector, pointing to the guest room. “Senta was in the living room. She was working on some sequencing reports. The door was closed. I heard the doorchime and Senta said, 'Oh -- it's you,' or the equivalent. Then I heard a struggle. I followed into the hall. They shot me with some sort of dart and I passed out. How many times do we need to go over this?”

  Another Internal Affairs officer inspected the doorscan. “He scanned his way in last evening, Inspector. No more scans until we arrived this morning.”

  “It wasn't Senta's practice to have visitors identify themselves with the doorscan,” Nyk replied. “If the chime rang, she'd answer the door.”

  “Why would she open the door to a stranger?” the inspector asked.

  “Whoever it was, it wasn't a stranger,” Nyk replied.

  “She wouldn't have known that until she opened the door. Why would she be in the habit of opening doors to strangers?”

  “I don't know. She was always like that -- even when we were married. Whoever did it would have to have scanned their way through the front door -- wouldn't they?”

  “Or, through the tubecar platform.” The inspector gestured toward his deputy, who handed him a vidisplay. “Here are the names of everyone who scanned their way into the building. I'm highlighting every name who DIDN'T use an apartment doorscan.”

  Nyk took the display and scrolled through it.

  “As you can see -- every name is accounted for. Are there, by chance, any you recognize as suspicious?”

  “No... What about that unlocked maintenance door you found?” Nyk asked. “Someone could've come in that way.”

  “Also an excellent way to dispose of a body. Mr Kyhana -- Dr Kyhana was your ex-wife.”

  “IS my ex-wife.”

  “What were the reasons for your divorce?”

  “Do we really need to go into that?” The inspector looked down his nose at Nyk. “I see how it is -- you think I did this. I was found, unconscious, in the corridor.”

  “We've seen suspects engineer stronger alibis than that. There's a simple way to clear this up, Mr Kyhana -- come down to the hall with us and submit to interrogation.”

  “That'll waste the whole day,” Nyk protested. “I'm involved in an important project.”

  “You'll waste even more time by not cooperating,” the inspector replied. “I'm prepared to arrest you for the disappearance of your ex-wife. Forcing us to obtain an interrogation warrant will only slow down the process.”

  “All right,” Nyk relented. “I'll agree to interrogation.”

  The doorchime rang. One of the officers touched the door control. “ID please.” A wristscan chirped and the deputy reviewed the display. “One Illya Kronta,” Inspector.

  “He's my boss,” Nyk said. “He'll vouch for me.”

  “Let him in.”

  The door slid open and Kronta stood, holding a tunic. “I went to the precinct and they told me you were here.”

  “We were about to head back there for an interrogation,” the inspector replied.

  “I'm afraid I can't permit that,” Kronta said. “I'll vouch for him and we'll be on our way. He tossed the tunic to Nyk. “Put this on and we'll go.”

  “He's a suspect...”

  “He's innocent.” Nyk slipped out of the orange tunic and into the one Kronta brought. “Come on, Nyk.”

  A deputy drew a stunner. He pressed the trigger and its end glowed crimson. “Excuse me, SIR -- but we can't permit either of you to leave.”

  Kronta's eyes narrowed. “Don't SIR me, deputy. Have you charged this man?”

  “No. We were about to...”

  “And, you're not going to.”

  The inspector approached. “Mr Kronta -- your official ExoService braids carry no weight with Internal Affairs.”

  Kronta reached into his xarpa, retrieved a holographic card and held it up. “Maybe this carries some, then.”

  The inspector took the card and regarded it. “High Legislature ... extra-agency authority...”

  “Is it genuine?” the deputy asked.

  “It appears to be.”

  “I'm ordering you to release him. Come on, Nyk.” Kronta snapped his fingers and the inspector returned the holocard.

  “Oh, Inspector,” Nyk said.

  “Yes?”

  “Please turn out the lights and lock the door when you leave.”

  Nyk walked with Kronta toward the lift. “Did you get a look at them?” Kronta asked.

  “No -- not a good one. It happened too fast. Then, they shot me with a dart.”

  “I'll make some calls. I know an Internal Affairs commissioner who'll get those snoops on the right track. In the meantime, I've called a meeting to review where we stand.” They reached the lift and rode to the tubecar platform. Kronta ordered a car with a priority code.

  Nyk sat beside Kronta as the tubecar accelerated toward Government Center. “That badge you flashed looks like a handy thing to have,” Nyk said.

  Kronta retrieved the holocard from his sash. “They don't just pass these out.”

  “How's Andra doing?”

  “Well. Aahhn and Helsyn have declared the vaccine a success.”

  The car arrived at Government Center. Nyk followed Kronta into a lift and to the confinement room. Andra was sitting on the edge of the pallet, swinging her legs and holding a conversation with Suki.

  Aahhn walked in. “Andra,” he said, “we'll release you as soon as our decontamination team has been in there. Then I'll take that gadget off your arm.

  “We have some bad news,” Nyk said. “Senta's been abducted.”

  “Oh, no!” cried Andra.

  “Abducted?” Suki asked.

  “Last night. They knocked me out with some drug.”

  “We'll discuss this at the briefing. Let's get started. Aahhn and Andra -- join us when you can.”

  Suki turned toward the glass wall. “Andra -- you were so brave.”

  “Bravery and ignorance go hand in hand,” Andra replied. “If I had known what to expect -- I wouldn't have volunteered.”

  * * *

  Nyk sat at the conference table across from Kronta. Suki and Andra entered and sat on either side of him. The door slid shut and Kronta rapped his knuckle on the table. “Dr Senta Kyhana has been abducted,” he announced.

  Those around the table looked at each other. “What does this mean?” Sirk asked.

  “Fortunately, Senta has already completed her contribution to this project. We will press onward.”

  Andra stepped into the room, sat beside Suki and held her hand.

  “I don't think whoever took her,” Nyk said, “had anything to do with the virus. It was someone she knew.”

  “She did have a fight with her most recent lover,” Suki said. “She threw him out of her house in Sudal -- right before the storm wrecked it.”

  “Do you know his name?” Kronta asked.

  “No. Andra might.”

  Andra shook her head. “No. Besides -- he's in Sudal. I doubt he'd come here.”

  “What does your ax'amfin intuition tell you about this?” Nyk asked.

  Andra looked up at the ceiling. “The facts are conflicting... Someone she knew, yet it happened during the vaccine test...” She shook her head. “I'm puzzled. I recommend we plan for the worst and hope for the best.”

  “In other words -- we should assume she was taken by our adversaries.”

  “Do you think she'll talk?” Sirk asked.

  “Senta's a strong-willed woman,” Nyk replied. “She knows the stakes.”

  �
�They could use truth drug,” Andra replied.

  “I'm not overly concerned about truth drug,” said Kronta. “All interrogators are licensed and have been alerted. Truth agent is dispensed only to licensed interrogators.”

  “Do you really believe it can't fall into the wrong hands?” Aahhn asked.

  “We don't know for sure if it was The Seven who abducted her,” Kronta replied.

  “Who else would have motive?” asked Sirk.

  “If it was The Seven, then somehow information regarding this task force has leaked out. I want to canvas the table -- has anyone discussed this with outsiders?” He looked each member in the eye. “Anyone?”

  “No,” said Aahhn.

  Helsyn shook his head.

  “Absolutely not,” said Pring.

  “No,” said Andra.

  “Not at all -- except for Suki -- my wife,” Nyk answered.

  “No,” Suki said. “I wouldn't know who to tell.”

  “Of course not,” said Sirk.

  “Maybe Senta herself let it slip,” Nyk suggested. “Maybe it was someone at the sequencing lab.”

  “It's no help to speculate,” replied Kronta. “The damage is done. We must push on.”

  “What if The Seven change their plan?” asked Sirk.

  “Then we will have failed. If we stop, we've failed anyway. Our only option is to push on. Now -- status report. The vaccine test went well -- wouldn't you say, Andra?”

  “Reasonably well,” she replied.

  “The replication plants have received the molecular models,” Helsyn added. “Production of the vaccine is underway.”

  “Good. Next order of business -- everyone on the task force is to receive the vaccine. Aahhn will handle the details ... right?”

  “Right,” Aahhn replied.

  “Now -- in light of last night's incident -- further information will be disseminated strictly on a need-to-know basis. Everyone is excused except for Nykkyo and Andra.”

  Aahhn, Helsyn and Sirk looked back and forth at each other. “I object,” said Pring.

  “Dismissed.” They stood and headed for the door. “You, too, Sukiko.”

  Suki opened her mouth, looked at Nyk, turned and left. The door slid shut.

  “Okay,” said Kronta. “Since you two have Lexal liaison, I'll brief you on the logistics of transporting the vaccine. The plants will have the first thousand barrels ready in three days, and the second and third thousand in the next two days after, respectively.”