Page 30 of Salvation
~*~
“Well, that was the last one, and it’s clear.” Sitting sat back on her lab stool, Sakura rubbed her eyes until she saw weird geometric patterns.
“So, just over an eighth of the Sanctuary’s supply ofatolceis contaminated,” Nick concluded. “Not a huge number, but enough to begin the systematic wipe out of the dissenters.”
“Systematic wipe out?”
Nick looked up from the report he was writing. “My personal theory.”
A derisive laugh slipped out and she shook her head. “I think even the committee had its suspicions, but no proof, until now. It would be nice to know who is behind this.”
“The Arruch, obviously. Who else would want them all dead?”
His answer to every bad thing that had happened since the Anferthians had shown up, apparently. “But that would mean they would have to have someone on the ground here on Matir.” She leaned her elbows on the countertop.
“A traitor in our midst?”
“Essentially.” She caught her bottom lip between her teeth.
Nick stood up, removed his lab coat and stretched his arms above his head. “I’ve been hunched over this table way too long.” Her gaze was drawn to the way his muscles flexed under his navy blue t-shirt.
“Do you think it’s B’iha?” he asked.
Sakura started, then squished her nose. “I do not think so. You saw how devastated she was when she learned she had been injecting the disease into her own. She feels she killed them, and the rest of the dissenters have her under their version of a suicide watch.”
None of the dissenters she had met seemed capable of such duplicity anyway. “Nick, do you think the Matiran government is behind this?”
“Nah.” He completed a leisurely stretch, his t-shirt still pulled tight over his abs.
Had he done that on purpose? Did he want her to watch? “Why not?”
“Three reasons.” He held up the requisite number of fingers and began ticking them off. “First, they wouldn’t have assignedusto take the case. Second, to betray the trust of the Profetae is treason. The Matiran government may have their share of idiots, but they’re not that stupid. Even they know they’d have a full blown rebellion on their hands the moment that was exposed. Third, the contaminated vials are too random, like someone knew that they only had a limited amount of time to get the job done. I think whoever it was tried to infect as many as possible without getting caught.”
Now that was an interesting theory. “The ampulesarestored in a warehouse briefly before being transported here, we do know that much. I wonder if that is where they get access to them.”
“It’s possible. We should viscomm Dante and update him.”
“Yes. If we can reach him, and if we can get a secure comm-line.”
~*~
It took nearly thirty minutes for Nick to track down their mentor while Sakura cleaned up the lab and secured the evidence. She had changed out of her lab uniform when she joined him in the conference room, and he squashed down a surge of disappointment. In her lab coat, she looked borderline adorable with her hair peeking out around the edges of her cap. Although, having her hair down like it was now gave her a softer, more approachable appearance. What he’d really like to do was to run his fingers through the silky strands.
“Hello, Nick. Sakura.”
Nick shook off that day-dream and turned to face the viscomm. It was a relief to see the comforting familiarity of Dante’s blue face. After they had exchanged greetings, Nick reported their findings and speculations. “At this point, we feel it’s time for the Matiran government to open an investigation, quietly of course. Sakura and I have isolated the contaminant that we can use to develop a cure.”
Dante nodded. “I will speak with Administer Corvus and tactfully suggest the investigation. You say you don’t know if the young man who received the shot yesterday is infected?”
“No,” Sakura replied. “We both probed him, and he seems clear.”
“So, can you sense the disease in the bodies of those showing active symptoms, but you cannot see it in the blood samples?”
“Yes.” Sakura nodded. “Now that we have the contaminated vials, we may be able to unlock the secret to how the disease is camouflaging itself within the blood samples.”
Dante grunted softly. “All right, keep up the great work. Someone from the committee will get back to you in a day or two with what we are able to accomplish on our end. In the meantime, get to work on that antidote. I understand these things plus caring for your patients will occupy most of your time, but I would also very much like to know what the trigger is that makes it go active.”
Nick exchanged a knowing glance with Sakura. “We’ll do our best.”
“I have every faith in the two of you.”
