Page 51 of Tides of Fire

“But what? And what’s causing it?” Heng stared pointedly at the man. “I’ve shared all that I know. What haven’t you toldme?”

Xue met his gaze for a long breath, then dipped his chin as if settled on some manner. “A moment please.”

The major shifted higher and lifted an arm, trying to get his father’s attention. The older man stood with Captain Tse. The two had been talking together, studying the prone form of Petty Officer Wong through the window.

Inside the med ward, Nurse Lam continued her monitoring and care of the comatose patient. The black hardening had continued its inevitable spread across the patient’s body, a black tide that would fully consume the man in another day or two.

Xue winced at the sight. “Why do you allow him to linger in such a state?”

“Not by my choice. We’ve had to resuscitate him five times. On the orders of Captain Tse.” Heng shook his head. “The transformation process will continue whether the man lives or dies. We can observe it just as well without putting Wong through all of this.”

The elder Choi finally turned to his son. Xue removed a thumb drive from a pocket and held it up, clearly asking permission to share what they had kept secret up until now. Aigua nodded, trusting his son’s judgment on the matter.

Xue turned to Heng and pointed to the computer. “May I?”

“Of course.”

Xue popped in the drive and opened the files it contained. He searched rapidly through until he settled on a folder marked ????.

Heng frowned. The file was labeled with the name of a Chinese lunar spacecraft, the Chang’e-5.

Xue pulled up an image from the file and displayed it on the screen. It was a crisp photo of a sharp-edged crystal in an orthorhombic shape.

Heng noted the size of the specimen.Five microns. It was the size of a dust particle. “The microcrystal? It’s aragonite?”

Xue nodded. “Shì.With the same unusual crystalline matrix that you just showed me from your samples.”

“Where did you find it?” Heng girded himself for the truth, already guessing the answer from the name on the file folder.

Xue confirmed his fear. “The microcrystal came from particles isolated out of a lunar rock sample.”

Heng swallowed. He wanted to declare it impossible, but he knew what he had witnessed next door. “What are we dealing with?” he mumbled.

Xue simply shook his head.

Min approached, drawing both their attention. She kept her voice low. “Something is wrong with Sublieutenant Junjie.”

Both men looked over to where the team’s videographer was uploading the morgue recording into the system. He shook one of his hands and rubbed it on his trousers. Even from here, it was easy to see the graying hue to the man’s index finger.

Heng hurried over. Min and Xue followed.

Once there, he grabbed Junjie’s wrist and brought the sublieutenant’s hand more fully into the light. The man’s finger was clearly discolored.

“What are you doing?” Junjie asked.

“Did you damage your suit when we were in the morgue?”

Junjie tried to pull his arm away. “Just a pinprick. On one of the electrode needles.”

“Did you handle one of the bodies afterward?”

The sublieutenant’s eyes took on a wild look. “I... no, I’m sure. Maybe I touched the table where you cut the body up. But that’s all.”

Xue backed away, as if fearful of being near the man. “He could’ve come in contact with particulates that were cast off during your dissection.”

Heng rolled the finger, examining it from all angles. The tip was distinctly darker, nearly black around a point that could be a needle prick.

By now, Captain Tse and Aigua had been drawn over by the commotion.

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