Star Force: Bloodlust (SF54) Read online

  “We have samples taken from the bodies of the infected,” the Lacvamat said, as if his collection was both pointless and redundant.

  “I’d like a comparison. The more we know the better.”

  “Got one,” Donn said, pulling a baseball sized piece out of his hole with two more segments still buried a few inches lower.

  “Bring it over here, please,” the other medtech asked. “Inside the shield.”

  Donn stood up and walked it over, then headed back to his hole for further digging.

  The second medtech waved a sensor around the device, picking up a decent concentration of the toxin on one side, with almost nothing on the other…indicating that, as they suspected, the toxin was released through an explosion that coated the various pieces as they were hit in the blast radius.

  “Any idea what this junk is?” Galia wondered over the comm.

  “Afraid I’m not that kind of tech,” the medic replied. “But that doesn’t really matter. It’s the toxin on the pieces that we need.”

  “Have you determined if it’s safe for us yet?” she asked, watching him work as the others continued to dig in their holes.

  “Just collecting now. Analysis later. I’d keep your armor on, just in case.”

  “Do I need to take a dirt bath before heading back inside the ship?”

  The medic laughed, then fell short when he realized she was serious. “No, we’ve got some cleansing fields that will do a better job of it.”

  “Inside the ship?”

  “Yeah…oh, crap. Guess the Kiritas will have to bring them out.”

  “Worry about that later,” Donn said, coming back out with another piece as more Lacvamat flew in, some of which were carrying equipment bundles of their own. “This is a piece of a gravity drive. Scan it.”

  The medic did as requested as the other was still pulling samples off the big piece. “Yeah, we’ve got good levels on this piece as well.”

  “Liquid?” Donn guessed.

  The medic chewed on his lower lip inside his helmet for a moment, but it was the other one that answered. “Almost. These particles resemble more of a gel. It’s mostly cloying powder now though.”

  “Binder?”

  The medic shook his head. “Can’t tell with this equipment. Have to wait until we get back to the ship.”

  “Do you think you have enough to identify?”

  “Should.”

  “Good,” Donn said, heading back to his hole to get the third piece.

  After the Humans were done with the debris pieces they’d recovered the Lacvamat took possession and conducted their own analysis, but the small amount of toxin recovered, equal to about 6 grams of material, was more than enough for the pair of medtechs to do a thorough analysis. Coupled with the blood and tissue samples the Lacvamat grudgingly allowed them to take from several of the infected the next day, they were able to get a good handle on what the toxin was and how it had been delivered…as well as how to shut it down within the local population.

  The shutting down part wasn’t something they could accomplish on site, unfortunately, but once they got back to a system with access to the communications grid they’d get the data to Earth where they’d be able to synthesize what was needed. To date no relay had been built in any of the Lacvamat systems, with them preferring to remain somewhat isolated within the ADZ. That choice was going to cost them many more lives in the coming days, but at least Donn knew that they could eventually stop the spread of the toxin…which was, in fact, a bioweapon.

  It was an airborne spread, self-replicating toxin that was accomplished through a bacteria that did the spreading and acted like miniature factories for the toxin. Typically bioweapons were viruses or some manner of manipulation of an individual’s body to cause it to malfunction. This didn’t fit that mold for the toxin produced was straight up poisoning…it was the fact that it was being manufactured within the individuals’ bodies by the bacteria that made it a very creative and dangerous weapon…especially since the toxin it produced specifically targeted an aspect of Lacvamat physiology.

  That particular function, a regulatory organ that was interlinked with their blood stream and balanced various levels of nutrients and natural toxins, was caused to go berserk, in some cases shutting down and in others triggering massive surges in a very random fashion. In this way the Lacvamat infected would not die of the same cause, disguising the source aside from the fact that the mass of deaths occurring were happening at relatively the same time.

  The Lacvamat had identified the toxin in their bloodstream but had missed the bacteria…or rather had ignored it, for it mimicked the types found in the planetary atmosphere. It was almost as if someone had purposefully disguised the toxin producing nano-factories to keep them from being discovered. The medtechs had a quibble over that, with one suggesting that it was coincidence and the other believing it had been intentional. Either way, the Lacvamat had missed the source, believing that the toxin was somehow being spread from individual to individual when in truth it was the bacteria doing it.

  And that bacteria was airborne…at least it could survive in the air, which was why trace amounts of the toxin had been detectable upon arrival. Unless a way was found to neutralize the effect of the toxin or kill the bacteria it was possible that the bioweapon would spread across the entire planet…not to mention potentially spread to other systems by infected individuals or even just some bad air taken in during a cargo transfer.

  The bacteria wasn’t a crazy spreader, which was also probably why it had been missed, but its growth and spread rate was solid and steady, meaning that whoever had done this intended to kill off the entire planet’s population…and potentially all other Lacvamat within the ADZ if they expected carriers to move it to other worlds.

  It was fortunate that they’d put the quarantine in place immediately. Hopefully none of the bacteria had been transferred off the planet to date.

  But the medtechs’ analysis left Donn and his team with more questions. First of which was whether the toxin would be harmful to any other race. A brief inquiry into that led to three other potential problems, those being the Bali, Veeslah, and Quo…all minor members of the ADZ. They had a similar circulatory system that may or may not be affected, but for all the ‘major’ races there would be no threat, though they could still be carriers of the bacteria.

  Which begged the second question of why blow up a ship in atmosphere to begin the spread of the bacteria when all it would take was one person arriving on planet and unleashing a small sample into the atmosphere. Given enough time it would spread and the Lacvamat would grow sick and die just the same, even just sending a contaminated person in amongst the population could do it, in theory, but a small, pure sample of the weapon was a sure way to get it deployed, so why go for the huge amount they’d deposited in the explosion?

  It was faster, obviously, but Donn had a gut feeling that wasn’t the reason. Someone wanted to be seen doing it. Though no one had claimed responsibility the destruction of the ship and the subsequent mass infections and deaths made it clear this was an attack, whereas a small, covert planting of the bacteria would have left no traceable source. If your aim was to kill the Lacvamat that would have been your best bet, and to do it on all their worlds and the worlds they frequented in other systems. Contaminate them all simultaneously then sit back and watch them die.

  But that hadn’t occurred, for no other illnesses had been reported in the ADZ to date. Only here, on Leerbot, was there an outbreak following the highly visible ship self-destruction in the atmosphere.

  That told Donn one thing…this was a field test set up for a third party to witness. It was meant to impress someone in a way that could not be anything other than a deliberate attack.

  Which made Donn suspect an independent faction, possibly selling bioweapons and using this attack as their advertising campaign.

  There were other possibilities, but as the striker considered them he kept coming back to this one. His
instincts told him this was just the beginning, and they were dealing with someone with considerable biotech capability, based on what his own medtechs were telling him. A level far beyond that which they knew any of the other races to possess.

  Fortunately Star Force had already risen to a level above and beyond the others and would be able to counter whoever’s handiwork this was, but it meant there was a significant threat out there that had to be tracked down and neutralized…and Donn thought he had the first clue where to look.

  The binder that held the bacteria and toxin-laden gel together had been identified, giving him one item on the shopping list to track down. Fortunately it wasn’t commonly used, so the list of potential suppliers wasn’t impossibly long. He also had the itinerary for the ship that had been destroyed to compare with and was planning on following that lead up first, but with the list of suppliers added to that thought process and the huge amount of gel necessary to have spread out so fast across the local region of the planet, his list of potential worlds shrunk rapidly.

  He admitted there could be a great deal of diversion capable, but if he assumed the attackers to not have expected someone to be able to analyze the binder after the explosion, or at all, then they wouldn’t have gone far to get their materials. He put in a data mine request along with the information packet they were going to send back to Earth, looking for supply shipments of the binder and the other items that the medtechs suspected were used in its construction. Keeping the bacteria alive and, apparently, producing toxin required a number of nutrients in the gel, for otherwise the explosion wouldn’t have coated the debris with it.

  It had been saturated, which with the concentration levels being guessed at and the production rate determined from the bacteria analysis gave Donn a loose timetable as to how long the gel had sat prior to detonation…which was in months. That gave a data range to search, but such a search was best left to analysts that did this stuff regularly. They’d scour the information grids on every available world and track down what he needed, if it was there to find.

  That left Donn to go after the ship lead while he waited to see if they would find anything. First port of call then was the last world the ship had passed through enroute to Leerbot, with the rover lifting off from the infected world inside of three days and taking a close pass near to the star with its shields down where it sunbathed a bit to kill any bacteria caught on the outer hull before making a jump following what Donn hoped would be a trail of bread crumbs…if he could find a solid one to start with.

  6

  December 22, 2552

  Weema System (ADZ border)

  Weemstra

  Morgan jumped from the cliff edge, pulling her legs up underneath her as she passed through the apex of the leap and fell like a rock out of view and down into the valley below, letting her speed build before finally goosing her jump pack to slow her descent. She didn’t bleed all of it off and let the remainder punch her through the treetops as she straightened out her legs and made herself into a needle that pierced the blue below.

  Small branches snapped as she passed through, but the bush-like trees had no thick or firm supports, being a mass of flexible straws that ended with puffy blue leaves. The impact felt more like hitting a pillow than the sound of crunching branches attested, with her brown padawan armor taking the minor blows as she finally got down to the swampy ground below. Her boots sunk in two inches on landing, then she was off running through the thin puddles that dominated the very wet planet that the Skarrons had conquered 14 years ago.

  The native Jenfor had been evacuated into the ADZ long ago, those that survived anyway, and the planet had remained just outside the ADZ on the upper edge of Beta Region. It was technically beyond the border but so close as to be within the contentious region, yet the Skarrons had never heavily colonized it. Star Force had never fought here, nor had the Protovic or Hycre. It was one of many small, single planet civilizations that had been run over by the Skarron advance. There were many still out there, hoping not to become the next victims or completely unaware of what was happening around them.

  There were so many star systems in the galaxy that no one claimed them all. Races chose the ones they wanted and ignored the rest, with many people living in the ‘fly over’ systems and not attracting notice of the giants passing through them. The Jenfor hadn’t been so lucky, but the system was a lower ranking Skarron outpost, still thoroughly defended, but never having gained much notice. The ADZ had always been too busy elsewhere to do anything about the Skarron presence there, but now with some breathing room thanks to the Voku, Morgan was leading a coalition of ADZ troops to remove the enemy from this tiny piece of the border, regardless of whether or not the Jenfor would ever return.

  Running at high speed and weaving through the clumps of shoots that led up to the canopy some 4 meters over her head, Morgan navigated via her battlemap as her ‘agile’ armor amplified her speed with its powered setting. One of two variants to the ‘standard’ version of Archon armor, the agile version was slightly less bulky due to some 46% less material, making up for it with double shield generators. That worked well in short, quick engagements but lacked the staying power of the standard or ‘heavy’ versions that had additional armor plating.

  Paul favored the heavy for some reason, but Morgan had picked up the agile as soon as it came out of prototype stage and right now she was glad she had, because between the looseness of the feel and the power amplification she was doing some 39 mph through the vegetation enroute to a Skarron battery she had to take offline before a contingent of ground troops dropped directly into the center of one of the Skarrons’ highest populated areas…as far as military troops were concerned.

  Those ships were operating on a countdown clock, meaning Morgan had to get to and disable the primary anti-air defenses before they landed while some 6 other engagements were already taking place across the planet plus two more in orbit. The ADZ didn’t have many troops to spare, but Morgan had brought just enough to take care of business…if she could do some of the heavy lifting on the ground personally, which is how she always preferred it.

  The Archon had already covered some 20+ kilometers from her drop point, having been run in close by a skeet and dumped off in a way that the enemy wouldn’t notice. She’d essentially been scrapped off the Star Force fighter as it dove towards the surface and clipped the treetops, making sure there wasn’t a falling silhouette that could be picked up on sensors.

  The recent fall she’d just made had been unavoidable, for she was approaching on the blind side of a mountain ridge that was really more of a mesa edge. The rocky wall hopefully would cover her fall against the outpost’s sensors, but regardless she was on the clock and had to keep moving as fast as she could manage over the squishy ground.

  True to her word, Morgan got to the outpost perimeter with 16 minutes to spare and crossed into the buildings with another hefty jump, moving up through the foliage again and popping out onto the rooftops that the forest was encroaching on. The Skarrons hadn’t burnt it back, or rather not recently for the growth near the edge was all fresh and faint blue, suggesting they’d just gotten lazy and hadn’t kept it ‘mowed’ down.

  Once up top she leapt from building to building until she was finally noticed, then she dropped down and killed some two dozen Hobbits and a pair of Skarrons before running a bit to keep them guessing as to where she was, then she leapt back up to the rooftops and moved towards her primary target…not the big anti-air lachar battery, but the power source for it. It was located in a special building that was mostly equipment and storage overtop the actual power source that was buried below ground.

  She fought her way into the building with little resistance that could stop her, though the streets were sprouting more enemies by the second. Watching the countdown in her opaque helmet she worked her way down to the generator and killed the staff there before taking a moment to look around and find the sweet spot, finally crossing to a particular bank of equipm
ent and lighting it up with her plasma rifle to get through the casing.

  She stepped forward, latching her rifle on her back after shooting one more Hobbit that scurried in and took a shot at her. Her shields caught it as the Archon dropped the enemy and dug her hands into the melted holes to get grip points, then with a foot put forward for support she yanked hard, using the power setting in her armor to enhance her own insane strength. It took three pulls, each of which warped the material further, before it popped off and exposed the interior.

  Digging a hand into her thin satchel located underneath the jump pack near the small of her back, she pulled out three explosives and armed them, set to a detonation trigger in her helmet as well as a countdown that she programmed for 6 minutes just in case she couldn’t get a transmission through. Morgan buried them in the exposed equipment then ran out, brandishing her rifle and shooting all those she came across up until she hit a group of 20 or so pouring down after her.

  She didn’t have time to kill them all so she just Fornaxed and ran over their twitching bodies, needing to get to the surface now rather than later.

  Eventually she broke through into the outside air, running into a wall of white plasma orbs as soon as she exited the door. Jerking to the right she ran, getting a few steps into her sprint before mentally triggering the detonation signal. Her shields dipped significantly, then there was a huge earthquake that nearly knocked her off her feet but she managed to maintain her balance while the Skarron troops couldn’t. Their aim knocked askew she disappeared into a side street and kept running, now enroute to her secondary objectives.

  The outpost had no missiles, but the lachar battery would have been enough to kill several of the incoming transports, beefy as it was. The two main defensive towers should also have been down, now without any primary power source, but there were smaller ones that had their own generators. Those were now her targets as she could see in the sky above, with some help from the ID tags on her HUD, the escorting drone warships dropping first to draw any potential fire as the bigger transports came down to an LZ a few kilometers away.