D. M. Arnold - Earthbound 04 - The Altian Plague

Table of Contents

Preface.1

1 -- A Surprise Visit1

2 -- Sea Research.11

3 -- The New Agent18

4 -- Medical Emergency.27

5 -- The Tulsa Virus.36

6 -- Scottsdale.43

7 -- Sanitized.51

8 -- Interrogated.63

9 -- Another Plum Assignment74

10 -- The Task Force.86

11 -- The Sequencing Lab.94

12 -- The Test104

13 -- A Need to Know..114

14 -- Assassination Attempt123

15 -- The Grand Assembly.131

16 -- Doctor Hanri140

17 -- A Night on the Town.147

18 -- Detente.154

THE ALTIAN PLAGUE

Volume IV of theEarthboundSeries

Edition of 26 March 2004

Published byVIRTUALimprint

http://www.virtualimprint.com

Preface

After completing the third volume of theEarthbound Trilogy, I began a fourth story set several years

after the conclusion ofPlanetbound . I ended up abandoning this project because -- well, because

Planetbound pretty much puts a period on things. Once your characters ride off into the sunset, it can be

less satisfying if they ride back in again.

A reader's suggestion started me thinking, and I realized there is some room between the final chapter

ofPlanetbound and the epilogue -- enough room for another story or two. This is whereThe Altian

Plague fits. I hope my readers won't mind taking the step or two backward from the conclusion of the

original Trilogy that enables us to resume Nyk's story...

-- D M Arnold, April 2004

1 -- A Surprise Visit

Nykkyo Kyhana climbed to the surface at the Canal Street subway station and hiked ten blocks to an

office building in the Tribeca section of Manhattan. He mounted the stairs and opened a door marked

FloranCo. “Good morning, Jaquie.”

“Good morning, Mr Kane.”

He nodded toward lower Manhattan. “I see they're starting to remove the debris in earnest.”

“Yes,” she replied, “but it could be a couple of years before things return to normal.”

“Did you know any of the victims?” he asked.

“No, thank God. I feel so sorry for you, Mr Kane -- losing your wife and father-in- law -- and, with a

little one at home. How are you coping?”

“Fine -- considering. It's difficult for Suki's mom...”

Seymor stepped from his office. “Can I speak with you, lad?”

“We'll talk later,” Nyk said to Jaquie.

“Before I forget.” She handed him an envelope.

Nyk examined its contents on his way into Seymor's office. It held two airline tickets: A one-way to

Kansas City and one-way from Milwaukee.

“You're going through with it?” Seymor asked.

“I certainly am. Dyppa will make a fine contributor working in our Wisconsin lab.”

“I wish I shared your confidence, Nyk. I like Dyppa, and I hope she works out. But -- frankly, the

book says, 'no.' We've had big trouble with other Agents who've had histories of addiction...”

“Dyppa has completed her rehab,” Nyk replied. “She wasn't responsible for her addiction. Zander

did that to her. I spent time with her, Seymor. She told me she was desperate to be clean and I believe

her.”

“What about her age? She'll be the youngest Agent we've ever put into the field.”

“She's past the age of consent...”

“But, not the age of majority.”

“Her mother has consented to this assignment. Dyppa's intelligent and eager. Seymor -- we need

someone who can help with the potato blight. The homeworld plant breeders are stymied -- they need

fresh genetic material, and I've exhausted what I can do in that small lab in Queens. Dyppa is the first

Floran who's shown interest and ability to perform this assignment. She'll work out.”

“Well -- as her sponsor, it'll fall hard on you if she doesn't. What are your plans?”

“I leave for Kansas City tonight, and Grynnya will take me to the relay station. The inbound

Gamma-5 packet has been diverted and I'll ride to Floran on that. I was planning to spend a couple of

days in Sudal visiting Suki -- if that's all right with you.”

“Nyk -- whenever you want to travel home to visit her -- go right ahead. You don't need an excuse.

I'll understand.”

“Thanks, Seymor.”

“Does she know you're coming?”

“No -- I wanted to surprise her. Suki likes surprises.”

Nyk stood at the security checkpoint at LaGuardia. He placed his case on the belt and watched it roll

through the X-ray scanner. He stepped through the metal detector and it beeped. He rolled his eyes and

wondered if this was to be the drill for all his future flights.

A security screener motioned him aside. “Raise your arms,” she said and passed a hand wand over

him. It buzzed as it passed over his right wrist.

He unbuttoned his cuff and presented his wrist. “I broke it and I have a pin in it,” he explained.

She nodded toward a table where his case sat. He stood as she popped it open, rifled through its

contents and gave him a sideward glance. Nyk smiled and shrugged. She snapped it shut. “Okay, go get

on your flight.”

He picked up his case and headed for the departure lounge. As he waited for his boarding call he

examined his right wrist. At the base of his thumb was a lump, about the size of a grain of rice. He rubbed

it. Beneath it, under his skin, was his Floran personal ID chip.You're going to give me trouble every

time I fly , he thought.I know it .

Grynnya pulled her shuttlecar to a halt inside the communications relay station parked above Earth's

sun's north pole, outside the heliopause. She parked in a stall beside another, similar vessel. “If you don't

mind,” she said, “I'm going to ditch you and run. I want to get home before I lose the dark.”

Nyk nodded, hopped out of the car and headed for the pressure door. He could hear the bay

depressurize as the door closed behind him. He looked around the station's main workroom. Behind a

bulkhead was the control room. There, a comm technician could monitor the communications traffic

routed from one Floran colony, through the station to another. Most of the time, however, the station was

unmanned.

The hegemony had many such stations. This one was unique -- not only was it specially equipped to

serve as a staging point for Floran ExoAgency missions, it was the link through which Floran agents on

Earth could communicate with their homeworld. Each Agent had been issued a laptop computer. Custom

software could connect via the Internet to clandestine uplinks, and from there to the homeworld network.

Nyk undressed and stowed his Earth clothing in his personal-effects locker. He stepped into the

decontamination chamber and stood on a platform over a tank of liquid. Clenching the mouthpiece of the

breathing tube in his teeth, he slipped his feet under restraining straps, hesitated a moment and then

pressed the activation button.

The platform lowered him into the tank. He clamped his eyes shut as his face sank beneath the

surface. Inhaling through is mouth and exhaling though his nose he counted the seconds as the

decontamination fluid did its work ridding his skin of Earth microbes.

The platform began to rise. His face now clear of the liquid, Nyk blew the remaining droplets out of

his nose; then he stepped to a second platform for the rinse and repeated the process.

One step remained in the decontamination process. He opened a panel and removed a vial and an

injection apparatus. After attaching the vial, he pressed the actuator to flush air from a short tube and

needle. Holding the needle parallel to his skin he punctured a vein in his forearm, pressed the actuator

and watched as a mixture of broad-spectrum bioagent, synthetic antibodies and immune-system booster

emptied into his vein.

As much as he despised it, decontamination was essential, he reminded himself. His people had

worked hard over five thousand years to eliminate pathogens from their environment. Earth's biosphere,

by comparison, was a soup of microorganisms. An Earth illness would spread rapidly through his native

population. How he would hate to be the one responsible.

The vial empty, he dropped it into the waste reprocessor and walked to the wardroom where he

donned a Floran tunic andxarpa . Nyk pressed a control to repressurized the shuttle bay. The pressure

door opened and he stepped in to examine the shuttlecar assigned to the Wisconsin lab.

Diagnostics reported the vessel in proper operating order. He checked the power cables, returned to

the workroom, picked up the case he had brought and sat awaiting the arrival of the interplanetary

packet.

His wait was not a long one. A thud shook the station and he could hear the docking clamps engage.

A packet attendant appeared at the docking tunnel door and motioned Nyk aboard. He stowed his case,

took his seat and belted himself in. Through the viewport he could see the relay station and beyond it the

brilliant star which was how Earth's sun appeared from this distance. He looked around the packet.

The seats were filled with people of all ages. Some wore the tunic and sashes of the homeworld;

others the attire of the various colonies. They had in common blue eyes and fair hair, ranging in color

from light blond to medium brown. Nyk remarked to himself how diverse was the Earth population

compared to his own -- and, how much more interesting.

The viewports closed and indicator lamps above them glowed white-to- blue. Nyk checked the

tightness of his seat belt. The jolt of the warp-jump shook the packet as it traveled the two hundred

lightyears between Earth and Floran in an instant. The indicators glowed white and blue again -- another

jolt marked the sub-jump to carry the vessel from outside Floran's heliopause into orbit.

The viewports opened and Nyk could see a wildly spinning starfield.We picked up quite a bit of

spin on that jump , he thought.The pilots should have no trouble controlling it, though . He watched

as the starfield's spinning slowed and stopped. Now the packet headed toward the transit platform, a

space station the size of a small village in synchronous orbit over Floran's equator. Through the port he

could look down on his indigo world, mostly covered by an ocean several times the volume of Earth's.

The packet drew near the transit platform and eased into station-keeping as a docking tunnel

deployed. The doorway opened. Nyk grasped his case and stood, awaiting his turn to step through the

tunnel.

He headed through the transit lounge and sat in a car that carried him into the central hub of the transit

platform. One corridor led toward the concourse with its shops and concession stands. Another led to

the ExoService offices of the platform's administration. The light was on in Veska's office.

Nyk walked in and embraced the man he had known for so long as his father-in-law; and whom he

had recently learned was his own biological father. “Dad,” he said. Now, his father-in-law he was no

longer.

“My son and friend,” Veska replied. “How was your transit?”

“Except for decontamination -- pleasant as usual. How's Senta?”

“Haven't you spoken with her?”

“Senta hasn't spoken a word to me during or after the finalization of our divorce,” Nyk said. “Except,

that is, through her solicitor. Has she to you?”

Veska shook his head. “It pains me to know one of you is unhappy. My stepdaughter is a

strong-willed woman who expect things to go her way. She doesn't quite know how to cope when they

don't. It's not that I blame you, Nyk -- you did the right thing. And you're certainly not to blame for our

situation.”

“I do wish Senta and I could be friends. It's ironic -- I started my Agency assignment here, and Suki

there. Destiny crossed our paths in such a way as now she's here and I'm there.” He paused. “I suppose

a long-distance relationship is better than none at all.”

“Yes,” Veska replied. “I was in a long-distance relationship with the two women I loved. Now,

they're both long dead.”

“I should consider myself fortunate. The two women I love are alive and secure in Sudal.”

“Enjoy them while you can, son.”

Nyk nodded. “It's a lesson I learned on 9-11.”

“9-11?”

“An Earth date.”

Veska looked at the clock. “You don't want to be late for your shuttle.”

Nyk embraced Veska again and they kissed each other's foreheads. He picked up his case and

headed toward the departure lounge for the Sudal shuttle. He found the place empty. A glance out the

viewport showed no vessel at the other end of the docking port.

He saw a transit official checking a vidisplay at the podium. “Did I miss the early shuttle?” he asked

her.

“No. There's been a slight change in the schedule.”

Nyk sat on a bench with his case propped against his shins. He laced his fingers behind his head and

leaned back. He had departed Earth not more than a couple of hours ago -- it had been around 1AM.

Now the orange Floran sun was beginning to wash the eastern coast of his world's single continent. He

had not slept, and he felt it. Since Floran's days were a fifth longer than Earth's, he knew it would be

many hours before he would.Earth people complain of jet-lag , he mused.It's nothing compared to

packet-lag .

His dozing was interrupted by the sounds of passengers milling around the transit lounge. Through the

viewport he could glimpse the docked shuttle. Nyk stood, picked up his case and stood in line. As he

approached the tunnel door, he pressed his right wrist against the scanpad. It chirped as it read his ID

chip.

The interior of the shuttle resembled an Earth airliner. He poked his case into an overhead

compartment, sat in his seat and fastened a five-point restraining harness around himself. A young man

sat beside him and belted himself in. Nyk made eye contact and proffered the Floran two-finger salute.

The young man returned the greeting. “What brings you to Sudal?” he asked.

“It's my home town,” Nyk replied. “I'm spending a couple days there before conducting some

business in Floran City.”

“I'm headed back to Sudal University. Would you believe there's an Earth woman there who's

lecturing on Earth history and culture?”

“So I've heard,” Nyk replied. “Are you considering joining the ExoAgency?”

“Oh, no. I'm not brave or strong enough to spend a tour on that planet. I'm a history major, and I

thought understanding the culture and events of Earth before the warp accident would help me piece

together the early days of our world after it.” Nyk nodded. “My adviser had to pull some pretty long

strings to get me into her lectures. They're not broadcasting them, you know.”

“I didn't.”

“I have a photoimage of her.” He withdrew a handheld vidisplay and pressed the touchscreen. An

image appeared of an Asian woman. “She looks so ... so different.”

“She's beautiful,” Nyk replied.

The youth squinted at the image. “I suppose she is, in her own way. Yes -- you can see it once you

get past the strangeness of her features.”

“You can see traces of her features in every Floran,” Nyk said. “Floran eyes have a hint of hers.”

Nyk's travel companion looked into his face. Nyk pointed to his eyelid. “Here -- just a hint. Your

eyes have it, too.”

His eyes flicked between Nyk and the photo. “Yes -- I can see it.”

“Many of the original settlers had her heritage -- they looked like her.”

“Are you a history major also?”

“An amateur,” Nyk replied. “I hope you enjoy her lectures.”

“It's a unique opportunity for me.” He reached into hisxarpa and withdrew an injector. “I almost

forgot.” The youth lifted the hem of his tunic, drove the needle into his thigh and pressed the trigger. He

removed the needle and massaged the spot with his thumb. “Without this, I'll be space-sick for sure.

Does weightlessness bother you?”

“I don't like it but I can cope,” Nyk replied.

“I hope this stuff kicks in soon enough. I should've dosed myself in the transit lounge.”

A shuttle attendant strolled down the aisle, pausing to help a young girl with her restraint. Another

attendant made an announcement, reminding the passengers that the flight would involve a period of zero

gravity. Nyk rested his head against the viewport and closed his eyes.

A chime sounded and he looked toward the transit platform. The docking tunnel retracted and the

shuttle began to move. Shortly it left the influence of the platform's gravity generators. Nyk concentrated,

attempting to override his fear instinct from the falling sensation of zero-G. A couple of deep breaths and

his anxiety abated. He relaxed, his restraint holding him securely in his seat, and began to enjoy the ride.

The youth beside him wasn't having such an easy time. The color had drained from his face, his lips

were white and he was hyperventilating. He closed his eyes and pinched his lips together.

Nyk reached into the pouch of his seat, removed a space-sickness bag and handed it to the boy, who

struggled to keep down his gorge. Then, his color began to improve and his breathing slowed. “The drug

kicked in,” he said. “I'll be all right.”

Zero-gravity lasted about half the flight, until the shuttle entered Floran's atmosphere, extended wings

and became an aircraft. It flew toward Sudal, sweeping past the agridomes under which the Florans grew

their food and fiber crops, in isolation from the incompatible native biosphere. The pilot deployed landing

gear and the craft touched down on the polymer concrete runway, taxiing to a halt near the terminal

building.

Nyk retrieved his case and walked through the shuttleport to the livery area. With a wristscan he

ordered a groundcar. One in the lot winked its headlamps and its cowl slid open. He dropped his case

into the luggage compartment and sat in the seat. “Car -- The Residence,” he ordered. An image of his

childhood home appeared on the screen. “Confirmed -- car, go.”

The groundcar rolled out of the parking lot and onto the spur linking the shuttleport to the main arterial

highway. He looked around in the dawn twilight. He could see dark purple fronds from the palm-like

plants littering the highway. A few trees were knocked over.Must've been quite a storm , he surmised.

The car drove through the center of Sudal, a city of about 100,000 -- small by Floran standards. He

looked at the squat, polymer concrete buildings equipped with heavy storm shutters. The car left the

arterial and drove toward an access road leading along the coast. It bore to the right and up a drive to

Nyk's childhood home.

He popped the cowl, stepped out and grabbed his case. His wristscan opened the front door. He

walked in and up the spiral staircase. A tall, young woman with shoulder-length oat-straw white hair and

pale blue eyes greeted him. “Good morning, Andra,” he said.

“Nyk!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

“I'm here on business and I thought I'd pay a surprise visit.” He embraced and kissed her; then stood

back to drink in her beauty. “You've done something different with your hair.”

“Sukiko cut it for me. Do you like it?”

“Very much.”

“How long are you staying?”

“Two nights -- then I travel to Floran City to pick up my charge.” He held her and caressed her

cheek. “I asked you to care for mykorlyta and you didn't shirk. I don't know how to thank you.”

“Sukiko is a joy, Nyk. I should be thanking you.” She smiled. “You must sleep with her the first night.

I insist.”

“Is she up?”

“Of course. She and I both rise early and walk out onto the bluff to watch the sunrise. I'll get her.”

Andra headed to the back of the house and returned accompanied by a petite woman with

yellow-brown skin and waist-length shiny black hair. Nyk's eyes met hers -- deep brown and almond

shaped. She threw her arms open and ran to him. He embraced her, pressed his lips to the top of her

head and inhaled her scent.

She lifted her face and he kissed her lips. Nyk stroked tears from her cheeks. “I am so happy to see

you,” she said.

“Let me look at you.” She stepped back and modeled her white tunic and burgundylifxarpa . “You

look great, Suki -- healthier than ever.”

“I feel great. I've lost some weight. The food on this planet might be uninspiring, but it is healthy.”

“I see muscle definition in your arms and legs -- very sexy. Floran agrees with you.”

She extended her right hand. “Feel.”

He stroked her wrist. “You have an identity chip.”

“Yes -- I'm a full-blown Floran, now. I was dreading it. Andra told me hers is in a bone in her wrist. I

was afraid they'd want to drill into me. Instead, they popped it under my skin.”

He showed her his wrist. “It's like mine.”

“The university has been giving me living credits for the lectures. This sash was my first purchase. I'll

tell you -- I was a bit shocked in the clothing store when customers stripped naked in the aisles and tried

things on.”

“Florans are casual about nudity. You know ... I receive living credits from the ExoAgency. I can't

use them on Earth -- I should transfer them to you.”

“But -- Seymor pays you in dollars.”

“Economics has never been a strong subject here.”

She lifted her left arm. “Feel here.”

He stroked the inside of her bicep. “Your contraceptive implant capsule. How are you adjusting to

that?”

“Really well -- after the first few days, at least. Floran girls receive these before their own hormones

kick in. They needed to make some adjustments on mine. I'm feeling so good, now and I won't miss

PMS.”

He handed over the case. “This is for you.”

She popped it open and her eyes widened. “Oh, thank you -- thank you!” She withdrew a brassiere.

“You said when I visited I should bring some bras. These should do for a while.”

Suki pawed through the case. “Quite a while -- it looks like a lifetime supply.”

“You should've seen the look on the airport screener's face when she opened the case.”

“She must've thought you were a lingerie salesman -- or some sort of a pervert.”

“Or, both,” Nyk replied.

Suki untied the ends of herlifxarpa and began unwinding the sash. She grabbed the hem of her tunic

and slipped it off, picked up a bra and snapped it around herself. Andra approached and picked up one

of the garments. “Oh, this feels so good,” Suki said as she adjusted the straps. “The laws of gravity

operate here just as on Earth and there were times I thought I'd be black-and-blue by the end of the

day.”

Andra fingered the bra. “Do all Earth women wear these?”

“Most do,” Suki replied. Andra slipped off her tunic, tried on the bra and attempted to hook the clasp

in back. “Here,” Suki said and hooked it for her. Andra looked down at the flaccid cups. She grasped

and squeezed the surplus fabric. “That's not your size. I wear a 34-C. I'd guess you'd need a 32-B ... or

maybe a 32-A.”

“Why do Earth women wear these?” Andra asked.

“You might've noticed,” Nyk replied, “that Suki's breasts are larger than common for Floran women.”

“Well... Yes ... I didn't want to say anything, but...” She looked at Suki. “I feel sorry for you. It must

be uncomfortable.”

“Don't feel TOO sorry for her,” Nyk interjected.

Suki smiled. “You get used to them... I'd say by Earth standards -- I'm about average.”

“Average?” Andra asked.

“That's why these were invented,” Suki continued, “to lift you up -- take off some of the load. It's why

I've been wearing thelifxarpa -- for some support. It's like a bra worn on the outside. Now I can

dispense with the sash.” She picked up her tunic and slid it over her head.

D. M. Arnold - Earthbound 04 - The Altian Plague

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