Breaking the Surface by Rebecca Langham

Author:Rebecca Langham [Langham, Rebecca]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: NineStar Press, LGBT, captivity, interspecies, politics, Sci-fi, teacher, futuristic, lesbian, space
Publisher: NineStar Press, LLC
Published: 2020-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Damon’s gut felt as wrung out as a damp towel. He could never un-see the footage of an entire family struck by Pax, a teenage boy writhing on a bed as his white-as-ghosts parents struggled to help him sit up to use a bedpan, both too weak themselves to be of much use. The clip had been recorded using multisensory equipment, the grisly smell of decay so thick he could taste it, like rotting cabbage he’d been forced to swallow.

“We need to take back control of the situation.” Finick dismissed the display with a wave and instructed the holographic projector to retract into the ceiling. “It was shown once on an independent Hive channel with poor audience numbers before Pearsal blocked it from further circulation. Some degenerate hacker found a way into our security network, but the Pearsal block and subsequent arrest were swift. We may not be so fortunate next time.”

“This feels like a battle we are bound to lose,” Damon said. “It may be worth putting together a plan for going public about the disease’s resurgence, but do it carefully, rather than jumping on these leaks as they arise. If people are getting sick outside the quarantine zone, this won’t stay a secret for long.” He sensed Sara’s penetrating gaze as he spoke, but as usual, he couldn’t guess what she was thinking. The three of them had been spending a lot of time together since Damon had finally been told the full truth about the Outsider Project, the so-called aliens and the experimental science behind their evolution, yet the woman still posed a mystery.

Then there had also been the reality of the Bilpin Dome with its filtrating membrane, its design not only about comfort and longevity, but protection from airborne disease for those fortunate enough to secure the right to live there. On that count, at least, he understood the need for secrecy, given how small of a percentage of their population would fit inside. The filtration wasn’t one hundred per cent effective though; further work was needed to ensure every Pax strain would be locked out of its habitat.

Finick shot Damon a look as exacting as a bolt of lightning. Damon did not shy away, despite the discomfort climbing up his spine.

“Barrett, you may technically be an adviser to my administration, but you need to learn when the same piece of advice has been rejected several times, to drop it.”

Damon blinked slowly to mask an eye-roll he found impossible to repress. He clenched and relaxed his throat.

“What do you propose we do then, sir?” Though he’d been speaking to the Global Premier, Damon looked to Sara. Her features were soft, empathetic even.

Finick’s authoritative tone pulled Damon’s attention away from her, the moment between the two of them ending before he’d even gripped it.

“Barrett, you’ll work with a small team to stage another bombing.”

Damon’s gaze darted from one side of the room to the other before settling on Finick, searching for something rational in what the Global Premier had said.

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