Contract of War by Tammy Salyer

Author:Tammy Salyer
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-9853192-5-0
Publisher: Tammy Salyer

* * *

“I’ll kill the bastard.”

No one responds to Desto’s pronouncement. I glance at Vitruzzi to see her reaction to the news that Quantum has bought his place in this colony with the soil amendment compound, and for the first time in what seems like weeks, her expression shifts into the Vitruzzi from before the war.

“You can’t do that,” she says.

Whitmore looks surprised. “We can’t do what?”

“You can’t use that compound. You don’t know how to, or what it’s capable of.”

“Miss . . .?”

“I’m Dr. Eleanor Vitruzzi, previously the head of R&D in the Ministry of Science and Engineering. My expertise is in the field of cyber- and bio-physiology with considerable overlap with virology, immunology, and disease research. So when I tell you that you can’t use that soil compound, I know exactly what I’m talking about.”

“Dr. Vitruzzi, I-I am, I would say, I am grateful to meet you.” For the first time Whitmore’s in-control attitude gives way, revealing a postwar survivor with the same hanging-by-a-thread worries everyone has. “We in Bogotan are doing our best to stay out front of any catastrophes of the nature of which you are so skilled in coping with—”

“I don’t want to hear it. You have no idea what you’re dealing with in terms of that compound. I don’t know what Quantum told you, but it can’t be the truth. The man is a calculating opportunist, nothing more. He didn’t like the way we run our colony on Keum Libre, so he looked for the easiest out and he took it—without regard to the health of a pregnant woman, I’ll add. The fact that you’ve listened to a single goddamn word he’s said to you, knowing what he’s done to get here, says all I need to know about your judgment. And I’m telling you, that compound cannot be used.”

Shit. Vitruzzi’s tactician skills must have been another casualty of the war. But none of us disagrees with her approach.

“Doctor, I understand your opinion, but based on Quantum’s explanation, it has the potential to become a vital link in replenishing the planet’s food supply. It could save thousands, even millions, of lives. We cannot let a useful resource like—”

“No, you’re not listening,” Vitruzzi cuts in. “This soil compound isn’t a resource. It’s a poison that we don’t fully understand.”

David adds, “If it were deployed and you lost control, no one knows exactly what could happen.”

“Actually, we do know exactly what will happen. The survivors of the KL prison settlement saw the results of the Admin’s testing firsthand. An extinction-level event on a scale we haven’t seen since the terra-forming disasters of last century.” Vitruzzi pauses, then adds, “Or the war. “

Van Heusen speaks up: “Then we don’t lose control. It’s that simple.”

“Simple?” V says. “Have you been paying attention to anything but your own ass for the last twenty-four months? Simple doesn’t exist, not anymore.”

Karl tries to cut in. “Eleanor—”

“No, goddammit! You’re talking about—”

“That’s quite enough, Doctor. Please.” Whitmore’s posture is tense, but his voice hasn’t lost any of its calm.

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