Expedition Earth (First Colony Book 14) by Ken Lozito

Expedition Earth (First Colony Book 14) by Ken Lozito

Author:Ken Lozito [Lozito, Ken]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Acoustical Books LLC
Published: 2022-08-30T16:00:00+00:00


27

Lauren moved to the side a little so she could see Braun. “Did you know about this?”

Braun shook his head. “You don’t understand. It’s not what you think.”

Wakiya looked at her husband. “You brought them here. You say they’re not from Magnus Station, but I’m not going to just sit by and let them shoot us.”

Burk scowled. “They could change at any moment. They’re infected!”

The salvagers kept their weapons trained on them, not at all startled by the news.

Lauren held up her hands in front of her chest, then moved out from behind Isaac. Wakiya was the leader, so she spoke to her. “This is what I detected in the samples of blood I collected. There are indicators that show an exposure to the Vemus. We detected trace amounts on some of the people on the outpost, but not like this. And it doesn’t match up with what we encountered in our own star system.”

Wakiya narrowed her gaze for a second. She looked conflicted, and Lauren didn’t think she wanted to hurt them, but if they were infected by the Vemus, then they were up against the clock before the infection took over.

“We’re not infected,” Wakiya said.

“Don’t!” Moteki said.

Wakiya shook her head. “They helped Amelia, Mot. Braun said she can stand up straight. Her face looks normal.”

“I don’t trust them,” Moteki said, and the others agreed, except for Torren.

Isaac holstered his weapon. “I’m going out on a limb here and admit that I don’t understand what’s going on. Lauren detected a Vemus infection in the blood of one of the other salvagers.”

“And Torren healed from his wounds without any medical treatment. All of you have,” Lauren said.

Isaac turned toward Burk and the soldier glared at him. “Lower your weapon, Sergeant.”

Burk gritted his teeth and lowered his weapon a little so that it wasn’t pointed at anyone. Nance did the same.

Isaac tilted his head toward Wakiya and the others. “Now it’s your turn.”

“Do it,” Wakiya said. “Mot, do it now.”

Moteki lowered his weapon.

Wakiya looked at Lauren and shook her head. “I knew we couldn’t keep it from you,” she said and pressed her lips together. “You detected trace amounts of the Vemus infection on the people at the outpost, and more than that here, but we’re not infected.”

Lauren glanced at Isaac for a second and then looked at Wakiya.

“Your EVA suits look a little worse for wear,” Isaac said pointedly.

Wakiya’s lips lifted a little. “We’re different than you. We’re not what you’d referred to as infected by the Vemus. We represent an adaptation that occurred over time.”

Lauren’s eyes widened and she inhaled softly. “You’re hybrids.”

“Hybrids? What do you mean hybrids?” Burk asked.

Lauren kept her gaze on Wakiya. “It means that some of them had been exposed to the Vemus but weren’t assimilated like the ones that served the Alpha. They weren’t part of the hive.” She paused for a few seconds to get her thoughts in order. “That’s why Amelia has autoimmune symptoms. Her body was having trouble coping with hybridization. Was she ever exposed to a Vemus?”

Wakiya shook her head.



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