Serpent's Gift by A. C. Crispin & Deborah A. Marshall

Author:A. C. Crispin & Deborah A. Marshall [Crispin, A. C. & Marshall, Deborah A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Amazon: B009MT1OUA
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

Collision Course

Four days after their first meeting, Rob, Ssoriszs, Kkintha ch'aait, and Janet Rodriguez gathered to meet with Jeff Morrow and his crew boss at Horizons Unlimited's office at StarBridge Station. Rob arrived late; he'd been delayed by an incident between a Vardi senior and a Heeyoon freshman. After helping to defuse the potentially explosive confrontation, and soothing ruffled fur and fronds, he'd left the two safely in the care of the guidance counselors for their respective species.

The meeting was under way when he walked in. Muttering a quick apology, Rob took his seat. Jeff nodded, continuing with what he'd been saying. "...

unsure of what could have triggered it, but it's a disturbing finding. I wanted to let you know as soon as possible."

Rob was sitting next to Janet Rodriguez. He leaned over and breathed,

"What's up?"

"The radonium-2 is breeding in more than one location under the Lamont Cliffs," the engineer whispered back. "It's now in several veins, instead of just one."

Damn! Rob thought. I should have figured--nothing is ever simple around here!

Kkintha ch'aait was the first to speak after Morrow's announcement. "How do you propose to remedy this, Jeffrey?" she asked in her high-pitched, cluttering voice.

"Expediently, I hope," Morrow said. "The first thing on the 154

docket is a thorough survey of all the radonium veins running through the asteroid. If they are as they should be, then we'll concentrate on sealing off the contaminated deposits beneath the mountains, isolating them. Then we'll remove the R-2 by the vaporization technique I described to you during our initial meeting."

"Sounds like a big job," Janet said, looking at Andrea Lynch.

The crew boss nodded. "Yes. I'm going to need a larger crew, and I've already taken steps to hire more people."

"When wil your survey be complete?" Kkintha asked.

"Five days ... six at the outside," Andrea Lynch replied. The woman seemed greatly subdued this meeting--much of her smug condescension had

evaporated. Maybe Jeff had spoken to her about her attitude, Rob thought, or--he took a closer look at her--maybe Lynch was too tired to cause trouble.

Today it was the crew boss's turn to look as though she hadn't been sleeping. Her features were pinched, as though she'd lost weight these last couple of days.

Jeff looked slightly better--at least the shadows beneath his eyes had faded.

But the normally impeccably groomed engineer was a mess. His clothes appeared slept-in, and his hair was tousled, as though it hadn't been combed since he first got up. The distort cuff he still wore (as did Lynch) was slightly askew. Knowing that the younger man had been working 'round the clock to try and save the Academy touched Rob.

Jeff's busting his ass, he thought. I just hope his best will be good enough . ..

"We'll be sending a team over to do extensive testing here in the school,"

Morrow was saying. "There are a couple of veins that run right below it--one big one in particular that we'll have to keep an eye on."

"I've been running checks myself every twelve hours," Janet said.

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