Reap the Whirlwind

He swept his long, thick black hair from his face as he got up. His eyes were bloodshot. “I feel like we just keep ru

“Living tissue, for one thing,” Babitz said, recalling Dr. Fisher’s report. “The computer models predicted that this virus would consume a humanoid in a matter of minutes.” She frowned. “Which makes its much slower progress here confusing. I also can’t figure out why Vanguard’s samples became inert within minutes of being deprived of living tissue to interact with, but the samples we found on Bridy Mac’s leg remained active even when the flesh began to decay.”

Tan Bao stared at the signal dampener in McLellan’s lap. “We were using the signal dampener from almost the minute she got hit till we got back to the ship, which has its own dampening field. If that’s what’s slowing this stuff down, then whatever makes it spread has to be external,” he said. “And if the Shedai signal is boosting its activity, that might explain why it’s still active on a dead limb…. That’s the only reason I can think of that the dampener would make any difference.”

Pieces of the puzzle began to fit together in Babitz’s imagination. “Do you remember what Xiong said about the Shedai carrier wave that was sent from here? He said it contained strings of data that matched chemical sequences common to all samples of the meta-genome.” She rubbed the tips of her index fingers against her thumbs, a nervous habit that asserted itself when her concentration was focused. “What if that signal is what sustains the crystalline virus?”

“That would explain why the dampener impedes it,” said Tan Bao. “But is it just an energizing field? Or something else?”

Remembering more of Xiong’s briefing from six days earlier, Babitz started formulating a plan. “Xiong also said that his team had replicated the carrier-wave signal and used it to pinpoint other planets of interest. How would that have worked?”

“They must have identified the part of the signal that provoked responses from the artifacts on the planets,” Tan Bao said. In a flash, he caught up with Babitz’s line of reasoning. “So if we figure out what part of the signal the virus reacts to, we can modify it and send our own signal to neutralize it.”

Reinvigorated, Babitz left McLellan’s bedside and moved to one of the computer stations. Tan Bao followed her. She asked, “Have you finished sequencing the virus’s genome?”

“Yes,” he said, entering commands at his own console. Based on the files he was accessing, Babitz knew that he had anticipated her next order. “Use Xiong’s algorithm for translating the sequence into a Shedai carrier-wave signal.”

“I’m all over it,” Tan Bao said. His fingers tapped in a blur, calling up data and executing commands on the computer. “Computer’s translating the sequence now.”

Keeping up with him wasn’t easy. “When it’s done, I’ll search for that signal pattern in the Shedai carrier wave,” she said. “First, I’ll see if Xiong’s people identified any command triggers in the signal.”

The computer banks hummed with activity, their volume and pitch rising slowly in step with Babitz’s excitement. We’re close, she told herself. I can feel it. She felt warm and a little bit dizzy. Palming a light sheen of perspiration from her forehead, she waited anxiously for the computer’s results.

“I’ve isolated a set of trigger sequences,” she said.

He replied, “We have a signal pattern for the virus.”

“Ru

Tan Bao leaned forward and eyed the results. “Whoa,” he said. “That’s not just any match—it’s a perfect match. The whole pattern.” He pointed at the screen. “Ahead of it and after it—are those trigger sequences?”

Babitz was unsure. “Possibly,” she said. “They have a few chromosomes in common with other triggers in the meta-genome, but I don’t think these have been documented before.” She shook her head. “It’s hard to believe Xiong’s team didn’t find the virus’s genome in the signal.”

“None of their samples of the virus lasted long enough to be gene-mapped,” Tan Bao said.

“How do we apply this? Couple the virus’s signal with a trigger we don’t understand? How do we test it?”

After pondering the issue a moment, Tan Bao said, “We could run tests on the severed part of Bridy Mac’s leg. See if we can neutralize the crystalline substance without affecting the tissue underneath.” He reacted to Babitz’s dubious look by adding, “It’s a lot safer than testing it on Bridy Mac, and a lot more useful than testing microscopic samples.”

“Fine,” Babitz said. “Set it up on bed two.” Even though McLellan’s severed appendage had been in stasis all this time, the odds of it being viable for surgical reattachment were all but nonexistent at this point. If using it as a test sample made it possible to save McLellan’s life, and maybe also Terrell’s, then it would be a worthwhile sacrifice.

She watched Tan Bao remove the leg from storage and set it on the sickbay’s other biobed. He welcomed her help setting up an array of automated surgical implements and modified sca

“We’re ready, Doctor,” Tan Bao said.

She joined him at a control panel for the surgical suite. “Embed the virus’s sequence and the trigger that follows it into a five-second carrier-wave pulse, and focus it on the leg,” she said. “On my mark.” Flipping switches and adjusting sliders on the panel, Babitz hoped she knew what she was doing.

“Signal encoded,” Tan Bao said.

“In three…two…one…mark.”

The machinery above the bed thrummed with power and glowed slightly as the pulse was beamed at the severed limb. The effect was immediate and dramatic: the dark glasslike shell on the leg spread several centimeters in a matter of seconds. “Turn it off,” Babitz said. Tan Bao cut the power.

“That could have gone better,” he said.

Despite the fact that the experiment had produced the opposite of her desired result, she trembled with excitement. “Tan, there were two chemical triggers linked to that gene sequence,” she said. “Set up a new pulse. This time, use the trigger that precedes the sequence in the meta-genome.”

Tan Bao returned to the computer, edited the signal data, and relayed it to the surgical array. “Ready, Doctor.”

Babitz’s ears were hot, and her face was flushed with nervous anticipation. Her mouth was dry, her voice thin and slightly raspy. “Same as before, with the new sequence embedded.”

“All set,” Tan Bao said half a minute later.

“Engage,” she said.

Another deep hum of power accompanied the emission of a pale blue glow that bathed the leg on the biobed. Just as rapidly as the last attempt had advanced the crystalline substance across the limb, this one made it retreat.

“Maintain the pulse,” Babitz ordered. Tan Bao flipped an override control and prolonged the bombardment. In less than a minute, she saw no evidence of the crystalline virus on the leg. “Stop,” she said, reaching for a medical tricorder. A quick scan confirmed what was shown on the gauges of the biobed and the surgical array’s sensor displays: all traces of the crystalline virus had been eliminated from the severed limb.

Behind her, Tan Bao marveled at the results. “That’s amazing,” he said.

“We’re not done yet,” she said. “Create a new signal. Revert to the first trigger sequence. But after it, paste in the signal equivalent of Bridy Mac’s DNA pattern.”