Page 7 of Stellar Drift
He remembered he’d brought chems and reusable sample collectors for Irakat’s biologic test kit.It wasn’t against regulations to donate CPS supplies for goodwill purposes, but it would probably send Matsurgan on another tirade about the local leeches.Houyen had asked the three town administrators about any patterns they’d noticed about the illness and explained to them his theory that a periodic insect infestation might be the source.They hadn’t noticed a predictable schedule, but they acknowledged the infestation of wuzzy bugs — the suspect insect — was confusingly unpredictable, too.In the last four or five years, northwestern towns got hit before Irakat Collective and Axolotl Bend.They hadn’t seen any deaths in the last three years.As far as they knew, no one had caught the fever twice, but a mild case might not have been noticed.That gave him hope that immune-response tests could help researchers find the path to a cure.
The administrators disagreed about how communicable the disease was or wasn’t, but then something had interrupted their debate.Oh, yes.Four loud idiots from Falco Joro’s so-called construction crew had landed their flitters in Irakat’s public landing pad.When they realized they’d missed the regular trading day, they started going door to door, noisily looking to buy fun-time chems the locals sometimes traded.If Joro’s swaggering, well-armed crew even knew what an earth-mover or a glass-welder looked like, Houyen would personally fly them to the biggest chems and alterants shop on the continent.
Irakat Collective, one of the oldest towns in the rainforest, had long experience in dealing with troublemakers and soon convinced the idiots to find their bliss somewhere else.Houyen helped by standing with Garamont, Irakat’s administrator, making sure his ranger uniform was visible as he tracked the visitors with a steady gaze.Joro’s crew had childishly over-torqued their flitter’s engines to make as much noise as possible on their way out of town.
He couldn’t remember if he’d told the meeting participants which insect he suspected as the cause.It would have helped if Ranger Brannezzo, a trained entomologist with a minder talent that gave him an instinctive understanding of insect life, had been willing to consult.Prickly Brannezzo seemed to think hoarding knowledge was job security.Houyen couldn’t press the matter without Matsurgan finding out, so Houyen had stumbled along on his own.
After Joro’s crew left, the other administrators had decided to make themselves scarce in case of further drama.
From there, Houyen’s memory grew hazy.He seemed to recall turning down a lunch invitation, and maybe he promised somebody something as he was leaving.His last clear memory was lifting off in his aircar.After that, nightmare-world.
Based on his research, he was pretty sure he’d had infinity fever.Delirium, high fever, exhaustion, headaches, and flaky dry skin that should have been impossible in the ambient humidity were all consistent with the records.He’s missed the ear pain, but still had the less common temporary sensory hypersensitivity that some people reported.In his case, he was constantly assaulted by the smell of nearly everything, from the chemicals in the clothes sanitizer to the discordant waft of odors from the cold box in the base’s community kitchen.
After an unplanned nap on his uncomfortably flat desk, he awoke with two startling conclusions.One, that his memories of spending time with Sairy Sarvand were likely somewhat accurate.
Two, that she had treated him for infinity fever.That was an altogether outlandish hypothesis, but his intuition was insistent.According to the records, people with rapid-onset symptoms as virulent as his usually stayed sick for weeks or died.
Why, how, and where she’d treated him were mysteries he couldn’t solve right then.But he would.And he had the perfect excuse to see her again when he asked for her help in locating the insect source.
Before he did that, though, he needed to deal with his disappointment to realize Sairy had a partner.Apparently, he’d been holding onto a secret hope that she might be as interested in him as he was in her.He should have known better.Nothing in his career had ever been compatible with a steady relationship.Especially if he succeeded in isolating the source of infinity fever and proving its existence.Matsurgan would make sure Houyen’s next assignment would be one in cryosleep on an exploration expedition to the Andromeda galaxy.
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Chapter 3
Axolotl Bend, Qal Corona • GDAT 3235.009
Themiddaysunbeatdown with unusual intensity, turning the humid air into a thick, wet blanket.A constant buzz of insects formed a low thrum in the background, punctuated by the shrill calls of exotic birds.Sairy paused to adjust the bug net under her collar, then gave Kyala’s harness a reassuring pat.As always, she’d parked her airsled a good kilometer away in the dense rainforest and hiked in, taking a different route from her last visit.
In the first couple of years after her arrival, she had only visited the river towns out of necessity, keeping her schedule as unpredictable as possible.Lately, she’d allowed herself to show up more often for festivals and trading days.She told herself it was a longing for simple human contact, but a more honest part of her admitted it was the chance she might run into Ranger Houyen Albasrey.Today, however, that same part hoped he was anywhere but here.Five days apart was not enough time for any fever-dream memories he might have of her to fade into fantasy.
A new, two-story building frame rose starkly from the jungle, but the sounds of construction were absent.As she drew closer, she realized the wide access path leading to the town’s center was just as silent.An uneasy quiet had settled over Axolotl Bend.
She pinged Elkano, then subvocalized her question, her jaw barely moving.“Today isn’t a scheduled festival or trade day for Axolotl Bend, is it?”
Elkano’s voice was a private murmur in her earwire.“No.Do you want me to check their published calendar?”
“No need,” she replied.“I’ll find out soon enough.”
The reason became grimly apparent as she and Kyala entered the town circle.Several businesses were shuttered, their doors sealed with the telltale signs of a self-imposed quarantine.The crudely drawn open-ended figure eight on a few door signs made it clear that the reason was infinity fever.She hoped the outbreak was milder than the one that had swept through Irakat Collective a ten-day ago.The outbreak that had almost certainly caught Houyen.
Sairy hesitated, weighing her options.Visitors were the last thing anyone wanted during an outbreak, unless they wore Planetary Health Service uniforms.She snorted with dry amusement.That was about as likely as one of the moons crashing into the reserve.And that assumed the town had even notified the PHS in the first place, and that they’d risk a jurisdiction fight with the Citizen Protection Service.The determinedly self-reliant residents of the Makaan Nature Reserve had several good reasons to avoid that kind of trouble.
Her appointment to trade a healing salve she’d compounded for a crate of subcircuit dots wasn’t critical, but they had no way to reschedule except in person.She didn’t have a local pingref because she couldn’t afford to be visible on the planetary net.That meant rescheduling would require another trip anyway.Since she was immune and not a carrier, a quick, careful visit to the general store shouldn't pose a risk to anyone.
But the deserted paths and sealed buildings suggested this outbreak was worse than she’d feared.A few minutes later, her suspicion was confirmed.The general store was locked up tight, and across the circle, the town’s multi-use community hall had been converted into a makeshift sick ward.
As she was deciding on the quickest path for her retreat, the man she was simultaneously hoping and dreading to see spotted her.
Houyen strode toward her, his face etched with stress and fatigue.“Sairy.I don’t know what your plans are for the day, but…” He took off his hat and wiped a sleeve across his sweat-beaded forehead.“When I got here this morning, I found everyone I was supposed to meet was sick.Over a dozen cases in the last two days, and more developing fast.The medic, Fimvord, was delirious.They put her in the town’s only autodoc.”
Before she could form a reply, a frantic shout came from the direction of the town’s main office.“Sairy!Can you help us?”Robel Petros, the town administrator, hurried toward them, his movements jerky with anxiety.“Our medical supplies are about to run out.”
“I only have an airsled,” Sairy said, her mind racing.Luckily, she hadn't stopped to pick up any incalloy debris on the way here.“But it can carry a load from Irakat.What do you need?”
Houyen shook his head, frowning at the administrator.“No, they’re already on the way.You called, remember?”He turned his focus back to Sairy, his gaze intense.“What we really need is help.Robel says you have a medical background?”
Sairy’s defenses went up.How could Petros possibly know that?“I had some training years ago,” she said, letting her tone convey her doubt in her own skills.
