Read The Plague Forge [ARC] for Free Online

were milling about, probably hoping for a glance at the object. At the sight of them Tania moved off a few paces.
    Skyler followed. He took in the bystanders and felt a sudden, surprising tingle on his neck.
    “What is it?” Tania asked, sensing his sudden worry.
    “Nothing. Well, just a … after what that woman Jenny did, I think we should post guards here. And anywhere people might gain access to a vehicle that could make it to the Key Ship.”
    “Guards?”
    “Yes,” he said under his breath. “That’s a chunk of alien technology on the other side of that door, Tania. Jenny might not be the only closet Jacobite around here who can’t resist the temptation to snatch it. Or destroy it.”
    “I really don’t think—”
    He pulled her farther from the people hovering in the hall. “Let’s assume for a second that what we’re supposed to do here is find these five objects and install them, okay?”
    “Seems a fair assumption.”
    “Good. Can you imagine if we had to stop at four because someone walked off with the fifth and hid it somewhere? Or that we lost it? Maybe some experiment caused it to crack and fall apart?”
    Tania glanced at the handful of people in the hallway with palpable suspicion now in her face. Then she turned her gaze to the doorway.
    “I don’t mean to make you jump at every shadow,” Skyler said. “Paranoia won’t help us right now, either. All I’m saying is that I don’t think we should take chances with this. If we agree the task before us is to find and install these … keys, or whatever … then we should do that and nothing more. ”
    She engaged in some silent deliberation, then took a deep breath. “You’re right, of course. Okay, I’ll give them until morning to study the object, but restrict their efforts to passive methods only. And I’ll find some guards.”
    “Two outside, two inside.”
    She winced at the implication but nodded anyway.
    “What about the ship?” Skyler asked. “We can’t have any unauthorized visits to that room.”
    “Ah, well, we don’t have to worry about that.”
    “No?”
    “The outer door closed when Tim picked us up. A few of the scientists tried to go back and document the place, but apparently it won’t open unless a ‘key’ is present. Well, a key or an immune, we’re not sure which. Both, maybe.”
    “Interesting.”
    “We’ll find out soon enough what the requirements are. I’ll have a team, trusted people, take it over in”—she glanced at her watch—“twelve hours. You can observe from ops if you wish.”
    Skyler shook his head. “I think I’ll get some sleep and head back to Belém. There’s too much to do.”
    Tania nodded. “Well, if the door won’t open, we’ll need you or one of your comrades to assist.”
    He rubbed at the stubble on his jaw. “One of the others, maybe. It’d be good if I wasn’t the only one with experience. Vanessa can come up, I think.”
    If the suggestion disappointed her, she hid it well. “Thank you, Skyler. For finding this, and bringing it in.”
    “Thank me when we’ve got all five.” He turned to go. A few paces away, he stopped and turned toward her. “That reminds me.”
    “Yes?”
    “There was a vibration that ran up the cord when we picked up that object.”
    “We felt it,” Tania said. “Rattled the station. Even went as high as some of the farms. The same thing happened when you picked up the object in Ireland.”
    “It happened once before that, too,” he said, and waited.
    Realization dawned on her face a few seconds later. “I’d forgotten. Of course, yes. But that means—”
    “One of the other keys has already been picked up.”
    Tania’s gaze fell to the floor, as the possible implications percolated through her mind. Her mouth opened, then closed.
    “Get some rest,” Skyler said. “We’ll talk again tomorrow.”

Chapter Three
    Darwin, Australia
    23.MAR.2285
    Despite the hour, and the citywide mandate against such things, a lively