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treatment can stall this infection. I am Reha-Jesku, Avatar of Jesku. I am the last of my species, and it was my last act to seal the world and hide inside the tank. If my body has survived, please give me a proper burial.”
    “Should we remove the Avatar from the tank?” Braenar looked at the orange creature floating in liquid.
    “No. We have the holding object that we need.”
    He frowned. “What?”
    “We have the last living example of this planet’s population. Technically, this body is not only the last Avatar, but also the last Jeskulan. They can’t do a bio-form on this world without its consent.” Wiali turned and hovered above the ground.
    Comet asked, “What are you doing?”
    “I am heading back to the surface, and I hope that we get to Rupture and Phase before they leave the shuttle. If there is an active pathogen, I don’t want them infected. The stone here stops us from warning them.”
    He passed her on the way out, and he beelined for the exit. He was out and in the air before she had reached the threshold, and she came out of the invisibility field in the middle of his conversation.
    “Keep it sealed. If there is an actual pathogen here, we want to verify it.”
    The Sector Guard shuttle was settling down, and as Braenar spoke, they lifted off again.
    Wia pressed the com unit on her neck. “Did the corporation actually send employees down here or did they just launch the units from orbit?”
    Phase’s voice came through. “They dropped it from orbit, thankfully. We will set up a biohazard lock on the planet until a full Alliance team can come in.”
    “When will that be? We have a single survivor here, so there is no chance that bio-forming can be enacted anyway.” Wiali hovered fifteen feet above the ground and watched the incoming ship. “Do they know there is a possibility of contamination?”
    Phase confirmed it. “They do, but they didn’t believe us. They ordered their ship to land and defend the city.”
    Comet was already moving. As the ship came down, he came up, lifting and shoving the shuttle back into the sky. If there were a chance that a normal person could be infected by exposure to air, they wouldn’t chance it.
    “Phase, can you get me some biological samples? Anything that we could use to test the statement of the Avatar?”
    There was a pause. “The flagship has medical samples from a dozen worlds on board. The captain agrees to give them to you if you come and get them.”
    Wiali shrugged. “Comet, will you remain here and keep any other shuttles from landing?”
    “Of course, Instructor.”
    Wiali lifted off and followed the beacon to the flagship. A hatch opened on the side, and she slipped into it, waiting in the airlock.
    A hiss and cascade of vapour made her grin. If they were trying to drug her, they were sadly misinformed.
    A set of guards greeted her. “Please, miss, come this way.” The taller of the two Tival inclined his head.
    She followed them, and two more guards followed her.
    The captain was sitting in a boardroom with two other men. “Ah, the representative from the Sector Guard. Finally.”
    Wiali raised her eyebrows. “I beg to differ. I am representing the Citadel, not the Sector Guard.”
    That made the two men with the captain nervous. “The Citadel?”
    She inclined her head. “Yes. Instructor Wiali, at your service. Now, I need those biological samples.”
    The captain frowned. “In a moment. First, we need you to go on record as declaring the planet empty and void of life.”
    She smiled. “No. There is one life, it is a sentient planet, and with little effort, the Avatar can be up and running.”
    The two businessmen with the captain frowned. “It is a dead world.”
    Chuckling and knowing something they didn’t know, she leaned her butt on the edge of the boardroom table. “Is it?”
     

 
     
     
    Chapter Nine
     
     
    The captain looked from one businessman to the next before he asked, “What do you mean, it isn’t a