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dead world?”
    “The planet has an infection. Now, whether that infection has run its course is yet to be seen. The Avatar is in a stasis tube and safe for the moment, but only the Avatar is legally entitled to authorize any changes to the surface.” She leaned toward them. “I will swear to this, and I will fight you if I have to.”
    The businessmen squirmed. “If you find that the infection has passed, what will you do? Our company has put a lot of effort into bringing this planet onto the open market for colonization.”
    She shrugged. “Fine, but if the infection is still there, not only will your bio-forming be reversed, but you will be responsible for the death of every single colonist on that surface. Not to mention that the moment that the Avatar wakes, it can kick you off at its slightest whim.”
    They looked from person to person, and the captain swiftly ordered the samples to be brought from medical.
    Wiali asked a question she was dying to know the answer to. “By the way, how old were the contamination satellites that you collected when you started your work here?”
    The businessman on the left opened his mouth in shock. “What…how did you know that?”
    “The Jeskulan had enough tech exposure to buy the top of the line stasis module for their Avatar, they would definitely have enough tech to warn others away with satellites. I was just wondering where the satellites went.”
    The captain’s face was showing alarm.
    A knock on the door preceded the medical samples, and after a cursory examination, Wiali closed the case and walked out the door.
    Her guards quickly formed around her and escorted her back to the airlock.
    With the samples in her hand and her suspicions confirmed, she returned to the surface to run a little experiment.
    Comet was watching for any incoming ships, so she landed near him to expose the samples to the air of Jeskulan.
    “Test of the contamination commencing.” She opened the sealed box and cracked the seals on each sample, letting the air of the planet in to frolic on the biological material.
    Two samples turned to dust immediately. “Oh dear.”
    Comet landed next to her. “Still infected?”
    “It is. Looks virulent too. I think I will have a talk with Reha-Jesku.”
    “The Avatar? Isn’t it in stasis?”
    Wiali smiled. “When your body was asleep, did Suek ever drive you around?”
    Understanding dawned on his face. “I see. Let’s return to the Avatar and have a chat.”
    Wiali took the hand he offered, and together, they returned to the hidden building.
     
    Standing in front of the stasis tube, Wiali wondered if she had looked like this while she had been floating. Her body hadn’t matured while she was in the tube, but her mind had whirled on into other worlds to investigate anything her curiosity took hold of.
    While under, Suek had still kept in contact with her, a comforting presence as time took her further and further from her parents. If Suek could keep in touch with her across hundreds of star systems, Jesku would easily have been able to keep entwined with its Avatar.
    It was whimsy that made her reach out to knock on the plexi. “Wake up.”
    The orange body flexed and the deep red hair flowed back in a curtain as two black eyes stared at Wiali. Why are you here? The air is deadly.
    Not if you don’t let it touch you. My mate and I have been exposed to stellar sentience, and it has wrapped our cells in protective radiation.
    Oh, good. Why are you here then?
    A corporation has been preparing to bio-form your surface. We need proof of your consciousness as quickly as we can get it.
    Is that what those things are? They are rather uncomfortable and a little too close to magma pockets.
    Wiali grinned as a surge of energy came from the woman in the tube.
    That should prove that something here is unstable. The woman’s features expanded in a smile.
    I hope that it is enough. We will try to get you some help. Can you tell me how the pathogen spread?
    A