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grimaced. He was getting cranky too. He needed real food. And more than fifteen
minutes alone with Julian before they both passed out from exhaustion. He couldn t
wait to be back on the base.
But what then?
The question made his stomach cramp and suddenly his rations were even less
tempting. He hadn t given it much thought but when they were back on base they d be
given new missions. Missions that might send them to opposite ends of the universe.
You look sick.
Sorry. He shook his head. It s nothing. You were defending Twelve s cranky
ass.
Twenty-Four giggled softly. He worries about the Death.
I know. He s talked to me about it extensively. But I can t for the life of me figure
out what death specifically he s concerned about. Maybe if I could, I could reassure him
that the military has no plans of using it on this planet.
The last shuttle had many containers of it. We found it by accident when we were
examining the remains.
Containers?
Big shiny ones. She held her arms out in a circle in front of her to give a
description of the size. Two of our men opened them. They died instantly.
It sounded like some sort of chemical weapon. There were too many for Gates to
recognize any particular one just by her description however. Maybe if he and his men
could see it and run some tests he d be able to figure it out. And they had a week-and-a-
half hike ahead of them. If it wasn t too far off their course they could stop and take a
look. What did you do with it?
We sent five of our best men to take it to the mountains of sand.
He d seen the massive desert on the maps. They weren t too far away from the
shuttle. It was maybe a three-day hike. But he didn t envy a trip into the scorching-hot
environment.
None of them returned, she continued softly.
Did you learn anything else about this Death before the men left with it?
Everything that comes into contact with it dies. It is as cool as the air around it but
it burns to the touch. And even after you wash it off it continues to suck the life out of
you like the hunting moss.
It does sound pretty nasty. And it sounded like something he would have to
investigate. If these people were going to have any success in their petition for a
diplomatic relationship they d need to have all the facts at their disposal. They might
have gotten off to a horrible start but at some point over the last couple of days Gates
had started caring about the future of this life form. They d become part of his team. If
your men have any idea where the Death is I d be happy to run some tests on it.
She shook her head. We have no idea. And no one wants to search. To find it is to
die.
I understand.
We only want to know why they would bring this to our home.
I don t know. I guess your people can ask that when you meet with the
government. My best guess is they didn t know this planet was inhabited. Which
presented a whole new group of possibilities. Maybe it isn t a weapon at all. They
might have been looking for a place to store chemical waste.
Twenty-Four s back went ramrod straight. We are not a trash pile.
I agree. He really liked Twenty-four. She had spunk. You should go with the
group of delegates. Help them present your side of the case.
She blushed. They don t need me.
Sure they do. They might benefit from having someone less cranky in the group.
She laughed again and this time she put a dainty hand on his arm. He instantly
pulled away from her but one glance over at Twelve told him that the man hadn t even
noticed. Probably had something to do with Gates relationship with Julian. Ever since
Twelve saw him coming out of Julian s tent that first morning he d stopped growling
and snapping every time Gates or Julian got close to Twenty-Four. It had made talking
to the woman a lot easier.
As soon as they were done eating they cleaned up their mess and packed up their
stuff. They d be leaving first thing in the morning. That meant only one more night with
a real roof over their heads and a bed under them. Get a good night s sleep. He
directed the order to the men sitting around him. This might very well be your last
until we get back to the shuttle.
Gates waited for everyone else to shuffle off before he made his way to his
temporary quarters. When he opened the door he smiled at Julian s body sprawled out
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