The Reaper Plague by David VanDyke

god to more primitive
cultures.”
    He nodded. “So you are the combination of two
very rational beings and you probably didn’t think about what it
would feel like. Suddenly Raphael was human with all the drives
common to woman, and Ilona was made into a goddess. But you
immediately went to work in a laboratory and you were focused on
science and you shut everything out. Right?”
    “ Yes,” she agreed, “for
sure, you’re right. The time you and I spent together in the first
day was the longest stretch I’ve just sat down and been near
someone without being totally consumed with a task. So you think my
biology just took over?”
    “ I think that’s part of
it.” He told her about JT Tyler’s behavior, and Huff’s, and
McCarthy’s violent reaction to the nano. “I think the nano and the
Eden Plague create some unpredictable effects together. I don’t
even know whether they are the same from instance to instance.
Obviously when I touched you, when I grabbed you and then whatever
is floating in the air – I know the virus isn’t supposed to be
airborne but there must be some in the air, in the droplets of your
breath, even at sub-infection levels – well, they did something.
Maybe fending each other off at the microscopic level unsettled our
emotions. I don’t know, I’m no scientist.”
    “ No, but I am. Or at least,
Raphael was, of a sort, and Ilona was a very smart woman, and this
shuttle has basic bioanalytical equipment, so I should get working
on finding out.”
    His hooded eyes gazed at her, brooding.
“Sounds good. But…I still don’t understand why you’re doing
this.”
    “ Doing what?”
    “ I’ve been asleep twice,
and you’ve done nothing. You know this ship, but I’m clueless about
it. The only thing I can do is threaten you. I bet you could have
done a hundred things to take control of the situation. You could
have drugged the food or the water or put gas into the
bedroom…hell, you didn’t even take my rifle away.”
    An impish smile broke through her serious
mien. “Actually I kind of did.” She pointed at the ceiling at a
small fitting, at a device of metal a few inches long embedded
there.
    “ That’s…that’s the cylinder
from my weapon.” He laughed, rueful.
    “ Yes, and if you need it
I’ll let it go, or if you tried really hard you could probably pry
it out in a few minutes. And you’re still a lot stronger and faster
than I am, but this makes me feel a little less
vulnerable.”
    Skull shrugged. “Fair enough. It can stay
there. But the question still stands. Why haven’t you done
something and turned us around?”
    “ If I’m going to answer
your questions, you have to answer mine.”
    He shrugged. “All right. Shoot.”
    “ Why are you doing
this?”
    “ You mean why did I do it,
or what’s our goal?”
    “ Our goal
first.”
    Skull answered immediately. “I want to see
what you have out here, for several reasons. I want to see whether
Raphael was completely truthful, and I want to see whether there is
something that could be used to fight this Meme scout ship, to buy
us some time. They don’t think humans have any significant space
capability, and they have no reason to think that one of their own
has defected. Maybe we can sucker them somehow.”
    She nodded. “But you don’t expect to live
through it.”
    His gaze was steady, then he shook his head.
“I didn’t expect to live through it when I started, and I’m not
suicidal, but I am willing to die for a good cause.”
    “ That’s a relief. I wasn’t
sure. Someone like you…”
    “ Someone like me
what ?” he asked sharply.
    Her nostrils flared below narrowed eyes. “A
born killer. It has to take its toll.”
    “ I wasn’t born this way, I
was made.” His tone was harsh. “I hope that’s not pity I
see.”
    She lowered and shook her head. He could see
tears fly from under her hair. “No…just sympathy. There’s a
difference. But you’re not as tough as you think you