Cradle of War (A Captain's Crucible Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

“Until I remembered that their flesh was freeze-dried when we penetrated the suits on that planet. Any bacteria in the dermis would have died instantly.”
    “Freeze dried?” Jonathan said. “It wasn’t that cold.”
    “Cold enough,” Connie said.
    “Why is the belly swollen on this one?” Jonathan said.
    “Some of the gut bacteria survived, apparently. When I thawed out the body, the survivors multiplied. I extracted a small colony for study.” She glanced at Jonathan and, apparently sensing his unease, she added: “Don’t worry. I am following complete quarantine protocols for the colony.”
    “I hope we learn something valuable from them...” He found it hard to keep the disapproval from his tone.
    “Depends,” Connie said, either not noticing, or pretending not to notice his displeasure. Likely the latter. “I learned that they’re not a whole lot different from the bacteria inhabiting our own intestinal tracts. The nucleic acids are a ninety-nine percent match to their equivalents in our own gut bacteria. Though if ingested, these bacilli strains would of course cause severe food poisoning. They could definitely kill, if not treated promptly. We’d probably have to perform a complete colon cleansing and recolonization of any infected individuals.”
    Jonathan let his features harden. “You better be following those quarantine protocols you told me about.”
    “I assure you, Captain, I am.”
    Jonathan nodded. He decided that she grasped the gravity of what she was doing, so he let his gaze move on.
    In a final container near the dissected humanoid was yet another body, that one entirely alien. It was one of the Raakarr. Its mummified form was vaguely insectile, like a mantis with three large, spiky forelegs. Horned plates lined a segmented abdomen. It was topped by a round head from which bifurcated mandibles protruded on either side of a tube-like proboscis. Three round domes on the crown could only be eyes. These were shielded by horny plates that extended from the sides of the head. Underneath the body were two jointed legs, currently folded as if the thing were sitting. 
    It wore a chest harness: on the backside there appeared to be a jetpack replete with black tanks and nozzles. The small rectangular device that had been clipped to the chest was removed, and lay at the bottom of the container—the nonfunctional darkness generator. Fitted onto the top joints of the forelegs were small black tubes: infrared laser weapons, Connie had theorized.
    Her team had not begun any dissections on that particular specimen, yet. Since it was the only one they had, all of her scans had been of the noninvasive kind, with the occasional tissue and blood sample.
    Apparently sensing his gaze on the alien, the chief scientist said: “I have nothing new to report on the Raakarr. We’ve been concentrating on the new specimens, as you know.”
    Jonathan nodded curtly. He returned his attention to the container immediately in front of him and the golden object it contained. “What about the egg? Anything new?”
    “Well I’ve stopped any experimentation on it, as requested,” Connie replied. “However, passive sensors are still receiving signals from it: reflected photons. Gravity waves. Sound waves.”
    “ Sound waves?” Jonathan said. “That’s a new one.”
    “Yes,” the chief scientist agreed. “The egg seems to be vibrating on some sort of resonant frequency, timed to the gravimetric pulses emitted by the Elder ship.”
    “Answering mommy’s call...” Jonathan mused.
    “Something along those lines, I’m sure.” Connie momentarily removed her aReal glasses to rub her eyes. “I reviewed the logs. The vibrations in fact began when the Elder ship first emerged from the wormhole. You were in the cargo bay at the time, do you remember? The logs show you staring through the glass at the eggs.”
    Jonathan clenched his jaw and nodded very slowly. He remembered all too well.
    Damn alien