The Lethal Agent (The Extraction Files Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

terrestrial eel. It had bunches of thick, chitinous hairs on the bottom, probably to move it across the substrate. It had no obvious head. They would have to wait for fauna collection to find out more.
    On and on they went, documenting each organism scanned by the probe. In this preliminary survey, they would only have images of the most prevalent species, the ones accessible from the surface. Once given approval, the probe would attempt to capture a minimum population of each species for direct scanning and tagging. Aida knew well enough that the collections rarely went according to plan. The organisms often utilized defense mechanisms and survival strategies to avoid capture. Nonetheless, it would give them some base-line information about the ecology of the surface.
    The majority of organisms were camouflaged within the crimson and magenta flora. Most had some sort of shimmer to their appearance, though they still couldn’t isolate the source. One insect-like creature with long, narrow appendages was bright yellow and nearly a foot long.
    “This one lacks the camouflage of most of the others. You think it could have some sort of toxin?” Calvin asked as he made his notes.
    “It’s a definite possibility. In the rain forests of South America, poisonous frogs were brightly colored to warn against predators. If that’s the case here, then this insect has a large predator that we haven’t yet identified.”
    Calvin wrinkled his nose. “Large enough to eat that? It would be huge.”
    “That should make it easier to find,” she reminded him, though they’d been at it all day and seen nothing that would qualify. Still, the probe had another 400 organisms in the first scan alone. There was still plenty of work to do before they could identify the predator.
    “My place tonight?” Calvin asked out of the blue, shattering the mirage of productivity.
    If she was honest with herself, she would have jumped up and down and screamed with excitement. Of course she wanted to see him tonight. Every night. All the nights left on this miserable hunk of mineral floating through space.
    But she couldn’t do everything she wanted.
    “Sal asked about me this morning. He noticed I wasn’t eating the provisions.”
    Calvin’s jaw set tight. “You think we should take a break for a while?”
    No. Never. “I don’t know. It’s just, he hasn’t asked about me in so long, I thought he would never notice.”
    “He’s an intelligent man, and you’re a ravishing woman. I’m not surprised he noticed.” Calvin reached out and covered her hand with his.
    “I am,” she admitted. It wasn’t that long ago that she’d tried to make him notice. And now, when she no longer wanted his attention, he tried to give it.
    “Then take some time. Take as much time as you need. I’m not going anywhere.”

 

MABLE
    CPI-700, NEW YORK
    SEPTEMBER 2, 2232
     
    Arrenstein commed her three times in a row, but she was busy. She didn’t want to answer or hear him gripe about hanging up on him last night. She and Theo had been up all night at work analyzing the bug dust, and they were finally getting some meaningful results.
    “There’s a large quantity of iron with smaller amounts of manganese, lithium, and calcium. What the hell is this thing?” Theo asked no one in particular as the display filled with the bug’s metal composition test results.
    Then an ecomm arrived, blocking the entire bottom half of the display. From Arrenstein, it had no text, just an image. Mable had to tap on it to see it.
    A woman, early twenties maybe, lay on a bed with white sheets. The entire right half of her face was little more than a lumpy purple contusion, like she’d been struck dozens of times or involved in some sort of pod accident. Her left arm was bent at the wrong angle and wrapped with thick white fabric. Probably broken.
    Mable couldn’t decide why he would send her such a thing. Then she saw the hair. The long blonde hair, perfectly