The Plague Forge [ARC] Read Online Free PDF

and walked away.”
    She was nodding as he spoke. “And I wouldn’t have blamed you, Skyler. You’re right. Knowing this somehow makes the task ahead seem worth the blood, sweat, and tears I fear will be required. It’s like …”
    “Like the surge of energy you get when you know the end of the race is just over that next hill.”
    Tania grinned at the analogy. “I’ve never run a race,” she said.
    He laughed.
    “I was going to say it’s like piecing together a jigsaw puzzle, when you reach that moment where suddenly the pile of remaining pieces seems … manageable. A narrowing of possibilities.”
    “Your analogy is better,” he said. Her smile at the compliment carried something more. An implied thank-you for swallowing his opinion of Neil. Skyler decided then that he’d keep his revelations to himself. It wouldn’t do any good to point out to Tania what he now understood. She knew it, too, probably, and had enough on her mind already. Neil was dead. What was done was done.
    “I brought you a present,” Skyler said.
    “Chocolate?”
    “Er …”
    “I’m kidding. A little. What’d you bring?”
    Skyler stepped aside and watched her reaction as she saw the black case just behind him.
    A split second of confusion crossed her face, then her eyes darted back to Skyler. “Is it … which one?”
    “The red one. Belém. The triangle.”
    She folded her arms across her chest. “And you’re lecturing me about reckless behavior?”
    “There was nothing reckless about it.”
    Tania rolled her eyes. “How’d you do it?”
    “We just went in and asked. Nicely.”
    “Uh-huh.”
    “There may have been some explosives involved. A lot of explosives, actually.”
    “Perhaps you can share the details another time.” She patted the sheets next to her.
    Skyler sat, and they both stared at the case for a long moment in silence.
    “I’ve been racking my mind,” she said finally, “trying to imagine what possible motive lies behind all this. What the Builders are up to, I mean really up to.”
    “I think I’ve figured it out,” Skyler said. “They’re a race so advanced the only amusement left for them is to pull elaborate pranks on their neighbors.”
    She elbowed him. Then she stood and walked to the case. She ran a single finger along the surface of the thing, as if trying to feel some energy from the object within. “I supposed the more pressing question,” she said with her back to him, “is what do we do now?”
    “Tania,” Skyler said, heat rising around his collar.
    “Is it wise to install these things in the ship the moment we find them?”
    “Tania.”
    “Or, should we hold on to them until we know more about their purpose.”
    “Um, Tania.”
    She glanced over her shoulder at him. “What?”
    “Your gown is open at the back.”
    A high-pitched yelp rang out across the room. Tania whirled, clutched the garment tightly at her spine, and returned to her seat, all in the span of a heartbeat.
    Skyler stared at the curtain next to the bed for a long moment. He studied the ceiling, estimated the sizes of the various pipes that snaked across it.
    “Would you give me a minute?” she eventually asked.
    He stood and walked away, heard the sound of the curtain drawing closed behind him. Skyler grimaced, stifled a smile, and crossed the infirmary to where Dr. Brooks leaned against a table, studying a slate. Skyler introduced himself formally and shook the woman’s hand.
    “How’s she doing, really?” he asked.
    “Tania? She’s fine, but you don’t need to tell her that. I’ve only kept her here so she can get some rest.”
    “She looks exhausted.”
    “You should have seen her a few days ago. She slept twelve hours last night, which is as much as she’s been getting in an entire week lately. Now if she’d just eat.”
    “So she’s okay?”
    Dr. Brooks nodded. “We’re always concerned about possible brain damage due to oxygen deprivation, and she was certainly in the