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mission."
Wentz stalled. "I assumed that the mission is, well, to test fly the OEV."
"Not exactly," Ashton admitted. "There's something else you need to know, sir. It's much more
important than you, me, the OEV it's more important than anything."
"That's why we need you," Jones added, "and that's why we need you now."
A long silence hung over the office. Wentz sat there, waiting.
"Are you gonna tell me or do I have to guess?"
It was the sudden solemness of Jones and Ashton that most bothered Wentz. He didn't like the
feeling at all.
"Follow me please, General."
Wentz followed Jones out while Ashton paused for the slightest moment then likewise left the
in-briefing room.
Wentz didn't see her pop the tiny pill in her mouth.
«« »»
Jones led them down another antiseptically white corridor lined with white key-padded doors. A
maintenance tech at one of the doors began to snap to attention but Jones sluffed, "As you were,
as you were, Sergeant."
The tech was about to paint something on the door, and Wentz couldn't help but notice. Shiny
black letters on the door read: BRIGADIER GENERAL W. FARRINGTON, but then the tech
painted over the W. FARRINGTON and raised a stencil that read J. WENTZ.
"You guys are a scream," Wentz said, chuckling. "But I'm telling you, you can hard-sell me all
day long but I'm still retiring tomorrow."
Ashton and Jones said nothing.
Jones unlocked another door, marked simply CONFERENCE. Inside, Wentz noticed several
chart graphs and murals, as if for a presentation. One mural seemed to be an artist's depiction of
some sort of space-flight mission. A bulletin board read:
-QSR4 JOINT JAPAN/RUSSIAN SAMPLE-RETURN MISSION
-SCHEDULE COURSE AND PERIHELIC TRAJECTORY (EST. 62,700,000 MILES).
-PROJECTED COST (US EQ.) $34 BILLION
-PROJECTED TIME EXPENDITURE (IN FLIGHT): 19 MONTHS.
Wentz sat down, ready to listen.
Jones began, "When the so-called Mars Meteor, designate ALH-84001, was found in August,
1996, and...well, you remember the news."
"Sure," Wentz recalled. "Fossilized microbacteria, fairly solid proof that there was rudimentary,
one-celled life on Mars, something like 3.5 billion years ago."
"Yes. After which every country in the world with space flight capability began to draw up plans
for further investigations of the Martian surface. The ultimate end, of course, is a sample/return
mission quite sophisticated and very expensive, but this would enable a robotic surface device to
collect soil samples, which would later be returned to earth by way of a staged orbiter rocket sent
afterwards..."
"QSR4 is the codename for one such plan," Ashton augmented, "and it's already in service "
Wentz pinched his chin. "I haven't heard about any "
"No, you haven't, General, and neither has the rest of the world. The Japanese agreed to finance
the Russian Space Administration on the mission you see outlined on the mural."
"Why would the Japanese bankroll the Russians? Our aerospace technology is better than theirs."
"Not so much as you think," Jones said, "and, additionally, no other space administration in the
world trusts us. They all think we've got field operatives planting discreet probe-implants and
sensors on all their space hardware."
Wentz looked duped. "Why would they think that?"
"Well...because it's true. We've been doing it for decades saves us lots of money. Why send up
our own missions when we can tap and analyze their findings?"
"Cloak and Dagger is alive and well," Wentz supposed. "The United States the world's best
friend."
Ashton ignored the sarcasm. "General, a year ago, the joint Japanese/Russian mission was
initiated. A collection probe QSR4 landed in the Tharsus Bulge on Mars and immediately began
to relay findings back to earth "
"And to us," Wentz finished, "from the taps we secretly planted in their probe."
"Yes. And what the collector discovered was more than bacterial fiber fossils but...live bacteria.
"You're not joking, are you?" Wentz asked.
"No, General, we're not," Jones said. "The mission's analysis sensors positively identified the
organisms as live. Our own analysis of the data, however, unbeknownst to the Japanese and the
Russians, indicates quite a bit more. Our own spectrographic survey of the probe's findings was
processed through CDC and Langley, and the bacteria reveals characteristics consistent with a
cytomegalic mutation."
Wentz frowned. "Do I look like a microbiologist?"
Ashton crossed her legs in the chair. "What he means, sir, is that the CDC analysis of the
molecular specs strongly suggests that the Tharsus bacteria is host to a virus more hazardous than
anything ever found on earth."
Wentz stared at them through a dark interlude.
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