Empire's Legacy

Chapter 11: Quarantine

Amy moved surreptitiously out of range of the vidscreen, where she could see but not be seen. Grey noticed but said nothing as the grainy image came up.

"This is Commander Mark Swann of the Commissioner ship Imperia. Thank you for halting your vessel."

"Mark," Grey said in surprise. "Excuse me—Commander Swann. I see you've come up in the world."

The ginger man on the vidscreen smiled grimly. "We all make our own way, Grey. Can I ask what your business is in this sector?"

"Salvage," Grey said promptly. "Following the winds. Heard rumor of pickings out near Delnai, thought we'd take a look."

"Can't let you do that, old friend."

"Why not?"

"Everything from here outwards along the galactic edge is under quarantine—all of the Resh, Shin, and Tav sectors. It's a nasty business."

Grey glanced at Amy. "Quarantine? For what?"

Swann ran a hand through his short hair. "There's some nasty, nasty thing that's hit the outliers, Grey. It's ugly. No one knows what it is or where it's come from—it appeared out of nowhere and hit them all at once. And people are dropping like flies."

"What planets, Mark?" Grey asked quietly. "What planets, specifically?"

"I'm sorry," Amy said before Swann could answer, stepping into view. "What can you tell us about the outbreak? What are the symptoms of the disease?"

Swann's eyes flicked from Grey to Amy. "Who the hell are you?"

"Let's just call me a specialist and leave it at that," she replied. "Answer the question, please."

Looking dubious, he said, "No one knows. It's flu; it's not flu, but something worse. People are fine and then there's blood coming out their eyes and ears. And then they die. Frankly, I don't really know. I'm a commander, not a doctor. I only know what I've heard—and frankly, it sounds like something made up to me."

Amy turned away from the screen and stepped close to Grey. "It's Warnao fever," she murmured, her breath hot against his ear. "Although how they've duplicated it and spread it across the outliers so quickly, and for what purpose, is beyond me. Grey?"

She took a step back and discovered that Grey's face had gone white. He bripped the back of Kate's chair tightly with both hands and stared at the vidscreen with haunted eyes.

"Mark," he whispered.

"I'm sorry, Grey," Swann said. "It's spread to Elderia as well."

Grey's knees buckled. Amy grabbed at his elbow as he fell, narrowly missing cracking his head on Kate's console; she sat him on the deck before turning to face Commander Swann.

"What's on Elderia?" she demanded.

"If Grey want to tell you, that's his business," Swann said. "He's an old friend. I've no intention to reveal his secrets—I'm doing him a favor saying as much as I have. As for your ship—make sure you don't pass the quarantine line, or you may find you'll never get back across it. Understood?"

"Yeah," Amy said. "Got it. Invisible line in space. Cross it and you're doomed. Ten-four." She made an mock salute and looked at Kate. "You know where it is?"

"They sent the coordinates," Kate said. "The entirety of the Resh, Shin, and Tav sectors are cut off." She turned teary eyes to Amy. "The outliers—there's no way to reach them at all."