Mission: Planet Biter (Veslor Mates #4)(8)
Maith turned away, lifting a data pad from a nearby table and tapping at it. Long moments passed.
The female jerked, gasping, drawing Roth’s attention.
“What’s wrong? I’m holding your hand. I’m here.”
“Something jabbed me.”
“Apologies. I needed blood to test,” Maith said softly.
“It is fine,” Roth assured her. “Keep holding onto my hand, Vera.”
Time crawled by until finally, Maith turned. “The computer has identified what drug she is on.”
“Fix her.”
“I can’t. There’s an Earth company name assigned to it but it’s listed as an experimental drug that failed testing trials on Earth and was banned from use by their people. No other information is available about it.”
Roth didn’t like anything he’d heard. “What else?”
Maith set down the pad and went to a screen across the room, going to work at that station. “A Dr. Josie Hazel made notes. I’m reading them but the translation program I’m using to read their language is slow.” Maith paused for long minutes, then snarled.
The female on the bed whimpered, turning toward Roth and pressing against his suit. He reached out with his free hand, stroking her back with his glove. She seemed to calm at his touch.
Roth had no patience left. The female was highly distressed. Maith needed to find a way to help her. It bothered him, seeing her so terrified. “What have you learned?”
Maith turned to hold his gaze. “It seems that they were purposely exposed to this illegal drug by an unknown source. Dr. Hazel believed it was an act of terrorism but had no idea who would want them dead. The humans began to hunt for how they were being exposed, but their minds were affected too severely by the time they realized what had happened.
“The drug made it impossible for them to accomplish tasks. Patients were exhibiting various symptoms, mainly seeing things that weren’t there, drastic mood swings, irrational thinking, and failing vision with muscle spasms.” He paused. “It’s why this female is shaking. The humans couldn’t locate the source of the exposure to stop it, had no way to leave the planet or to survive outside of this structure. All they could do was wait for help to arrive. The doctor finally implemented a full lockdown to separate the humans to slow the deaths.”
Clark Yenna entered the room—and stopped abruptly. “What’s going on? Is she diseased? Contagious?” He paused. “Why is there a body on the floor?”
Maith gave him a quick rundown of what they’d learned. “We need to transport this female to Defcon Red’s Med Bay, which is more advanced than this facility, and the company on Earth that created this drug needs to be contacted to learn more about it. We also must find out what the source of exposure was down here. The humans could not. And no one from Defcon Red can remove their suits while here or link to this facility to replace their water or air supply to their suits. Those could be compromised. We will need to execute full decontamination on everyone who has entered this place before they remove their suits or step foot back on Defcon Red.”
Clark grunted. “Why full decontamination? Won’t the suits protect us?”
Maith lifted one of his gloved hands. “It’s possible the drug attaches to solid surfaces. The drug could have been spread on surfaces, like paint, and transferred through touch. It could be stuck to the exterior of our suits. I’ve seen a poison spread that way once on an alien outpost. They didn’t like outsiders. It was placed on all walls, doors, and furniture.”
“Got it,” Clark sighed. “We’d be exposed taking off our suits if they aren’t cleaned first. I’m on it.” He frowned at Vera. “I’ll have Birch and his team’s medic take her up and hand her over to the doctors while we figure out this mess and how it all happened. All the bodies need to be bagged and tagged, too, for autopsies and retrieval, to send them home to their families.”
Roth lowered his head, staring at the female curled against him, clutching his hand. Then he looked back at Clark. “I need to be the one to take her.”
The male team leader tapped on his helmet control before speaking. “I’d rather your grouping stay down here. I know you boys are protective of women and I respect the hell out of you for it but the truth is, some of the teams aren’t handling this well. Jones puked inside his helmet and Ryan is spooked with all the bodies we’ve found. That woman is the only one we can rescue. Drak let me know they had tracking for life signs on the people living here. We’re up to twenty-eight bodies so far with more to find.” He pointed to the one on the floor. “Twenty-nine—and it makes thirty with the blonde out there sitting in the chair.”
Roth glanced down at the female. She wasn’t aware of what Clark had said, since the male had transmitted his voice inside their helmets only, via their coms. He had no idea how she’d react if she realized all the other humans were dead.
“This female is highly unstable and seems to have bonded to Roth,” Maith informed Clark. “She can’t be sedated. It’s not safe in her current condition. I’ve read the notes from the doctor in charge of this place. Any attempt at sedating the patients caused their vitals to crash.”
“Fuck,” Clark hissed. “What else?”
“Every time Roth releases the female, she believes she’s being attacked or loses her grip on reality. It’s important that we keep her calm until she’s stabilized. She’s suffering from malnutrition, dehydration, and dangerous levels of stress that could worsen her condition when she panics.”