Devlin's Team # 3: Medusan Mutation

By Lazette Gifford

How much of a shock would it take to bring down civilization on the oldest colony? Devlin is afraid she's going to find out when a plague strikes Terra Nova, unless she and her team can stop the spread of something no one truly understands.

• Language: English
• Publisher: A Conspiracy of Authors
• Release date: Jun 13, 2014
• ISBN: 9781936507498

Lazette Gifford

Lazette is an avid writer as well as the owner of Forward Motion for Writers and the owner/editor of Vision: A Resource for Writers.It's possible she spends too much time with writers.And cats.

Book preview

Devlin's Team # 3

Medusan Mutation

By

Lazette Gifford

Copyright 2014 Lazette Gifford

An ACOA Publication

www.aconspiracyofauthors.com

ISBN: 978-1-936507-49-8

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Copyright 2014 Lazette Gifford

An ACOA Publication

www.aconspiracyofauthors.com

ISBN: 978-1-936507-49-8

Cover Art by Lazette Gifford

Dedication

Thank you to everyone who has read the Devlin novels and have let me know if they liked the characters and the stories. Don't forget to leave reviews, my friends. Indie authors live for them

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

About the Author

Preview -- Devlin #4: Missing Persons

Chapter One

The dirty crust of snow and ice crunched beneath Devlin's boots, the sounds picked up by an array of sensors throughout the loose, white safety suit that hung over her, a seemingly insubstantial protection against…

Devlin didn't know what was out there.

She stared down the street past the fake facades of buildings pretending to be an old earth city -- past the three bodies sprawled in the road -- and towards the frozen bay where a dark squall line of clouds swept across the gray horizon. She could hear the brisk wind whispering through the communit of her safety suit and shivered, even though she couldn't feel the cold.

Devlin hated this assignment. She drew her gaze back from the distant clouds to the snow-swept town around her. Three bodies in the street and another to the right, and ... Devlin had stopped counting the bodies yesterday and left that work for the military.

Devlin crossed to one of a couple dozen shops on this street, this one a replica of an old-fashioned Earth market. The front window showed the brightly lit interior and neatly arranged rows of boxed and canned foodstuffs made to look like items from hundreds of years ago. Tourists would love a shop like this, she thought.

A dead woman lay on the floor by the counter. Devlin could clearly see the burn mark, a dark blemish against the beige of the woman's jacket and right over the heart. She tried to trace the trajectory and tried to imagine how the woman stood before she died.

Devlin had done the same with a dozen others today, and several dozens more the day before. She finally turned away in frustration and looked up and down the street again, the cam in her helmet recording images of the inexplicable.

The entire town had died: Over eight hundred people, all of them shot at close range by a laser pistol.

Not one of them had fought. Not one had tried to run away. No one panicked at the deaths of the others. Someone had simply walked through the town and killed them all, and walked away again. They hadn't found the killer with the laser to his own heart. He wasn't here.

Frustration and anger boiled through her as she left the shop and stared down the street towards the emptiness of the water-filled bay, though it provided no peaceful scene as the storm raged across the water, an odd dichotomy to the deathly stillness of Zenith.

She needed answers before word of this seeped out into the Terra Nova population and panic spread. She needed some reason for this to have happened, and so far she had found none at all.

I have my readings, Cha said, startling her. Let's get back to the dome. I'm done for the day.

Good. She looked around. The suit-to-suit communits made telling direction and distance difficult since they kept the same volume within half a kilometer. She keyed on the directional until she saw the two. They carefully moved past an old man sitting on the steps, and she wondered what he'd seen in those last moments before someone put a laser pistol to his chest and pulled the trigger.

She watched her two companions, glad to see movement in a place where everything else remained dead and still.

When they caught up with her, the three started toward the military base set up on the edge of the bay. She wanted inside the dome and out of the safety suit, even if it meant putting her in close confines with the rather unhappy Lt. Leta. The woman was a damned good military officer, and Devlin's quick check of her background showed she had handled unusual assignments before. Like Devlin, she wasn't happy with this assignment and Devlin couldn't blame her for her short temper. However, she did resent the visible disappointment when Devlin's team didn't immediately come up with insights or answers. If this had been easy, she would have found the answers before Devlin, Cha and Dancer arrived.

I'm done with this sector, Cha said, glancing over his shoulder as they walked down the street. She could barely see the outline of his face through the helmet shield, but she knew from the tone that he frowned. Lt. Leta can come in now and do the cleanup.

Good. It will give Leta and her people something to do tomorrow, she said. Probably not a politic thing to say over the suit comm system, which was tied back to the dome. She quickly added, It's got to be hell, just sitting around, waiting.

Cha agreed with a slight grunt. She didn't ask if he had found anything of interest. He would have given her a sign, even if he -- wiser than her -- watched what he said over the open system.

Dancer said nothing at all, walking behind the two of them. This was, by far, the worst case she'd worked on since the three of them had formed a team.

Cha stopped as they reached the corner and looked back, shaking his head, the suit helmet bobbing from side to side. Darkness hides within darkness; the entry to every mystery.

Cha? she asked.

Trying a touch of Tao to see if it helps, he answered and finally gave a very Cha-like shrug. I want answers.

She looked back as well. The streets of Zenith had been laid out in an old Earth style to go along with the nostalgic replica of a time few colonists would really have wanted to live in. Even the dozen aircars had been modeled to look like old ground cars from pre-slide Earth. Zenith had put on a show for tourists, but those picket fences were made of preform plastic, and the bricks of the shop buildings were a molded façade. The sun, dulled by the cover of clouds, cast alien shadows on the out-of-place scene.

All of this pretense for tourists who came every summer, lounging on the beaches, shopping in the quaint stores, and staying in hotels which wisely did not forgo every modern convenience. The locals played their old-fashioned games for profit, but she'd read the records and knew many of the locals vacationed out on Paradise, in real civilization.

The tourists didn't come during the harsh, northern Terra Nova winter; a good thing, or else they could have been looking at thousands dead, rather than hundreds. So far, they'd managed to keep this disaster quiet with the lie of a big storm in the area and communications down. They couldn't keep the secret much longer.

She and her two companions reached the end of the street and took a dozen stairs down to the wind-swept golden shore. Even that was artificial: A factory to the south made the sand for Zenith and shipped several metric tons up every summer to replenish and extend the shoreline a few more meters.

Nothing in this place was real.

Snow and ice covered the boats sitting high up from the shore, the wind battering against them and wearing the paint away, dulling the bright blues and greens to a dismal grey. Stacks of lounge chairs leaned hard up against the retaining wall, and she tried desperately to imagine them spread out across the sand, the sun bright and people laughing.

She only saw ghosts, shadows and the faces of the dead, all of whom were looking at her, waiting for answers.

She began to walk more quickly across the slick sand and rock, hoping Dancer didn't have trouble keeping up. They rounded a curve, and finally, the three prefab gray military domes came into view, nestled down near the ice-covered water of the bay. The buildings looked so out of place that they drew her like a warm fire on a cold day, such a welcome change from the pretended world of Zenith. The first held quarters and labs, the second a temporary morgue and the last small building housed a kennel for the numerous pets found unhurt and wandering through Zenith. They, like everything else so far, provided no answers to what had happened.

Going through the airlock and decontamination unit always annoyed Devlin, though she understood the need. Something had kept those people from running or fighting, and each time she stood in the glow of the unit, she hoped the system detected anything out of place that would give them a clue. Bacteria, drugs or an infestation of some airborne creature -- anything would be welcome.

Cha made a last check on the seals of his specimens while Dancer stood by the wall, staring at his feet. This wasn't the first murder case they'd handled as a team, and he had seen death enough in his former occupation -- murder too when it came to it. Being a Bear Dancer hadn't been a safe job. But like her, he found this one troubling on several levels. Cha apparently tried to stay focused on his work, but she'd seen the bleak look of worry in his dark eyes as well.

The inner airlock door slid back to show a chaotic maze of prefab walls, desks, and military people, all illuminated by excessively bright light-tubes suspended by silver chains at every two meters. Devlin could hear the click and buzz of a dozen computers as well as the duller mutter of voices. She welcomed the noise after the silence outside. The opaque walls blocked the view and gave her a moment of respite from something she couldn't forget.

Devlin slipped off her helmet and shook lank, blonde hair from her eyes. She could see Lt. Leta talking to her second, Corporal Marsit. The man saluted and turned back to some work, while Leta began making her way towards the airlock. A shame since Devlin found it far easier to deal with the tall, easygoing Marsit than with his commanding officer.

The woman expertly moved through the maze of desks, cots, and partitions and never once having to backtrack. Devlin watched the feat with admiration, even though the woman's approach didn't promise any good news.

The dark-skinned, stocky lieutenant had an abrupt military style that Devlin found annoying, though she had worked with worse career officers. Leta expected perfect discipline from her own fifty soldiers, but she quickly abandoned the idea of demanding the same from Devlin's small team. Devlin suspected someone had warned her that despite the lack of a uniform, Devlin technically out-ranked her. As long as Leta did her job and left Devlin to hers, there would be no question of who had command of this base.

A glance at Cha saw him frowning, helmet in hand. Dancer's headpiece had caught a strand of his long, curly hair and he looked so frustrated Devlin quickly reached to help before he yanked the hair out by the roots.

Thanks, he said with a sigh of embarrassment. Maybe I should cut it all off.

Rather than have me help you? Devlin let her fingers toy with a curl, and he looked at her with a faint smile. Don't do anything rash. We won't be in the suits for much longer.

Wishful thinking on her part, she knew. They might be here for months if some answer didn't turn up. She tried to be optimistic, but that proved harder every time they went out to look over the site and came back with nothing that helped.

By the time Devlin turned back, Leta had arrived and stood impatiently to the side, awaiting notice.

How is it going, Lieutenant? she asked, just to get the woman started. She'd already learned that Leta would offer nothing unless asked. Have your people found anything new?

Sorry, no. Leta's clipped Ceti accent made her abrupt manner seem all the worse. Hoped you'd found something? Any sign of drugs in the water samples?

None in any of the tests I've done so far, Cha reluctantly admitted. He stared at the case in his hands as though he still hoped for an answer there. I'm going to run more tests now that I'm back with the better equipment. I assume none of your people found anything today, either?

Nothing, but none of them are renowned scientists, either. Leta stared at him in open accusation. Devlin bit back an urge to reply in kind, reminding herself of the close quarters they shared in what could be a long stay. We have to come up with something soon, Devlin. Terra Nova's Vidline News finally picked up on the quarantine, and they're starting to ask questions. I've also had a request for information from TNI -- Terra Nova Investigations. Neither group is going to back off now.

Damn. The news cooled her anger. She didn't want a panic on this world. We're lucky the first person in here was ex-military and had the wisdom to contact the right people immediately. Just the same, I'm surprised we've kept it quiet this long.

The woman who gave them the news might not be pleased about it though. She was staying with the pets in the other dome. Devlin had met her once, though she remained in her safety suit.

Not much interest in an out-of-season tourist trap, Dancer offered as he and Cha finally shed the white safety suits. Devlin did the same, grateful to be out of it.

One more thing, Leta said. She glanced at her watch. We've got a shuttle coming down --

The timing was good. Devlin could hear the distant roar of the engine, growing until it overcame the whisper of the wind against the dome and then finally loud enough that it drowned out all the other sounds around them. Leta glared upward at the gray ceiling, but Devlin cast an anxious glance at the seams. So did others.

The shuttle barely settled for more than a minute before lifting again, the engines never even cycling down. The crew must have shoved their load out the door and took off again immediately, heading back to the IWC Marea in orbit over them, ready to offer whatever assistance they could -- at a distance. Devlin hadn't found a reason to call on them and wondered what Leta had requested, other than to have the three of them removed.

The thunder of the engines took longer to recede as the craft fought against the gravity well on the way up. The shuttle would go through decontamination when it reached the ship. So far, they had no reports of trouble there. Devlin stopped worrying about them.

Devlin shook her head to clear the ringing in her ears and looked back at Leta to find her frowning still. New equipment? she asked.

New personnel, Leta replied and waved to the airlock, already in the process of letting someone into the decon unit.

Specialist? Devlin asked. She hated trying to get answers from military people who too often only wanted to offer the minimum of information.

Of sorts, I guess. Leta looked at her, the frown never wavering. The Inner Worlds Council has sent us a psi.

Devlin made an involuntary, and impolitic, sound between dislike and disbelief. The reaction drew Leta's attention, and both Cha and Dancer looked surprised.

Problem? Dancer asked.

Just experience. I worked with a damn good psi out in the Gemini Fringe about five years ago, and on another mass murder case.

Difficult to work with? Leta asked quickly. A glance at the airlock showed it nearly through the cycle.

He cooperated, but that's the best I can say for him. He also got so involved in the feel of the case he would have walked straight off a three hundred foot cliff if I hadn't caught hold of him before he took the last step. Devlin stopped and grinned suddenly, just as the last light cleared on the airlock. We did find the murderer at the bottom of the cliff, though.

Finding the killer that easily would be a relief on this case, Leta admitted and Devlin nodded agreement. It was the first time they'd agreed on anything.

The airlock slid open, and the newcomer stepped inside. He dropped a plain, brown case by the door and quickly shed his helmet. Strands of dark brown hair fell forward, and he shook them back with a nervous twitch of his hand as he looked up.

Devlin had reached out to shake hands. She stopped short --

You really don't have to look so appalled, Devlin. He smiled, white teeth flashing in a thin dark face. He hadn't aged much in five years. Oh, been telling stories about me, I see.

Leta looked startled and stepped backward, but Cha and Dancer laughed until Devlin turned a meaningful glare on the two. She returned her attention to their new personnel, wishing she had somehow been mistaken.

If you're going to tell people about me, you should have mentioned I'm the strongest psi alive, he said with the same damn, condescending tone that had put her teeth on edge the first time they'd met.

Somehow it slipped my mind. For some reason, the answer won a smile from him. What the hell are you doing here, Keri? I heard you had retired!

I did. The smile faded as he shoved the helmet onto a hook by the door. Your damned IWCS people came to Earth and dragged me out of my quiet, peaceful chateau. I did not want to come here.

She recognized the sign of genuine anger and felt sorry for Keri, even if she didn't want to work with him. Maybe he would find them a quick answer and save them both from any added aggravation of having to spend time together.

What did they tell you on the way in? Devlin asked. She grabbed her suit, winning sounds of discouragement from Cha and Dancer.

They told me nothing, of course. They went strictly by the rules. I spent the entire trip in quarantine, including on the shuttle.

Strictly alone, and put in a cell usually used for criminals. She winced. At least it was a short trip from Earth to Terra Nova. She remembered that the close proximity to criminal minds, their thoughts left behind, muddled him. He had picked up on what she'd said about him because it was so strong, but he likely hadn't picked up more than a general feeling of unease about anything else, yet.

Put your helmet back on. We're going out.

Devlin, he began to protest.

"Put the helmet back on. She stressed each word and met his angry look with one of determination. Don't start arguing with me already, Keri. I want you straight out before you pick up on something in here."

He held her stare, his dark eyes never blinking -- but even so, he looked away first with a sigh. Devlin had considerably more practice at staring down people.

Why did it have to be you, Devlin? He grabbed his helmet. I could have easily worked with anyone but you.

Funny. I was thinking the same thing -- but you know that already, right?

That won another smile, though a weary one. Leta had reached for her own suit and looked relieved to see Devlin take the psi in hand. Dancer and Cha had picked up their suits as well. They probably all hoped Keri would find an answer that had eluded them so far.

Keri ibn Karim, this is Lieutenant Leta, Devlin belated introduced the two. She's in charge of the military personnel here. And these are my team, Etech Cha Hao Chan and Dancer.

Your team? He stopped, holding the helmet over his head, in a comical gesture of surprise. I seem to remember you swearing you always worked alone.

And you swore you were retiring.

This wasn't my idea. He pulled the helmet down with a quick, angry snap and his fingers clicked the seals closed. She understood that he didn't want to be here.

Well, none of them really did, but they would stay. Devlin had to believe they could find the answers, even with Keri's help. He gave her hope.

Keri glanced at her, and she could clearly see the frown through the helmet.

Are you a native of Earth, Keri? Cha asked.

Native? No. I just retired there.

Isn't that expensive? I'm a native, and I know taxes are twice as high for anyone who isn't.

Psi's are rare enough that we're paid very well. He gave an odd shrug, and Devlin had the feeling the wealth didn't really matter to him.

You aren't with the military? Cha asked. Wise man to keep them all thinking of something else.

No. Keri glanced back at the others, and the look lingered on Leta for a moment before he turned back toward the door. The military employs me for jobs, but they never did very well by the few psi's they had in the ranks.

Leta straightened, her head snapping up and her eyes narrowing. Wonderful. Keri made friends everywhere he went.

Let's just get this over with and discuss the rest of this in letters or something, shall we? Devlin said, urging the others forward as the door started to open.

Keri unexpectedly chuckled. It's like we've never been apart, Devlin. What happens if I get in too deep this time? Are you going to let me walk off the edge?

He turned before she could answer and stepped out into the winter wind, leaving her with a sudden, unexpected worry for Keri. She remembered how far he'd been dragged into the last case they'd shared, suffering through the pain and fear of the seventeen dead, their last frightened thoughts, and the killer's rage as well.

Devlin was about to walk him into the murder of over eight hundred people, and her mouth went dry at the thought of what this would do to him. She even started to stop him, but he'd already moved away. She hadn't sent him here, and ... and they badly needed answers.

Where? he asked.

There, she said and pointed up a close incline and a set of stairs. To the park."

Keri nodded and started away, signaling the others back. Cha fell in beside Leta, silent as they headed across the treacherously slick and icy sand. Dancer kept pace with Devlin. He'd already gotten used to the slightly heavier gravity of Terra Nova and even turned a near slip into a graceful movement that reminded her again of Bear Dancing. Dancer was more than just his name.

She trusted Dancer who had a good instinct for their work, though no formal training. Cha, whose training was somewhat different, still overlapped her own in odd ways. Devlin had been teamed with some of the best agents in the IWCS at one time or another, but she'd never trusted any of them like she did Cha and Dancer.

Oddly, she realized she trusted Keri as well. He was good at his work, but she preferred computers and printouts to a psi's feelings. Maybe that made her just as bigoted as Leta. She hadn't realized it until now.

Damn fake sand, Keri suddenly mumbled, the sound too clear in Devlin's ears. I can feel it all the way through my boots.

Feel it? Cha asked. He sounded intrigued, her little Etech who loved answers to every mystery he found. The question made her smile, just a little.

Fake, Keri replied, and he kicked a spray of golden crystals into the air. There was never any life in this. On earth, the sand is made of all sorts of little pieces of the world. Natural. This is manufactured from plastic!

Glad you picked that up, Devlin said, a touch of laughter back in her voice.

Not burnt out yet, he mumbled, probably forgetting the communit for a moment.

He'd told her that overworked psi's could burn out. They wouldn't lose the power, but rather their minds. Strong psi's often retired young to some quiet piece of the universe, as Keri had done before they dragged him back, despite what this might do to him.

If this had been any less troubling of a case, she would have packed him up and sent him back again right now. However, she couldn't deny that he brought a whisper of hope.

Keri had tried to explain the process to her once, about how thought energies formed and a psi's susceptibility to their frequencies. The thoughts tended to remain where created, and the less powerful ones faded quickly. However, something emotionally charged might remain in place for years. She wasn't a scientist, but what he'd said made the process seem less magical and random.

And it was why he walked ahead of them because otherwise he might have passed through their own thoughts and learned more than she wanted him to know right now. No one had been to the park since the first days here. Most of what the others had felt would have dispersed, helped by the shifting sands.

They reached the sandy knoll by the park and Devlin finally hurried forward to be near Keri when he came up to the top and the view of the park beyond.

If this is the best you can do for a cliff, it won't work, Devlin, Keri said, taking the last few steps with her. I wouldn't break an ankle if I jumped, let alone my neck.

She would have laughed, except that they came in sight of the park now. The chains on the swing sets made soft, bell-like noises as they moved restlessly in the wind, as though caught by the hands of ghosts come out to play.

Oh damn, he whispered, and she heard his breath catch as he looked from one body to the next. He could see seven from this viewpoint, including the four young children. She looked back at him and saw his face had paled considerably.

He bit at his lower lip and then started down into the park, heading for the nearest body. He knelt and brushed his gloved hand across the arm of a woman; her dark hair had a halo of ice crystals now, and her skin had turned blue with the cold. A hole had burnt through her left temple.

Keri frowned. He moved his hand to her face and sat there for a long time before he drew away, shaking his head. He bent and touched the face of the man beside her and sat still for a very long, silent time.

This was not how he'd acted on their last case, and the odd actions gave her reason to worry again.

He finally sat back on his heels and shook his head, still pale, but perplexed as well.

Keri? she dared asked and dropped down on her heels beside him.

Let me try a couple of the others.

She helped him to his feet, and he took a surprisingly tight grip on her arm. She remembered how he had hated to be touched and to touch others the last time. Did he cling to the living this time?

She happened to see Leta whose glare plainly showed anger that he hadn't given her an answer. Devlin hadn't expected anything on this case would be that easy.

Are you all right, Keri? Cha asked softly from nearby.

All right. He nodded and looked back at Leta as he let go of Devlin's arm. The woman's blatant emotions were obvious even to her.

Keri said nothing, though. He crossed to the nearest child and knelt once more. Keri moved from the boy's arm to his small face and finally laid his