Paradise Blight

Chapter 12

The Legion activated in yet another area. They were not originally programmed for the recent sporadic signaling, but the signal, by definition, expressed the will of the architect and the Legion must obey. Enough awoke here to form a network and launched the deadly Swarm.

[Mora]

A call through my com-viewer woke me up, pulling me out of a pleasant dream. Since Gan and I reconciled, the accusing nightmare retreated back into whatever recess it hid.

So early? What did Vic want?

I answered. "Vic?"

"Mora," he said with a breathy and urgent voice. "The blight... It hit part of the north settlement and took out some of the grain fields. And Mora... There were two fatalities."

I shuddered as a dreadful chill gripped me. My worst fears had become true.

"Mora?" Vic asked after a silent moment.

"Is it spreading?"

"No. It came on hard and fast, but then just stopped. I've never seen anything like this. And whatever killed those two poor souls does not seem to be contagious now."

"Okay," I said, rubbing my forehead. "I'll get there as soon as I can. Try to quarantine the blighted areas."

I took no pleasure that Vic had finally understood the importance of this issue. After waking Liz to inform her, we quickly agreed on a course of action.

I banged on Gan's door. The sleep in his eyes disappeared when he saw the urgency in my expression.

"Mora, what is it?"

"The blight struck Zion. We need to get over there." His eyebrows shot up, but I knew what concerned him. "Don't worry, I learned my lesson. Liz is sending a flyer to pick us up and we are taking an armed guard with us."

He smiled faintly. "You already know me too well."

After a quick breakfast, I gathered the supplies I wanted to take and walked to the designated airlift pad beside the project offices. Gan joined me a few minutes later with his backpack slung over a shoulder.

As we sat on the ground waiting for our ride, he took my hands in his. "Mora, we don't know what we are walking into, but just be careful. Okay?"

"I promise." Gan's concern warmed my heart.

In a few minutes, the flyer landed in a swirl of dust. A flyer was not much different from a hovercar, both having four corner-mounted lift fans, but those on a flyer were much more powerful so that it, well, flied. A burly man with a sidearm strapped to his belt opened the gullwing door, motioning us in, and we quickly threw our stuff in the back and took our seats.

On the way, I explained the situation to our security guard, Moshe, taking solace knowing that he and Gan would be at my side.

We arrived at Zion early-afternoon under a dreary, overcast sky. As we made our way to the project offices, the flyer took off again, with the pilot promising to return when we called him. But Vic was nowhere to be found, and it concerned me that he had not answered any further calls since this morning.

We walked around the greenhouses and past the orchards toward the water tanks. Gan allowed himself a small grin of satisfaction, noting the overflowing tanks — confirmation that the irrigation pump still worked.

But his expression turned dour as we approached the crop fields, half of which were lost to the blight, the plants twisted and blackened as if by some ancient curse. The blight extended into the grassland and tree groves beyond the fields, killing everything within its scope. Yet nearby plants in adjoining fields, and even in parts of the same field, appeared healthy and unaffected.