The Destroyer of Worlds

"They are like wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shameless deeds, wandering stars for whom the gloom of darkness has been reserved forever." - Jude

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November 4

*** Coded message *** Dr. Demanjrick.... if you receive this message, send word. - signature lock Major Pepper Siamendes, Special Investigations Unit, Alliance Military - message ends ***

The phrase 'message was blocked' flashed upon the monitor.

I frowned.

Dr. Demanjrick was the lead medical researcher on the Saf Virus. The staff at the Zenobian embassy had initiated steps to gain her cooperation, samples of the original virus strain, and copies of early research into a cure. The doctor had indicated her willingness to work with us. However, the process came to a halt with the Laandsrat arrests, and so the file was passed to my desk.

"Find out why it was blocked," I said, "I will be in my office."

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The gathering of information was actually proceeding well.

The USD blockade had simplified matters considerably. While there were still blockade runners, the USD action had reduced trade and traffic to a crawl, making it much easier to monitor.

Dr. Westminster had started gathering samples of every cure as it became available, and a few in the development stages. And two reports arrived from Sgt. Gage MacArthur.

The first document was from his reconnaissance in the South of Araxes. It described some very unusual activity in the desert and indications of Guild involvement. The second report dealt with matters closer to home.

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Report:
To: Major P. Siamendes, SIU
Re: Unknown light, Heighliner sighting

While on ground patrol in Wadi Emet, noted a woman wandering the area. Did not approach subject. As I was observing, I noticed something above us. The object was low in the atmosphere and was able to be photographed from my position. I was also able to tap into a local satellite for higher up visuals. These are some stills from that observation.

During the information retrieval of these photos, I found some unusual images involving LilyBell Snoodle. I was able to grab a capture of that information before it disappeared. This looks to be of importance and felt it needed to be added to this report.

As I tracked the heighliner to its position, I observed a beam of intense light coming from it to the ground. Something was moving in the sand below it. A few minutes later, the worm rose up from the sand and almost looked like it was caught in the beam. I wasn't readily able to make anything out at first, then a shape almost looked like it was holding the worm in place.

It is not known exactly what happened, but after some three to four minutes the light dissipated. The worm was gone as were the shapes. I arrived at the location but found nothing more than a glassed area, which was still warm from the beam. No one was there. The winds were picking up and had blown away any tracks to or from there.

Note: Later investigation showed a few child sized tracks in the area sheltered from winds and sands. It could be the same child that has been seen wandering around Wadi Emet.

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Report:
To: Major P. Siamendes, SIU
Re: Virus cure research on the cruiser

Upon returning to the cruiser, Sun Tzu II, I was asked to watch over a shipment of medical containers coming in for Dr. Danick. She was given special clearance per military request. No other information was forthcoming. My attempt at getting at who had given the clearance was denied. In response to the cover up, I decided to go to the lab and get a few photos for documentation, in case there were repercussions.

When asked, the Doctor spoke of doing her research to help the infected people at no cost. Whoever is funding her must have high up connections. The materials and equipment here isn't something we carry on a cruiser. She appears to be pretty adamant about this cure being given freely to anyone who needs the vaccine. If so this might prove dangerous for her and her associates, given the volatile atmosphere of Mu Draconis.

Report complete.
Sgt. G. Macarthur, Sun Tzu II, Dragon's Egg Moon

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Returning my attention to the images in the first report, I selected a small magnifying glass from my desk drawer. The convex glass lens, 10 cm or so in diameter, was mounted within a plain metal ring. An ebony handle was attached to the one side. In this day of scanners rotating camera angles and extrapolating elements of a static image, this was old fashioned, but it more than served my purpose.

There.

In the seventh image of the report.

A small mark off to the left and forward of the worm.

I looked closely.

I had seen something like this before, resting in a crib in Lily's home on Hales Moon.

It was a tube, and inside something red and fleshy....

And on the ends of the cylinder, red and white, the mark of an umbrella.