Lethal Outbreak Read Online Free Page A

the imaging at the top of the compartment and moved the drone from side-to-side as it descended.
    Troy didn’t see any faults, cracks or holes. When he glanced towards Julia, he also realized from her expression that she hadn’t noticed anything that could cause a leak either. He sighed. If there were no defects, how had SUMP polluted the laboratory, worked its way inside the scientists’ blue suits and killed them?
    Abruptly, Julia leapt to her feet. ‘Hang on. The vial of SUMP has gone!’
    ‘What?’
    Her face had turned white. ‘There’s a bottle of it in each cabinet. At least, there should be. The other two had their vials. I saw them. But the one from here is missing!’
    ‘Are you sure?’
    ‘Of course I’m sure,’ she snapped.
    ‘Photograph every surface, Terabyte,’ Lexi said. ‘In case it’s on the floor or somewhere else in there.’
    ‘Okay,’ he replied. ‘But if one of these bodies is lying on it … ’ He shrugged. ‘No go.’
    ‘How much soil would be in it?’ Troy asked.
    Stunned, Julia replied, ‘A little less than five grams. Easily enough to wipe out every outer on Earth, I should think.’

SCENE 6
    Tuesday 15th April, Morning
    Troy watched as both Lexi and Julia Nineteen guzzled beer for breakfast. As a major, he didn’t drink alcohol because it would quickly intoxicate him. Outers didn’t have the same metabolism and they knocked it back without a care. Out of the window, Troy could see a solitary crane on the skyline. It was putting the finishing touches to the sports stadium that would host the coming Integrated Games.
    In the early hours, the high-security lab had been thoroughly cleaned, disinfected and fumigated by Saul Tingle’s emergency protocol.
    ‘Our forensic team’s been through the lab,’ Lexi said to Julia. ‘Nothing useful’s left. It’s like it’s been scorched. Glass vials would have survived, though. But there were only two. No sign of the third, whole or in pieces.’
    Julia took a deep breath. ‘That’s what I feared.’
    ‘It means the motive might have been to get hold of some Martian soil,’ Troy said. ‘Have you ever heard of anyone wanting to do that?’
    ‘No. It’d be … suicidal.’
    ‘For an outer,’ Troy remarked. ‘Any ideas why someone might want it?’
    ‘No.’ She put down her beer. ‘Unless they had some sort of grudge against outers. Or scientists. Or the work we do here.’
    ‘Mmm. Why would anyone think like that?’
    ‘I don’t know,’ she replied.
    ‘Well, my guess is someone grabbed the third vial, sprinkled enough SUMP around the lab to kill the next lot of scientists to go in, and took the rest,’ Troy said. ‘The same person who sabotaged the blue suits. But even if we’ve got no idea where the poison is and who’s got it, at least we know it’s safely sealed. Because outers aren’t dropping like flies.’
    Lexi grimaced. ‘For how long?’ She took another swig of beer.
    Troy tapped his life-logger. ‘Thanks for the list of everyone who’s been in the BSL4 lab,’ he said to Julia. ‘There’s a lot of them. I notice it includes Saul Tingle and Eric Kiss. Tell me about Eric.’
    ‘Yes. He’s one of the guys who look after laboratory animals. That’s why he needs access to all our labs. He sets up the live tests on toxicity.’
    Troy nodded. ‘But there’s more to it than that.’
    ‘Yes,’ Julia admitted. ‘I didn’t want to talk about it in front of Saul.’ She glanced around furtively before continuing. ‘It’s a bit embarrassing really. We’re … friends.’
    ‘What?’ Lexi exclaimed. ‘With that name, he must be a major.’
    ‘Yes,’ she replied, as if ashamed.
    Troy didn’t react with the same distaste as Lexi. He was trained to get the most out of witnesses. Making it obvious that her friendship was peculiar did not help. He preferred sympathy. He shrugged. ‘I understand,’ he said, even though he didn’t. ‘But, to be clear, when you say friendship … ?’
    Julia