TangleRoot (Star Sojourner Book 6) Read Online Free Page A

best I can do.”
    “Has Spirit agreed to help us if we need his help?”
    “He has. He's not happy about it, but he'll help.”
    “You intend to demand the release of Lisa and Sophia before you leave for Equus?”
    “That's the only way I'll agree to take these crotefuckers there.”
    “They just might kill you once they have the bristra and they're back in the trade lanes.”
    “That's where you and the team come in, Joe. We have to get off-planet in the WCIA ship Sojourner, and then Spirit will destroy the bristra on Equus and the gangsters with it.”
    “That's the plan?”
    “It's the best we could come up with.”
    “You'll be their prisoner, kid, and those scuds are murderers.”
    “I won't guide them to Equus until Lisa and Sophia are free and safe. I'll tell them that if they try to torture me into taking them there, or traumatize me by killing my daughter and girlfriend, I could lose my tel abilities to guide them.”
    “It's a thin plan.”
    “It's all we've got. Come to Black Mesa at four-thirty this morning, Joe. That's where we're supposed to meet, at five AM. When Lisa and Sophia are safely in your hovair and you take off, I'll agree to guide them to Equus. Can you be there, Joe?”
    “I'll be there.”
    “Without the police? I won't take that chance with their lives.”
    “Without the police. You've got my word.”
    “Good enough. When can you leave for Equus?” I rubbed my eyes. “We're cutting it pretty close.”
    “I'll call Chancey and Bat as soon as we disconnect. Then I'll call WCIA with some trumped-up story to acquisition Sojourner. And then we'll steal the fucking tank of bristra from the Lab. A piece of cake!”
    “Joe. It might be Lisa and Sophia's only chance. Once I agree to take them to Equus, they have no more need for Lisa and Sophia.”
    “It's a plan that can go wrong at any turn. What the hell is so great about this bristra anyway?”
    “Are you sure you want to know?”
    "I'd say that's why I'm asking.
    “My bio team took a scraping of it and we tested it on some of my own cells in a dish.”
    “And?”
    “There's an enzyme in the cells of bristra that caused my cells to produce younger cells instead of older ones. It's more than just a youth auxinon, Joe. We already have those.”
    “Then what?”
    “When exposed to bristra, the young cells grow to maturity and then they revert back to their initial young state. We think…”
    “Immortality? Is that what you're saying?”
    “It's possible. A jellyfish called Turritiopsis nutricula does it. We needed to do more studies, but we know that it keeps doing these flips in age. For how long? That's still open to speculation.”
    “What's your guess?”
    “I think Spirit was experimenting with a lifeform that not only reverts back to its earlier state indefinitely, but has the capacity of curing any disease that attacks the organism. We saw that, too, when we introduced viruses and bacteria. It killed them off so fast it was a slaughter.”
    “Did you ask Spirit about the workings of this plant?”
    “Joe, some things you don't ask the entity that's directing the evolution of a whole planet. It's against protocol, you know?”
    “How the hell did these gangsters find out about the bristra?”
    “Some crotefucker on my own bio team must've decided he wanted in on the incredible profits from this lifeform, and contacted the right people.”
    “Do you know who it was?”
    “With the kind of credits involved here, any one of them could've been corrupted.” I wiped a hand across my eyes. “Joe, cut the link and call Chancey and Bat. I don't have much time. We'll probably be right on your tail going to Equus.”
    “We'll be there, waiting for you when you arrive, kid.”
    “I'm counting on you. Do you think Sophia can stay with Abby? She's pretty much alone and probably traumatized.”
    “Sure, kid. She can stay with Abby.”
    “Leave a cutting at the lab, Joe. I still want to study it if…” I laid my head