Contagious by Scott Sigler Page A
Authors: Scott Sigler
Tags: Fiction, Science-Fiction, Thrillers, Horror, Murderers, Electronic Books, Fiction / Horror, Horror Fiction, Horror - General, American Horror Fiction, Neurobehavioral disorders, Parasites
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fibers that would come to be associated with Morgellons disease.
Batches eight through ten were each more successful than the last, creating firm connections that flooded the Orbital with valuable biofeedback. It learned much about the structure of host-species DNA, refining the self-assembly process to a highly functional level. It gathered data about brain composition and chemical structure, enough to manipulate host behaviors, to steer them away from associating with noninfected hosts.
Batch eleven was a landmark achievementaccess to the higher levels of a hosts brain, including memory and language processing. The Orbital began to build a vocabulary of images, concepts and words. One host even found a suitable portal location. This host, Alida Garcia, died soon after, but the primary obstacles had been overcome.
That should have made batch twelve the one.
Batch twelve produced five hosts. A change in the language, from some Spanish to English. The Orbitals vocabulary grew. It understood more and more of the broadcast signals pouring off the planet. The workers incubated well and almost made it to the hatching phase before unexpected complications resulted in the deaths of the hostsincluding Blaine Tanarive, Gary Leeland, Charlotte Wilson and Judy Washington. Martin Brewbakers triangles activated a few days after the others, but he died just the same.
More data. More modifications.
Probability tables indicated that batch thirteen had an 82 percent chance of success. Multiple seeds implanted in eleven hosts for a total of seventy-two potential workers. Fifty-six of those actually hatched and made it to the location identified by Alida Garcia.
The workers started to build the gate. Success seemed inevitable.
But then the rogue host appeared. A host that fought back, that killed embryonic workers and brought the human military. The workers had a name for this host. They called it the sonofabitch.
The Orbital tried again. Aside from some minor biological upgrades, batch fourteen used the same strategy as batch thirteen. Probes went out, seeds landed, embryos germinated, workers hatched. Everything went fine, until the Orbital learned of yet another unanticipated fact.
The rogue host could still hear .
Structures grown in host brains acted like antennae, connecting embryos and hosts, allowing the Orbital to direct them, to guide them, helping them find each other so they could work together to reach the gate locations. The rogue host remained tapped into this communication grid.
It heard.
It found the Mather gate location.
It brought the military . . . again.
So close .
Successful worker design in itself wasnt enough to get the job done. The Orbital changed tactics.
Batch fifteen worked perfectly. It dispersed near Parkersburgh, West Virginia, and produced six hostsall of which made it to the woods near South Bloomingville before hatching.
Batch sixteen fired only a few hours later, spreading over Glidden, Wisconsin.
Fifteen and sixteen hatched in record time, built their gates in record time. The Orbital activated the South Bloomingville gate as a decoy, drawing the human military.
The sonofabitch found both gates.
After all of these near hits, the Orbital had only two probes left. If those did not work, the entire mission was a failure.
It had to change strategy again.
The large explosion that destroyed the Marinesco gate demonstrated that humans could react quickly and with overwhelming force. Placing the gates in secluded areas had seemed like the best strategy at first, but it also allowed for massive ordnance without much risk to local populations.
The workers also needed protection. They were designed to hatch out of hosts and then build, not fight . They could kill, but were far outmatched by the human forces responding to each gate. The workers needed defenders , something to occupy the human forces, fight them long enough for workers to activate the gates.
Since defenders would
Batches eight through ten were each more successful than the last, creating firm connections that flooded the Orbital with valuable biofeedback. It learned much about the structure of host-species DNA, refining the self-assembly process to a highly functional level. It gathered data about brain composition and chemical structure, enough to manipulate host behaviors, to steer them away from associating with noninfected hosts.
Batch eleven was a landmark achievementaccess to the higher levels of a hosts brain, including memory and language processing. The Orbital began to build a vocabulary of images, concepts and words. One host even found a suitable portal location. This host, Alida Garcia, died soon after, but the primary obstacles had been overcome.
That should have made batch twelve the one.
Batch twelve produced five hosts. A change in the language, from some Spanish to English. The Orbitals vocabulary grew. It understood more and more of the broadcast signals pouring off the planet. The workers incubated well and almost made it to the hatching phase before unexpected complications resulted in the deaths of the hostsincluding Blaine Tanarive, Gary Leeland, Charlotte Wilson and Judy Washington. Martin Brewbakers triangles activated a few days after the others, but he died just the same.
More data. More modifications.
Probability tables indicated that batch thirteen had an 82 percent chance of success. Multiple seeds implanted in eleven hosts for a total of seventy-two potential workers. Fifty-six of those actually hatched and made it to the location identified by Alida Garcia.
The workers started to build the gate. Success seemed inevitable.
But then the rogue host appeared. A host that fought back, that killed embryonic workers and brought the human military. The workers had a name for this host. They called it the sonofabitch.
The Orbital tried again. Aside from some minor biological upgrades, batch fourteen used the same strategy as batch thirteen. Probes went out, seeds landed, embryos germinated, workers hatched. Everything went fine, until the Orbital learned of yet another unanticipated fact.
The rogue host could still hear .
Structures grown in host brains acted like antennae, connecting embryos and hosts, allowing the Orbital to direct them, to guide them, helping them find each other so they could work together to reach the gate locations. The rogue host remained tapped into this communication grid.
It heard.
It found the Mather gate location.
It brought the military . . . again.
So close .
Successful worker design in itself wasnt enough to get the job done. The Orbital changed tactics.
Batch fifteen worked perfectly. It dispersed near Parkersburgh, West Virginia, and produced six hostsall of which made it to the woods near South Bloomingville before hatching.
Batch sixteen fired only a few hours later, spreading over Glidden, Wisconsin.
Fifteen and sixteen hatched in record time, built their gates in record time. The Orbital activated the South Bloomingville gate as a decoy, drawing the human military.
The sonofabitch found both gates.
After all of these near hits, the Orbital had only two probes left. If those did not work, the entire mission was a failure.
It had to change strategy again.
The large explosion that destroyed the Marinesco gate demonstrated that humans could react quickly and with overwhelming force. Placing the gates in secluded areas had seemed like the best strategy at first, but it also allowed for massive ordnance without much risk to local populations.
The workers also needed protection. They were designed to hatch out of hosts and then build, not fight . They could kill, but were far outmatched by the human forces responding to each gate. The workers needed defenders , something to occupy the human forces, fight them long enough for workers to activate the gates.
Since defenders would
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