Domain of the Dead by David Moody, Iain McKinnon, Travis Adkins Page A

Cutler held out a petri dish, gaze still firm on the computer screen.
    Doctor Robertson thumped the flask of liquid nitrogen onto the workbench and snatched the sample out of his hand.
    “Aren’t you listening to me?!” Doctor Robertson placed a forceful hand on Cutler’s shoulder and spun him round to face her. “He’s threatening to kill us if we don’t start producing results and bowing down to his orders!”
    “Amy my dear, you know he can’t do that.” Professor Cutler clasped her free hand in both of his. “What would Ascension Command have to say if he came back without us—and more importantly, without our research? Hmmm...”
    Doctor Robertson pulled her hand away from his light grip. “He’s got two people left on the mainland and he’s looking for an excuse to blame us.”
    “Well, that’s terrible, but I think these latest findings will placate him.” Cutler let a smile grow on his thin lips. “The resequencing worked this time.”
    He clicked on the mouse and zoomed in on the blood sample, bringing the cells into sharp focus.
    Doctor Robertson’s face dropped in disbelief. She bent down to stare at the screen.
    “Look, the pathogen isn’t affecting the sample,” Cutler said as he moved out of her way.
    “That’s amazing!” Doctor Robertson gasped.
    “The tissue immunised with the modified agent shows normal cell function,” Professor Cutler said, trying not to sound boastful.
    “Which one?” she asked.
    “One-one-seven-A,” Cutler replied.
    “This is a huge leap forward,” Doctor Robertson said, still stunned by what she saw on the screen. A wave of excitement rushed up within her. After four years of dead ends and failed experiments, here was the first tangible breakthrough. She turned round to face Professor Cutler, and grabbing him by the lapels of his lab coat she pulled him in, planting a huge open-mouthed kiss on his lips.
    When Amy finally pulled away, Cutler was short of breath, grinning and very turned on. He caught his breath and let his pragmatism take hold.
    “It’s just a blood sample,” he said. “We won’t know if it works until we test it on a living human being.”
    “But we’d need to immunise them, then deliberately infect them,” Doctor Robertson said, still flushed from the kiss.
    “I know, it’s unethical. But we don’t have to deliberately infect anyone. We can immunise the collection party,” Professor Cutler reasoned. “I mean, what’s their attrition rate at the moment? One in ten? Okay, the study will take longer, but—”
    “No, no, no,” Doctor Robertson said, tapping a finger against the desk as she thought. “It would never work. The Captain wants results now, and he’s not willing to risk any more men. We have to think of a quicker way of proving it. Still, it’s a tremendous breakthrough.”
    Cutler nodded in agreement. “And for once, something the Captain can understand.”
     
    * * *
     
    Bates stomped towards the ship’s makeshift gym to work out some of the frustration boiling inside him. For the second time today Patterson had interrogated him over what had happened on the mainland. Annoying though this was, what really pissed the marine off was the news that the rescue operation had been postponed. Bates figured that battering hell out of the bench press was preferable to battering hell out of the executive officer—or battering hell out of Lawrence French for his remarks about promotion through attrition. Bates knew that if anyone could survive on the mainland it would be Cahz. But he also knew the longer he stayed there the higher the likelihood that something would go wrong.
    The gym was the best idea. If he struck a superior officer it would exclude him from the rescue operation. Patterson and Bates didn’t get along and the executive officer would use any excuse to put him back in the brig.
    As he marched past the open armoury door he spotted Idris with a trolley of stacked ammunition.
    “Where you going with