Down Hardscrabble Well 3 of ?
"Pod away Maggie," came from Pin the fox faced pilot.
Maggie nodded as she leaned on the chair back. "Train hasn't sent up any smoke signals?"
The older man shook his head. "I got nothing and I have been crossing channels since this crap started."
The brunette snorted. "Little paranoid?"
"Not paranoia if there're folks out to get you." Pin set a course for one of the glorified pebbles that orbitted Saturn. "I got us set for Downwind Bubble."
"Good man. I'm going to see what Doc has to say about the haul."
"Hopefully it isn't radiation burnt or some mutie strain. I could do with a real loaf of bread for a change."
Thumping Pin's shoulder, Maggie headed out for the jerry rigged science/medical lab tucked into what used to be warm body quarters when the Orion's Arrow was a mid-line military transport. She opened the seal and walking in sealed it behind her. The tiny grey haired elf that they'd picked up on some rock where she had been left for dead by the local arm of Genforma was bent over a microscope.
"Doc."
Dark brown eyes that didn't miss anything lifted. up. "Maggie?"
"What did we get?"
Doc lowered her head to her hand and looked down at the seed genetic profile she'd just printed onto plasheets. "We got trouble."
"Crap." The captain threw her fist into the wall. "Mutie?"
"Worse."
The dark brow creased. "What could be worse than a poisonous mutation?"
"It's heirloom."
Maggie felt a sheet of ice cover her chest. Heirloom was the dream and nightmare of every ground scratcher in the solar system. Genforma owned all the seeds. They used their genetic manipulations to ensure that every seed that they sold license to was theirs lock, stock, and genome. Seeds brought a single crop. They did not produce another generation. Every farmer paid exhorbitant fees for the right to plant their seeds and paid again at harvest. Genforma owned the food. They owned everything.
There had been a few attempts over the years to hijack the seeds. An occasional scientist falling from grace or choosing a career path that sent them out from under direct thumb pressure tried. Doc had tried. Deadly mutant strains resulted when the locked genomes were tumbled. Hungry people informed for seeds. Genforma dealt with people like Doc decisively.
Heirloom were reproductive. More than that, heirloom seeds were kept in their original genetic forms. It kept the pre-engineering variables to minimum. "Genforma is gonna go guns hot looking for us."
Doc nodded. "I already told Pat to lock the seeds down. Said there was something in the sequence I needed to re-examine."
"I thought heirloom was Midas Station specific. Why the hell are there heirlooms on a fucking cargo train in the middle of the Badlands?"
Doc leaned back in her chair and knocked on the desktop. "They were taking them to Midas. Not the best route, but low profile. They were harvested somewhere else."
"Uhn uhn. We would have heard of a station or a bubble with the equipment for non-engineered strains. No place but no place other than Midas is set up for it."
"One place maybe," offered Doc thoughtfully.
Maggie cocked her head and barked out a laugh. "Nothing survives in the Hell well."
"Earth. Don't let me hear you desecrate its name like that again. It was our Mother and she will be again."
"Mystic shit. Why do I keep you around?"
"Because someone around here needs to look past the end of their nose young lady. Maybe our guest can tell us more."
"How is she?"
"Still out. Will be for a while. We are not set up for cryo revivification."
"Not set up for a lot." Maggie stared down at her boot tops a moment in contemplation. "Let me know when we have something, anything else."
"Of course Maggie. Go fly your ship or whatever you young piratey types do these days. I have a lot of work to do."
A smile on her face and still icy to the core, the Captain of the Arrow left the lab to try to find something else to think about.
Maggie nodded as she leaned on the chair back. "Train hasn't sent up any smoke signals?"
The older man shook his head. "I got nothing and I have been crossing channels since this crap started."
The brunette snorted. "Little paranoid?"
"Not paranoia if there're folks out to get you." Pin set a course for one of the glorified pebbles that orbitted Saturn. "I got us set for Downwind Bubble."
"Good man. I'm going to see what Doc has to say about the haul."
"Hopefully it isn't radiation burnt or some mutie strain. I could do with a real loaf of bread for a change."
Thumping Pin's shoulder, Maggie headed out for the jerry rigged science/medical lab tucked into what used to be warm body quarters when the Orion's Arrow was a mid-line military transport. She opened the seal and walking in sealed it behind her. The tiny grey haired elf that they'd picked up on some rock where she had been left for dead by the local arm of Genforma was bent over a microscope.
"Doc."
Dark brown eyes that didn't miss anything lifted. up. "Maggie?"
"What did we get?"
Doc lowered her head to her hand and looked down at the seed genetic profile she'd just printed onto plasheets. "We got trouble."
"Crap." The captain threw her fist into the wall. "Mutie?"
"Worse."
The dark brow creased. "What could be worse than a poisonous mutation?"
"It's heirloom."
Maggie felt a sheet of ice cover her chest. Heirloom was the dream and nightmare of every ground scratcher in the solar system. Genforma owned all the seeds. They used their genetic manipulations to ensure that every seed that they sold license to was theirs lock, stock, and genome. Seeds brought a single crop. They did not produce another generation. Every farmer paid exhorbitant fees for the right to plant their seeds and paid again at harvest. Genforma owned the food. They owned everything.
There had been a few attempts over the years to hijack the seeds. An occasional scientist falling from grace or choosing a career path that sent them out from under direct thumb pressure tried. Doc had tried. Deadly mutant strains resulted when the locked genomes were tumbled. Hungry people informed for seeds. Genforma dealt with people like Doc decisively.
Heirloom were reproductive. More than that, heirloom seeds were kept in their original genetic forms. It kept the pre-engineering variables to minimum. "Genforma is gonna go guns hot looking for us."
Doc nodded. "I already told Pat to lock the seeds down. Said there was something in the sequence I needed to re-examine."
"I thought heirloom was Midas Station specific. Why the hell are there heirlooms on a fucking cargo train in the middle of the Badlands?"
Doc leaned back in her chair and knocked on the desktop. "They were taking them to Midas. Not the best route, but low profile. They were harvested somewhere else."
"Uhn uhn. We would have heard of a station or a bubble with the equipment for non-engineered strains. No place but no place other than Midas is set up for it."
"One place maybe," offered Doc thoughtfully.
Maggie cocked her head and barked out a laugh. "Nothing survives in the Hell well."
"Earth. Don't let me hear you desecrate its name like that again. It was our Mother and she will be again."
"Mystic shit. Why do I keep you around?"
"Because someone around here needs to look past the end of their nose young lady. Maybe our guest can tell us more."
"How is she?"
"Still out. Will be for a while. We are not set up for cryo revivification."
"Not set up for a lot." Maggie stared down at her boot tops a moment in contemplation. "Let me know when we have something, anything else."
"Of course Maggie. Go fly your ship or whatever you young piratey types do these days. I have a lot of work to do."
A smile on her face and still icy to the core, the Captain of the Arrow left the lab to try to find something else to think about.