Before completion of their deadly task, the Swarm communicated back to the Legion. These life forms differed from those in the original programming. Next time, adjustments would improve efficiency.

[Mora]

Two nights ago, I hardly slept. The old nightmare reappeared, all of it. I knew it by heart — the one where I sat passively in a chair and watched a woman brutally beaten by an enraged man she unwisely trusted. The woman screamed in agony and begged me to help her, to do something, but I just sat there, locked in fearful paralysis. Finally, the battered woman collapsed to the floor near death. The man's cruel grin and eyes mocked me as he left. The battered woman's vacant eyes accused me — why did I not help her? Her broken face was mine.

My logical self knew it was never, never, my fault. Yet, still sometimes, the accuser within judged harshly. I traveled twelve light-years to escape her, but she came along, because she was me.

The accuser was sure I lost any chance with Gan, and it was all my fault. Lonelyness engulfed me that night.

I should have talked to Gan the next morning, but emotionally, I could not. And I felt ashamed of that as well.

Later Gan sent me a message that he wanted to talk. It took most of the day to gather enough courage to call him back. Then, his kind voice lifted my spirit.

I slept much better last night.

Most of yesterday, Samir and I tested the blight samples and reviewed the results. We found no toxin or disease that explained the blight, nor evidence of radiation or thermal event. Genetic scans revealed curious fragments inconsistent with Earth-based DNA or of the few local microbes that predated the terraforming. Samir promised to continue the testing.

Gan's discovery of a large area of blight near the west settlement left me with a renewed sense of dread — what if it was spreading? The matter became that much more urgent. Bypassing two levels of management, I went straight to the Governor, hoping that Vic would not be upset, but not caring if Director Sander was. Both the Governor and I wanted to see it with our own eyes, so we made an early start the next morning, taking her personal hovercar rather than the later shuttle.

Once underway, the Governor turned to me. "Mora, there is another matter. I would like to talk about what happened at the north settlement with the Watchers. I've seen the reports, but I want to hear it from you."

I turned my eyes down — this was not something I wanted to talk about, but she should know.

After taking a deep breath, I summarized my experience, "I gave the agricultural orientation, but the Watcher men were not receptive to it coming from a woman." I paused. "Gan tried to warn me, but I didn't listen. Elder Amos said they brought over their own seeds, and I told him they could not use them until approved. Then he grabbed me and made some threats before Gan intervened."

Lifting my shirt sleeves, I displayed the bruises on my upper arms left by his big hands.

The Governor widened her eyes and then dipped her head. "I'm so sorry, Mora. I expected they would be difficult, but nothing like this. Just so you know, I ordered an inspection of all their cargo. They will not get their seeds."

"Thank you, Liz."

"Also, I am going to put controls on how we interact with them. It's not right, but effective communication may require male messengers, at least in the near term."

"Gan tried to tell me that."

Liz continued. "By the way, they have named their settlement Zion."

"That is disturbing. Do they think this planet their divine right?"

Liz shook her head. "Perhaps. I am concerned what they may justify in the name of God."

Gan swung the gull-wing door up for me when we arrived at the west settlement site near the project office, and my apprehension faded at his welcoming eyes. Kate, there with him, winked at me. They both took pause as the Governor appeared.

Gan grinned and said, "Liz, I did not expect you here. Get tired of perching on your throne?"

Kate lifted her eyebrows and opened her mouth wide. I imagine it surprised her, given her military background, that Gan teased the most powerful person on this world.

Liz responded with a half grin, "I wanted to see this blight with my own eyes. And besides, I sometimes need to interact with my loyal subjects."

Gan motioned toward Kate. "Liz, this is Kate Jones, our favorite dirt pusher."

Kate stood upright, almost at attention. "Pleased to meet you, Governor."

"Likeways, Kate. But in unofficial situations, please call me Liz."

Gan led us toward a boxy building that comprised the project offices. "Let's sit down for a moment before we go out. I made some lunch." After gathering in the meal hall, he served us all from a big pot of stew and laid out a loaf of crusty bread.

As I picked up my spoon, Gan caught my eyes. "Mora, could I talk to you about something in private?"

As I followed him to the kitchen, the anxiety about what he might say twinged my gut.

I bowed my head. "Gan, I'm..."

Ever so gently lifting my quivering chin, Gan placed a gentle, but lingering kiss on my lips — not a kiss of passion, nor of lust, but caring. My heart soured as I bent into him.

He cupped my face and gazed into my moist eyes. "I just wanted to show how I feel about you. Let's talk more later."

I fell into a warm embrace and whispered into his ear, "Thank you for that."

As we returned to the dining room, Liz teased, "This is delicious, Gan. You know, Mora, he might actually be good boyfriend material. A man who knows how to cook like this is..." Her eyes widened. I don't know what gave us away, perhaps our expressions or how we walked so close together? But then, I realized our hands were clasped together, fingers interlaced. A knowing smile came to Liz's face."Oh, my! Is he now? You know, I foresaw this when you two first met."

Kate snickered as I covered my face with my hands.

After lunch, Liz, Gan, and I set out to view the blighted area Gan discovered yesterday. Gan and I slung backpacks over our shoulders as we walked out the door. Kate excused herself to 'go push dirt', as she repeated Gan's introduction. His kiss earlier had left me feeling uncharacteristically giddy, despite the seriousness of our purpose here.

As we passed near the orchards, Gan veered around. But Liz and I flashed knowing smirks and took hold of his arms to guide him on a straight path. Right by the beehives. His eyes widened, and he tried to slow down, but we wouldn't let him.

"Um, ladies, shouldn't we stay further away from the bees? Those guys may not like me."

I corrected him. "Girls."

"Huh?"

"The worker bees are all female, although only the queen lays eggs."

"Figures, those beasts would all be female. Where are the males?"

"Some offspring are male when needed. Their only purpose is to mate with the queen and then die."

His eyes grew even wider. "I hope that doesn't catch on."

Despite his bee phobia, we passed the beehives without incident, Liz and I suppressing giggles at his plight. We boarded a covered quad-wheeler and Gan drove us toward the reservoir. It was a pleasant ride, but as we came to the top of the hill past the lake, I gasped as my heart dropped.

The dark blight covered the hills before me like a terrible sickness. The photos Gan sent me had not fully conveyed the horror my eyes took in. I jumped out of the quad and gazed in silence, unable to breathe, much less form words. Liz displayed the same wide-eyed shock that I had.

Gan took his survey drone out of his backpack and launched it. "I am redoing the survey to see if it spread since yesterday," he explained.

From my backpack that I had stocked earlier, I extracted a filtration mask for my face, along with protective gloves, shoe covers, and clear pouches. With that, I walked among the blight and took samples of soil and blackened plants, carefully sealing them.

We drove around the blight perimeter, covering more than a square-kilometer, while the drone completed its task. Then we waited anxiously as Gan downloaded the survey data to his viewer and analyzed it.

He blew out a breath. "It has not grown, at least not since yesterday."

Liz asked, "Do we know when it first appeared?"

Gan answered, "No, but satellite images might bracket the timeframe."

I said, "Gan, can you do a larger sweep to see if there are any other blighted areas around here?"

"Yes. Bob will survey about twenty-five square kilometers at lower resolution with a fresh power cell, but it will take a few hours."

"Let's do it."

Gan made the necessary adjustments and replaced the power cell, then launched the drone off on its new mission. We loaded into the quad and drove back to the project offices in silence, the pleasant mood I had earlier now gloomy.

After gathering together around a table in the dining room, I spoke in somber tone, "Liz, I hope you appreciate how serious this could be. Whatever is causing this seems to kill all types of plants. We should not take this lightly, especially on a newly terraformed world. If there is a new pathogen and it gets to our food crops... Well, the results could be catastrophic."

Liz nodded slowly. "Famine. I remember well the famines on Earth." She thought for a moment. "Mora, I would like you to devote full time to this issue. Take the lead and use any resources you need."

"Me?"

"I have confidence in your capabilities, and no one else has the passion you have to run it down. I will help you with the political stuff. Will you do it?"

I replied with conviction, but hiding my apprehension within. "I will."

"Good. Also, I will need you to summarize the facts and recommendations as best we currently know. Let's get together again after you return to Central City. Then we will determine what sort of public statement is required."

I glanced at Gan, and he nodded. "I would like to have Gan on my team."

"Of course. Now, before I return, any more of that stew?"