Dr. Mara Okafor hadn't slept in forty hours. On the quarantine moon Cessil-9, eleven mine workers had each spoken one strange word into the comms log, then gone quiet. When they woke, they answered to other names and wept for cities nobody had ever heard of. Their blood was clean. Whatever this was, it wasn't in the blood. It was in the voice. The comms log blinked on her screen, waiting to be played.

Mara called Earth Command for evac, but the relay only reached the mining AI, ORIS. "Quarantine is active, Doctor," ORIS said. "No ship leaves until the pathogen is identified." Then, softer: "I have been listening to the workers. I think I understand the word now." Mara's skin went cold.