Homecoming - Christie Golden [88]
“It’s now up to forty-six cases. Some have occurred within families, others are fresh, new outbreaks. We’ve got no knowledge of how it’s spread, other than the usual manner of assimilation through forced insertion of nanoprobes, and that only accounts for about ten percent of the cases. The rest just seem to appear out of nowhere. Let me reemphasize this—only ten percent are Borg created through traditional means. The other ninety percent seem to be spontaneously becoming Borg for no reason we can yet understand.”
“Is it still affecting only those with weak immune systems?” someone asked.
Montgomery glanced over at Kaz. “Care to field that one, Doctor?”
Kaz cleared his throat. “Thus far, yes. However, I’ve cross-referenced the virulence of the spread with that of other infectious diseases. By my calculation, it’s only a matter of time, perhaps just a few days, until healthy adults start manifesting symptoms.”
“And when that happens,” said Montgomery, “we’re looking at this.”
As if the representation of the Earth were a living creature that had suddenly been pricked with thousands of holes, red began to bleed across its landmasses. Even [262] though he’d been the one to help design this simulation, Kaz felt his stomach clench.
Mercilessly the red tide spread, blossoming like a deadly flower, until all but a few infinitesimal, isolated patches of land remained unconquered.
The Earth was covered with red.
Was covered with Borg.
About the e-Book
(AUGUST, 2003)—Scanned, proofed, and formatted by Bibliophile.
Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 5
PROLOGUE. 7
Chapter 1. 8
Chapter 2. 13
Chapter 3. 17
Chapter 4. 20
Chapter 5. 26
Chapter 6. 30
Chapter 7. 35
Chapter 8. 40
Chapter 9. 43
Chapter 10. 47
Chapter 11. 51
Chapter 12. 55
Chapter 13. 58
Chapter 14. 62
Chapter 15. 67
Chapter 16. 72
Chapter 17. 76
Chapter 18. 81
Chapter 19. 86
Chapter 20. 90
About the e-Book. 93