Rebel's Consort - Phoenix Book 1 by KH LeMoyne Read Free Book Online

Even after spending billions of dollars when the outbreak hit to salvage the billions of lives at risk on Earth, nothing had worked. Now, these kids were openly eating potentially contaminated food.
    “If I tell you, will you stop acting like a Neanderthal and listen to reason?”
    He ignored Analena’s comment and dropped the brown lump to a rock ledge. He searched the faces of the children, half expecting them to drop screaming at his feet. Instead, they looked puzzled, worried even, but relatively healthy.
    Impossible. Whole populations had died eating the local food sources. The inevitable migration of spore and seed had contaminated every harvest. The vulnerable
DNA
-altered grains had led to worldwide contamination, leaving plants poisonous and animals that fed from them susceptible to the fatal strain of bacteria. There had been no uncontaminated land-based food sources for over a hundred fifty years.
    Only the fucking immunizations had stopped post-pubescent deaths, a double-edged sword. But by then, too many had perished to maintain pervious lifestyles. Not enough trained personnel existed to run water plants and power plants, much less fill all the other vacant jobs.
    Land-based foods were the whole damn reason for the creation of the current kelp and algae meal rations—which were oddly resistant to the specific strain of bacteria. It was disgusting, but at least they were nontoxic. Yet, these kids were eating the berries right off the friggin’ wall.
    Grasping a thick section of vine, he pumped the analyzer into the main root system. Negative .
    He exhaled in surprise and looked up.
    His angel wasn’t impressed. Arms crossed over her chest and her mouth curled with displeasure, she only needed to add the tapping of the toe of her boot to sink him to the subordinate level of one of her charges.
    “Don’t give me that look. Do you know how many people died eating the soil-grown vegetation?”
    “The exact figures elude me,” she said, one brow raised. “But we aren’t at risk from this food source. I’d never allow these children to be at risk.”
    Frowning, he glanced at the green wall and back to her. He didn’t doubt her guardianship, but what the hell was going on? How could this be safe, much less grow underground? A starchy root, no problem, but lush foliage and fruit needed sunlight.
    Tucking the analyzer away in a pocket, he glanced back at Hena and the boy, still hiding behind her, and held out his hands in apology.
    Whether Analena believed him or not, she moved back to the table and motioned for Hena and Aaron to join her. With a nod, she gestured for him to sit as well.
    The other children picked up their previous activities. The tossing of fruit had evidently seen its end.
    “You did very well with Gar. Thank you,” said Analena, obviously attempting to stabilize the conversation and migrate away from the food discussion.
    Her gratitude and the look of respect in Aaron’s and Hena’s eyes only grated on him. “I did what I was trained to do.”
    Aaron frowned. “I didn’t know medics were trained?”
    Trace winced at his own mistake. No, medics relied on software procedures and automation in lieu of training. A necessary grassroots evolution because all medical training came from Regent authorized facilities, which were difficult to gain access to and expensive. He’d intended this to be a simple job. Get in, help the kid, and get out. No messing in personal baggage and, definitely, no sharing the nasty details of his past. From the suspicion dawning in Analena’s eyes, it was too late to salvage that error.
    “My training was in surgery.”
    Aaron’s eyes narrowed, still in the puzzled stage, “But they all work for—”
    Sounds behind Trace ceased.
    Her expression fierce, Analena lifted her hand to motion the younger kids to stay back. “You did, as well.”
    A statement, not a question, and no amount of details would make that suspicion fade from her golden brown eyes. Six