THE FOREVER GENE (THE SCIONS OF EARTH Book 1) by Warren Dean Read Free Book Online Page A

to adopt a name already in use, rather than to arbitrarily choose another."
    His gaze returned to her, inviting the next question.
    "Where are you from, ambassador?"
    "We inhabit a star system in a galaxy beyond the range of the instruments you have developed so far.  In time, we shall assist you to enhance your instruments to the extent that you will be able to locate our galaxy, as well as other galaxies where you will find sentient races."
    He must be a politician she thought irreverently, he was certainly adept at giving seemingly straight answers containing very little real information.  Or perhaps she was being unfair and it was reasonable for him to want to avoid overwhelming his audience at such an early stage.
    "Ask how they travel through space and how they discovered Earth," Tol suggested in her ear.
    She hesitated.  The president would be happy for her to ask those questions, but the question that she ought to ask, the one that a serious reporter would ask, was one that was almost certainly on the forbidden list.  She could see that Batu's second camera was trained on her, and that its red tally light was on, indicating that the shot of her face was currently on air.  An audience of billions was waiting for what she would say next.
    The question came naturally.  Where the nerve to ask it came from, she had no idea.
    "Ambassador, please forgive my impertinence.  You have told us that you are from a space-faring civilisation, that you and other members of your race have established a presence on our planet, and that your intentions are simply to share your advanced technology with us.  Many people on Earth will be sceptical of your words.  Do you have proof that any of this is true?"
    His eyes widened and this time the gaze that swept down on her was almost predatory.  She had a sudden sense of being dwarfed by a towering intellect.  It felt as though the creature on the podium could pierce her deepest thoughts with no more than a sharp look.  She kept her head up, determined to face whatever outburst she had provoked. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the president begin to stand up but the ambassador spoke before he could intervene.
    "I am impressed, young human," he said. "None of our other client races has ever had the courage to question our integrity so bluntly, or so soon after first contact.  Also remarkable is that, although you are wracked with inner doubt and fear at having taken it upon yourself to challenge our stated intentions, you did not permit this to deflect you from following your chosen course."
    Qara stared back at the ambassador, wondering insanely whether the back-handed compliment would be followed by a deadly strike with some concealed weapon; a laser beam hidden in a sleeve of his robes, perhaps, or a stream of poison from a sac concealed behind his teeth.
    He paused for what seemed an eternity before continuing.  "If it is proof you want, young human, proof you shall have," he simply said.

 
     
    CHAPTER THREE
     
    Two military hover-copters took off from the roof of the hospital, the strong down-draft of their compact rotors throwing clouds of dust into the air.  They flew south, leaving behind the crowd of onlookers surrounding the hospital, and crossed the river.  Once they were out of sight of the city, the pilots banked the 'copters to the south-west.  Within a few minutes they were flying over the undulating hills, crags and valleys of the Bogdkhan National Park.
    Each 'copter bore a three man crew and had space for twenty-four additional passengers.  Ambassador Ba and his Faerie Folk travelled in the first 'copter, directing the pilots towards an area just north of Tsetseegun Uul, the highest mountain peak in the park.  They were accompanied by the park's curator, a nervous young botanist who had been called in before they left the hospital.  Qara and her crew travelled in the second 'copter with the president.  She pressed herself firmly into her seat and