Zion's Children -pt 33

Lily thought they were joking. She said as much. "You can't be serious. I've never had this!"

She had been taking a quick break when the three, Byrin, Marcus and Miri, had called her into the lab. They had come together, not sending just one to come get her. Once inside the lab, with the doors shut, Byrin dropped the bomb saying that she was a survivor.

Marcus pulled his chair close to her. "Lily, you told me that the Flu Scare on your world was what inspired you to go into nursing. Did you get the Flu?"

"Of course I did, my entire family had it."

"Was there anyone who didn't have it?" Byrin asked.

"I suppose. Not everyone will get a disease. You know that. Some people have stronger immune systems...some..." Lily paused. "Wait, you think there's a reason why ConFleet personnel aren't sick and you want to know if the same was true during the Flu Scare."

"Something like that," admitted Byrin.

"Nothing sticks out in my memory," Lily sighed. "But I'll keep thinking."

"Good. Had your world seen anything like this before the Conglomerate came to your world?"

That question caused both Marcus and Miri, as well as Lily, to look at Byrin at surprise.

"Nothing of that magnitude," Lily admitted.

"We never saw anything like this either," Miri commented. "Grandfather has grumbled about that more than once."

"Surely you're not suggesting that the Conglomerate is somehow responsible for this?" asked Marcus, incredulity plain on his face.

"You said it yourself," was Byrin's answer. "Left over antisemitism is still present in our government. To the point that it's holding up partnership with this world."

"Well, yes, but...Byrin what you're suggesting is mass genocide."

"It wouldn't be the first time that's happened to this people group, now would it?"

"But not everyone on a Colony World is of Jewish descent," argued Lily. "Mine were American/English."

"Colony worlds were settled generations ago," Byrin stated evenly. "You're trying to tell me that you've never had any Jewish person marry into the family?"

Lily's mouth hung open. "Ah...Great-grandmother Pearl was Jewish."

"I think that it would be hard to find anyone on a Colony world that doesn't have some Jewish ancestry," Byrin said.

"What you're suggesting, is outrageous!" Marcus shook his head. "But I think you're right. I just don't know how they'd mass infect people."

"Or target a specific group," said Lily.

"DNA." Miri looked at Byrin for confirmation.

"Exactly. It's an artificial virus that has been engineered to target specific DNA strands."