Quarantine Zone

Cassandra-G006 hitches a ride onto a quarantined colony suffering from a deadly new virus.
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“How long do you plan to be down there?” Simon-G294 asked. His armor clacked against the military-style supply crate as he wrestled it onto the cargo dolly.
Cassandra-G006 looked up from the workbench where she’d run one final check on the contents of her assault bag. “As long as the outbreak lasts. The clinics here need every pair of hands they can get.”
“As long as it lasts,” Simon repeated with a grim scowl. “The colony’s been quarantined for over a month.”
“Yeah. I should have come here weeks ago.”
“You don’t know how long this will last. It could be another month. Or another year. Maybe even longer.” Simon locked the supply crate in place. The supply cannister would normally take at least three crew techs to secure. Fortunately, an augmented Spartan—even a deserter—could do a military job in half the time with no help. “Should I take this time to remind you that you aren’t a real doctor?”
“And here you’d managed to go the whole trip without rubbing my face in it.”
“What, you think the real doctors down there want some armored commando swinging in to save the day?” Simon looked pointedly at the MA5K carbine strapped to Cassandra’s armor. “They’ll think you’ve come to rob them.”
“I came to help.” She knew he was just looking out for her, but his words grated on the anxieties bubbling just beneath her professional façade. “The local Syndicate boss started throwing her weight around as soon as the UNSC imposed the quarantine. If she takes control of the medical distribution, even more people will die.”
“So you’re here to play hero.”
“I’m here to help,” she said firmly. “Whatever way I can. I don’t want to fight, but I won’t let some enforcer gang take advantage of these people. They’ve suffered enough.”
The two Spartans sized each other up from across the cargo bay. The Chancer V—the only independent freighter Cassandra could find to slip through the UNSC blockade and deliver medical aid to diseased-ravaged Corvus—rumbled as it passed through the planet’s atmosphere. 
“You’re a bit late on talking me out on this,” Cassandra pointed out.
Simon gave her a strange look. “I’m not trying to talk you out of this. I just hope you know what you’re doing.”
“I know what I’m doing.”
“I don’t want to take the UNSC’s side here, but this planet’s quarantined for a reason. No one knows how this virus works. Aren’t you scared of making things worse?”
She should have known he’d get to the bottom of it sooner or later, damn him. “I won’t leave until the blockade’s lifted and I know I’m not infected.”
Something flashed in his eyes. Was it just concern, or something more? “If you need an extra gun down there…”
“I’ll be fine.” He’d join her down there too, that was the scary thing. She preferred him cynical, the voice of reason puncturing her delusions of grandeur. “The Chancer needs you, and you’ve all done more than enough already.”
He pursed his lips but said no more.
“Coming up on the drop zone now!” Gavin Dunn’s voice crackled over the intercom. “Find something to hold onto down there! Even the atmosphere is trying to quarantine this place!”
Category:The Weekly