Hey, remember me saying I was going to try and contact my father and see if he knew anything about alien contaminants being discovered on any of the wreckage?

Well and I have to admit the speed stunned me, he responded.

I've directed the first part of the docs Dad sent me through the ICIS official bureaugnat machine. Should be to you soon, as late as tomorrow. The second part won't clear until next week, according to him.

All I have to say is that we better watch our ass on this one.

Well, that and if you ever call me Terry I'll kill you.

My Dad writes a better lead-in than I do, read his letter before looking at the docs.

Sweet dreams, Case.

--ZerO-

----ORIGINAL MESSAGE----
TO: Major Terrence O'Hearn {SPYDER}
FROM: M.O. Dr. O'Hearn
SUBJECT: RE: Request for any information…

You want me to send you information about any possible alien contaminants that have been discovered due to examination of wreckage? I have a few items that you're cleared for now. However, being my son, I expect you to not be shocked by any of what you discover.

Discover the truth and cloud the motive.

Dangerous idea, son. Although, I know you are aware of that. No matter what your opinion on these matters are, rest assured they are being taken care of. Any losses will be minimized as soon as the scope of the crisis comes into focus.

Consider this response to be an eyes-only heads-up on possible threats to your mission.

Enough with the protocol, I have a jump to make in three hours.

Inefficiency is borne of haste, and there is no crime in that. Disasters have a way of happening, the worst being ones we see coming.

The untenable self-assumed position of nature's controlling moderator has provided us with a terrible addition to our shared vision. We now see reasonable responses with unreasonable requirements.

In this case, we all know that gathering, tampering with, and reclaiming materials of unknown origin, without proper evaluation, can well have horrific implications.

Case in point:

In 2304 when the biological agent known as "Malacreaux's Bite" destroyed the IO colony, strong willed truth-seekers rose up to blame the scientific community for the disease. Government officials were being accused of negligent genocide following the reduction of containment standards that led to the plague.

The government was wrong in relaxing standards; but in retrospect the incident would have occurred either way. Human nature is an unfortunate commodity in the blame business. The ingestion of hazardous materials in a mineshaft air lock is as age old as the act of mining itself. The usual three-stage decontamination had been reduced to two (which was still shown to be effective at detecting and erasing any known biological organism or derivative thereof) and an organism comprised of a previously unknown makeup managed to slip through. Everyone knew that by removing the third, most costly, stage they would be able to maintain the war effort as well as colonization during the third incident between enemy factions within the Confederacy. They also knew the possibility existed of a disaster. They expected the mining concerns to comply with the scanning requirements of each newly exposed mile of soil before beginning the actual mining. They understood that they would never be able to regulate all of the mining operations closely enough to verify that the mining companies weren't just glossing over the scans to get to the treasure inside.

The war was won, they managed to push us further into space, and improved upon their process along the way.

This new situation is a far more basic testament to the human ability to kill yourself while trying to get ahead too quickly. Any silence is to keep needless panic from breaking out amongst border worlders, mercs, corps, and Kilrathi. You have the clearance to see these materials, and it is assumed you are one of the few to understand the importance of trustworthy silence. Of course you can show this to anyone else with similar clearance, just keep in mind the sensitivity of the issue.

I, myself, am not allowed to give any further situation-specific personal opinions on the matter due to the classification of the studies I'm engaged in. However I have attached the transcripts and correspondences taken from Cmdr. Silver that you are cleared to see. It should come in two pieces. The first should have arrived and the other probably won't clear for a week or so.

It isn't that much, but I believe it will clear up any questions you have.

Dammit, I just realized I lectured you.

You understand my thoroughness, I hope. You can hit me when you see me next, Terry. The next correspondence can have nothing to do with anything serious, okay? I mean it. Fly safe, and please contact me after this matter is resolved,

Love,

Dad