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Back Dark Stars Save as PDF
Chapters (51)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Part One
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. Part Two
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. Part Three
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. Part Four
  37. 31
  38. 32
  39. 33
  40. 34
  41. 35
  42. 36
  43. 37
  44. 38
  45. Part Five
  46. 39
  47. Acknowledgments
  48. About the Author
  49. Books by Danielle Rollins
  50. Back Ad
  51. About the Publisher

It looked like something dark and dripping. Then, a moment later, it was green goo clinging to the metal. It was gaseous, vanishing into the air. It was solid, like ice.

She blinked and looked away. The constant changing was causing a nerve near her temple to pulse. She pushed her cloak aside, revealing the cool white skin of her abdomen.

The dagger trembled in her hand.

She took a breath—

LOG ENTRY—SEPTEMBER 21, 2074

08:15 HOURS

THE WORKSHOP

Over the last few days, I’ve been going over Tesla’s notes again and again to see what I might’ve missed. I have a few theories, but the most logical is that I simply injected the exotic matter into the wrong place.

Tesla posited that, in order for the EM to fully integrate with your body, you’d need to inject it directly into your aorta. This makes sense, because your aorta is the artery responsible for carrying blood from your heart to the rest of your body, so it connects with every other major artery. Its job is to distribute oxygenated blood throughout, so it would stand to reason that, if you were to inject exotic matter into your aorta, it would spread throughout your entire body in the same way that oxygenated blood does. Right?

Well, that’s the theory. I’m not a medical doctor, I’m a physicist, and I’m working well outside my comfort zone here. I know that it’s unusual for medication to be injected into arteries instead of veins, but I have to trust that Tesla had reasons for specifying the aorta as the ideal injection site, especially when it’s much more difficult to locate than a close-to-the-surface vein. The only choice I have is to try again and see if, this time, I can get it to work.

Tesla included a sort of “map” of the inside of the human body with the rest of his notes but, this time, I’m going to go off the most modern medical illustrations I can find. I borrowed one of Chandra’s books and studied the human body until I located the best place to attempt a second injection. Once again, aortic rupture is a concern. But I’m trying not to think about that just now. Here I go.

Okay! The second injection appears to have been successful. I experienced the same strange, tingling sensation as I did the first time I attempted this and, so far, no aortic rupture. So that’s a good sign.

Now, it’s time for me to go back to the Cascadia subduction zone and see if, this time, my mission will be successful.

10

Dorothy’s fingers trembled. The dagger she held twitched and then fell with a clatter into the sink below. The exotic matter that had been clinging to the blade disappeared in an iridescent haze that smelled, oddly, of campfire smoke.