Bright Red Line (Backyard Starship #22)

by J.N. Chaney

I marveled at some of the junk that had been brought to the farm. I saw a bulky HVAC unit that looked like nothing you’d find on a farm strapped to a flatbed waiting its turn to unload. I nudged Barnes and pointed. “Where the hell did that come from?” “Old unit from a middle school up in West Union. Hank Petrie there figured he could refurbish it and sell it. That was three years ago. His wife told him to get rid of the damned thing, so here it is,” he replied. Funboy, standing nearby, nodded sagely. “An air-processing unit from an educational institution full of juvenile humans just reaching sexual maturity? It must contain a trove of complex organic compounds.” Miryam made an ugh face. “Yeah, teenage sweat and—and it doesn’t bear thinking about what else.”

Bruh, soooo wrong....