Foreword--Light Play & Light Plays

Books One & Two

Rick Lockmann's encounter with Caroline Denaro changed his life forever. Her touch poisoned him--carrying with it a potentially lethal virus, and gene segments that mutated his body.

Denaro had been working with plant genes, but she'd made a deadly error. Now, her error--and her successes--are compounded in Rick, who must learn to deal with both the changes to his human form, and the reactions of the people around him.

Rick is nearly fully autotrophic: he is able to generate enough nutrients from a light source to sustain himself. This offers him a freedom few humans can match--but also ensures his incarceration. He has the answer to world hunger, and one of the few sources of antibodies against what could be the next plague, nestled under his skin.

The Defensive Security Office (DSO) has taken on the sometimes onerous task of keeping Rick alive. Not only is his metabolism unstable, but his genome is so valuable that many procurers are ready to settle for a piecemeal approach, if necessary. Rick may be worth more alive, but he'll go further dead.

The day of reckoning is coming soon. The virus (Wound Tumour Virus) is aggressive, and there are, as yet, no cures. Rick realises he's going to have to act, or he could end up, literally, being the last man on Earth.

Cole Calloway let a piece of meat from his sandwich "accidentally" drop on to the floor. "Oops," he said loudly.

Stench strolled over, sniffed it, and batted it with his claws. Then, when it didn't move, he put his nose in the air and walked away.

"That cat's a snot," Cole complained. "I offer him haute cuisine, and he just walks away. Doesn't he ever eat?"

Rick had been watching the cat's retreating back. Cole's words sent a chill down his back. No, Stench didn't eat. Rick dutifully put the cat's meals out on the porch, and although the food disappeared, he'd never actually seen Stench take a bite--of anything he was supposed to, that is. Rick had thought of Stench as his own for so many weeks now, that he'd forgotten where the cat had originally come from. Forgotten that Stench had once been Caroline Denaro's cat.

Stench chose that moment to turn around and look at him. For the first time, Rick noticed the crystalline green pattern to the cat's irises. Save for the weird shape of the pupil, the eyes might well have been his own.

Mark Chesner had been anticipating the arrival of the DSO for several days now. He had no confidence that Samuelson would keep his mouth shut, and he was sure his company would be implicated.

He had no idea how far Rob Samuelson had taken it before he'd been picked up--only that he'd entered the hospital safely enough, but had left escorted. Chesner had been through this before. He already knew that without physical evidence, his best defence lay in denial.

But, he still wanted Lockmann. Besides the gene issue, there was now some problem developing with the plant virus that had initially infected the man. He might not only have the world's answer to hunger lodged in his body--he might have the only answers to the next plague. Chesner would personally feel a lot safer if he had Lockmann stowed away somewhere.

Lockmann's antibodies could only offer short-term protection. In Chesner's mind, that made his antibodies a consumable, that could be offered to the highest bidders. However, his moral side made him couch his thoughts in the pristine process of offering the world a chance at deliverance. Chesner had discovered a long time ago that you could do almost anything, as long as you could designate it a "just cause".

According to his sources, Richard Lockmann had an even stronger conscience. And, he was feeling guilt over the damages that had been inflicted on the DSO people who were trying to protect him. That made him susceptible to influence--and vulnerable.

Samuelson had gone out of here like some avenging crusader, out to justify his actions in saving the starving world. If he'd managed to convey even a small amount of that fervour to Lockmann, the man would be having an overdose of guilt right now.

Whatever the DSO had planned, Chesner's experience told him he couldn't afford to wait. Guilty consciences had a regrettable habit of hardening and crusting over, given the smallest excuse. He wanted to take advantage of Lockmann's while it was still fresh. Tapping his pencil on the desk in the way that had so annoyed Samuelson, Chesner reached over and picked up the phone.

"Since you don't have your computer, I did you a favour," Cole told Rick. "Be grateful."

"If you want me to be grateful now, that means I probably won't like it," Rick replied.

"Oh--you'll like it all right. I downloaded your e-mail. You've got over a thousand messages on there."

Rick's eyes lit up.

"How many lists do you belong to, anyway?"

Rick gripped the computer chair that Cole was sitting on and sent it rolling across the room. "My turn," he said, grinning. He squatted down in front of the computer, and started scanning down the list.

"The most interesting ones are near the bottom," Cole hinted.

"You read them?!"

"It was an accident. I accidentally let the cursor stay on them long enough to read Daphne's messages."

Rick glanced at him. His eyes were sparkling. "Daphne started writing again?"

"Yeah. Her computer was down for a long time, and she couldn't afford to have it fixed. She didn't have your address to contact you."

Rick's hands were shaking a little now, as he scrolled down to the latest messages.

"She's coming to town, Rick," Cole told him.

"She doesn't have my address," Rick said, with something like relief.