Chapter 789: Seventy-Two Hours
Finally, Selendis's projection spoke once more.
"Jim Raynor, your words echo with a... Tassadar-esque idealism." She chose the word carefully, her tone complex. "According to our records, you have never backed down in the war against the Swarm, nor have you ever reneged on a promise."
She extended her hand, and the psionically constructed fingertips traced a path through the air, bringing a set of Protoss runes into existence.
"I will temporarily suspend the Purification Protocol. Suspend, not cancel." Selendis's voice returned to the businesslike tone of an Executor. "You have three standard days to conduct your internal discussions and investigations."
"During this period, my fleet will maintain an orbital blockade. Any ship attempting to leave Haven will be destroyed."
The holographic projection began to blur, but Selendis's final words echoed clearly in everyone's minds: "In three days, I require your final decision: either provide irrefutable proof that the infection has been eradicated, or surrender the infected zones to be purified by your own hands."
"If neither is achieved, then the Purifier will fulfill its mandate. May the Khala guide your judgment—for the sake of all."
The projection vanished.
In the sky, that blue "sun" still hung high, but its light no longer intensified, maintaining a steady, threatening brilliance.
The camp remained silent. All eyes were focused on Raynor.
He turned to face his people. Their eyes were filled with fear, hope, doubt, and expectation.
"Alright." Raynor's voice broke the silence, calm and resolute. "We just bought ourselves three days. Dr. Hanson, I need to know the truth—is Haven infected or not?"
"Tychus, organize scouting parties, but don't provoke those big boys in orbit. Valerie, maintain order in the camp; I don't want any panic."
He looked up at the sky, at the blue judgment day hanging over their heads.
"In three days, we must make a choice. And whatever that choice is, we will bear the consequences together."
The sunlight on Haven was still bright, but that light was now overshadowed by a far more powerful brilliance. Under the shadow of the Protoss fleet, humanity's last refuge began its race against time.
Inside a temporary command tent on the surface of Haven.
Raynor, Dr. Hanson, Matt Horner's holographic projection, Tychus, and Valerie sat around the central tactical table.
Floating above the table was a three-dimensional projection of Haven. Several areas were marked with blinking red icons—these were the anomalous psionic fluctuation points discovered by the Protoss probes, suspected early signs of Zerg infection.
The three-day time limit given by Selendis hung over everyone's heart like a ticking time bomb.
"Seventy-two hours." Raynor broke the silence, his fingers drumming on the table as his gaze swept over the group. "That is all the time we managed to buy. Selendis won't give us a single second more."
Dr. Hanson stood up immediately. Her lab coat was still stained with traces of the laboratory, and her eyes were bloodshot, but they gleamed with unquestionable determination.
"Then we use these seventy-two hours to develop a cure!" Her voice was slightly raised due to her urgency. "My research on Agria has made critical progress!"
"The Swarm's infection is not entirely irreversible! Although their genetic structure is extremely unstable, there is a protease inhibitor that can disrupt their replication cycle! As long as we can synthesize a sufficient dosage and conduct clinical trials..."
"Ariel." Raynor cut her off, his voice calm but carrying a heavy weight. "We do not have seventy-two hours to develop, test, and produce an entirely new cure."
"We aren't even sure if the inhibitor you're talking about will be effective against this suspected infection on Haven."
He brought up a set of data and projected it into the air.
It was a composite image compiled from the camp's sensors and partial scan results shared by the Protoss.
"Look at this." Raynor pointed at the red markers. "The anomalous biological signatures are distributed across three primary areas: the western mountains, the southern river valley, and... a patch of woodland five kilometers northeast of our camp."
"The signals are very weak, but they absolutely exist, and they are slowly spreading."
"Selendis's probes are much more sensitive than ours. If she says there's an infection, then there definitely is."
He took a deep breath, looking straight at Dr. Hanson.
"Three days is nowhere near enough time to develop a cure for the entire potentially infected population. These three days are for finding the infected—the people or animals who have been infected but haven't shown symptoms yet, as well as any latent Swarm structures."
"Then we purge them, isolate the contaminated zones, and save those who haven't been infected yet. That is the only realistic option."
Dr. Hanson's face instantly turned pale.
"Purge?" She repeated the word, her voice trembling slightly. "Jim, are you saying... we kill those who might be infected? Before they even have a chance to be cured?"
"If they are already infected and could become vectors for the Swarm's further spread, then yes." Raynor's voice was flat, but a slight twitch at the corner of his eye betrayed the turmoil within him. "This is war, Doctor. Not an ideal experiment in a laboratory."
"We are not facing an ordinary disease, we are facing the Swarm. You know what they did on Mar Sara, on Agria. We cannot risk letting Haven become the next one."
"But they are people!" Dr. Hanson raised her voice, placing her hands flat on the table. "They are refugees who followed us to escape! They are our people! They trusted us, they looked to us for hope!"
"And now you're telling me our job is to 'find them and purge them'? How is that any different from Arcturus Mengsk abandoning civilians, which we condemn so much?!"
Her chest heaved violently. Her eyes held not only anger, but the pain of ideals crashing against reality.
"My research has hope! Give me time, give me resources, and I can find a way! Just abandoning them... that shouldn't be what the Raiders do! Aren't we fighting to protect life?"
Tychus leaned against the wall, arms crossed, letting out an ambiguous grunt, but he didn't interject.
Matt's hologram looked as if he wanted to speak but hesitated, his face etched with conflict.
Raynor didn't avoid Dr. Hanson's gaze. His expression was equally pained, but dominated by the cold hardness of a decision made.
"Protecting life, Doctor, means sometimes we have to make cruel choices to ensure that more lives can survive."
"If we allow the infection to spread, or if we pin our hopes on a cure that is absolutely impossible to complete in three days, the result is Selendis's fleet using that Mothership to glass all of Haven."
"When that happens, no one will survive—neither the infected nor the clean."
He paused, his voice dropping low.