Ventus by Karl Schroeder

Karl Schroeder / Ventus / Page 609
2219 norm--but none of the later iterations."
Marya said nothing, but curled up in a chair opposite and
sipped at her champagne. She tilted the glass to indicate he
should continue.
"Turcaret represents the DNA norm at the time that the
first colony ship was sent to Ventus," said Axel. "It was sent
out in 2095; that’s just before the Hamburg insurrection, when
most of the Ventus records were destroyed. But they knew the
terraforming was working then, and a few of the original
members of the project participated in the colony effort. I
checked and there’s records of "genetic surgery" being done on
all the colonists before they went out. Everybody always
assumed that was to remove genetic diseases and deficiencies;
but Turcaret’s DNA shows no alterations from the archaic
except for this one neural enhancement. See what I’m saying?"
She put down the glass. "The first colonists were
genetically modified to be able to speak to the Winds."
He nodded vigorously. "Whereas the next--and it was
the last--wave of colonists didn’t set out until a hundred years
later, after most of the original Ventus project records had been
lost and all its originators were dead. Those colonists had
DNA that matched the 2219 norm, like Jordan and the majority
of the population on Ventus now."
"I’ve never heard of the biological radio thing," she said.
"People have looked for such a thing, but they never found it..."
"Not in the samples they took," said Axel. "Because it’s
a rare trait, limited to isolated populations--or inbred ones, like
Turcaret’s family.
"Turcaret could talk to the Winds. So can Jordan. It’s
this biological radio that’s the key. That’s the Flaw." He sat
back, toasting her ironically with his glass.
"No..." She hunched forward, scowling at the floor.